Air pump help!

[I Am Joltz]

So it's day 8 of my new tank cycling i guess and i have 3 live plants and 2 rocks so far, no other life besides the plants.
I'm gonna get more plants, and by more i mean a lot. and in about 2 - 3 weeks from now i will be adding my 2 Angel fish. So my question is how many hours in a day should i run my air pump?

 

[ImACoolguy]

If you have a filter you don't even need to have an air pump. They are totally unnecessary and only used as part of the decor most of the time.

Are you certain your cycle will be finished in 2-3 weeks? Otherwise you are just switching from Fishless to a fish in cycle.


Caleb

 

[I Am Joltz]

It's a 30 gallon and i'm pretty sure it will be cycled in a month i just noticed a snail in there lol, probably came with the plant. So if he does not die in 4 weeks i believe it should be fine. And thanks for the air pump info!

 

[ScotJudd]

Woah! Don't think the tank cycled just because a snail survives! They are a lot less picky than fish.
Cycle your tank properly before adding fish, if you add fish too early it's a real bind to finish the cycling with fish in. Apart from that you could weaken the fish, maybe not kill them, but certainly reduce their immune system so illness and disease is more likely.
Adding lots of plant before fish is a good move, I am of the opinion that heavily planted tanks are more stable providing any dead matter is removed before decay.
Enjoy your angels when you get them.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[I Am Joltz]

Thanks Scott i will be sure to add more plants in 2 weeks so my tank will become heavily planted. and in 4 weeks i will run all the tests to ensure my tank is stable before i add any fish.

 

[coralbandit]

What is your ammonia source you are using to cycle?

 

[I Am Joltz]

I'm using the existing media cycle way, a friend suggested this to me.

 

[coralbandit]

I'm using the existing media cycle way, a friend suggested this to me.

From a cycled tank?

 

[ImACoolguy]

I'm using the existing media cycle way, a friend suggested this to me.

Even from a cycled tank or not you still need to add an ammonia source to keep the BB fed and growing.

Since this is Fishless cycling you can add any of these:

Pure grade ammonia(10%) can be found at many hardware stores

Fish food

Table shrimp in a pantyhose- I really like this method and the pure ammonia. They keep the ammonia pretty high constantly.


Caleb

 

[I Am Joltz]

How much fish food and were to put it in my tank? it's a 30 gallon.

 

[ImACoolguy]

Use your liquid test kit. However much it takes to hit 3-4ppm


Caleb

 

[I Am Joltz]

Okay, Thanks mate

 

[ImACoolguy]

Personally I think the bottle of ammonia is the cheapest method. Depending on your readings, it may take quite a bit of fish food. Fish food ain't cheap.

The ammonia is only a couple bucks and it the most powerful of the 3 methods.


Caleb

 

[coralbandit]

DON'T add fish food till your ammonia reads 3-4!!!!!
Fish food degrades at different (very unpredictable) rates.
With flake food what is 1 ppm today can be 6 ppm tomorrow !
The ammonia is the best method ,but if you have to use food then feed very sparingly every/every other day like you were feeding one fish!
A couple of flakes a day at the most.
You do need a test kit or you will never know what is going on.
How old was the tank the gravel came from and how many fish were in it?

 

[ImACoolguy]

DON'T add fish food till your ammonia reads 3-4!!!!!
Fish food degrades at different (very unpredictable) rates.
With flake food what is 1 ppm today can be 6 ppm tomorrow !
The ammonia is the best method ,but if you have to use food then feed very sparingly every/every other day like you were feeding one fish!
A couple of flakes a day at the most.
You do need a test kit or you will never know what is going on.
How old was the tank the gravel came from and how many fish were in it?

Pretty good point. Food does degrade at different points but during a Fishless cycle it wouldn't matter much if the ammonia was at 6ppm there's no fish in there for it too affect? I ran 8ppm in my SW Fishless and 4ppm constantly in my FW Fishless.


Caleb

 

[coralbandit]

It is not the ammonia level that matters IMO,
just the unpredictablty of the food and the fact you will need to get it all out when the cycle completes.
Where I came from we fishless cycled with 4ppm ammonia EVERYDAY until nitrites showed!You never needed to test for ammonia till you saw nitrates!

 

[I Am Joltz]

I'll be sure to do water changes every-week and will clean my bed with a gravel vacuum.