New to the Fish scene

[Bettababe1011]

I agree that fishless cycling is best, and in the future, if you set up another tank, remember it then.

But now, that is not an option. Do all the research you can, and do at least one large partial water change a day.

When you have a chance to get the test kit, I recommend API master test kit. The one with the liquid chemicals and vials.

As others have said, there is the potential for fish deaths, but it is not a guarantee. Keep up on PWC and test everyday when you get your test kit, and that will up your chances of success.

Good luck.

 

[Homedog98]

The point I believe Homedog was making is that the OP stated he did 30 hours of research on the cycling process and she was wondering why he chose traditional instead of fishless cycling. Honestly, I wondered the same thing too.

As I said, a fish in cycling is obviously possible and your fish can survive with enough diligence, patience and willingness to do all the pwc's involved. If you, however, have decided to take the fish back and do a fishless cycle...the overwhelming majority of people on this site would agree that is the smartest thing to do for both ethical and level of ease reasons.

Personally, I would rather lose a few dollars to have much less work in getting my tank cycled, plus since the OP does seem to care about the wellbeing of his fish, it avoids him having to stress out about them having to endure the cycling process.

Everyone is obviously entitled to their own opinion, but I'm glad the OP is considering a fishless cycle, both because it's more humane, and also so he has less back pain from not carrying buckets of water every day, lol.

Exactly. I didn't mean to be rude at all... And I did what I could on my fish in cycle. Most of mine didn't make it because their immune systems were weakened, and they all came down with ich. Even if your fish don't look like they're suffering, they still could suffer from the effects long term.

 

[Irish.OG87]

Whats a fishless cycle....[moderator edit]

 

[Homedog98]

Check out the link in my signature.

 

[Irish.OG87]

whats a signature, [moderator edit] i know whata fishless cycling is...all thanks to Mr.Eric.

 

[Homedog98]

Lol, I'm guessing your on the app then?

 

[WendiDell]

I did a fish in cycle with my African Cichlids. Now my Cichlids are very hardy fish to begin with, I wouldn't even think about trying it with any fish that was even a little sensitive. That said, the only reason my fish never showed signs of stress is that I was very OCD about the whole thing.
With a Master test kit I tested the water every morning and every evening. If at any time the ammonia was .25ppm or higher (higher rarely happened) I would do a PWC on what ever amount it would take to get it back to 0ppm. Sometimes, it took doing 75%PWC twice a day. But there was never even a slight chance that my fish would get ammonia or nitrIte poisoning or burns.
They truly were just fine and didn't suffer during this time. But I did, because I kept the ammonia so low and then the nitrItes low, the cycle took two and a half months. That's two & a half months of twice a day testing and twice a day PWC. And I used Prime for the water and Big Al's conditioner with Aloe to keep the fish happy and healthy and slimy.
My life revolved around that tank for nearly 1/4 of a year.
But that's what it takes to do a fish in cycle and not loose or hurt any fish.
I now have a 5g bucket with a cheap heater and a cheap small filter and all it does is grow nitrAtes. I have extra gravel and filter media inside the bucket so that if I ever need to grow nitrAtes in another tank fast. I can do it within a week.
Since there are no fish in the bucket, I let the NitrAtes grow all the way up to 160ppm. I only do PWC in the bucket if it starts to smell, as bacteria can. With the nitrAtes that high in the gravel and extra filter media, it transfers and grows in a new set up so quickly that I was able to cycle a 55g tank in 5 days.
It is an easy, safe way to seed your own tanks. You never need to barrow from anyone else, or worry about whether or not the nitrAte seed is disease free, it's yours, you know it's safe.
With a 5 day cycle it doesn't matter if you have fish in or fish out.
I keep the bucket under one of our larger tanks, no one even knows it's there. If I need to cycle a tank in an emergency I can.

