orangeson

hello everyone i have the 20 gallon tank set up today now how long do i have to wait for the tank to cycle and also i need to know if i need to add one fish to help speed up the cycle or not i used stress zyme along with stress coat in the tank i have the test kits if someone can help me with this thanks a lot

Isabella

A tank is cycled when ammonia = 0 and nitrite = 0. Nitrate may be showing but nitrate is not as dangerous as ammonia and nitrite. However, you should take care to have nitrate as low as possible too. Too high a nitrate may be bad as well. Try not to have nitrate higher than 20, and having it at zero or very low is best. If you put fish in your tank while you have even small amounts of ammonia or nitrite, they may get sick and die. Ammonia and nitrite are very dangerous and they kill fast. This is why it's very important to cycle your tank before you put any fish in it.

There are various methods of cycling. You can cycle with fish, but remember that if you do, the fish will suffer because of ammonia and nitrite, and they will most likely die. You can cycle fishless by adding fish food to your tank, or by adding pure ammonia to it (but I've never used pure ammonia so I can't help you with it). Just put a few flakes of fish food to your tank every day (and remove it the next day). Keep doing it until your tank is cycled.

When it is cycled, you should start stocking your tank with fish very slowly. Never add too many fish at once because this may suddenly increase ammonia or nitrite, and kill all your fish. Buy 1 - 2 fish at a time, every week or so, until your tank is stocked. Of course, remember not to overstock: do not get fish that grow too large for a 20 gallon tank, and do not get way too many fish as for a 20 gallon tank.

Good luck

dazzler

hi orange,do you have another tank that you can use the filter from if so slip that bad boy in there your tank will take no time at all (anywhere from two days to possibly two weeks) or even gravel from a cycled tank this will do the same thing. using fish to cycle will tank longer than without fish and is also harmful to the fish it can greatly reduce their life span. a tank naturally cycling (no fish) can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months every tank is different. go to the "fishlore articles for beginners" section there is many differrent ways to cycle a tank i am currently using the ammonia drops method... also if you can afford to purchase BIO-SPIRA this is a instant tank cycler 48hrs later you are ready to drop fish in there (only say 3 per week) although pricey(bio-spira) about $20 odd dollars i believe... dont quote me i live in australia and cant get the product.... it is the way foward many people here use it with great success. you can find it on drsfostersmith.com

people can add on from me here

hope this helps somewhat
regards * dazzzler

orangeson

okay thank you i will go with the fish food to cycle okay theses are the fish i want to get one gold gourami , 4 cories , 4 dwarf frogs not the clawed ones , and one fish that eats algee i know plecos get too big so im not sure what to get to eat the algee now would theses fish be over stocking ? i know i wont add all at once but over time , what do you think about theses fish in my 20 gallon tank thanks for your help*

Isabella

Do Gold Gouramis grow to 4 - 5 inches? If they do, it may be a bit too large for a 20 gallon tank (but I may be wrong). How about 2 Dwarf Gouramis instead? They're beautiful, much smaller, and they're still Gouramis

I think your tank would be OK with 2 Dwarf Gouramis (or the 1 Golden Gourami, if it isn't too large for a 20 gallon tank), 4 Cories, and few frogs. You'd still have some space for some algae eater. Yes, Pleco is too large for a 20 gallon tank. Siamese Flying Fox is very good but I am afraid it may be a bit too large for your tank too. Otos are very small and very good algae eaters - you could get a few of them. But you don't need to get any algae eaters until you start getting algae. So you can leave some space for algae eaters just in case you get algae, and if you do get algae, get the algae eaters then.

And as I've already said, don't get many fish at once. And, of course, the tank must be cycled first. This means AMMONIA = 0 and NITRITE = 0.