trennamw
Aquarium Advice Addict
If you're new and watching this, keep in mind my cycle may go faster because I've got not only donated media now, but also because I probably had a partially cycled tank already.
After getting some great advice & donated, bacteria-laden media, I decided to start cycling my 29 gallon tank again. This time I'll document it here, in hope that it both draws suggestions and helps others repeat the process in the future.
Keep in mind my tank was already a little bit cycled, probably-maybe. I started to do so a month ago and it never really went anywhere. pH and temp were likely culprits but since I'd added a lot of things to the water (long story) I decided to start fresh.
SUPPLIES (photos and more details will be in a post below):
29 Gallon Marineland kit with heater & Penguin 200 Biowheel filter (an aside: I think this tank is worth the tiny bit of extra $ because this filter seems built for efficient cycling)
AquaClear 40 Power Head, set on "maximum bubbles" for aeration
Bottle of dechlorinator whose label says it removes chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals. This time I'm not using the dechlorinator that also has tons of other things in it for slime coat and so on.
ACE Janitorial Ammonia (10% ammonia, no other ingredients)
API Freshwater Test Kit
Pipettes marked for .5-3 ml
Donated Filter Media, and BioBalls (Thank you ThrenJen), from an established tank.
A teensy bit of phosphate (also from ThrenJen, questions about that I'll defer to her)
And because my tap water has practically no KH or GH (and because I bought them before I knew of alternatives) ... Chiclid Salts and Chiclid Buffer, and crushed coral. I don't necessarily recommend this combination, it's just what has been working for me to get the GH and KH from zero to something the bacteria and fish will like.
Concerned that something I'd put in the water in the past month was why my cycle was stalled, I emptied all of the water out of the tank (where is the thread on how to siphon out water without getting tank water in your mouth ).
Sooooo .... emptied tank. Filled it back up, putting dechlorinator then water into the bucked and hauling it back to the tank. Added 3ml ammonia, and chiclid salts and buffer aimed at getting the GH up to 3 and the KH way higher.
The next step I instantly regretted, but now that it's been an hour I'm glad I did. I'd read that if you're lucky enough to get a piece of filter media from a cycled tank, dip it into your aquarium and shake it, to let all its bacterial goodness settle on all the other surfaces in the tank. This turned my water completely, scarily, brown but after an hour everything is clear again.
Then, I slipped the big piece of bacteria-laden filter media into the filter, where the water would contact it before it contacts the charcoal filter cartridge. I put the Bio balls on top and into this other little nook on the right. My crushed coral is in the bottom of the filter box.
Turned everything on, let it run awhile, then tested. Test results below.
After getting some great advice & donated, bacteria-laden media, I decided to start cycling my 29 gallon tank again. This time I'll document it here, in hope that it both draws suggestions and helps others repeat the process in the future.
Keep in mind my tank was already a little bit cycled, probably-maybe. I started to do so a month ago and it never really went anywhere. pH and temp were likely culprits but since I'd added a lot of things to the water (long story) I decided to start fresh.
SUPPLIES (photos and more details will be in a post below):
29 Gallon Marineland kit with heater & Penguin 200 Biowheel filter (an aside: I think this tank is worth the tiny bit of extra $ because this filter seems built for efficient cycling)
AquaClear 40 Power Head, set on "maximum bubbles" for aeration
Bottle of dechlorinator whose label says it removes chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals. This time I'm not using the dechlorinator that also has tons of other things in it for slime coat and so on.
ACE Janitorial Ammonia (10% ammonia, no other ingredients)
API Freshwater Test Kit
Pipettes marked for .5-3 ml
Donated Filter Media, and BioBalls (Thank you ThrenJen), from an established tank.
A teensy bit of phosphate (also from ThrenJen, questions about that I'll defer to her)
And because my tap water has practically no KH or GH (and because I bought them before I knew of alternatives) ... Chiclid Salts and Chiclid Buffer, and crushed coral. I don't necessarily recommend this combination, it's just what has been working for me to get the GH and KH from zero to something the bacteria and fish will like.
Concerned that something I'd put in the water in the past month was why my cycle was stalled, I emptied all of the water out of the tank (where is the thread on how to siphon out water without getting tank water in your mouth ).
Sooooo .... emptied tank. Filled it back up, putting dechlorinator then water into the bucked and hauling it back to the tank. Added 3ml ammonia, and chiclid salts and buffer aimed at getting the GH up to 3 and the KH way higher.
The next step I instantly regretted, but now that it's been an hour I'm glad I did. I'd read that if you're lucky enough to get a piece of filter media from a cycled tank, dip it into your aquarium and shake it, to let all its bacterial goodness settle on all the other surfaces in the tank. This turned my water completely, scarily, brown but after an hour everything is clear again.
Then, I slipped the big piece of bacteria-laden filter media into the filter, where the water would contact it before it contacts the charcoal filter cartridge. I put the Bio balls on top and into this other little nook on the right. My crushed coral is in the bottom of the filter box.
Turned everything on, let it run awhile, then tested. Test results below.