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[Beezer11]

Here's the deal, I got a 10 G tank and killed a bunch of fish. Now it's "stable". Ph 7, Ammo .50ppm, nitrIte 0ppm, nitrAte 0ppm, and still a small Angel died today!?!?!? I went thru several water changes etc to get it there. Now here's where I'm at. I bought a used 55g tank with everything, (except a python, which is something I learned perusing this forum). I'll be setting it up soon so how do I "CYCLE" the aquarium? I'll be using the existing pumps with new filters.

 

[tropicalfish]

You probably put too much fish in there at one time...
either that, or you killed them with the cold. Tropical fish need heaters.

 

[Beezer11]

I have a heater, 78 deg. I had 3 SMALL angels, 5 neons and 2 cory cats. Which is irrelevant now. I want to know what I need to do to CYCLE my 55 gal tank

 

[Esra]

Welcome to AA, hope you didn't have any fish in the tank while you cycled it!

You have ammonia in your tank so it's not cycled yet.
Also your temp is too low

 

[Beezer11]

HOW DO I PROPERLY CYCLE MY 55 GALLON AQUARIUM??????????? I WILL BE USING A USED SYSTEM BUT REPLACING THE FILTERS,THE "BIO-WHEELS" HAVE BEEN USED FOR A COUPLE YEARS. I HAVE NOTHING IN MY 55 GALLON TANK BUT AIR. lET'S PRETEND I DON'T HAVE A 10 GALLAN TANK PLEASE????????

 

[SparKy697]

Welcome,

I'm only ahead of you by maybe a couple of weeks. I found this article to be very helpful:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?faq=2&fldAuto=52

It sounds like you have a test kit already so you should be good there. Find ammonia that does not have anything in it but ammonia. I found some at ACE Hardware, it is sold as professional grade ammonia. It's a 10 % concentration and worked quite well for me and my tank.

Follow those instructions and ask questions here as they come up and you will be on your way.

Oh and forget the fish for a couple of weeks. I sounds like a long time but you will be much happier with your results.

 

[Beezer11]

Thank you Sparky, that's what I call an answer!!!! I read the article a couple times and it made my head hurt. But it makes sense to me now and I'll follow that article. I won't be strting right away,keep an eye out for my questions. Thanks again.

 

[SparKy697]

You are surely welcome. Glad to return the favor, I got lots of help here myself.

For what it is worth I have been documenting my startup in this thread: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=91384 It may or may not help.

Good luck.

 

[Beezer11]

I did see that thread earlier. If I'm starting with 55 gal how much ammo do I need to put in to start the cycle? I have some old filters from the previous owner but they are dry so I assume they are no benefit to me now.?

 

[rich311k]

You want to add enough ammonia to get to 3-4 ppm. If the filters were dried out they will not help you jump start the cycle. All you need is a sponge or even a squeeze or two of the gunk in the sponge of an established tank to get things moving.

 

[tropicalfish]

If you have no other filters, and you are using the previous owner's filters, rinse those out. add all the decor to the tank if you have not already. Set up the filter, heater, airpump, etc... whatever you have, but DO NOT plug them in. Fill it with water.
After you fill it with water, plug the filter in, airpump if you have one--plug that in.
after 15 minutes or so, plug in the heater.
When I cycle my tank, I generally do not use prepared ammonia or that sort. also, the only test kit I have is a pH test kit.
after about the next day of cycling, I add a few flakes of fish food, keeping filter at fill flow. leave the fish food along and do not scoop it out. the day after the next, add a few flakes of fish food again. After that, wait 3 more days and add more fish food. Then wait one week. On the last day of the week, add a few flakes of fish food. The next day, you can get a FEW fishies
That is my cycling method. I had no trouble with death until my Chinese Algae eater quit eating algae. then it attacked all my other fish.

 

[Beezer11]

Rich, how much does it take to get 55 gals to 3-4ppm or do I add a few drops the test? How long do I wait after adding ammo before I test? I have a tank but it wasn't properly but it's almost there now. Would that help? Can I put a sponge in there now and use it in a few days? I was thinking about replacing the filter in the existing tank and using the old one.

 

[SparKy697]

how much ammo do I need to put in to start the cycle?

I stumbled across a formula that worked for me. It is based on a 10% concentration of ammonia. When I started I put way too much ammonia in the tank but later found that this worked quite well.

.34 ml in 10 gallons of water raised my ammonia level by 1 ppm.

It may be a starting point for you as well. Just remember that if you end up with too much ammonia, just do a water change. You would not be out of line to start with half of this just to be safe. Also I learned that when I dosed with the dechlorinator (Prime) my ammonia levels went up to about .5 ppm by them self.

You are right about the dried media being of no help.

 

[Beezer11]

Sparky you are not allowed to leave this thread without my permission!!!!!!!!! THANKS AGAIN!!! In a few weeks I hope to have a few fish swimming around.

 

[courtnee]

HOW DO I PROPERLY CYCLE MY 55 GALLON AQUARIUM??????????? I WILL BE USING A USED SYSTEM BUT REPLACING THE FILTERS,THE "BIO-WHEELS" HAVE BEEN USED FOR A COUPLE YEARS. I HAVE NOTHING IN MY 55 GALLON TANK BUT AIR. lET'S PRETEND I DON'T HAVE A 10 GALLAN TANK PLEASE????????

ummm. You should of expected comments on the 10gl tank sheesh. You even stated "Here's the deal, I got a 10 G tank and killed a bunch of fish. Now it's "stable". Ph 7, Ammo .50ppm, nitrIte 0ppm, nitrAte 0ppm, and still a small Angel died today!?!?!?"

Well of course someone is going to comment, you had question marks there. Ammonia is in the tank and a fish died. The tank is NOT stable with .5 ammonia. You shouldnt have ammonia at all in there. If you do something is wrong. There should be some NitrIte if you have good bacteria in there doing its job as the ammonia is turned into NitrIte and once the NitrIte is processed turned into NitrAte. That is why The same thing can and will happen in the 55gl.

My point is. Instead of appearing annoyed someone commented on a obvious problem, learn from it because your 55gl can and will have the same problems. That 10gl is a learning tool. I had a 10gl "tank of death" as I called it. I couldnt keep anything alive in it. I got the 55gl and have had great success so far. I learned a lot from that 10gl tank of death and learned not to repeat the same mistakes in my 55gl. Now I have a betta in my 10gl that is doing great. I have a healthy 55gl stocked with fish.

It appears you are going to go through the process of using ammonia to cycle your tank. The dried filters are worthless as far as helping to cycle which has already been addressed.

There is another easy way with less work. Throw 2-3 cocktail shrimp from the grocery store in the tank and let it rot and cycle it. That is what I pretty much did for my 55gl. I also added biospira after a few days of the shrimp rotting because I wanted it to cycle faster. I sat with an empty tank and let it do its thing.

Once you see NitrIte and NitrAte peak in your 10gl and drop to 0 again (cycle will be complete) squeeze the filters in the 55gl to get the good bacteria.

It depends on what works best for you. Good luck. Hope you enjoy your 55gl as much as I have.[/b]