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electrocutioner

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Messages
27
Location
Toronto
Well folks,
The 30 gallon hex tank didn't quite pan out.
Drove an hour away from home to pick up the merchandise I 'won' from the auction...
Besides the fact that it was a little beat up,it turned out to be a 20 gal tank.
Thanks AA for the online calculator!!!

Anyways,the bug had already bitten,and needed to be sated.Long story short,I am now the proud owner of a 29 gallon Marineland Eclipse deluxe show combo starter kit.
Set 'er all up tonight.Planted some hardy ivy plants in the back.Got clay in the gravel,and a piece of driftwood soaking in a bucket.

Regarding nitrogen cycling....
the folks at the lfs (part of AL's Aquariums) are telling me that I should be firing in 3-4 fish as soon as the de-chlorinization process is complete to jump start the cycle.
They say a few hardy fish are essential to get things going.
Agree or dis-agree?
And if so,how bout some suggestions of species and breeds to get my little aqua farm going.
 
Ebay is only as good as the integrity and IQ of the sellers. I have gotten some great deals :lol:
 
Regarding nitrogen cycling....
the folks at the lfs (part of AL's Aquariums) are telling me that I should be firing in 3-4 fish as soon as the de-chlorinization process is complete to jump start the cycle.
They say a few hardy fish are essential to get things going.
Agree or dis-agree?
And if so,how bout some suggestions of species and breeds to get my little aqua farm going.

There are two methods of cycling a tank. One is the way the LFS suggested (not very humane, fish usually cannot survive the cycle) and the other is fishless. The fishless method is basically adding a source of ammonia equal to that as if you were using fish. You can use pure ammonia (non-detergent, perfumed, etc.), fish food or cleaned shrimp (the fish market variety).

You will need water testing supplies (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph) no matter which method you decided. It is a bonus for you to know exactly what your tanks parameters are so you can make adjustments.
 
I have yet to see anyone say this absolutely works, dr_g - can you say that?

It is normal to have a small (<2 ppm) amount of ammonia or nitrate during the first few days after set-up. These concentrations are not harmful and will quickly drop to zero with proper use of BIO-Spira.

<2ppm of ammonia isn't harmful? Than why am I doing pwcs to protect my danios?! :grin:
 
You can cycle with fish if you know what to do. I.e. when to water change, My fish spawned during a cycle. I would not recomend trying it ....it just happened that way my cycle took 3 weeks with fish. none died.
and showed no signs of stress

Low bioload and water changes evry 2 days as required.......
 
It seems that bio-spira may not be available in Canada.Anybody hear of NutraFin Cycle?It seems to be presented as a similar product.
Interesting link jchillin 8)
 
Since bio-spira is not available in canada, I tried the ceachem stability but it was to help "promote the growth of beneficial bacteria" in a "seeded" filter. That statment tells me that it will not "put the bacteria there" rather it will help it grow once it is there. I have only ever heard that bio-spira works but never tried it myself.
 
electrocutioner said:
It seems that bio-spira may not be available in Canada.Anybody hear of NutraFin Cycle?It seems to be presented as a similar product.
Interesting link jchillin 8)

More than happy to help. The cycle product does add live bacteria, but not in significant numbers as the Bio-Spira. For example, you could scrape the same amount from your hands and arms as is contained in the bottle. It aids in the cycle but it doesn't do anywhere near the job that Bio-Spira can.
 
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