Need some advice on this cycle

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oscar777

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 1, 2014
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Australia
Okay, so I've been trying to set up a 200gallon for ages, last one leaked so I'm onto the next one and its been cycling for 2 weeks. I added the chlorine etc remover at the start and every now and again I squeezed some filter sponges into the water to seed the bacteria from a cycled 45 gallon. I haven't had any nitrate show up yet and I've got a green terror and a red terror waiting in the 45 gallon. I added a bucket of water filled with bacteria from the filter in the 45 gallon to the tank today which was a large amount compared to last time to hopefully get a quicker and more effective result. Is there anything you could advise me on,how long it will take, when I can add fish, am I doing anything wrong etc. Thanks :)
 
Put some feeder fish or pure ammonia in the tank. I don't think crushed flake food will create ammonia to start the cycle. If you are in fact putting BB in the tank they have nothing to feed off of


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well what I'm saying is, now that I've put plenty of bacteria from the other tank in this one, would it be ok to add fish and then they can just feed off the fish waste or what?
 
Dixon81 said:
Put some feeder fish or pure ammonia in the tank. I don't think crushed flake food will create ammonia to start the cycle. If you are in fact putting BB in the tank they have nothing to feed off of
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Adding food to the tank will provide ammonia, as that is how nitrogenous compounds enter your aquarium. Adding fish or ammonia works too of course.

But the way you added bacteria might not be the best. The beneficial bacteria colonize the surfaces that get adequate water flow and oxygenation. So things like gravel, filter sponges, rocks, etc...all have bacteria on them in an established system. Now I'm sure that by squeezing the sponge into your aquarium you rubbed some bacteria off, but I don't know how quickly they will colonize the tank when they're loose like that. Maybe that's the issue, maybe not. Simply throwing the sponge in an area of the tank with decent water flow should work though. Adding a bucket of tank water from an established aquarium does little-to-nothing, though.

And I'd say just bite the bullet and spend the combined $15 on an ammonia and nitrite test. Then you know how far along you are. Or bring a water sample to your LFS and have them test it for you. And I personally wouldn't try dosing pure ammonia unless you have these tests.

Best of luck!
 
If the fish are small, I say just put them in. Small fish in a 200 gallon will have little impact. Maintain regular water changes and you'll be fine. I put 10 x 3-4 inch cichlids in a new 240 without cycling. I tested parameters daily and there was only a minimal impact. You should be fine.


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lanceiswaiting said:
If the fish are small, I say just put them in. Small fish in a 200 gallon will have little impact. Maintain regular water changes and you'll be fine. I put 10 x 3-4 inch cichlids in a new 240 without cycling. I tested parameters daily and there was only a minimal impact. You should be fine.


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+1. Large volume of water with a couple of small fish is no problem. Put both fish in there and do a 30%-50% water change every 3-4 days. check the water parameters every 1-2 days to keep an eye out for issues.

I cycled my 180 last summer with 2 severums (3"+) exactly this way.
 
You CAN cycle with those fish, but I would advise against it. There is nothing wrong with the method you're using but by adding only a bit of food it will take a long time to cycle with a tank that large. Adding pure ammonia would be much quicker. Are you taking down the 45? If so then you could add the fish right now if you move the filters over since they would have enough BB already to handle the road. I've set up new tanks that way before with no problem, you just wait a week or two before removing the filter that was on the smaller tank since you want to give the new filters plenty of time to get seeded.
 
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