so i am new to the fish game and i was talking to some friends who own aquariums and also doing some research about it. I was wondering before I actually stocked my tank if i could use some small cheap fish like ghost shrimp to begin my water cycle of turning ammonium to nitrate to nitrite (I think thats the correct order) I know there are bacteria starting kits and i was wondering if anyone else has done this with other cheap fish before stocking the tank with the full inhabitants of it.
starting the water cycle
- Thread starter purplesmurf123
- Start date
Get a local friend to give you a piece of there filter media, no cyclin.
Of course you want to let the bacteria grow out some, put in mollies of guppys or something of the sort to produce waste to help bacteria spread throughout the filter.
Of course you want to let the bacteria grow out some, put in mollies of guppys or something of the sort to produce waste to help bacteria spread throughout the filter.
alright will do I was just thinking like ghost shrimp minnows or gold fish because they are 13 cents each haha
purplesmurf123;4365940; said:
The problem with bulk feeders is they are breed/moved/kept in extremely poor conditions. You dont want a disease bag floating around in your new tank dropping ich cysts all over the place.
ok so just get a piece of a friends filter and some guppies. how long should i keep the guppies before i put in the fish i want to get? I was thinking about south american cichlids
I did a cycle in a 55 by emptying the gravel and transfering the filter from a 10 gallon well cycled tank. I also added a bottle of the bacteria they sell ("add fish instantly"). Water was great for a week, then bacteria bloom happen, lasted for about 3 days then tank was cycled. Of course the bioload in the 55 was more than the load in the 10 but I would have thought the bottle of bacteria meant for up to 75 gallon would have handled it though. But...no loss of fish life(and there were some delicate ones) and hella fash cycle just not instant.
Just visit your buddies and gank some crap from their filters ( literally ) when they clean it. pour the black/brown slurry into your filter.. or just directly into your tank. pinch of flakes 1x a day.. NItrates, ammonia will ka-boom.. personally I find waterchanges make the whole cycle last longer. when your tank is reading 10 + ppm nitrates, 0 ammonia, 0 Nitrites. do a 50% WC and feed tank some flakes. test it again in 24-48 hours. If it maintains you've got a nice bacteria colony started. It's the ammonia/nitrite levels that need to be 0.. and nitrates that you need a solid reading on.
Edit : BTW no fish in the tank. gives you a chance to make sure teh filter/heater ect is all running properly and should take approx 1-2 weeks.
Edit : BTW no fish in the tank. gives you a chance to make sure teh filter/heater ect is all running properly and should take approx 1-2 weeks.
its going to be a 55 gallon tank with just a top fin filter for now i might upgrade if the bioload becomes to heavy for it