The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

[Bettababe1011]

Originally Posted by Pigeonfood

You win a prize lol

Awesome. Is my prize a free fish? Lol. Or another tank so I can fishless cycle again? Or a virtual congratulatory pat on the back? Lol.

[eco23]

Originally Posted by Pigeonfood

Trust me you will be the first person to know eco if my ammo and NO2 and both 0, because ill be pumped lol.

Thank god you don't have my phone number, my cell might be ringing at 4am one morning, lol. I do understand though. My wife thought I was absolutely nuts the way I obsessed over my fishless cycle. One of the main reasons I think people won't consider fishless cycling is because they're not patient and think it'll be boring. It would never make $, but I've thought of packaging an all in one fishless cycling kit. Maybe we can put some stickers of fish on there to stick on the glass so people can imagine they have fish in there. To me, fish were just gonna be a bonus after getting the tank cycled.

[Irish.OG87]

Originally Posted by Bettababe1011

Awesome. Is my prize a free fish? Lol. Or another tank so I can fishless cycle again? Or a virtual congratulatory pat on the back? Lol.

A free 1 dollar betta fish..kinda leaning towards a blue one tbh lol

[Irish.OG87]

Originally Posted by eco23

Thank god you don't have my phone number, my cell might be ringing at 4am one morning, lol. I do understand though. My wife thought I was absolutely nuts the way I obsessed over my fishless cycle. One of the main reasons I think people won't consider fishless cycling is because they're not patient and think it'll be boring. It would never make $, but I've thought of packaging an all in one fishless cycling kit. Maybe we can put some stickers of fish on there to stick on the glass so people can imagine they have fish in there. To me, fish were just gonna be a bonus after getting the tank cycled.

i know ur on here alot even if u are afk, but u will be the first person i message when i know, if dakota sees it before u....lil betta is heading to somewhere int he midwest lol

[Bettababe1011]

Haha. I have a blue black and red Betta. His name is Patriot. It would be more correct if his black was white though, it'd be the colors of the American flag.

[Bettababe1011]

Originally Posted by Pigeonfood

i know ur on here alot even if u are afk, but u will be the first person i message when i know, if dakota sees it before u....lil betta is heading to somewhere int he midwest lol

Huh? You mean my location? I just put that to be mysterious and elusive. Lol.

[Irish.OG87]

question eco....when my cycle is done can i remove my seed material like filter and stuff? cos that filter i will use it for my qt 2g tank.

[Irish.OG87]

Originally Posted by Bettababe1011

Huh? You mean my location? I just put that to be mysterious and elusive. Lol.

well Midwest, obviously aint too far from where im at, less postage woot lol

[eco23]

Originally Posted by Pigeonfood

question eco....when my cycle is done can i remove my seed material like filter and stuff? cos that filter i will use it for my qt 2g tank.

Good question. Stick some brand new filter material next to it for as long as possible to let it seed the new stuff before you remove the old. Otherwise your just removing all the bacteria you're trying to grow. Most of the bacteria lives in those filter pads.

[Irish.OG87]

ok...its gonna be crowded in my filter for awhile lol

[eco23]

Originally Posted by Pigeonfood

ok...its gonna be crowded in my filter for awhile lol

Mine was...and still is packed. It's mucho importante though. Now I'm speaking Spanish...I've gotta watch a little less Barca.

[Irish.OG87]

[moderator edit] btw i read a thread of yours where u had a fish that a big eye, and u were giving him medicine for 5 days i think, did he ever make it and progress in ur tank?

[eco23]

Originally Posted by Pigeonfood

lmao....btw i read a thread of yours where u had a fish that a big eye, and u were giving him medicine for 5 days i think, did he ever make it and progress in ur tank?

Yeah, he's golden. I can't even tell which one he was. Did you see the pics of the tiny little QT I made him? It was funny. I'm happy he's all better though.

[Bettababe1011]

Glad to hear everything worked out!

[eco23]

Originally Posted by Bettababe1011

Glad to hear everything worked out!

Thanks. I should have updated that thread. I'm really glad I was able to get him better. He looked really awful and I thought it was over. Poor little guy was hiding behind a bush before I made him the QT. He looks identical to the others now, but when I stick my hand in to move things...most of the neons get out of the way, but one little one will nip at my hands

[Irish.OG87]

Tbh, im gonna be a nervous wreck if a fish gets sick in my tank...omg it will be the end of me i know it.

[eco23]

If you're gonna have smaller fish (I personally like lots of small schooling fish instead of just a few big ones), go out and buy a small tank to use as a QT. You don't need to keep it up and running. Just when you get new fish, or a sick one...fill it up with tank water, a piece of filter material and a bubble stone. You can just do pwc's with water from the main tank.

That's what I did for my sick one, but I need to get a bigger one to quarantine any new fish I buy. You've really got to make sure the fish you buy are healthy before they go in the main tank. If they have an illness it can effect the whole tank and all the other fish in there. Something like ich actually never leaves the tank if it gets in there. It lives in the gravel and comes back out if your fish get stressed. You're supposed to keep all new fish in a separate tank for 2 weeks to make sure they're healthy before they join the rest.

I used that tiny makeshift tank for my sick neon, but I need to buy a larger tank for new fish. Like I said, you can just leave it empty in the closet and set it up in 5 minutes with things from your main tank.

[Flossie]

Originally Posted by eco23

I can't wait till you get started! Check back in with us here and we'll get everything set up for you. Thanks!

Me either... I'm sure I'll have some questions for you guys lol thanks

[cichlidpaul]

Hi ya Eco just thought i would drop in with some news for you about the cycle mate in so happy i could weep just about to do a 50% water change as my ammo is dropping from 4.5 to 0 within 24 hours and my nitrite is way off the chart as is my nitrate so like you have said a few pages back in on the home straight i guess

Lets hope them barca boys stuff man u i know i will be cheering them on with you lol

[eco23]

Originally Posted by cichlidpaul

Hi ya Eco just thought i would drop in with some news for you about the cycle mate in so happy i could weep just about to do a 50% water change as my ammo is dropping from 4.5 to 0 within 24 hours and my nitrite is way off the chart as is my nitrate so like you have said a few pages back in on the home straight i guess

Lets hope them barca boys stuff man u i know i will be cheering them on with you lol

That's awesome bro! It took a while but you're almost there. I can't wait till you get it all stocked. If you've still got some algae issues going on... add some Oto catfish as one of your first fish. I just bought 7 yesterday and they're my favorite fish. They're like a full time cleaning crew. I'm having a diatom outbreak (brown algae) and these things are cleaning it up like magic. I'm happy for you man!