martynmarion

How many and what kind of fish would you forum readers suggest i use to start to cycle a new 55 gal. tank? The reason for the question is that I would like to take some gold barbs, serpae tetras, or tiger barbs from my 10 gal. tanks and cycle my 55 gal., then return them after the cycle is complete. I want a cichlid tank, however I hate to spend a lot of money on the cichlids to cycle with. Good Idea? Bad Idea? If this is acceptable, how many fish would you suggest I start the cycle with?

AggieYen

I think you'll find that most of us would cycle our tanks fish-less, with either fish food, which takes longer, or pure ammonia. You could also put some gravel from your other tank into a pantyhose/stocking and kinda... hang that in the tank to make it faster. It's just not really fair to the poor fish to undergo the conditions of the tank while it's cycling.. if it can be avoided, I think most of us here would. There's also such a big risk of losing fish when they're used in a cycle... it's just a lot less risk and a lot more hassle free doing it fish-less.

martynmarion

After reading your response, it does sound more sensible to do it w/out fish. I think I understand about adding ammonia and using a declorinator that does not sequester the ammonia, but what do I use to test the levels of nitrite and ammonia? On my 2 -10 gal. tanks I just have some strips, but obviously you need to use something more precise when cycling. What do I look for to test these? The pantyhose idea I will use as well. Also, approx. how long will it take to cycle when using the fishless approach? When I cycled my 10 gal. it seemed to be approx. 2 mos., but once again I was just using the strips. Some of the things I have read seem to indicate 5-10 days. Seems a little to short of a time frame to me, but ...

AggieYen

What I use is the API test kits. I'm not sure where you're from, but you can get the API Master test kit - it's liquid, and it tests for nitrites, ammonia and nitrates. I have them all lined up next to my tank - makes my family chuckle (they don't get my fascination with fish). I would really recommend getting the liquid test kits - they're a lot more accurate than strips.

It depends, in terms of time it takes. If you use fish food, it takes probably 3-4 weeks? Pure ammonia is a lot faster, but i've never used it myself - although some of them here have, so give them time to respond, because they will There's also a nifty product called Bio-Spira that cycles your tank in a matter of days, but again, i don't have enough first hand knowledge on this, so I'll leave that to the experts

capekate

I found cycling the tank fishless was much faster than with fish. When I cycled my 29g with fish it took 2 months. when I cycled my 55g without fish, using flakes and a piece of raw fish it took 24 days. Cycling without fish is a lot easier considering you will not have to do those constant water changes that you would have to do cycling with fish. Personally i will never cycle with fish again.
Good luck with your tank.

~ kate

martynmarion

Thanks for the info. I'm off to the store looking for API test kits. I'm from Illinois (USA) so I would assume these tests are available. I'm going to try ammonia also-wish me luck. I guess, when it gets right down to it, if you don't have fish in the tank, you can't really mess things up too bad. After all, if I don't get overanxious and dump in my fish before my readings are appropriate, I guess even a beginner like me can't mess up too bad.

Wolfgang8810

what i would do is put a few cocktail shrimp in the bottom of your tank and just leave them there. doing this means you dont waste fish food or have to "feed' your empty tank twice a day then take your bio filters from your 55 gallon pump and bury it in the gravel of your other established tank to "seed" it with bacteria once the ammonia in the 55 gets to 1 then put the bio filters back in your filter. I did this with my new 10 gallon i set up last week and im at ammonia 0, nitrite 2, nitrate 10. so it cycles it very quickly. if you have any questions about what i said just pm me

martynmarion

wolfgang- I think I get what you mean in your post. Are the readings that you give-ammonia 0, nitrite 2, and nitrate 10 sufficient to place fish in the tank? I mean, do those readings mean your tank is cycled? I read somewhere that you need amm. 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate 2. Is there much difference in either of these readings?

AggieYen

To consider your tank cycled, both ammonia and nitrite readings should be down to zero, and nitrates roundabout the 10-20 mark. My nitrates never get higher than 5, but that's because I have a teeny tiny tank. You'll need to get pure ammonia. Here's a link to another thread on here that may help you find pure ammonia and some guidelines on how to use it.

http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/aq...fish-food.html

Wolfgang8810

i know my tank isnt cycled but it is on its way and i dont add any animals untill the readings are 0 with a nitrate less than 20. I was ust stating that it takes far less time the way i did it.

Kevin

if you have a well-stocked LFS, you could probably find an additive called bio-spira, it will make your tank "fish-safe" overnight, but some people recommend waiting an extra 2-3 days b4 adding fish
here is a link for it
http://www.marineland.com/products/m...l_biospira.asp