How do I know my tank is "cycled"?

[archie.atkinson]

Hi

I have put my filter in my mates fish tank for 2 weeks(his has been running for around 6 months) to cycle it and now the filter is in my tank.

How do i know its cycled and i have a colony of good bacteria ready for SHRIMP? Do i need to do anything else?

P.S does it matter i am not getting the shrimp till Wednesday

Thank you soo much

 

[librarygirl]

Hi if it's a small tank just for shrimp you could try dosing a small amount of pure ammonia and see if it disappears within 24 hours. Just use pure ammonia (Ace hardware brand is best) without surfectants, dyes or perfumes. Do you have a test kit? How large is the tank? I'd add a few drops of ammo and wait 30 minutes and test the water's ammonia level. Try to get it to about 1-2, which should be more than enough. Then test again in 24 hours. Redose each day and test again the next day; if ammonia clears continuously in 24 hours and there aren't any nitrites and nitrates show, then you have a cycled tank.

 

[archie.atkinson]

Hi if it's a small tank just for shrimp you could try dosing a small amount of pure ammonia and see if it disappears within 24 hours. Just use pure ammonia (Ace hardware brand is best) without surfectants, dyes or perfumes. Do you have a test kit? How large is the tank? I'd add a few drops of ammo and wait 30 minutes and test the water's ammonia level. Try to get it to about 1-2, which should be more than enough. Then test again in 24 hours. Redose each day and test again the next day; if ammonia clears continuously in 24 hours and there aren't any nitrites and nitrates show, then you have a cycled tank.

Its 19L and i do have a test kit and i put some fish food to get some ammonia a few hours ago. Should i have put some cleaning ammonia instead and take the food out? And shouldt there be a bit of nitrites

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Its 19L and i do have a test kit and i put some fish food to get some ammonia a few hours ago. Should i have put some cleaning ammonia instead and take the food out? And shouldt there be a bit of nitrites

If there was no ammonia source during the last two weeks I'm sorry to say but the BB in the seeded filter are probably dead. you will have to start the cycle from scratch. You will need to PURE ammonia to do a fishless cycle.

 

[archie.atkinson]

If there was no ammonia source during the last two weeks I'm sorry to say but the BB in the seeded filter are probably dead. you will have to start the cycle from scratch. You will need to PURE ammonia to do a fishless cycle.

Its been in a establish tank for 2 weeks that have fish in and my tank for less then a day

 

[P8ntballer52]

Just add a few fish. Fish less cycles are silly

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Its been in a establish tank for 2 weeks that have fish in and my tank for less then a day

Sorry must have read wrong. Oops! IMO you are right to stock slowly making sure you keep a very close eye on your parameters. Shrimp are more sensitive than fish so stay in top of them and do a PWC as needed.

 

[davePM]

Just add a few fish. Fish less cycles are silly

No, that comment is silly. Some people, myself included, prefer fishless cycling.

 

[giants1249er]

No, that comment is silly. Some people, myself included, prefer fishless cycling.

I have to agree with you. I have experienced both fishin (didn't know better) and fishless cycles. Fishless was much much easier. With the fishin cycle, I had to do multiple pwc daily to try to keep my ammonia and nitrite levels as low as possible. Luckily my platies survived and are thriving now.

 

[BettaBetty]

I have to agree with you. I have experienced both fishin (didn't know better) and fishless cycles. Fishless was much much easier. With the fishin cycle, I had to do multiple pwc daily to try to keep my ammonia and nitrite levels as low as possible. Luckily my platies survived and are thriving now.

Actually, if you use Prime everyday you don't have to do anymore water changes then normally...Prime degtoxifies Ammonia and Nitrite and still allows your cycle to happen...it gives the benefit of the High Ammonia levels of Fishless Cycle and lets you avoid daily water changes without having to wait to put your fish in

With products like Prime, fishless cycling is no longer needed and is sort of an outdated pointless process

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Actually, if you use Prime everyday you don't have to do anymore water changes then normally...Prime degtoxifies Ammonia and Nitrite and still allows your cycle to happen...it gives the benefit of the High Ammonia levels of Fishless Cycle and lets you avoid daily water changes without having to wait to put your fish in

With products like Prime, fishless cycling is no longer needed

Nothing beats clean, fresh water. Not even prime. I prefer fish in cycling. I do the water changes. But thats just me.

