DIY 55Gal Grow Out/Cycling

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FinHunter101

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Mar 22, 2012
229
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Out Back In The Woods!
Just purchased a 55Gal grow-out tank for my fish(Catfish Mostly) and decided to do a DIY Filter and want everybodys opnion on proper setup of Filter Media and cycling...
The way I have my Filter Media Setup is..
1. 2 Layers of Pre-Filter(Mechanical)
2. Pot Scrubbies(Biological) Filter On top of pot scrubbies
3. De-Nitrate In Filter Bag(Chemical/Biological) Filter On top of De-Nitrate
4. Bio Glass(Biological) Filter On Top
5. Chemi Pure in Filter Bag(Chemical) Filter on top
6. Then Heater heats water/ Drains to return pipe in tank

Water Treatment Chemical I plan to use are..
SeaChems...
1.Prime
2.Stability
3.Clarity
4.StressGaurd

What is the proper way to cycle your tank would like to cycle using fish?????

I was told to buy some goldfish and use them to start the cycling proccess have the Filter running continue with water change and water treatment chemicals for a month till the tank is cycled and keep the goldfish in the tank even after the tank has been cycled for food being they were in quarintine for more than 2 weeks..

What is everyones take on my filter and info I was givin???
 
I think that sounds good.... I'm not sure about all the chemicals! I use the prime and stability on all my tanks and I will tell you it works great! I was in a tough spot a couple of weeks ago because one of my tanks broke so I had to set up a 90g as fast as I could and all I did was use the prime to de-chlorinate the water and the stability as it is directed on the bottle and I didn't loose any fish!! Thank god!

But as far as to properly cycle the tank I would say use cleaner fish that are cheap other than feeder fish so you don't risk the chance of bringing any diseases the feeder fish could possibly bring in to the tank. For example you could use tetras (at pets mart they have white clouds on sale for a dollar a piece) use the stability as directed when your dropping the fish in and wait the seven days to let that run and the filter set up that you have sounds like it will work great but you need to let all the biological bacteria grow in that as well... So I would say after two weeks as long as your water tests good than go ahead and start adding fish! I have never waited a month for a freshwater! Saltwater I have just because there is a little more to pay attention to and the fish are stupidly expensive to risk loosing!

But good luck keep us posted on how your tank goes!


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Today I Purchased a Bottle Of SeaChems Stabilty.. I heard alot of good thngs about this product but my ? is do i need to raise the water temp to get it cycling it doesnt say???? Does anyone have the anwser to my question...

Exact info From Their Website For Instruction For this product....
Directions
Use 1 capful (5 mL) for each 40 L (10 gallons*) on the first day with a new aquarium. Then use 1 capful for each 80 L (20 gallons*) daily for 7 days. Fish and other aquatic species may be introduced at any time as long as dosage is maintained for 7 days. For optimum biofilter performance use 1 capful for each 40 L (10 gallons*) once a month or with each water change and whenever introducing new fish or whenever medicating an aquarium.

But doesn't say bout temp to which help it start cycling?????
Or if you do a water Change at the end of 7 days??
Does anyone have any other info that would help properly cycle my tank while using thisp product...
 
Puffer puffer pass said:
When your trying to cycle your tank just put the heater that you will use in there and put it around 74ish and let it run!


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Great that anwsers one of my ?'s... Now here are the others...
1. Do i do a water change after the tank is cycled like the fishless cycle? If so how much of a water change?
2. Do i need to Check the Ammonia/Nitrites while adding this product daily? If so what is the reccommended levels? What if the Ammonia/Nitrites are high what do i do? Do I add Prime or AMgaurd?
3. Will the ammonia/nitrite both be 0/0 like the fishless cycle to let me kno the tank has fully cycled? Or how will i kno the tank has cycled?
 
This is what is Confusing the h*** outta me it says according to SeaChems Website...

Then use 1 capful for each 80 L (20 gallons*) daily for 7 days. Fish and other aquatic species may be introduced at any time as long as dosage is maintained for 7 days.

So do I wait 7 days for it to cycle, then test and if everything checks out add fish??? Or can I add fish on the 3rd day of the 7 day treatment does it matter?
 
You can add a small amount of fish the first day to have an ammonia source. I cycle all of my tanks with Stability and used filters from other tanks. No casualties yet. Granted, I only add 1 or 2 fish to get it going. I also double the dosage of Stability and use it for 2 weeks instead of just the first. Water changes will not hurt the cycle.

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CarvinSigX said:
You can add a small amount of fish the first day to have an ammonia source. I cycle all of my tanks with Stability and used filters from other tanks. No casualties yet. Granted, I only add 1 or 2 fish to get it going. I also double the dosage of Stability and use it for 2 weeks instead of just the first. Water changes will not hurt the cycle.

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So in other words add the inital amount when startin new tank(following Bottles direction to the "T".. double the dose of stabilty during the 7 day proccess but its ok to add a few fish fish during the 7 day cycling proccess to speed thing up but continue double dosing for 2 week? Add prime if Ammonia/Nitrite are high? would it be safe to do a 50% WC at the end of the cycle? then continue to do 30 to 50% WC Every Week? then replenish stability and prime as needed? Correct???
 
Add a small amount of fish into the tank and double the first recommended dose, which would come out to be 60ml or 12 5ml caps. For the next 13 days, use 30ml or 6 caps daily. Test your water daily and when you see you have ammonia or nitrites, do a water change and use prime as the conditioner. I used this method with known hard to acclimate fish and they are doing very well. As long as you stick to the plan, the fish will be fine. Test, test, and more tests until the tank is fully cycled. From then on out, test the nitrate levels and do a water change when they get high, which should be every week if you're not overstocked.

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