Any cycling tips?

[Jessiicaxrosex3]

Need some cycling tips/opinions. Fish/fish-less cycling methods? I put media from up and running tanks for a week and added some rummy nose and everyone is dying off.. Dont have the test kit on me right now so i dont know exact levels, but is there anything different i could be doing/not doing?

 

[Rivers2k]

How soon after setting up the tank?
How many fish did you add?
What size tank?
Did you use any prime or dechlorinator?

 

[Jessiicaxrosex3]

A week. 10 rummy nose, 55 gallons and ofcourse i used prime

 

[Fatboyfish]

Its always a good idea to feed light after transferring media into a new tank. The more media the better and you aren't limited to filter media. This might be a shocker but anything wet inside a tank is a biofilter: gravel plants decorations. My guess is you didn't add enough biopopulated items to sustain the load and are having a mini cycle. Or you just got bad fish.

 

[Mattyfelts]

Its always a good idea to feed light after transferring media into a new tank. The more media the better and you aren't limited to filter media. This might be a shocker but anything wet inside a tank is a biofilter: gravel plants decorations. My guess is you didn't add enough biopopulated items to sustain the load and are having a mini cycle. Or you just got bad fish.

although that is true, gravel, plants, and decorations have minimal biological bacteria in comparison to direct filter media. However if you move media from a tank with say just one betta, then throw it in a 55 with 10 rummy nose itll do barely anything.

Honestly i dont think you had enough biological bacteria on the media you transferred.

 

[Fatboyfish]

although that is true, gravel, plants, and decorations have minimal biological bacteria in comparison to direct filter media.

That's not the point. The point is to move over as much as you can. If even for a short period of time. OP needs to realize she has options and not just the typical regurgitated filter media option.

However if you move media from a tank with say just one betta, then throw it in a 55 with 10 rummy nose itll do barely anything.

Good point to bring up since she didn't mention that.

 

[Mattyfelts]

That's not the point. The point is to move over as much as you can. If even for a short period of time. OP needs to realize she has options and not just the typical regurgitated filter media option.

Yes but she also needs to realize that it wont make as large of an impact as seeming to be.

I would suggest not buying new fish, returning any survivors, and cycling properly (although it may be significantly shortened).

 

[aqua_holic]

I put media from up and running tanks for a week ....

What exactly does this mean?

Its always a good idea to feed light after transferring media into a new tank. The more media the better and you aren't limited to filter media. This might be a shocker but anything wet inside a tank is a biofilter: gravel plants decorations. My guess is you didn't add enough biopopulated items to sustain the load and are having a mini cycle. Or you just got bad fish.

Agreed.

although that is true, gravel, plants, and decorations have minimal biological bacteria in comparison to direct filter media. However if you move media from a tank with say just one betta, then throw it in a 55 with 10 rummy nose itll do barely anything.



Honestly i dont think you had enough biological bacteria on the media you transferred.

Where the bulk of the bacteria lives is a contested topic, with very knowledgable and experienced keepers on both sides (filter and substrate). I've never seen anything that tips the scale in either direction so I'm content to believe it's more or less an even split, with the larger portion being in the filter.

You make an excellent point about the effectiveness of transferring media. The bioload of the donor tank is extremely important in deciding how much media is required to instantly cycle the tank. However, it's all about proportions. 10 little fish in a 55 gallon tank may not produce as high of an ammonia concentration as a betta in a 2.5 gallon tank, for example.

Water tests will determine whether the instant cycle worked or not. The fish dying off may or may not have anything to do with the water - I think it's really 50/50 at this point, as we have very little information to go on.

 

[Fatboyfish]

Yes but she also needs to realize that it wont make as large of an impact as seeming to be.

Without knowing more info about the previous tank neither you nor I can make that call. Vague questions are given vague answers.

Limiting her options hypothetically isn't being helpful at all.

 

[Jessiicaxrosex3]

I have the filter cartridges from my 55 g discus tank and sponges from the same filter, in the new tank, to specify.

 

[mikem691]

Hey Jess
You will really need to test the water to see what's going on. You know what you are doing so either you got bad stock or something went wrong when you transferred the media. I move filters all the time with no problems.

 

[Jessiicaxrosex3]

Test kit was with the original discus tank, ill test when im home later to get exact numbers and then i'll see what i'm working with i guess

 

[PNWaquarist]

Rummys are pretty sensitive. Others may disagree, but I wouldn't do a fish-in cycle with them.

From what I've experienced, the best way to cycle a new tank with existing media is to use porous biomedia in the filter of the established tank and to move ~1/3 of it over to the new tank. Moving over decroations, fake plants, substrate, etc. from the established tank helps, but your BB colony definitely grows most quickly in your filter (unless you're using an undergravel filter, in which case it'll be the gravel).

 

[Jessiicaxrosex3]

I am going to move over more media tomorrow. I guess the existing filter media didn't do much because my parameters (just tested) are all out of whack. Moving the existing fish to my other tank for a while. ?

 

[Jessiicaxrosex3]

All fish were caught and moved to my community tank. Not sure how i feel about fish-in cycling anymore

 

[jetajockey]

Why? It's pretty safe if you can monitor the tank parameters fairly well, stock lightly, plant the tank, or seed with media.

 

[Rivers2k]

Hey Jess
You will really need to test the water to see what's going on. You know what you are doing so either you got bad stock or something went wrong when you transferred the media. I move filters all the time with no problems.

I agree with this 10 rummy nose shouldn't do much to a 55 in a week. Fish in cycling is safe just have to take it slow. Never had a problem loosing fish because of cycling. I tend to use a little hardier fish like live bearers or barbs. But now that I keep mostly CA cichlids I just use them.

 

[Jessiicaxrosex3]

Im trying to figure out fish to use, since my lfs wont take fish back and i cant put them in with the sa cichlids or discus tank afterword. The tank is bare-bottom, so im not sure if thats going to make this process harder. I agree, cycling my old tanks with the cichlids was seemingly easy

 

[aqua_holic]

What were your test values?

 

[Jessiicaxrosex3]

Ammonia .25, nitrites .50- 1.0, nitrate 40