Started a fish in cycle 1/26/12 and finished 1/18/12 (24 days) with a 6gal Fluval Edge. I did the cycling with 2 dwarf Gouramis and 1 black skirt tetra. I'm new to keeping aquariums. I got into it because my son was learning about fish and the ocean at his school. Like other aquarium noobs, I didn't know what exactly I was getting into: get a fish and a bowl, feed the fish, and change the water. Boy was I wrong. After reading up, I got a suitable set up ,and started cycling.
During my cycling:
1. I change the water often. Sometimes twice a day.
2. I vacuumed the gravel to get rid of fish waste and plant material regularly.
3. When changing water, I used half tap water and half RO water. Originally I was using tap water, but LA tap water pH was 7.8+ (I wanted it a little lower for the plants), and really really hard. Also, LA water has a lot of calcium and lime. My RO water was pH 6.8, really soft, and the kH was really really low.
4. I used nutrifin cycle twice the first 2 days, but I don't know if that helped at all.
Some people told me that doing #1 and #2 would prolong my cycling time, but 24 days is pretty quick for a fish in cycle. Thanks everyone.
During my cycling:
1. I change the water often. Sometimes twice a day.
2. I vacuumed the gravel to get rid of fish waste and plant material regularly.
3. When changing water, I used half tap water and half RO water. Originally I was using tap water, but LA tap water pH was 7.8+ (I wanted it a little lower for the plants), and really really hard. Also, LA water has a lot of calcium and lime. My RO water was pH 6.8, really soft, and the kH was really really low.
4. I used nutrifin cycle twice the first 2 days, but I don't know if that helped at all.
Some people told me that doing #1 and #2 would prolong my cycling time, but 24 days is pretty quick for a fish in cycle. Thanks everyone.