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[Vixean]

Hello~

For a long time now, I have been skimming through all of the fourms on this site to gain information on how to properly keep a tank. Now I have a tank of my own that I am going to start cycling today! It's a 10 gallon freshwater. If anybody has a few simple tips on how to cycle a tank efficiently, it would be appreciated!

 

[BBradbury]

Your Tank

Hello~

For a long time now, I have been skimming through all of the fourms on this site to gain information on how to properly keep a tank. Now I have a tank of my own that I am going to start cycling today! It's a 10 gallon freshwater. If anybody has a few simple tips on how to cycle a tank efficiently, it would be appreciated!

Hello Vix...

That's a very small tank and will take some pretty close attention to managing it. You can cycle it with some hardy fish. Two to three small fish per 10 gallons is generally recommended. Female Guppies are good. At the end of the cycle, you'll have little ones.

You need to prep the tank first. Get some floating plants like Anacharis and Hornwort. Plants provide oxygen for the fish and help use the dissolved wastes. Wastes like ammonia and nitrite are very toxic. Get a reliable water testing kit. API has a good one. When you put in the fish, test the water every day for traces of the above toxins and if you have a positive test, you need to remove and replace roughly 3 gallons of water. Replace with pure, treated tap water. By treated, you need to add Seachem's "Safe". It will remove the chemicals the public water people put into the tap water to make it safe to drink. But, these chemicals will also kill your fish.

Test every day and replace the water when needed. When you have several daily tests with no trace of ammonia or nitrite, your tank is cycled. When I cycled my first serious tank, it took just about 30 days.

This is the basic procedure.

B

 

[mistersprinkles]

Hello Vix...

That's a very small tank and will take some pretty close attention to managing it. You can cycle it with some hardy fish. Two to three small fish per 10 gallons is generally recommended. Female Guppies are good. At the end of the cycle, you'll have little ones.

You need to prep the tank first. Get some floating plants like Anacharis and Hornwort. Plants provide oxygen for the fish and help use the dissolved wastes. Wastes like ammonia and nitrite are very toxic. Get a reliable water testing kit. API has a good one. When you put in the fish, test the water every day for traces of the above toxins and if you have a positive test, you need to remove and replace roughly 3 gallons of water. Replace with pure, treated tap water. By treated, you need to add Seachem's "Safe". It will remove the chemicals the public water people put into the tap water to make it safe to drink. But, these chemicals will also kill your fish.

Test every day and replace the water when needed. When you have several daily tests with no trace of ammonia or nitrite, your tank is cycled. When I cycled my first serious tank, it took just about 30 days.

This is the basic procedure.

B

I don't understand why people still recommend cycling with fish. No offense, but it's really bad for the fish and there's no sense putting them through that sort of abuse. Again, no offense intended.

What you SHOULD do, is go into the "articles" section at the top of this page and look under "Articles" search for "cycling" and read the fishless cycling article. You need a jug of pure ammonia (hardware/cleaning supply store) and a dosing syringe (drug store).

You also need a test kit. The API Freshwater Master Test Kit is a decent choice. Runs $20-40 depending on where you shop.

Just follow the instructions in the article.

 

[BBradbury]

Fish In Tank Cycling

I don't understand why people still recommend cycling with fish. No offense, but it's really bad for the fish and there's no sense putting them through that sort of abuse. Again, no offense intended.

What you SHOULD do, is go into the "articles" section at the top of this page and look under "Articles" search for "cycling" and read the fishless cycling article. You need a jug of pure ammonia (hardware/cleaning supply store) and a dosing syringe (drug store).

You also need a test kit. The API Freshwater Master Test Kit is a decent choice. Runs $20-40 depending on where you shop.

Just follow the instructions in the article.

Hello Mr...

The Fish In cycling gets really bad press. Mostly, it's from people who make too many mistakes. They chose the wrong fish and then they didn't prepare the tank for the fish or they don't monitor the tank water.

I used this method several years ago and my fish were fine. I used 8 feeder female Guppies to cycle a 30 G and all survived. Now, I have five large tanks of healthy, fancy Guppies. It all started with those 8.

One thing I have noticed. I'm seeing posts from people using the fishless cycle and things stalling. Can't say I've ever read of that with the fish in cycle. Maybe I've just missed those posts.

Anyway, it's the tank keeper's choice. I'd still recommend using hardy fish.

B

 

[Vixean]

Hello Mr...