 

[Homedog98]

I did a fish in cycle with my African Cichlids. Now my Cichlids are very hardy fish to begin with, I wouldn't even think about trying it with any fish that was even a little sensitive. That said, the only reason my fish never showed signs of stress is that I was very OCD about the whole thing.
With a Master test kit I tested the water every morning and every evening. If at any time the ammonia was .25ppm or higher (higher rarely happened) I would do a PWC on what ever amount it would take to get it back to 0ppm. Sometimes, it took doing 75%PWC twice a day. But there was never even a slight chance that my fish would get ammonia or nitrIte poisoning or burns.
They truly were just fine and didn't suffer during this time. But I did, because I kept the ammonia so low and then the nitrItes low, the cycle took two and a half months. That's two & a half months of twice a day testing and twice a day PWC. And I used Prime for the water and Big Al's conditioner with Aloe to keep the fish happy and healthy and slimy.
My life revolved around that tank for nearly 1/4 of a year.
But that's what it takes to do a fish in cycle and not loose or hurt any fish.
I now have a 5g bucket with a cheap heater and a cheap small filter and all it does is grow nitrAtes. I have extra gravel and filter media inside the bucket so that if I ever need to grow nitrAtes in another tank fast. I can do it within a week.
Since there are no fish in the bucket, I let the NitrAtes grow all the way up to 160ppm. I only do PWC in the bucket if it starts to smell, as bacteria can. With the nitrAtes that high in the gravel and extra filter media, it transfers and grows in a new set up so quickly that I was able to cycle a 55g tank in 5 days.
It is an easy, safe way to seed your own tanks. You never need to barrow from anyone else, or worry about whether or not the nitrAte seed is disease free, it's yours, you know it's safe.
With a 5 day cycle it doesn't matter if you have fish in or fish out.
I keep the bucket under one of our larger tanks, no one even knows it's there. If I need to cycle a tank in an emergency I can.

+1!!! mine took nearly 4 months!!! I'm never doing fish in again!!!

 

[WendiDell]

+1!!! mine took nearly 4 months!!! I'm never doing fish in again!!!

Try setting up a bucket like I did. That way your always ready if you need to cycle a tank.
Even if you decide to (or your parents let you) get a bigger tank. You'll be able to get it cycled in a week and start to stock it. No more waiting for 4 months.

 

[Homedog98]

I'm getting a 29 gallon after we move! (in less then 2 weeks!) and I'm just going to keep my fishies in my now cycled 10 gallon until my new one cycles. I'm going to use the seeded filter method to speed things up a bit. My parents wouldn't get why i'm keeping a stinky bucket with no fish in it in my room lol.

 

[DGAFPolar]

look guys, i only stressed b/c these little guys were just trying to live and i thought i was killing them. I'm not, i asked one of them today and he said they were ok (is he kidding???? who knows)lol. No one was really too mean, although some of the starter comments made me feel like a fish killer. I REALLY don't understand how i missed the fishless cycle when i did all my research, i had about 3 weeks of research b4 i got anything, i just honestly NEVER saw the fishless cycle thing and when i was a kid i don't remember seeing it either. I got a siphon and am gonna do a PWC it once or twice a day. Thanks for all the help guys, i plan on posting pics soon. So if i just use a 10 gal bucket i can dechlorinate (spell check) that water and pour it in? You guys have saved the lives of my buddies and they all thank you from the bottom of their wet hearts

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

I'm getting a 29 gallon after we move! (in less then 2 weeks!) and I'm just going to keep my fishies in my now cycled 10 gallon until my new one cycles. I'm going to use the seeded filter method to speed things up a bit. My parents wouldn't get why i'm keeping a stinky bucket with no fish in it in my room lol.

+1 on the seeder method.

