cycling a 55 questions

**bigbrad73** · 03-09-2009, 01:38 AM

Alright I plan on getting my 55 gallon tomorrow. question is do I do the fishless cycle with or without plants. I plan on it having plants, wood, and rocks in it do I need to have everything in it when I start the fishless cycling?

**Algenco** · 03-09-2009, 01:56 AM

Do it without the plants

**bigbrad73** · 03-09-2009, 01:58 AM

so just the rocks and the wood. no plants? when to introduce the plants?

**Algenco** · 03-09-2009, 02:00 AM

put the plants in after it has cycled

**bigbrad73** · 03-09-2009, 02:14 AM

how long should it take to do a fishless cycle in a 55 gallon tank

**ErikFromNJ** · 03-09-2009, 03:09 AM

Without seeding the filter or using any BB'd substrate....4-8 weeks

**Wild Turkey** · 03-09-2009, 05:35 AM

without doing anything, anywhere from 1 to 12 weeks.
Seen both ends of that spectrum on this site actually.
If you can get some used filter media from a friends tank, and put that into your filter you can skip the whole cycling process pretty much. Add fish the same day.
Getting a bacteria culture can be almost as good, but results vary. Add fish the same day you add the bacteria with this as well.
Ones ive seen work so far are
Tetra start safe
API stress zyme
Big Als bio-support (from bigalsoneline.com, same formula as stress zyme but cheaper.)

Good luck! You made the right decision :D

**bigbrad73** · 03-09-2009, 10:35 AM

So your saying if I throw in the old carbon filter out of my 10 gallon tank, I don't have to do fishless? I just put the whole filter in the middle of the botton of the tank?