The Fish In cycling gets really bad press. Mostly, it's from people who make too many mistakes. They chose the wrong fish and then they didn't prepare the tank for the fish or they don't monitor the tank water.

I used this method several years ago and my fish were fine. I used 8 feeder female Guppies to cycle a 30 G and all survived. Now, I have five large tanks of healthy, fancy Guppies. It all started with those 8.

One thing I have noticed. I'm seeing posts from people using the fishless cycle and things stalling. Can't say I've ever read of that with the fish in cycle. Maybe I've just missed those posts.

Anyway, it's the tank keeper's choice. I'd still recommend using hardy fish.

B

To be honest, I was initially going to do a fishless cycle with ammonia, but I searched every single store in my town, only to find ammonia that has surfactants in it... Luckily, I have a neighbor who has been in the hobby for many years, and he is willing to give me a few guppies and a bit of his gravel to help aid the bacterial growth. I appreciate both of your responses in this thread! Wish me luck

 

[mistersprinkles]

To be honest, I was initially going to do a fishless cycle with ammonia, but I searched every single store in my town, only to find ammonia that has surfactants in it... Luckily, I have a neighbor who has been in the hobby for many years, and he is willing to give me a few guppies and a bit of his gravel to help aid the bacterial growth. I appreciate both of your responses in this thread! Wish me luck

Try to up the ante and see if he'll part with some actual biomedia. If he's been in the hobby for years he probably has 3+ aquariums set up right now. If he gave you maybe 1/6th of the biomedia in each one you could almost fully establish your tank in 1 shot.

 

[Vixean]

Try to up the ante and see if he'll part with some actual biomedia. If he's been in the hobby for years he probably has 3+ aquariums set up right now. If he gave you maybe 1/6th of the biomedia in each one you could almost fully establish your tank in 1 shot.

So I should maybe ask for plants as well? That might not be a bad idea...

 

[Fishperson]

No, not plants. Bio media is in the filter, I think it's usually ceramic, because that has a lot of surface area for the bacteria to live on.

Also, I agree with B that fish in cycling is fine as long as you do it right. That is really the hard part. The fish will be subjected to parameters that aren't perfect, but if you do it right than it won't harm them at all.

 

[Fresh2o]

So I should maybe ask for plants as well? That might not be a bad idea...

For cycling purposes, get what you can of the filter media. Plants are a plus; not necessarily for cycling* but if you plan on having them in your tank anyhow, perhaps you should ask as well.

* However, they do remove nitrogenous compounds.

 

[mistersprinkles]

So I should maybe ask for plants as well? That might not be a bad idea...

Ask him for some media out of his filters. That's where most of the beneficial bacteria is concentrated in a freshwater aquarium. Ideally, you want biomedia (ceramic rings, biochem stars, bioballs, ehfisubstrat, matrix, etc). It'll really help your aquarium to establish quickly. Offer to buy him replacement media (ie, if he gave you 1 liter of biomedia out of his canister filter, offer to buy him a replacement 1 liter of that same biomedia)
BTW I may have already asked this (foggy memory) but do you have a full test kit? If not, you ought to get one, it is essential for fishkeeping. A good, affordable kit is the API freshwater master test kit. $20-40 in store.

 

[fort384]

I don't understand why people still recommend cycling with fish. No offense, but it's really bad for the fish and there's no sense putting them through that sort of abuse. Again, no offense intended.

What you SHOULD do, is go into the "articles" section at the top of this page and look under "Articles" search for "cycling" and read the fishless cycling article. You need a jug of pure ammonia (hardware/cleaning supply store) and a dosing syringe (drug store).

You also need a test kit. The API Freshwater Master Test Kit is a decent choice. Runs $20-40 depending on where you shop.

Just follow the instructions in the article.

There is nothing wrong with fish in cycling if done correctly. Many, many, very experienced hobbyists who have great concern for the well being of their aquatic pets successfully cycle tanks fish in.

 

[BBradbury]

Fish In Tank Cycling

So I should maybe ask for plants as well? That might not be a bad idea...

Hello again Vix...

Your neighbor could safely part with half the filter media in one of his established tanks. Beneficial bacteria grows on all surfaces inside the tank, so removing even a large portion from the filter won't do any harm to the established tank. Bacteria grows extremely fast and good bacteria in the established tank would grow to its former level in a matter of hours. If the established tank is considerably larger than the one you have, you could instantly cycle yours.

B