Another fishless cycle question

[BostonRedSox]

I found someone who can get me some media to put in my aquarium to help speed up the cycle. He is a guy here in my town that cleans and keeps up with aquariums. He has been in business for 15 years and he is the husban of one of my co workers so I know he wont lead me in the wrong direction. He said he will get me 10 to 20 gallons of water from a healthy aquarium so I can put it in mine and he also said he will get me some rocks from the same aquarium. My question is, will this speed up my cycle tremendously and will it affect anything that I have already done in the 9 days I have been fishless cycling? Also what all do I need to be testing for when I get these things in my aquarium? Thanks for all the help!

[eco23]

Originally Posted by BostonRedSox

I found someone who can get me some media to put in my aquarium to help speed up the cycle. He is a guy here in my town that cleans and keeps up with aquariums. He has been in business for 15 years and he is the husban of one of my co workers so I know he wont lead me in the wrong direction. He said he will get me 10 to 20 gallons of water from a healthy aquarium so I can put it in mine and he also said he will get me some rocks from the same aquarium. My question is, will this speed up my cycle tremendously and will it affect anything that I have already done in the 9 days I have been fishless cycling? Also what all do I need to be testing for when I get these things in my aquarium? Thanks for all the help!

I'd skip the water. It's really not going to have much if any beneficial bacteria, and it's going to cause you to have the appearance of a cycled tank because it will have nitrAtes.

Get the rocks and beg the guy for a nice, dirty piece of filter media...that's where the vast majority of the beneficial bacteria lives

[BostonRedSox]

Originally Posted by eco23

I'd skip the water. It's really not going to have much if any beneficial bacteria, and it's going to cause you to have the appearance of a cycled tank because it will have nitrAtes.

Get the rocks and beg the guy for a nice, dirty piece of filter media...that's where the vast majority of the beneficial bacteria lives

Thanks eco! Can always count on you to give me great advice. The problem with the filter media is that he 100% agrees with you about not getting rid of filter media until it is falling apart. So I doubt he will give me any filter media.

[eco23]

Originally Posted by BostonRedSox

Thanks eco! Can always count on you to give me great advice. The problem with the filter media is that he 100% agrees with you about not getting rid of filter media until it is falling apart. So I doubt he will give me any filter media.

With media, people tend to forget about an invention called "scissors", lol. Try to convince him to cut off around 15-20% for you to get things started off It shouldn't cause any issue with destabilizing his tanks.

[BBradbury]

Hello Boston...

eco is correct about the water. There's little or no good bacteria in it. If the guy you're getting this supposedly "good stuff" from didn't know about the water, I'd be careful about the rest.

I understand wanting to hurry the cycling process, but it's really best to take the time and cycle the tank right the first time. It will save you money and a lot of frustration and your fish their lives. For me, it's routinely taken the better part of four to five weeks to properly cycle a tank, even with the added media from an established tank. I take no chances with my fish.

I'd encourage you to allow the month to cycle the tank properly and during the wait, research and plan what you'd like to see in your new aquarium. The time really passes before you know it and your first experience with fishkeeping will be a more positive one. Your decision of course!

Just one reporter's very humble opinion.

B

[jetajockey]

This isn't the first time I've heard about well water (untreated water) speeding a cycle along. It does make sense if there are some kind of organics in the ground. There's not a large amount of bacteria in the water compared to biofilm covered surfaces, but there's still some there, it's the medium that bacteria uses to travel in, of course. It'd take a microscope and some ability to determine if/how much, so this is all speculation on my end.

Either way, just be patient, this process often takes 4-6 weeks, sometimes even longer, I had one tank that took almost 8 weeks before it started reading flat 0s.

[eco23]

Originally Posted by jetajockey

This isn't the first time I've heard about well water (untreated water) speeding a cycle along. It does make sense if there are some kind of organics in the ground. There's not a large amount of bacteria in the water compared to biofilm covered surfaces, but there's still some there, it's the medium that bacteria uses to travel in, of course. It'd take a microscope and some ability to determine if/how much, so this is all speculation on my end.

Either way, just be patient, this process often takes 4-6 weeks, sometimes even longer, I had one tank that took almost 8 weeks before it started reading flat 0s.

Wrong thread, lol, but I know which one you're talking about. One week doesn't seem realistic to me though.

[jetajockey]

oops! =] guess I should stop browsing multiple threads at once. maybe i can get someone to move it :]

Yeah 1 week is a really short time frame even for the biofilm to develop properly.