 

[davePM]

Actually, if you use Prime everyday you don't have to do anymore water changes then normally...Prime degtoxifies Ammonia and Nitrite and still allows your cycle to happen...it gives the benefit of the High Ammonia levels of Fishless Cycle and lets you avoid daily water changes without having to wait to put your fish in

With products like Prime, fishless cycling is no longer needed and is sort of an outdated pointless process

That is such bad advice! Prime does not remove ammo or nitrites, it simply converts ammonia to a state that is harmless to the fish but still available to the BB. You still need to do PWC to remove it!

I would also disagree that fish less cycling is outdated and pointless. I have no problem with anyone fish in cycling, I just prefer fish less as I don't want the hassle of daily PWC and I don't like the idea of needlessly exposing fish to a toxic environment.

 

[Fishkeeper26]

Actually, if you use Prime everyday you don't have to do anymore water changes then normally...Prime degtoxifies Ammonia and Nitrite and still allows your cycle to happen...it gives the benefit of the High Ammonia levels of Fishless Cycle and lets you avoid daily water changes without having to wait to put your fish in

With products like Prime, fishless cycling is no longer needed and is sort of an outdated pointless process

That certainly isn't true. You can dose prime everyday but it only lasts for 48 hours. Plus if you dose everyday you'll exceed the lethal dose of prime which is 10x. There are different opinions of cycling, however dosing prime doesn't replace water changes.

Back on topic, I would dose a small amount of ammonia to know where your cycle is at anyways.

 

[BettaBetty]

That is such bad advice! Prime does not remove ammo or nitrites, it simply converts ammonia to a state that is harmless to the fish but still available to the BB. You still need to do PWC to remove it!

Why do you need to Remove something that is "harmless to the fish"? If anything its best to keep as much Harmless Ammonium(what ammonia is converted to) as is safe in your tank to feed the Nitrofying bacteria

 

[BettaBetty]

That certainly isn't true. You can dose prime everyday but it only lasts for 48 hours. Plus if you dose everyday you'll exceed the lethal dose of prime which is 10x..

You are contridicting yourself in your own post...If it only works for 48 hours and you dose twice in 48hrs.....That would be 2X the normal dose....which is absolutely fine

I understand not understanding prime and how it works...but sticking to a fishless cycle when there are products like prime is just needless

 

[Fishkeeper26]

If it only works for 48 hours and you dose twice in 48hrs.....That would me 2X the normal dose....which is absolutely fine

You said everyday, which would build up...

 

[Mumma.of.two]

If it only works for 48 hours and you dose twice in 48hrs.....That would me 2X the normal dose....which is absolutely fine

But then the next day you'd dose then the next and the next. Your saying no PWC???

 

[BettaBetty]

But then the next day you'd dose then the next and the next. Your saying no PWC???

I'd still do the average amount of PWC that is recommended(i said that above)...i have goldfish so i do two 50% water changes a week, but with smaller tropical(the least i would go) is 25%-50% once a week

 

[Mumma.of.two]

You are contridicting yourself in your own post...If it only works for 48 hours and you dose twice in 48hrs.....That would be 2X the normal dose....which is absolutely fine

I understand not understanding prime and how it works...but sticking to a fishless cycle when there are products like prime is just needless

So instead of exposing them to the more toxic ammonia you are exposing them to potentially fatal dose of prime? Doesn't make sense to me. The BEST thing for fish is clean, healthy water. Leaving unnecessarily large amounts of anything in an aquarium is bad IMO.

 

[BettaBetty]

So instead of exposing them to the more toxic ammonia you are exposing them to potentially fatal dose of prime? Doesn't make sense to me. The BEST thing for fish is clean, healthy water. Leaving unnecessarily large amounts of anything in an aquarium is bad IMO.

Anyone who's been in this hobby or worked in this industry for awhile knows 2x the recommended dose isn't lethal...heck 10x is recommended in some cases with very bad water