New member

Anam4001 · Aug 3, 2012

Hi everyone, my name is Anam and i'm new here. I just recently got a tank and I'm doing a fish-in cycle and I just wanted some advice on what happens during the cycle, how long it lasts for and i waned to know how many fish i can put in my tank and which fish would best get along with each other. i have a 45 gallon tank and I have 3 fish in there so far, one marigold swordtail, one white skirt tetra and one black skirt tetra. I really wanted to add some angelfish once the tank has cycled.Would love some feedback, thanks!!

Aquavic · Aug 3, 2012

Welcome! I'm not too experienced but cycling takes a long time, depends how big your tank is and what method you're using. Cycling with fish takes a lot longer than fishless cycling because it takes a while for the ammonia to build up with fish. With a tank that big and only three fish the process will take months. Cycling is basically turning ammonia to nitrite and then to less harmful nitrate. You need beneficial bacteria to make ammonia to nitrite and other beneficial bacteria to turn nitrite to nitrate.

Anam4001 · Aug 3, 2012

i just didn't want to add more fish until it was fully cycled, i put plants into the aquarium, and I'm monitoring the ammonia levels daily and once that's done monitor the nitrite levels and then the nitrate levels. I was reading online and they said that adding fish food and the fish would basically cycle the aquarium and eventually grow good bacteria into the tank. do u suggest i add more fish??

Tcarnes · Aug 3, 2012

I've started several new setups for people. I always put something from my existing aquarium into the new tank. This introduces a lot of the needed bacteria. Sort of gives a boost to the cycling. Also I recommend a few smaller fish and by the time they start to get bigger the cycling should be about done.

Anam4001 · Aug 3, 2012

I haven't owned an aquarium before and I don't know anyone that does own it so I don't know where I would get the filter media from, do you know if there is a place I could get it from?and do u think it will take a few months for my aquarium to cycle too?

Shane87 · Aug 3, 2012

Maybe you could ask you lfs for some old media? If you already have a fish in there it shouldn't take long but every tank is different.

Anam4001 · Aug 3, 2012

What is Ifs?

Samzter · Aug 3, 2012

Anam4001 said:
What is Ifs?

Welcome to AA! Lfs stands for local fish shop. Hope you like the site so far!

Barakis · Aug 3, 2012

Samzter said:
Welcome to AA! Lfs stands for local fish shop. Hope you like the site so far!

I thought it was live fish stockist... Nevermind. Lol

Andrew McFadden · Aug 3, 2012

to AA

Aquavic · Aug 3, 2012

Anam4001 said:
I haven't owned an aquarium before and I don't know anyone that does own it so I don't know where I would get the filter media from, do you know if there is a place I could get it from?and do u think it will take a few months for my aquarium to cycle too?

You can usually get everything you need at petco or pet smart but I recommend buying your things online. They're usually cheaper and better quality. I dont know very many websites but there's a thread on here where people have been posting websites for awesome cheap stuff. When you get a filter make sure suits your substrate, if you have an aquarium with sand make sure you pick a filter that's sand safe as it can damage filters meant for gravel