RAW OR COOKED??

[MiamiFishy]

Hello,
A stupid question, one of the posting mentions the use of shrimp to get the cycling process started. Its that raw or cooked shrimp???

One more thing, is there a way to speed the cycling process a bit, shorten the time it takes til its ready for fish??? I have a gone bad 10 gal tank and I need to move my fish from there before they get kill by ammonia.
The tank got scrub down because snail take over. I responded with firm and brutal action
I have a new 29 gal for my friends to move into, but needs to be setup and cycled...any suggestion???? ideas???? 8O shortcuts???!

One last thing if I may, the AP kits I see mention on the posting here, who manufactures it and how does it look like??? Where could I get one, all I have are the 5 in 1 test strips for Ph, Alkalinity, hardness and nitrate nitrite, but hear that are not that good?? I have a two liquid ammonia test kit, and a strip ammonia test too, but find the reagent more accurate!.

Please give me ideas, suggestion and or repremends will all be taken in!!!
Thank you all!!

 

[rich311k]

Here is the kit: http://bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=19383;category_id=2255

You need to use a raw shrimp.

If you can get bio-spira or used filter media from a friend's tank the process will be speeded up enormously.

 

[MiamiFishy]

Thank you Rich,
I don't have anyone around that I could get a spent filter media, but ill try the shrimp and Bio-spira.
Would adding some water from my established fry bucket ( aka fry tank), to the 10 gal help the process or don't waste the time on it???

Thanks

 

[rich311k]

Water doesn't really contain any good bacteria.

 

[MiamiFishy]

It was a thought anyway.
Ill get the shrimp... 2-3 shrimps or 5 will be better???

 

[Purrbox]

Since you're going to fishless cycle, you could also crank the heat up on your tank. Mid 80's should be pretty good. This speads up the multiplication of beneficial bacteria and can shave a week or two off the time to cycle. Just remember to turn the heat back down to normal before adding your fish.

 

[MiamiFishy]

Thank you Purr
Ill use the new 500 W heater I got for that tank!! LOL...

Has anyone used API Stress Zyme??, how good is it, and is it good in cycling ?

I'm sorry if I sound persistante after all the good advice and option presented, im trying to see how to safely speed up the cycling process and how quick after that my fish could enter the new roomy 29gal home! Not for show off reason, but to safe them from having to go thru another new tank cycling. Any suggestion on how to get that ammonia down in my 10 gal tank, my fish are living in there, and the water looks awfall, the air bubbles makes it look like the water was full of detergent because of the foamy bubbles on the surface. I thought it was the Betta that had gone crazy building bubble nest all over the place. Or maybe is that I have a Pengin 350b power filter on a 10 gallon tank???

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Another good alternative is using pure ammonia to cycle with instead of the shrimp method. The shrimp takes a few days to decompose. Pure ammonia is instant.

The only thing I can recommend for reducing ammonia is water changes.

 

[MiamiFishy]

Thank you FishyFanatic,

I had read about using ammonia to start the cycle, just not sure on how much ammonia to put on the water and if the bottle sold at Walgreens / Walmart type store is good for use??
Should the power filter get turn on from the first day or should I give the water/ammonia or shrimp soup a few days to cook before turned on?

 

[Purrbox]

You want pure ammonia with no additives other than water. If you shake it and it foams, don't buy it.

That being said the amount that you need to add depends on the concentration that you buy. Higher concentration of Ammonia means you need to add less to your tank. My recommendation is to add a small amount, give it about an hour to distribute through the tank, and then test. Repeat until you reach the desired level of ammonia, making sure to keep track of the total amount you added. Then you know how much to add from that point forward.

Go ahead and turn the filter on as soon as you and the ammonia or shrimp.

 

[fish_4_all]

Speeding up the process can be done, or at least i have read it can be done by taking some gravel from an established tank and adding it to the new tank. Moving a sponge filter to the new tank from an old one or moving an ornament from an old tank to the new. Anything that should have bacteria on it to help the spread of the little critters. Even some old cotton or cartridge from another filter can help.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I believe all you need is 1 shrimp. And if you don't want a mess, get an empty filter bag and put the shrimp in it. Will help in the cleanup later. If you use too much shrimp, chances are it will give off too much ammonia and will prolong the cycle because of ultra-high levels of ammonia. You just need enough to reflect what it would be like with a full load of fish in the tank.

Pure ammonia is a much easier alternative to the raw shrimp. The shrimp can get really messy. Just a small dose of ammonia, and you are set. Wait til ammonia reads 0ppm, then add more. When adding, just boost it up to 3-5ppm. Once you see nitrites rise, then lower the dosage to just 1-2ppm when ammonia reaches 0ppm. Then, when you add ammonia, and your ammonia and nitrite both read 0ppm in under 24 hours, you are cycled.

 

[Gena575]

One more thing, is there a way to speed the cycling process a bit, shorten the time it takes til its ready for fish??? I have a gone bad 10 gal tank and I need to move my fish from there before they get kill by ammonia.
The tank got scrub down because snail take over. I responded with firm and brutal action
I have a new 29 gal for my friends to move into, but needs to be setup and cycled...any suggestion???? ideas???? shortcuts???!

Someone correct me if I am wrong here please. (I'm mostly a lurker here...so ignore the low post count)

Since the 10 is basically cycling all over again, wouldn't it be better just to set up the 29 and let it run long enough to stabilize the temp then transfer the fish to the larger volume of water? Or split the population between the two tanks? If the fish are going to have to go through the cycle process anyway, the larger volume of water would be easier on them IMO.

 

[MiamiFishy]

Thanks to all of you that have given me advice, I was finishing some wood work for the new 29 gal tank display and did not come to the computer to read your messages.

To update on the status of my 10 gal crisis, I did a 50% water change last night, did a test and it read .25 ppm... will try to keep it that way. What bothers me is the cloudiness of the water with a tint of green. Its probably algae do to overfeeding... mostly my mother's fault, she just dumps flakes in there...but she does it with a good heart. Anyhow, it should be ok till I get back tonight and do another PWC.
I was thinking on doing this to keep my fish in an stable water condition situation till the new tank is ready for them.
Give you your opinion on this, comment or no-go advice;

I have a 2 gal plastic pan, about 6 in tall where my fish fry have been living since their accidental birth/discovery!. The water conditions are just perfect, take in mind that the only filtration is a used filter media from when my 10 gal was not taken over my snails, and an air stone thru a sponge.
I have made sure the pan its at its full 2 gal capacity and plan to do a 50% PWC which will go to another 2 gal tall esxagon betta display tank where ill add a wall air sponge/carbon filter with 1 more gal of fresh water and move my fish from the 10 gal to keep till the new 29 tank is ready. What do you think...is this a good idea?? will it work?? I have 5 Zebras, 1 Neon tetra, 2 cat fish and 1 Show Betta. This would be a temp solution, I just don't like the idea of moving them that much, and its just as a recourse so they dont have to deal with all that ammonia any more... please let me know what you think about this move? Go or NO-GO ????

thanks.