CYCLING???

[landmineyouth]

Hey guys. Can someone please link me to an informative (but easy to understand) site that explains exactlly: A) What Cycling a Tank IS (FW and SW), and B) How to do it properly??

I set up a 125 gallon freshwater tank 10 days ago that I plan on moving all my fish into (archer, monos, scat, etc) that are all currently in full fresh, and will be gradually converting them to salt... please note that this 125 will be full fresh for sometime still, including during this fish transfer.

I want the tank to be safest before I move them. I put in 3 mollies to 'start the cycling' as I've heard is what your supposed to do, and added filter media from their current tank into the wet/dry of the new one.... am I taking the right steps?

Id really like to have a better understanding of waht cycling is, does, and how long it takes under certain conditions. etc.... i checked the FAQ but no luck...

thanks in advance

 

[WyldFya]

You are taking the right steps. Basically a cycle for FW is just getting your specific strains of bacteria to inhabit your filter. There are two basic ones that you need, one to convert ammonia to nitrite, and one to convert nitrite to nitrate. Both nitrite and ammonia are toxic to fish in small amounts, but nitrate is not toxic until you reach higher levels. Just keep testing your water params, and when you see the ammonia and nitrite drop to 0.0 you are ready to go. One thing that will help jump start your cycle even more, would be to add existing gravel if you plan to transfer it. Another option is biospira. This stuff really works well, and will help seed, and cycle your tank in only a few days.

 

[landmineyouth]

hmmmm well a gravel transfer is out of the question because this new tank is all sand.. i did however add about 50lbs of rocks from my old tank into this new one... I supposed then all Ill need is a pack of biospira and I can add my fish in the same day eh??

 

[WyldFya]

Possibly, but unlikely. Biospira works great, but it doesn't work that fast generally. I would put it in, test your water before you buy it though, and then test it the next day. If ammonia and nitrite have dropped to 0 then you are good to go.

 

[brettrotchell]

also to speed up the cycle you can just wash out the filter from your older tank right into the new tank . you said you washed it out into you new filter but i would aslo wash it out right in your new tank . all kinds of good stuff in there your tank needs to seed . it looks messy when you do it but it clears really fast . from what you said in your first thread it sounds like you are doing everthing right but dont rush this process . wait till peramiters are right . i only know this from bad experances myself . i rushed a tank once and it took forever to finish cycling .if you rush it the filter will not be able to keep up with the bio load, than you are trouble . cloudy water fish death ect .
hope i helped a little .

good luck

 

[bmxer4ever]

This might sound simple, but to help speed up the process, swap water from your old tank into the new one - do about 5-10 gallons at a time, roughly 10%, like a normal water change, (depending on how big your existing tank is).
Take the water from the bottom of your new tank, and from the top in your old tank. This will accelerate the seeding process and you'll be running your "new" water through your existing filter bacteria. Do this twice a day for a couple of days, then check your water parameters in both tanks.
And keep the mollies in to give the new filter bacteria some bio load to work with. (Just make sure the mollies are well and parasite free or you'll be contaminating your OLD tank and fish. If not sure then don't put the new water in the old tank - make fresh - again like a normal water change.)
This will help you match the water in both tanks to ease the transition from old to new when you move the fish.
Moving gravel, rocks and definetly filter media from old to new gets the whole process going, but using water that's already cycled will really help too.
I've done this a few times now and it seems to work a treat. Much faster "cycling".
Good luck - hope this helps.

 

[jimk]

Since you have and established tank, I would move a couple fish at a time. Even when your ammonia and nitrite reach 0 ppm, the tank will "recycle" when you add more fish. You may still have an ammonia spike if you add all your fish at once. Add a couple fish, wait a week or so. If your parameters are still good, add a couple more until all are transferred. Just as a note, I have heard that water contains little beneficial bacteria, so transferring water from old to new may not help you much. The rocks or any other decorations are loaded with good bacteria.

 

[landmineyouth]

Since you have and established tank, I would move a couple fish at a time. Even when your ammonia and nitrite reach 0 ppm, the tank will "recycle" when you add more fish. You may still have an ammonia spike if you add all your fish at once. Add a couple fish, wait a week or so. If your parameters are still good, add a couple more until all are transferred. Just as a note, I have heard that water contains little beneficial bacteria, so transferring water from old to new may not help you much. The rocks or any other decorations are loaded with good bacteria.

Yea I totally agree with you my plan was to slowly add the fish into the new tank, my only concern is do you think the fish will like... Im not sure how to say this... "forget" each other and re-establish territory with intense fighting? If so ... who should I add first and last out of this list??

1 archer (4 to 5")
3 mono sebae's (4 to 5")
2 mono argentus (3 to 4")
1 green scat (2 to 3")
1 columbian shark (4 to 5")
1 figure eight puffer (2 to 3")