fishless cycle questions

[frizzlefish]

My first major tank set up. 60g

Reading the fishless cycle set up that's pinned at the top, it talks about adding ammonia.

Is this something I do if I DO NOT add anything else, like Biospira or other bact supppliments? Or do I add ammonia IN ADDITION to the bact suppliments?


As for now I've got the temp at 80F, Biowheel filter running and an air pump on fairly fast to get tons of oxygen in the tank. Just plastic plants but some gravel/course sand mix from an older tank in addition to new gravel mix (about half older/half new as the substrate)


I have more questions too but I think I'll post them one at a time so I don't go into brain overload all at once!

Thanks!

[cocoa_pleco]

Im pretty sure you can add bacteria. The bacteria eats the ammonia, so it'd probably speed up the cycle.

[Lady Hobbs]

In addition. A tank will not cycle without a source of ammonia. BioSpira is just an aid in cycling. Using dirty filter media's from your other tanks will help just as much as biospira will.

PS......crank the heat up since you have nothing in the tank. Warmer temps = faster grown bacteria.

[frizzlefish]

So if I'm reading this correctly I should add the ammonia IN ADDITION to the bact suppliment.

And get the heat up to what? It was at 80F this morning - higher than that?

[Lady Hobbs]

Yes, use both. The biospira will hastened the cycle but you must have this source of ammonia to do a cycle. With no fish in the tank, turn the heat up as far as it will go and use your power head to keep the water aerating. This will also give you a faster cycle.

[frizzlefish]

great THANKS!


Now another - At what point will I know when the cycle is over and ready for some fish? After the spikes?


And is it a good idea to add some live plant material? I'm planning a run into the city on Thursday anyhow so I'll be stopping at a LFS then....

[Chrona]

great THANKS!


Now another - At what point will I know when the cycle is over and ready for some fish? After the spikes?


And is it a good idea to add some live plant material? I'm planning a run into the city on Thursday anyhow so I'll be stopping at a LFS then....

After you see spikes and your levels are something like: Ammonia - 0, NItrite - 0, Nitrate - off the chart (or really high) then you know your cycle is complete. If you use Biospira, your cycle will be done in 24-48 hours. The same cannot be said for any other cycling product.

Add live plants after your tank is cycled (especially if you are using Biospira, since it will only take 1-2 days). High ammonia levels and bright lights make for algae growth. The exception is if you have a fairly high tech setup (ie more than 2 watts/gallon + CO2 (either DIY or pressurized). Then you would just add a ton of stem plants and not worry about cycling at all, as the plants will take in the ammonia.

[frizzlefish]

Thank you!

[kimmers318]

If you are going to spend the money on biospira, and it is available locally, you don't need to fishless cycle. Follow the directions on the bottle, you add your fish, add the biospira, and it dumps enough live bacteria in the tank to handle the load.

[frizzlefish]

I have one small option here in town, don't know if they'll have it or not - I'm going to stop in after work.

If i've already started the fishless cycling THEN find the BioSpira, can I just add that then?

[Chrona]

Just dump it in and 24-48 hours later, add all your fish :)

[frizzlefish]

Struck out on the local place but heading into the "big" town tomorrow on another excursion..........

[Fishguy2727]

I remember reading that the nitrifying bacteria function best at 95-100F. That means turn up the heater as high as possible as mentioned. What is your source of ammonia?

[A340]

I've been using Seachem's Stability and have had very good results with it. Once you start a new tank, all you do is add 1 cap full for every 10 gallons of water everyday for 7 days and it expedites the cycle. The nice thing about it is that you can add fish right away, although, I still wait at least 2 days before I risk it, just so the water is some what stable.

Even though 7 out of the 10 Tetra's I bought at a LFS last week have died, I know it's not my tank as my Wal Mart Danio's are doing great. I went back to the same LFS today, and the tank that the Tetra's were in is now empty .... hmmmm? ;)

Patrick :22: