Cycling

[Ian14]

I am pretty unfamiliar with cycling, I normally would just set up a new tank, wait a a few days and stick a couple fish in and it had always worked out for me. But I got a 120 gallon tank and I want to make sure I do it right.
I installed a fluval 306 about 4 days ago and also put in 5 .25-.5 inch feeder fish I got for another tank but just decided to stick them in the 120g. Today I'm going to install the fx6 to the tank on top of the 306. I stuck a couple pieced if food in yesterday. How should I cycle it and how long should I wait? And would those fish help the cycle or are they just to small?

 

[NewToFish1989]

Sticking fish in a uncycled tank is the worst thing you can do for your fish, I made the same mistake years ago with goldfish and they died from high levels of ammonia

I'm going to cycle a new tank very soon and a tank can take 3-6 weeks to cycle depending on your method, i.e using bottled ammonia (with no detergents) fish food are seeding your tank, seeding is borrowing/asking for some good bacteria i.e gravel, plants are ornaments from a established tank. There is fish cycling but its cruel in my opinion.

Also the bacteria in a bottle stuff, CAN try if you want by from my experience years ago, they don't work and is just a gimmick to get you to buy it.

 

[Fishfur]

Any fish will aid a cycle. Small ones just add less ammonia per fish.Read the fish in cycling article, it will explain how this works.

Fishless cycling is my preference, but if you already have fish, too late for that. The main thing is having water test kits, and testing often, and changing water every time ammonia reaches .25. Once nitrite appears, you change water every time that gets to .25. Once nitrate appears, you now have both kinds of BB, beneficial bacteria, and simply have to wait for their numbers to grow.

The BB that eat nitrite and make nitrate from it grow more slowly than the BB that eat ammonia and produce nitrite, so it can take awhile before it all balances out. You are done when ammonia is zero, nitrite is zero, and nitrate is around 20ppm. Up to 50 ppm is considered safe, but we usually aim for 20 or less.

Once the cycle is done, you can slowly add new fish. 3 per week is about right, too many at one time will overwhelm the BB before they can grow enough to handle the extra load of fish waste.

Plants help a lot. Cycle in a bottle doesn't help much in my experience, and I personally would not waste the money on them. But if you know anyone with a cycled tank, and they are willing to give you some mature media, or the rinsings from cleaning their filter, THAT will help cycle a tank in a few days. If you can get some, it's totally worth getting.

Sticking fish in an uncycled tank is not the best idea,. but so long as you do enough water changes, you can prevent ammonia damage. The trouble is, people don't realize ammonia is toxic and by the time they realize fish are in trouble it is usually too late to save the fish.

Goldfish, in my opinion, shouldn't even be sold for tanks. Unless you can provide a HUGE tank, they outgrow them too fast, and being very dirty fish, like Plecos are dirty fish, they need 3x the filtration just to keep the water clean. Tropical fish are a much better choice for tank pets.

If you plan to have plecs, be aware, most of them get very large, and they are very dirty. Just so you know.

 

[Rivercats]

Here's an article with all the information about proper fish in cycling you need.... I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice.

I can also tell you that few a fish in that size tank will not produce enough ammonia to even get a cycle going. If your going to do a fish in cycle I would suggest returning the feeder fish which are often weak and sickly, which you do not want in your tank, and actually get some fish you intend to keep and cycle with them. The hardest thing is determining how many fish it will take to get a readable ammonia level. My largest tank is a 220g.

Also adding 3 fish a week in a tank that size again won't begin to put a dent in adding ammonia to the tank in order to increase BB.

 

[Fishfur]

You know, I misread that first post,, though I was dealing with a 20 Gallon. Sorry 'bout that. Rivercats is right, not enough fish for that size tank.