Good luck with your new 29-gallon! It's exciting to move to a bigger aquarium. =D

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

look guys, i only stressed b/c these little guys were just trying to live and i thought i was killing them. I'm not, i asked one of them today and he said they were ok (is he kidding???? who knows)lol. No one was really too mean, although some of the starter comments made me feel like a fish killer. I REALLY don't understand how i missed the fishless cycle when i did all my research, i had about 3 weeks of research b4 i got anything, i just honestly NEVER saw the fishless cycle thing and when i was a kid i don't remember seeing it either. I got a siphon and am gonna do a PWC it once or twice a day. Thanks for all the help guys, i plan on posting pics soon. So if i just use a 10 gal bucket i can dechlorinate (spell check) that water and pour it in? You guys have saved the lives of my buddies and they all thank you from the bottom of their wet hearts

Once a day should be fine. But yes, dechlorinate the water in the bucket before introducing it to the tank. Just try to make sure the temperature is as close to the water already in your tank. :]

 

[WendiDell]

Lauren, are you going to use the filter from your 10g or are you going to grow your own seed?
The reason I ask is, that the NitrAtes in your 10g filter won't be enough to seed your 29g tank for a faster cycle. The 10g filter only has enough nitrAtes in it to control the ammonia/nitrIte levels in your 10g tank with fish.
Where if you grow filter media and gravel with higher concentrations of nitrAtes you can seed your 29g tank and it will be able to cycle fast, because of the higher concentrations.

 

[Homedog98]

Hey man, sorry about that rough comment I made earlier. It's not fair for me to judge you based on the decisions I made. I still suggest you take the fish back, especially now that you know the deal, but if you'd rather not, that's fine too. Lots of water changes and an API master kit are required for success at the fish in, but while they aren't effected now, their immune systems are fighting 24/7 to keep that ammonia out if their bodies, which opens them up for diseases. Clean water will help this be prevented, but I'd just like to apologize again for the discouragement, and that I'm happy to help if you'd like me too.

 

[WendiDell]

look guys, i only stressed b/c these little guys were just trying to live and i thought i was killing them. I'm not, i asked one of them today and he said they were ok (is he kidding???? who knows)lol. No one was really too mean, although some of the starter comments made me feel like a fish killer. I REALLY don't understand how i missed the fishless cycle when i did all my research, i had about 3 weeks of research b4 i got anything, i just honestly NEVER saw the fishless cycle thing and when i was a kid i don't remember seeing it either. I got a siphon and am gonna do a PWC it once or twice a day. Thanks for all the help guys, i plan on posting pics soon. So if i just use a 10 gal bucket i can dechlorinate (spell check) that water and pour it in? You guys have saved the lives of my buddies and they all thank you from the bottom of their wet hearts

Be sure to match the new water temp. with the tank water temp., anything more than a degree or so can cause enough stress to give your fish ick. Never dump in cold or hot water. You don't need to be perfect, just test it with your hand, if it feels like it's the same temperature it should be fine.

 

[DGAFPolar]

the only thing that made me wanna give up was the fact i missed a more humane way to do this...no one's comment were too bad. I do wanna give thanks to those who stood up for what they thought was right and those who said sorry and those who took my defense.

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

Hey man, sorry about that rough comment I made earlier. It's not fair for me to judge you based on the decisions I made. I still suggest you take the fish back, especially now that you know the deal, but if you'd rather not, that's fine too. Lots of water changes and an API master kit are required for success at the fish in, but while they aren't effected now, their immune systems are fighting 24/7 to keep that ammonia out if their bodies, which opens them up for diseases. Clean water will help this be prevented, but I'd just like to apologize again for the discouragement, and that I'm happy to help if you'd like me too.

+1 Way to go homedog. :]

Glad to see everyone is doing well.

 

[Rosenweiss]

the only thing that made me wanna give up was the fact i missed a more humane way to do this...no one's comment were too bad. I do wanna give thanks to those who stood up for what they thought was right and those who said sorry and those who took my defense.

No problem man. Thanks for being so neutral about it all, haha. Best of luck and keep us updated.

 

[cichlidpaul]

Well well well wow what a thread im lmao
nice to see we are all being adults about this and getting on again when all is said and done , by the sound of it polar some people on here where getting more stressed than you in the uk we call it (throwing their dummy out the pram)
im sure your tank and fish will be fine polar take onboard the advice of our other fish lovers on this site and remember its also about a bit of common sense too

good luck polar