Speedy Cycle

[Bettababe1011]

I don't have any seed material for my tank, but want to know other ways to make the cycle speedy. Thanks in advance for your help.

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[mfdrookie516]

crank up the heat. without seed material, there's not really any other way. high heat will speed it up some, but not a dramatic amount.

 

[tyspot1000]

As stated, higher temperatures increase the metabolism of the bacteria (up to a certain point, of course.)

Also, surface agitation helps. Surface agitation, simply put, is increased movement of the water surface through disturbance, which in turn increases aeration. This is beneficial for the nitrifying bacteria in the aquarium. You can achieve this by keeping the water level in your tank low.

 

[Bettababe1011]

What about light, on or off? I've heard both.

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[Crepe]

Bacteria don't give give a hoot about light. You're just asking for algae when you have your lights on during a cycle with no plants.

Just wait it out. There's no cheap shortcut.

 

[Bettababe1011]

I was just wondering. I'd read that light slowed it down as well as light speeding it up. It was confusing. I'm not known for my patience you could say, so I want to shorten it as much as possible. While still making it safe for the fish, I should add.

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[Crepe]

I could ship you a culture of live rhodospirillum sp. for a hundred bucks from taiwan XD. My uncle cultures them for his aquaculture experiments. Anyways, there's no shortcut. If you're really impatient find another hobbyist that will donate you some old filter floss or something.

 

[Bettababe1011]

It's okay. I may be impatient, but I can suffer through it for my fish. A hundred bucks would be way too much. I don't really have anyone else to give me anything.

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[Marconis]

As stated, higher temperatures increase the metabolism of the bacteria (up to a certain point, of course.)

Also, surface agitation helps. Surface agitation, simply put, is increased movement of the water surface through disturbance, which in turn increases aeration. This is beneficial for the nitrifying bacteria in the aquarium. You can achieve this by keeping the water level in your tank low.

??? Not sure who brought it to an Admin's attention, but perhaps you should pay attention to dates.

 

[BigJim]

Try asking your LFS for filter media or a cup of substrate from their tanks. One LFS by me actually sells "cultured" bioballs for something like $1 a piece.

 

[Bettababe1011]

??? Not sure who brought it to an Admin's attention, but perhaps you should pay attention to dates.

Just wondering what you mean by dates? I started this thread yesterday if that's what you're talking about. Sorry about my easily confused brain.

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[andreahp]

Have you already started cycling your tank? I assume you are doing a fishless cycle and I assume you have already read about how to do this - it can take a while and it's too easy to be impatient to get fish unless you want to get hardy fish (like danios) instead to provide the ammonia.

 

[Deep Seven]

Just wondering what you mean by dates? I started this thread yesterday if that's what you're talking about. Sorry about my easily confused brain.

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If it makes you feel any better, I'm confused too, although I am a bit tired so I'm extra susceptible to confusion atm .

• Increase temperature to 82-86f
• Airstone or good surface agitation
• Feed the bacteria

One thing that often gets overlooked is the nitrifying bacteria do not live on ammonia alone. Nitrifying bacteria can cause a PH crash under certain conditions, and often the bacteria can run out of food and the cycle will stall. The bacteria that converts nitrites to nitrates requires a food source to fuel the conversion. I think this is one of the reasons tanks will often get stuck on trying to cycle the nitrites.

 

[Bettababe1011]

Have you already started cycling your tank? I assume you are doing a fishless cycle and I assume you have already read about how to do this - it can take a while and it's too easy to be impatient to get fish unless you want to get hardy fish (like danios) instead to provide the ammonia.

Yes. I haven't been cycling for long. It'll be a week on Friday. Zebra danios are already on my stocking list, but it is too much work and too inhumane for me to do an in fish cycle. I suppose I could use seed material from my Betta tank, I would have to go buy something to hold it though. I have hot pink gravel, and I don't want that messed up by redish brown rocks.

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[Bettababe1011]

Yesterday I found a liquid test kit in our storage room from when we had our other aquariums set up. It still works!! The only thing I don't like is that it doesn't test nitrAtes. That's strange.

.5-1 ammonia, it's so close I couldn't tell exactly what it was.
0 nitrItes

It also has a pH tester. Just for fun, I tested it. The pH is 7.4.

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[Bettababe1011]

Do I test everyday when it's cycling?

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[andreahp]

I think you could test everyday because you'll want to know when the nitrites start to go up (the 2nd stage of the cycle) and the ammonia goes down. Also, you'll want to get something to test your nitrates because once the nitrites start going down, the nitrates start going up and then... time to get fishies! After you can finally get fish you'll also want to test for nitrates anyway because they aren't supposed to be over 20ppm.

 

[Bettababe1011]

The only nitrAte testers are those five in ones. I can't get them online either. Sigh. I'll have to see what all I can find.

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[Bettababe1011]

I actually found something to put gravel from another fish tank in. So my tank is seeded now. The rank water is very cloudy now. I'm assuming this is because of the cycle?

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[andreahp]

I've heard of people who got cloudy tanks during cycling - I didn't. Also, you might want to see if you can get the API freshwater test kit. Most members use it. You can test a lot with it (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates & pH). I'm just concerned that the liquid kit you are using is fresh enough to give accurate results?