Cycling

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Lakerfan24

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
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I recently bought a 40 gallon aquarium and I need the fastest way to cycle. So is fish in cycling easy or hard? Would danios and serape tetras good fish to help cycle? Please help if seeing this
 
Fishless cycling is the best way. You can cycle with a couple danios, but it will still take some time and it will actually take longer for you to add the full stock if you do it this way.

Take the 4 or so weeks and do the fishless cycle.
 
Could I add fish flakes and the flakes turn to ammonia to speed it up?
 
If this is an upgrade tank, then you could use some filter media from your old tank to seed the new tank, but it will still take a while to fully cycle.

I know it's no fun to wait, but if you rush the cycle, your tank will never be setup for the long term.

I would read up on the fishless cycle and dosing with ammonia. If you have some filter media from a previous tank, you could fully cycle your tank if possibly 2-3 weeks.
 
If this is an upgrade tank, then you could use some filter media from your old tank to seed the new tank, but it will still take a while to fully cycle.

I know it's no fun to wait, but if you rush the cycle, your tank will never be setup for the long term.

I would read up on the fishless cycle and dosing with ammonia. If you have some filter media from a previous tank, you could fully cycle your tank if possibly 2-3 weeks.


+1^^ but rushing will only cost you in the long run.
 
Are you planning to move everything over (fish) from a current tank to the 40? Is the current tank cycled? If it's an upgrade and you're moving everything over, just move the fish into the 40 and either run the current filter on the current tank alongside the new filter for the 40, or if you have room add all the media from the current filter into the new filter (if there's room, just add more new media to fill the new filter). This should instantly cycle the 40 for the fish you have now, assuming your current tank is cycled. Test the water daily for a week or so to be sure. If all params are good after a week (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, some nitrate) then you can start adding new fish but do it slowly and test the water daily. Adding new fish can cause a mini-cycle until the bacteria catch up, so adding too many at once can throw things off.
 
Fish In Tank Cycling

I recently bought a 40 gallon aquarium and I need the fastest way to cycle. So is fish in cycling easy or hard? Would danios and serape tetras good fish to help cycle? Please help if seeing this

Hello Laker...

Fish in tank cycling is efficient and not particularly hard on the right fish. Zebra Danios are a good choice, Tetras not so much. Here's the basics: Set up the tank with the normal stuff, like gravel, heater and light. You'll need a reliable testing kit that tests for forms of nitrogen, like ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Add as many stem plants and you can. Hornwort, Pennywort and Common water weed (Anacharis) are all good. Just drop the stems into the tank water, they'll grow without planting and help filter the water. Run the tank for a day or two. Add 3 to 4 hardy fish for every 10 gallons of tank volume. Your 40 G should have roughly a dozen small fish.

The waste the fish produce starts the cycle. In a couple of days you'll notice traces of ammonia and then nitrite. When you do, change 25 percent of the tank, no more than that. You're growing the little bugs that will use the nitrogen for their food. Simply test every day and change the water. When several daily tests show no trace of ammonia or nitrite, the tank is cycled.

The process takes roughly a month. Fairly simple.

B
 
I'm testing and I have high gh an kh and about 8.0 ph. Is this bad? My ammonia nitrite and nitrate aren't showing. Is that good?
 
My old plants and decor I removed to the new tank. And is about 80 degrees and put about a gallon of old water to the new tank. Does this help? Plus my glofish has been nipping fins and is it okay for me to put him in the 40 so I can have him help cycle.
 
You need to move the old filter to the new tank and it will be cycled. If you want to use a different filter in the long term, just run both of them on the new tank for 3-4 weeks.
 
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