How Long did it take to cycle your tank?

[missie]

Just for curiousity sake, How long did it take for your aquariums to cycle??. Im 1 week into cycling my 55 gallon with no drop in ammonia yet. trying to be patient- till then... share you cycling stories with me!!



Thanks!
erin

 

[LyndaB]

Unless you are using seeded filter media, the average is 6 weeks to cycle a tank.

I cycle instantly by using seeded filter media..... sorry, no big story, that's it.

 

[BBradbury]

Tank cycling

Just for curiousity sake, How long did it take for your aquariums to cycle??. Im 1 week into cycling my 55 gallon with no drop in ammonia yet. trying to be patient- till then... share you cycling stories with me!!



Thanks!
erin

Hello missie...

The process takes four to six weeks. If you can steal some filter media from an established tank, that will make the process go more quickly. Getting some hardy fish like Zebra Danios or Platys is a good way to cycle a tank. If you're careful, they'll easily survive the cycling process. You just need to test the tank water daily and when you see a trace of ammonia or nitrites, just do a 25 to 30 percent water change to get the water back into the safe zone. When the ammonia and nitrites consistently read "0", you can add a few more fish. Just keep testing and doing the water changes until the tank is stocked. Pretty simple.

You can instantly cycle a tank, but in order to do that, you'd need to use the media from a similar filter and tank. An example, take the media from an Aquaclear 50 power filter that was used in an established 55 G tank and put it in another Aquaclear 50 filter in another 55 G tank. Just let things run for about 24 hours and stock the tank. Again, you need similar filters and tanks.

B

 

[bunzy]

55 med planted boxing day till today...15 daysish?

 

[bunzy]

used bb from older filter 25% water from established tank, 6 danios tonnes of plants

 

[missie]

i have an old filter from my cycled 20 gallon and put it the new filter.. in addition to having plants from my 20 gallon also in my cylcing tank.. shouldnt it be cycling quicker than?

 

[LyndaB]

Well yeah, if you'd said that in your first post, it would've made a difference. Depending on how well seeded the media was, it can cut short the cycle by as much as weeks.

 

[zarmalar]

When I cycled my 30 gal with a filter from a cycled 10 + gravel and decor + 3 danios that were in the 10 it took about 3 ish weeks that my levels stabilized. Along with water changes ect. Worked beautifully.

 

[stingrays4]

Hi my first tank, one week yes didn't know any different now anything from 1 day {by cheating and moving a mature filter to a new tank then know need to cycle} to 8 weeks got 4 weeks into it then realised i had done it wrong so had to do it all again mature filter and some fish tank water from another tank will help but as i am now finding out with my latest tank not always so 3 weeks and counting.........................

 

[RedFlame]

First 5 all took 3 weeks, the last two are in their first week of cycling.

 

[richardh]

1st tank a 17gallon was a fish in cycled and took 10 weeks, in fact I am still not 100% convinced it's quite there yet. I have recently moved a few fish about, so think I am in a mini cycle.

2nd tank a 33gallon was seeded from tank 1 above and took just 3 weeks!

 

[Mikey214]

Took me about 3-4 weeks with seeded media from angel plus ! It was worth it though ! :thumbsup:

 

[Mumma.of.two]

First tank 7-8 weeks fish in, no seeded media, second tank no idea, silent cycled with plants and didn't get any readings for 4 months then got nitrates. Every other tank from instantly to 2 weeks with seeded media.

 

[BBradbury]

i have an old filter from my cycled 20 gallon and put it the new filter.. in addition to having plants from my 20 gallon also in my cylcing tank.. shouldnt it be cycling quicker than?

Hello again missie...

You must have a source for ammonia. If you cycle with fish, then the fish waste will begin the cycling process. Without fish, then you'll need to provide the ammonia. Plants alone will do it, provided you have some that die and decay in the tank, but it will take quite some time. I'd get some fish in the tank and cycle it that way. At least a few small fish will provide some activity in the tank.

B

 

[Fish24907]

My 20 Gallon tank was seeded with filter/decorations/gravel/water from my old 5 gallon tank, and after 7 days I tested everything and apparently the tank was completely cycled. I never tested it before then, so it might have been completely cycled after a 2 or 3 days.

Its strange to here all you guys saying your tank, with the help of your old filter, still took a 3 weeks to cycle. Its making me feel like my test results were wrong (I'm not good at judging the colors).

 

[blackmolly]

first tank was a fish in cycle that took 6 months... (kept changing the filter media and didn't use water conditioner) fishless cycle with used media took 2 weeks

 

[missie]

Hello again missie...

You must have a source for ammonia. If you cycle with fish, then the fish waste will begin the cycling process. Without fish, then you'll need to provide the ammonia. Plants alone will do it, provided you have some that die and decay in the tank, but it will take quite some time. I'd get some fish in the tank and cycle it that way. At least a few small fish will provide some activity in the tank.

B

I use pure ammonia from a bottle. I was curious how long other ppls tanks with seeded material took, as I didnt have my last tank seeded and it took nearly 3 months.

 

[LyndaB]

Its strange to here all you guys saying your tank, with the help of your old filter, still took a 3 weeks to cycle. Its making me feel like my test results were wrong (I'm not good at judging the colors).

Not all, myself and others were either instantly (me) or instantly to however many days or weeks (others).

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

I have only cycled one tank my actually ammonia dosing. It took a little over four weeks, maybe five. It was a pain and I'm so glad I never have to do that again! All the others have been seeded and went through mini-cycles.