Cycling Help

[eddyeddyv]

So I have a 20 gallon tank that ive neglected for a long time. It was in bad shape a couple weeks ago but ive been doing 25-50% water changes and cleaning the gravel to bring the ammonia down. It has 8 fish.

I felt bad about my fish tank being in such poor condition i decided to redo the tank. It currently has gravel and i want to change that out for sand. So i went to this aquarium store and bought some bags of sand and some substrate in case i wanted to add some plants later on. I also bought a new filter (marineland penguin 200) with a bio-wheel.

I wanted to have the new filter cycled already so when i redo the tank, it wont be as bad for the fish. So i set up a 10 gallon tank i had in my garage. I filled the tank, set up the filter (with the carbon), and added this thing called "special Blend". Its supposed to help build up the bacteria. Its been about 2 1/2 days and i dont really thing its cycling. Ive done some research and i think i need ammonia. I tested the water and it has 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 0 nitrates.

What should i do to the 10 gallon to cycle it?

 

[Yorg]

So I have a 20 gallon tank that ive neglected for a long time. It was in bad shape a couple weeks ago but ive been doing 25-50% water changes and cleaning the gravel to bring the ammonia down. It has 8 fish.

I felt bad about my fish tank being in such poor condition i decided to redo the tank. It currently has gravel and i want to change that out for sand. So i went to this aquarium store and bought some bags of sand and some substrate in case i wanted to add some plants later on. I also bought a new filter (marineland penguin 200) with a bio-wheel.

I wanted to have the new filter cycled already so when i redo the tank, it wont be as bad for the fish. So i set up a 10 gallon tank i had in my garage. I filled the tank, set up the filter (with the carbon), and added this thing called "special Blend". Its supposed to help build up the bacteria. Its been about 2 1/2 days and i dont really thing its cycling. Ive done some research and i think i need ammonia. I tested the water and it has 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 0 nitrates.

What should i do to the 10 gallon to cycle it?

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Without fish in it, you'll definitely need to provide a source of ammonia in the 10g so that the beneficial bacteria can get established. You can use pure (no detergents, scents, or colors) household ammonia, or you can just throw some fish food in and let it decay. Using pure ammonia is better because you have more control over the amount you put in. Adding just enough to get the reading to about 1-2ppm should be enough to start the cycle.

I don't know if Special Blend has the right nitrifying bacteria in it, but I'm not really familiar with the product. Someone else on the forum may know more about it.

 

[eddyeddyv]

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Without fish in it, you'll definitely need to provide a source of ammonia in the 10g so that the beneficial bacteria can get established. You can use pure (no detergents, scents, or colors) household ammonia, or you can just throw some fish food in and let it decay. Using pure ammonia is better because you have more control over the amount you put in. Adding just enough to get the reading to about 1-2ppm should be enough to start the cycle.

I don't know if Special Blend has the right nitrifying bacteria in it, but I'm not really familiar with the product. Someone else on the forum may know more about it.

Ok thanks. Should i take the carbon out? Does that have anything do to with the bb?

 

[Yorg]

Ok thanks. Should i take the carbon out? Does that have anything do to with the bb?

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No, the carbon won't have any affect on the bacteria, but in a fishless tank there's really no need for it. You might want to pull it out and save it for use later, if you should need it. Is there other media in the filter (something for the bacteria to colonize)?

 

[eddyeddyv]

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No, the carbon won't have any affect on the bacteria, but in a fishless tank there's really no need for it. You might want to pull it out and save it for use later, if you should need it. Is there other media in the filter (something for the bacteria to colonize)?

yeah the bio-wheel.

 

[fishtex]

I've been following the instructions on this tutorial and have just reached the halfway point after 2 weeks... ie, I have nitrAtes!

The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice

 

[abw0004]

This is exactly what I did about 9 days ago. I completely re-did my tank, gravel and everything. What I did was a week before I did the change, I hooked up my new filter (Fluval 206) to the main tank. Inside the filter I put in filter material from the old filter. This will jump start the BB in the filter very, very fast.

Just know, that your tank might still go through a mini-cycle when all is said and done. When I re-did the tank, I left in some of the old tank water with detritus and reused some old plants. I also put two solo cups of the old gravel in the new set-up to jump-start the cycle.

After all of this, my tank still cycled for 7 days. Not bad though, considering my ammonia never went above .25 PPM, and cycles normally take 4-6 weeks.

I will do a huge write-up on what I did, and why I did wrong to help others like you who are doing the same thing I wanted to do.

Also, I recommend doing the tank tear-down/set-up on a Saturday (assuming you have weekends off), because you can use Sunday to clean anything up, or if something went wrong, you have an extra day to fix it. Like in any project, expect at least one thing to go wrong. I hope this helps!