I have recently just bought a new 55g tank and new black gravel to go in it. I was wondering after I fill it up how long should I wait before I put fish in it. I heard that you are just supposed to run the filter in the tank for a while and this is called cycling? So I was just wondering how long I should do this for, or if I should do it at all, Thanks.
Cycling?
- Thread starter Catfish Keeper
- Start date
if you dont have a source of ammonia (either hardy fish or pure ammonia) you will never cycle your tank by just running the filters. a normal cycle will take 4-6 weeks. there's plenty of threads on that, just do a search.
or you can do it instantly by using established filter media. ive also heard from a few members here that Seachem Stability works good for instantly cycling new tanks
or you can do it instantly by using established filter media. ive also heard from a few members here that Seachem Stability works good for instantly cycling new tanks
I have a catfish if that is a hardy fish. So once I fill it up I am supposed to just put him in the tank. (After removing the chlorine of course)
essentially, yes. once you treat the water for chlorine/chloramine you throw in the fish you are going to use to cycle the tank. if youre gonna use fish to cycle the tank, i would also throw in a bunch of large feeders as they are very messy and can help get the ammonia levels up to start your bacteria growth
I would never cycle a tank with a fish that I want to keep. It's really rough on the fish, and you run the risk of him getting really sick or dying in the process. Use a few feeder goldfish, or, even better, just put a few pinches of fish food in the tank. The cycle will begin. Again, as was said, there is plenty of information available on the cylcing process, but essentially, you're looking for ammonia to spike, then nitrite to spike, then you're looking for nitrate, which will be present with zero ammonia and nitrite. The process takes about five or six weeks.
like everyone else said this will take weeks. if your extremely impatient (like me) you can get a product from your LFS call Stability its made by Seachem. I highly recommend this stuff. When I set up my 75gal i added this because it said it made it immediately safe for fish. about an hour after i added it i put fish in and still havent had problems with the tank at all. just follow the directions on the bottle
5 to 6 weeks, is there any way I could speed it up? Plus how many feeder goldfish would you suggest I put in?
yes you can speed it up. as has been mentioned, use Stability or established media.Catfish Keeper;3301321;3301321 said: