hmm... I have a 175 gal tank. but I don't have the time to add ammonia, test the water and so on... what I did when I got my new tank is to clean it very well and add water and let the filter on and after a day, I Bought 30-40 feeder goldfish and put them on my tan(to start the bacteria build up...) and everyday I always found 3-4 dead floating fish and add another feeder gold fish... My question is how long can I do this? when I don't see dead fish anymore?
uncycled
- Thread starter Armored_delhezi
- Start date
The ammonia won't accumulate as fast but there are still traces of ammonia present and during a cycle ammonia and nitrite spikes to occur. Any trace of ammonia or nitrite can be harm and sometimes fatal to the fish.
Adding life fish to an uncycled tank and exposing them to ammonia/nitrite traces and spikes is by no means anywhere near comparable to the stress a fish goes through when doing a water change.
The answer to your question is once your water test read 0 ammonia 0 nitrites and anything but 0 nitrates then the cycle is complete. No matter how you go about cycling your tank the only way to find one when a cycle is done is by testing the water perimeters.
In response to:
The ammonia won't accumulate as fast but there are still traces of ammonia present and during a cycle ammonia and nitrite spikes to occur. Any trace of ammonia or nitrite can be harm and sometimes fatal to the fish.
Any trace amounts of ammonia can easily be remedied by a water change.
The ammonia won't accumulate as fast but there are still traces of ammonia present and during a cycle ammonia and nitrite spikes to occur. Any trace of ammonia or nitrite can be harm and sometimes fatal to the fish.
Any trace amounts of ammonia can easily be remedied by a water change.
Hmm... how about putting water from a lake? The water in the lake does have this bacteria right?
No, most of the bacteria are found on surfaces and only a few in the water column.
Not to mention the chances of introducing harmful bacterias and parasites into your tank.
I agree with this statement as the vast amount of water would dilute the harmful ammonia and nitrite to very diluted concentration. Unfortunately this isn't the case with OP's tank
Sure can but it doesn't change the fact that the fish was exposed to ammonia (and then nitrites) and will be daily before you do your daily w/c until the cycle is over. IMO I wouldn't expose my fish to any ammonia nitrites. That's the point of pre-cycling. Certainly don't want any argument started this is just my opinion on the subject at hand.
Hey, I think we can all agree it would be just great if fish were only put in tanks that are biologically ready to handle their waste.
Fact is, fish are dumped into uncycled tanks all the time, with varying degrees of success.
Sometimes, in spite of conditions, the fish end up doing quite well.
Other times they die off as fast as they are added.
Another fact is you can WC your way to a healthy tank that went the dump-em-in and hope route.
Sure it`s way more work than I would do, but it can/is done all the time.
Personally, I would never do a with fish cycle.
Fact is, fish are dumped into uncycled tanks all the time, with varying degrees of success.
Sometimes, in spite of conditions, the fish end up doing quite well.
Other times they die off as fast as they are added.
Another fact is you can WC your way to a healthy tank that went the dump-em-in and hope route.
Sure it`s way more work than I would do, but it can/is done all the time.
Personally, I would never do a with fish cycle.
the simple solution would be to wait till the tank is cycled then add fish
From what I'm reading its just easier to say wait before you drop fish into a new tank, Do all the necessary things and then add the fish.
From what I'm reading its just easier to say wait before you drop fish into a new tank, Do all the necessary things and then add the fish.
I've seen this topic over and over on the forum and everyone has a different opinion on this.
I started by 150 with 3 small clown loached and 3 small bala sharks. I still have the fish today, clowns are 5+ inches and the balas are in the 12 inch range.
I even did the same thing with the same fish when I moved them from the 150 to my 500 (fish were smaller when added to the 150 than stated above and were in more quantity, I slowly added them over time).
I don't see an issue doing this will small fish, but that's just me. I would not however try this with a large fish compared to tank volume. For instance, I would not add a 12 inch fish to a 150 gallon uncycled tank.
This is just my opinion from personal experience.
I started by 150 with 3 small clown loached and 3 small bala sharks. I still have the fish today, clowns are 5+ inches and the balas are in the 12 inch range.
I even did the same thing with the same fish when I moved them from the 150 to my 500 (fish were smaller when added to the 150 than stated above and were in more quantity, I slowly added them over time).
I don't see an issue doing this will small fish, but that's just me. I would not however try this with a large fish compared to tank volume. For instance, I would not add a 12 inch fish to a 150 gallon uncycled tank.
This is just my opinion from personal experience.
