ok so i got a 10 gallon starter kit. had some feeder goldies in there (pet store lady was trying to get me to cycle the tank with them) ok so ammonia spiked, gold fish died off one by one. (she didnt tell me this was going to happen) anywho i had a tank with the exact same filter and its established wonderfully. i took the filter out of the cycled tank and placed it in the new tank. this was a week after initial setup. 3 days later, ammonia is zero nitrites is zero. is my tank really cycled? i dont have a nitrate test yet. it will be here soon. so either its done or i did something and its back at square one. the pet store said if ammonia is zero for 3 days and nitrites are zero its cycled. last thing i wanna do is stock it and lose everything. please any help or advice would be appreciated
question about my cycle. is it really done already?
- Thread starter biohazardcustomz
- Start date
did u put the a bit of media from the old filter in the new filter?
did all the fish die?
if there are no fish in the tank anymore then: u should cycle ur tank with pure ammonia and seachem stability.
cheap, clean, fast and simple!
did all the fish die?
if there are no fish in the tank anymore then: u should cycle ur tank with pure ammonia and seachem stability.
cheap, clean, fast and simple!
I know the feeling. I recently re-setup an old 30 and used a HOB filter and cartridge from an establish 60 along with some of the gravel. I don't remember exactly how long it took to cycle but I was shocked at how quick it was.
I'm sure the goldies helped to get the process going quicker.
I'm with the pet store guy. But I'd definitely be careful with the amount of fish you stock it with especially initially. A 10G obviously has a small carrying capacity but overstocking it right off the bat will overload the system.
Have Fun
I'm sure the goldies helped to get the process going quicker.
I'm with the pet store guy. But I'd definitely be careful with the amount of fish you stock it with especially initially. A 10G obviously has a small carrying capacity but overstocking it right off the bat will overload the system.
Have Fun
biohazardcustomz;3764631; said:
everyone keeps telling me to either do it or asks if i did. its the same disposable filter cartridge in both units. i took the gunky one out of the old tank and put it in the new filter. i do not want to cycle the tank again because i think its done already. i just want to be sure.
biohazardcustomz;3764672; said:
well u might have to do it again.. are all ur fish dead in the new tank?
it should take a little more then 10 days to cycle a tank if u were using gold fish as an ammonia source. i say this even with ur seeded filter.
Deaths Sting;3764674; said:
right thats what i was thinking but if it wasnt cycled why would ammonia and nitrite read zero. after readings of them being present.
biohazardcustomz;3764701; said:right thats what i was thinking but if it wasnt cycled why would ammonia and nitrite read zero. after readings of them being present.
if all the fish are dead that would be why the ammonia is 0... there's nothing in the tank to produce ammonia and eventually the beneficial bacteria will die off. at this point u would have to re cycle the tank.
i don't see why u keep avoiding this question.. Ive said it 3 times now, i just want to help you the best i can and i need every little bit of info u got to do so.
You still have 2 goldfish left right?
If you have fish in there and the ammonia and nitrite are zero, the filter is cycled.
Like I told you before, its not the tank that gets cycled, its the filter. That filter was already cycled in the other tank.
If you still have fish in the other tank, it is no longer cycled.
The bacteria are all on that gunky filter. Keep that gunky filter with your fish. Fire up another filter on the same tank... that filter will also attain the bacteria that are needed and then both filters will be cycled and you can safely run both tanks.
The filter needs to have the right amount of bacteria to handle the waste produced by the fish. When you move a filter that has the bacteria on it for 3 neon tetras and put that into a tank with goldfish (just and example) it will need more bacteria to do the job... so that "cycled filter" will take a few days to catch up to the additional waste that is in the water. But if you cycled a filter with goldfish and moved it to a tank of neons... the filter won't need to catch up, it will have enough bacteria to handle the smaller bioload already.
If you have fish in there and the ammonia and nitrite are zero, the filter is cycled.
Like I told you before, its not the tank that gets cycled, its the filter. That filter was already cycled in the other tank.
If you still have fish in the other tank, it is no longer cycled.
The bacteria are all on that gunky filter. Keep that gunky filter with your fish. Fire up another filter on the same tank... that filter will also attain the bacteria that are needed and then both filters will be cycled and you can safely run both tanks.
The filter needs to have the right amount of bacteria to handle the waste produced by the fish. When you move a filter that has the bacteria on it for 3 neon tetras and put that into a tank with goldfish (just and example) it will need more bacteria to do the job... so that "cycled filter" will take a few days to catch up to the additional waste that is in the water. But if you cycled a filter with goldfish and moved it to a tank of neons... the filter won't need to catch up, it will have enough bacteria to handle the smaller bioload already.
the tank read zero on ammonia before the remaining two goldies got taken out. i didnt take the whole filter i meant the cartridge pad. it was covered in stuff from my other tank. i took the goldies back to the pet store and asked her not to try that again with me. but im going to just wait for my master kit because the one i have doesnt do nitrates for some reason. if none i will re-cycle it but till then im not messin with it.