BettaGirl92

I am currently doing a fishless cycle in my small 5.5 Gallon tank.
(Kiko, my Bettas soon-to-be-home)

I was wondering if i just let the tank/filter do it's thing, or if i have to add anything to it.
It's a brand new filter.

I've never cycled a tank before, as every tank i have was moved from my boyfriends place to mine, all set up and everything. (easssyyyyy! =P)

So some help would be nice.
Thanks a lot!

Tumbleweed

Here read this artical. It will expalin everything, and your options.
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

Shawnie

also, taking some filter media from your boyfriends tanks, like in a baggie with some of his tank water, will help it along as well...shouldnt take too long with a 5 gallon..goodluck

Lucy

You can seed your new tank by using a peice of used filter media, a handful of gravel and/or a decoration from your established tank.

Don't forget to feed the tank with a source of ammonia (fish food or pure ammonia with no additives), otherwise your bacteria will die.

BettaGirl92

okay.
so just adding some fish food, used filter media, and some gravel or a decoration will help?

Also,
how long will it take to cycle?

Lucy

Yes, it will help it immensely! With a 5.5 and used filter media, it shouldn't take but a few days.
Take readings every day and see what they look like.

It's almost an instant cycle, really, I cycled a 5g this way (I used pure ammoinia) I kept adding ammonia for about 3 days until I was positive the bacteria was doing it's job.

BettaGirl92

I took a test last night and this morning, and the ammonia read 0.00
so that's good.
The tank was already set up before, i just added a new filter because i took my old one and out it on my new tank.

BettaGirl92

put it in my new tank*

Shawnie

how were the nitrites and nitrates? 0 could be because the filter is new...and there is no ammonia yet...did u mean you used your old filter and media from the tank to get the new one going?

BettaGirl92

the entire filter is new in my 5.5 gallon (the one i'm asking about)
The tank was established, and i checked the water again today.
Nitrite - 0.00
Ammonia - 0.00
Nitrate - 0.00

The only thing that is new is the gravel and filter. The tank itself is five years old.


I took my established filter and put it in my new tank, if that's what your asking..

AggieYen

The gravel and filter houses most, if not all, of the bacteria that you need - replacing them with new ones will definitely toss you back into the start of your cycle. Your 0 nitrate reading shows definitively that your tank is not cycled. You will have at least a reading of 5-10 nitrate to show that your tank is cycled, with 0 nitrite and ammonia readings.

Even if you seed your tank with the new gravel and filter with used media from the old filter, you'll still need to add a source of ammonia to the tank to give the bacteria in the used media 'food' or else they will die off. Either use fish food, or pure ammonia for that.