New to hobby any help?!

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Xxaprilrose

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jun 14, 2021
Messages
12
Take it easy on me, I’m new ?

I have so many questions and YouTube and google seem to just make me more confused.

First, I have a brand new aquarium so it’s not cycled yet. I see everywhere that they sell products to cycle it quicker but do those work? And how? Just put it in the water and wait a few days to add fish? Or do I also have to add other products.

Second, I want to get blood parrot fish and flowerhorn. I’m only growing them a little in a small tank before transferring to my very large one but the guy at the fish store said with these fish it would be best to buy them all at once to prevent aggressiveness. But wouldn’t adding 6 fish at once be too much? It’ll be a 40 gallon but I’m buying the fish small they don’t even have any color and believe about 2 inches a fish.

Any help, suggestions thank u!
 
There are 2 main ways to cycle a tank.

Fish in cycle is where you add a few small fish, maintain water quality through regular water changes while your cycle establishes.

Fishless cycle is where you replicate fish waste by dosing ammonia so the tank is cycled before you add fish.

The products you mention might speed up the time to cycle the tank. They might do nothing. The products contain the bacteria responsible for your cycle. They need to be stored and transported in temperature controlled conditions or the bacteria die off before you even get hold of it. Then the bacteria must establish in your filter media, not a given.

Cycling a tank typically takes 6 to 8 weeks.
 
Thank you. My purchases right now is the api starter pack which Includes stress and coat and quick start. Then I also purchased the api master test kit and also the api water conditioner. For ammonia I bought fritz pro ammonium chrloide. Is all this good to get started? Or do I need more stuff. And yeah I’d prefer the fish less option because idk what I would end up doing with the fish I use to help cycle the tank lol
 
Looks good.

Set everything up. Add water, water conditioner (stresscoat and tap water conditioner are both water conditioners). Let it run 24 hours just to make sure everything works ok. No leaks etc.

Dose your ammonia to 4ppm. Dose your quickstart as per instructions. When ammonia drops below 1ppm then redose to 2ppm. Everytime ammonia drops below 1ppm redose to 2ppm. Keep this up until you can dose 2ppm and 24 hours later you see 0ppm ammonia and nitrite. Your nitrate will probably be high at this point, big water change to bring that down and add fish.

Expect it to take 6 to 8 weeks. Sometimes longer. Rarely shorter.
 
Thanks so much for all ur help! One last question, once fully cycled can I stay cycled for a week or two or do I have to add fish right away?
 
If you kept the tank and filter running the beneficial bacteria shouldnt die off to any significant degree for a few months. However if you are planning on leaving it a few weeks before stocking i would continue dosing ammonia until you are ready to add fish. Just make sure you are clear of ammonia and nitrite on the day you add fish.

Technically, if your system is cycling out 2ppm of ammonia in 24h you can fully stock once cycled. Again i would suggest caution and increase stock over a few weeks, but you are planning on starting small/juvenille so that takes care of the light stock.
 
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