"the Cycle"

[w8tah]

Ok -- im gonna show some ignorance here, i trust you will all bear with me.

I keep seeing references in posts to "the cycle" im getting the drift that it has something to do with establishing the de-nitrifying bacteria in your tank. I guess i must have been doing things wrong all these years. i generally just fill the tank, hit it with a dose of de-clorinator and stress-coat possibly give it a day or 2 and introduce the fish. I'll admit i generally use pretty hardy species (almost exclusively tetras) but i havnet had any major problems with my tanks. Am i doing something wrong? I just filled the new one in my office today (tall 20 gallon with an eclipse 3 hood) and i'll go buy the chemicals tomorrow and the fishes on wednesday (its gonna be another tetra tank i think -- id like a school of rummy noses )

Thoughts, input etc are always appreciated

TIM

 

[jamesrm]

Unless I am mistaken, the general process is something like this:

1. Fish produce waste ( Ammonia )
2. Bacteria convert the Ammonia into Nitrite
3. Bacteria convert the Nitrite into Nitrate
4. Nitrate is then removed by partial water changes or a nitrate absorbing filter product.

When you add the Stress - coat, you are putting a small amount of said bacteria into the tank.

BEST thing in the world to do is add Bio-Spira with your new fish addition, and you should be fine, just monitor your levels with a high quality fresh water test kit.

 

[Alshain]

That is one way of "cycling" your tank. It is the tried and true way, and is called fishy cycling. Another method is called fishless cycling and is done by adding ammonia to supplement fish waste.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Unless I am mistaken, the general process is something like this:

1. Fish produce waste ( Ammonia )
2. Bacteria convert the Ammonia into Nitrite
3. Bacteria convert the Nitrite into Nitrate
4. Nitrate is then removed by partial water changes or a nitrate absorbing filter product.

When you add the Stress - coat, you are putting a small amount of said bacteria into the tank.

BEST thing in the world to do is add Bio-Spira with your new fish addition, and you should be fine, just monitor your levels with a high quality fresh water test kit.

One small correction here. Stress Zyme adds the bacteria. Stress Coat is a dechlorinator for treating tap water.

 

[joannde]

w8tah, what you've described is the most common method of cycling a tank. If the species are hardy enough they can survive the rising ammonia and nitrite levels while the tank cycles, albeit not without some potential long term damage. Its the way we were all "taught" to start our tanks years ago.
Given that we may not all want hardy species (zebra danios, platies, etc) in our tanks long term what we end up with is a tank of species we lose interest in (not that any of the species I mentioned are inferior - personally I really like platies). The alternative is the fishless cycle, where you add either pure ammonia or allow a shrimp to rot in the tank giving the nitrifying bacteria a food source. The benefits are that you don't have to do water changes if you cycle with less hardy fish, you don't end up with a tankfull of fish you really don't want and you can add just about your full bioload of your "ultimate ideal stock list" once that fishless cycle is over.
Since it seems you already have an understanding of the nitrogen cycle I'll not point you to that article, but here is an interesting article on the fishless cycle that you might want to look into (ignore the fact that it was written by a saltwater keeper - the same techinques fully apply to freshwater):
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?faq=2&fldAuto=15

 

[w8tah]

Cool -- i'll look into that article later today if i get a chance.

The tank cleared out really nice last night and it looks really good -- i need to hit it with some stress coat to kill the chlorine, but other than that, i think its probably ready to get its occupants

 

[joannde]

You should read the article on fishless cycling before you decide to add the fish

 

[majolo]

Since no one else has mentioned it that I see: if you have a tank that's already established and completed its cycle, taking some of its filter media and putting it in the new tank's filter can shorten the cycle time greatly. It wasn't clear from the first post if maybe the new office tank is in addition to an established home tank...

 

[w8tah]

Both tanks are in my office one has been up for about 2 weeks (or so ) and i tested it with an old (several years old) doc wellfish test kit it showed a fairly high amonia level, but the fish look happy. im gonna grab some stress - zyme and or biospira today, as well as probably some ammolock. the new tank is a new setup yesterday of an old tank that has been sitting (partially full) at home for a very long time (over a year i think) i drained the water except for a lil bit i couldnt get out so its probably got some living stuff in it -- but i'll hit it with the chemicals before introdcuing the fish

TIM

 

[Alshain]

Since no one else has mentioned it that I see: if you have a tank that's already established and completed its cycle, taking some of its filter media and putting it in the new tank's filter can shorten the cycle time greatly. It wasn't clear from the first post if maybe the new office tank is in addition to an established home tank...

My experience thus far is that buying live plants transfers quite a bit of bateria. I didn't use a seed from my established tank due to sick fishies and in 3 days I'm seeing a Nitrite spike (Fishless Cycle), all I have put in there is plants from the pet store.