New tank - How to cycle quickly?

[J12bon]

Im fairly new to fish keeping & am looking for some advice. I started out 4 weeks ago with a 22 litre tank & it soon became clear that this was not big enough so I have now ordered a 50 litre tank, I have bought some media for the filter in my new tank & added it to the media in my original 22 litre tank to collect some of the bacteria, my question is - how do I now cycle my new tank as quickly as possible, ie how soon should I add my fish etc etc. I want the new tank running as soon as possible but don't want to harm my fish. I currently have only 4 guppies, running an external filter & new filter is a interpet pf1. Please let me know if I need to give any more info & please help me to transfer my fish safely. Thanks.

 

[Mrc8858]

Take some gravel from ur established and put it in a mesh bag, panty hose, or anything of that nature and stick it in ur new tank also u can put some of ur media from ur tank into the new filter should cut ur chow down tremendously

 

[Mrc8858]

Also any decor or anything will work...the more u seed the new tank the faster it'll cycle but u need to add a lil fish food to it to feed the BB

 

[J12bon]

Brilliant, thank you for the advice. Also, should I add my fish immediately to keep the source of ammonia and the cycle going?? Thanks again

 

[Mrc8858]

U can but ull have to do daily water changes to keep the water from being toxic ur better off leaving them in the smaller tank until u get good readings from the new one (ammo-0ppm..nitrIte-0ppm...nitrate-5-20ppm)

 

[J12bon]

Ok thanks, in that case I think I will leave them in the small tank and maybe add ammonia or food into the new larger tank to cycle without the fish, I guess that would work??

 

[Mrc8858]

Ya just add a pinch of food and test daily.. if ur ammo is reading 0 before u have nitrAtes then add more food

 

[Mrc8858]

There r some good cycle threads on here u could read up on but the basic point is that the ammonia which ur fish creates is eaten by bacteria and converted into nitrites once u have a sufficient amount of nitrites a new bacteria will establish itself and turn the toxic nitrites into nitrates which then needs to be removed by water changes or thru plants

 

[librarygirl]

In my signature there's two links for you: 'new empty tank" and 'what is cycling.' You should do a fishless cycle with pure ammonia; it's easier to dose than fish-food and you'll get a more accurate reading. Also a good liquid test kit is a must (API Master Kit).

Cycling will take its own time so just be patient and be diligent with following the fishless cycle guide (it's the 'new empty tank' link). If you add fish too soon you could potentially harm them and you'll be doing daily water changes for 4-8 weeks instead of enjoying your fish.

Also did the 22 liter tank ever have fish in it? Or have you been adding an ammonia source (the bacteria need to eat)? If not, then sorry to say there probably isn't any viable bacteria on that filter. Moving it over won't hurt anything though.

 

[J12bon]

Thanks for you're advice. Yes the 22 litre tank has fish in it now, will do a water test later and see what the levels are like. Thanks again.

 

[J12bon]

Hi all, my original 22 litre tank has been running for a month now with 4 guppies living in it for the last 3 weeks, I have nitrites but no nitrates yet, how much longer should this take to be fully established?? Thanks.

 

[librarygirl]

It shouldn't be too much longer. Are you still seeing ammonia or no? Just remember nitrites are toxic to fish as well, so keep up with water changes -- daily ones if needed -- to keep nitrite under .25 until they stay at 0 on their own. You should also be seeing some nitrates by now. Have you done any large water changes? I'd do a 70% water change with dechlorinator to reduce the nitrite and replenish the water with nutrients. Then keep testing daily and do pwc when nitrites and/or ammonia rise over .25. For the nitrate test, it's the easiest to get incorrect results if you don't do it exactly as the test manual says. I'd also bang the bottles on a hard surface before shaking and I'd shake both bottles hard for 30 seconds and and the test tube for a full minute; bottle #2 particularly has a reagent powder in it that can get clumped and cause inaccurate results.

How is the other tank coming along?

 

[J12bon]

Sorry, iv not been on here for ages, broke my iPhone & had to wait on arrival of a new one!

So, the 22litre tank is no more, the new 50 litre is set up and has my 4 guppys swimming around very happily enjoying the extra space and the current produced by the new power filter. The established filter (a waterfall filter, not sure what it's actually called) is also running in the tank to transfer the bacteria over. Really pleased with everything and the fish are really enjoying their new home.

My next question is about stocking, I currently have 4 guppies so was thinking of a few bottom dwellers next, maybe 3 or 4 corys? My fiancé also likes neon tetras and black mollys, plus I fancy a khuli loach or two. Obviously wouldn't add them all at the same time. Is all of this too much for my tank? Would they all get along? How many of each would you recommend? Would you recommend avoiding any of these?

Sorry about all of the questions but I'm fairly new to all of this still so all advice is welcome.

Oh, nearly forgot, got my LFS to test my water and it was perfect, i was obviously doing something wrong!!

Thanks.

 

[Tanktop]

Hi j12bon, glad to hear your fish have a new home and the water test is good. There's a website called aqadvisor which will give you a guide as to whether you're overstocking or not.
2 points - mollies are really brackish water fish. They can tolerate fresh but I have read that they are more prone to disease.
Cories are better with a sand substrate.
Happy fish keeping and choosing!

 

[Mrc8858]

U need to get an api masterkit cuz most lfs will use strips which aren't accurate and I've noticed they will almost always tell u ur water looks "perfect" to make a sale

 

[librarygirl]

Before adding new fish I'd definitely test the water daily to make sure ammonia and nitrites are at 0 and you have some nitrate (don't let nitrate get over 20; weekly water changes will help keep them low). I'd highly advise your own API Master test kit.

If the tank is cycled, your tank is about 13 gallons which is a good size but not large. Mollys are large and messy; I wouldn't advise them for your size tank.

Khuli loaches like to be in groups of at least 5; 5 of them with the 4 guppies in a 13 gallon would fully stock the tank (in fact it may be a bit overstocked). If you'd be happy with just the Guppys and loaches and do 50% water change weekly it should be doable.

Otherwise you could do 6 Neons but again with the Guppys in that size tank you 'd be fully stocked. Keep in mind too that Guppys tend to breed so you may have many babies in there.

 

[J12bon]

Thanks so much for the advice, welling think I leave the khuli loaches until I can get a decent size tank, and rethink the mollies. I will have a think about the corys and neons and do a little research. Yea, I do need a master test kit, I bought the tetra test strips and they say the same thing weather I dip them in the tank, the kitchen sink or the toilet - complete waste of time! The LFS use a master kit & have been helping me quite a bit. Thanks again.