[BostonRedSox]

10 days into cycle and I have film on my air hoses. Is that normal? Also there is a yellow slimy substance that is showing up on the outside of my filter media. When I say outside i mean the part where the water is exiting my filter media. Looks like moss or maybe algae????? Is this normal?

[eco23]

Originally Posted by BostonRedSox

10 days into cycle and I have film on my air hoses. Is that normal? Also there is a yellow slimy substance that is showing up on the outside of my filter media. When I say outside i mean the part where the water is exiting my filter media. Looks like moss or maybe algae????? Is this normal?

The slimy stuff is just your bio-film developing...no biggie

The stuff on the filter...does it go away real easily when you rub your finger on it? Could be the beginning of diatoms. A little early...but anything is possible.

[BostonRedSox]

Originally Posted by eco23

The slimy stuff is just your bio-film developing...no biggie

The stuff on the filter...does it go away real easily when you rub your finger on it? Could be the beginning of diatoms. A little early...but anything is possible.

Hey man. No it looks like its not coming off very easy. I pulled my filter out and it looks like my white filter is kind of a orange/rust color. My aquarium does also have an odor coming from it.

[eco23]

Originally Posted by BostonRedSox

Hey man. No it looks like its not coming off very easy. I pulled my filter out and it looks like my white filter is kind of a orange/rust color. My aquarium does also have an odor coming from it.

Hmmmm....you got me on this one. Seems early for other types of algae, and inside your filter isn't getting light anyway. Diatoms covered my tank, but never in my filter. What type of ammonia are you using? Have you been adding fish food? Any driftwood or ornaments that could be leeching anything? Anything random you can think of?

[BostonRedSox]

Originally Posted by eco23

Hmmmm....you got me on this one. Seems early for other types of algae, and inside your filter isn't getting light anyway. Diatoms covered my tank, but never in my filter. What type of ammonia are you using? Have you been adding fish food? Any driftwood or ornaments that could be leeching anything? Anything random you can think of?

No its not getting light that I can tell. I keep my aquarium light off. I am using ACE ammonia janitorial strength formula. I have not been adding fish food. My decor consist of silk plants, stump from petco, a old ornament I had in an old aquarium that was dried out (I cleaned well before putting it in) and pool filter sand for my substrate. I did clean the pool filter sand well before putting it in too.

[eco23]

Originally Posted by BostonRedSox

No its not getting light that I can tell. I keep my aquarium light off. I am using ACE ammonia janitorial strength formula. I have not been adding fish food. My decor consist of silk plants, stump from petco, a old ornament I had in an old aquarium that was dried out (I cleaned well before putting it in) and pool filter sand for my substrate. I did clean the pool filter sand well before putting it in too.

You've got me...maybe someone else will chime in. The sand is the only variable I can think of. Usually diatoms (BA) is the first thing to show up in a cycling tank, but I've never had them in the filter even though they covered every other square inch of the tank.

[BostonRedSox]

OK. I have a buddy bringing me filter media from his tank that he has had for a loooong time. Will it still be OK to put it in you think?

[eco23]

Originally Posted by BostonRedSox

OK. I have a buddy bringing me filter media from his tank that he has had for a loooong time. Will it still be OK to put it in you think?

As long as his tank is healthy...that's the best news you could have gotten about a cycle . It'll help tremendously. I don't think there's any reason to freak out about the brown stuff.

[BostonRedSox]

Originally Posted by eco23

As long as his tank is healthy...that's the best news you could have gotten about a cycle . It'll help tremendously. I don't think there's any reason to freak out about the brown stuff.

Heck it should be healthy. The only thing I have done to it is add ammonia.

[scottayy]

Originally Posted by eco23

Wrong thread, lol, but I know which one you're talking about. One week doesn't seem realistic to me though.

My tank cycled in 8 days (if i recall correctly). I guess I had a good encounter with bio-spira.

[eco23]

Originally Posted by scottayy

My tank cycled in 8 days (if i recall correctly). I guess I had a good encounter with bio-spira.

We're talking about it being based on the water source...not cycling products.

[BostonRedSox]

Originally Posted by eco23

As long as his tank is healthy...that's the best news you could have gotten about a cycle . It'll help tremendously. I don't think there's any reason to freak out about the brown stuff.

He gave me his entire filter. He said he has like 7 layers of filters and he gave me the oldest one! It is huge too. I had to stuff it in my filter canister. How do I need to start testing now? The same as normal???