cycling

[lyinxz]

okay , i have a brief idea of cycling now.
i am going to use my dwarf flame gourami for the process.
it is a very small one , and its a single one in a small tank.
im going to buy a testing kit tommorow.
i put the fish in the water about 2 days ago.

what i need to know however if anyone can give me some advise:P

thoughout this "cycle" period ,
what levels of ammonia , nitrate and nitrite am i looking for through out the process?
and what would be too much ammonia and nitrate?

and what levels am i aiming for at the end of cycle period?

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i will continue doing research on it , however would be sweet of someone to speed me up :P
i will not reply to this post till perhaphs nxt week since i only have the internet at work. thankyou!! :)

[Hevydevy]

Ideally you want you ammonia and nitrate levels to be zero or as close to as possible.

I'm new too but I've read a fair bit about it now and am up to seven fish.

I had my tank running for close to two weeks AFTER I set up the tank and added nitrifier and conditioner before I added my first three fish.

They did fine but I did have a bit of a scare the other day when I added four more and they started gasping for air at the surface that night.

But they're fine now.

Anyway, the levels can be up and down a bit as you start adding fish but as long as you get your ammonia and nitrate levels to basically zero before you start adding fish then the tank should balance itself out pretty well.

Also, add only two or three to start with maximum and no more than around three at a time after that depending on how big it is.

I've been waiting at least a week after i've added before adding more fish.

And that's pretty much the only thing I know about fish!!

[jeffs99dime]

take a look at this-- [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
this will answer all of your basic questions

[Glasstapper]

It's hard to say what numbers exactly you will see as it always depends on the fish and the tank size. I can give you an example of mine, though. I cycled my 45 gallon tank with 10 bleeding heart tetras. These stay small (about 2 1/2 inches full grown), but I probably had more than necessary. I saw some pretty high peaks (because of how many fish I had). At one point, my ammonia peaked to a reading of 5.0 before it started dropping. After that, my nitrites started rising and they peaked so high that I couldn't even read on the test which only went up to 9.0. So don't freak out if you see high spikes, but just be warned that my tetras are "hardy" and your gourami really isn't.

Hey, on a side note, in case your gourami doesn't survive the cycling, would you consider trying a fishless cycle? No fish need to be harmed in the processs, and it will take only half as long than using fish. It's definitely worth a try.


(just a reminder: your numbers may not look like mine, but you see what we mean when we say "high" spikes)

[lyinxz]

wow , okay i went to my local aquairum shop where i have bought most of my products.
the guy tells me that the maximum ammonia should not go higher then .25 , and 1.0 is very harmfull.
and my test kit saies the same?...
I live in Australia by the way.

i did a test on my ammonia levels today, it was about 0.1, i cant get a exact reading beacuse the test is colour coded , you have to get some tank water and mix 2 chemicals in a bottel and compare the results with a colour chart.
the chart indicated my level was very low. the water only about 2 days old, with 1 dwarf flame gourami.

the the guy also said i should not worry to much about nitrite testing , and to concentrate more on nitrate testing , beacuse if nitrate levels are not correct then just start weely water changes and then test again.

my future plans are:
buy 1 more fish , most like a "hardy" one.
and keep checking ammonia levels every few days , if it gets to high i will continue with water changes. if for more than several weeks they keep going high, i will buy the nitrite and nitrate kits.
reason being ,
a combo kit for all of them cost about $100 dollers
and each kit indivusaly cost , 25 buks each!!! and only limited amount to use.
i hoping the cycle will only take max of about 6 or so weeks.
oh and if it all goes miserbaly wrong i will cook my fish and eat it :)
HAHAHAHHA jokes jokes :P
if all fail il try fishless cycle!!
i love aquariums , tis my new hobby its awsome fun!! :D

any thoughts people?
peace

[lyinxz]

PS:
glasstapper >>
if thats ur fish tank , that is awsome :D looks abouslty awsome!!!

[f1oored]

For the life of me I can't understand why everyone is so set on using fish to cycle their tanks. If you are using fish the cycle is going to harm them. It may not kill them now but it will shorten their lives.

Here is the idea, your fish is going to make ammonia. That ammonia is going to be eaten by bacteria "A" but this bacteria may take 2 weeks or so to form. Bacteria "A" will produce nitrites which are also very harmful to fish (probably more so than ammonia). Bacteria "B" will start to multiply once nitrite levels are high enough and he will produce nitrates. Nitrates in low ammounts are not harmful to fish. This process can take from 4-6 weeks so basically your fish is going to be swiming around in toxic harmful water for up to a month and a half maybe even longer. Water changes are going to be good for the fish but they are going to slow the cycle down because you are removing the ammonia and nitrites that the bacteria need to live.

[lyinxz]

lol because i bought the fish before i knew about cycling.
And also , its good to understand / experiment with all the methods.