Starting my 30Gallon aquarium - cycling

[elliott_001]

Hello everyone, just created myself an account. My brother is already a member - satsumas. i have posted a question on his account in 'general discussion' about cycling using goldfish, but i have decided against that now.

I have filled the tank with treated water to remove chlorine, metal ions etc, i also added some stress zyme. The filter media, pump, thermostat and thermometer are all in and working, and have been for about 2 days now.

I now need to cycle the tank, but im not sure exactly what to do, from what i understand i need to build up a biological filtration system, containing bacteria which converts harmful ammonia into nitrite, and then nitrate.

As my brother already has an established tank, can i not use things like plants, rocks or water from his tank to introduce bacteria to my filter?

Best of all would be running his filter in my tank? Is this ok?

How long could his tank go without the filter, and how long would his filter need to be in my tank to start the process?

 

[rich311k]

You would be better off running your filter on his tank for several weeks.

 

[elliott_001]

I cant easily do that, because my filter is a big juwel thing which i cant move from my tank, i can move the media, but thats about it, my brothers filter is a fully portable unit however....typical!

 

[rich311k]

See if he will let you have half of is filter media to seed your tank. Maybe a bag of gravel as well. Just keep it all wet as you move it.

 

[elliott_001]

My brothers filter system has the pump built in, its a small unit and only has one circlular piece of media in it, so i cant have half. sorry i did'nt say that.

Would it be worth adding things like a few plants, a rock and some water every now and then? or is this just going to take for ever to build up the biological filter?

 

[rich311k]

Rocks and plants would help. Water does not contain the bacteria you are looking for.

 

[elliott_001]

Okie doke, thats a start then, so how long should i leave the tank to cycle with his plants and rocks in? Is this all i should do, or should i be doing something else?

 

[rich311k]

This is how you do it. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=15 Ignore the saltwater part, works for fresh as well. You can use pure ammonia or fish food if you dont like the idea of watching a shrimp decompose. Please keep posting your questions we are here to help.

 

[elliott_001]

Great, cheers man, best get myself a shrimp!

 

[elliott_001]

The cycling process will take a couple of weeks, in the mean time im thinking about the fish i want to put in the tank, i would like some clown loach, 5 if i could keep this many. Im thinking that may be too many, as i will put other fish in too. The tank is a juwel 120ltr.

 

[bosk1]

That's about 30 gallons...probably too small for clown loaches, period (they get to about 12 inches), although many people still get them with the intention of upgrading to a larger tank later. I will offer a suggestion that was made to me: have you considered yo-yo loaches? They don't get as big, and are just as cool unless, like me, you are dead set on that tiger stripe pattern.

 

[elliott_001]

Darn! I thought they grew to about 6 inches! My brother has two yo-yo loach, they are cool, but yeah, i wanted to get the black and orange striped clown loach. So what did you do? Go for the yo-yo loach?

 

[bosk1]

Nah, I went with the clown loaches anyway. The 55 isn't big enough to house them when fully grown, but I bought them small, so they'll be fine for a while. And I am very serious about getting a larger tank down the road, so I will transfer them into the big tank when they grow up. I dunno, the common copout for people who buy fish too big for their tank is, "but I'm going to get a bigger tank later, or else I'll just take them back to the lfs!" I'm guilty. But I can truly say that I know it will be quite some time before they become uncomfortable in the 55 gallon, and unless some big life changes occur, I expect to have both the space and the money for the larger tank later.