OzzyFan

To make a long story short, I have a few 'generations' of danio fry in a breeder box and a breeder net. They are growing slowly and I want to release them into the tank. The ones I sucked up around February 23rd are now about 1 centimeter long, but still small enough for my adult leopard danios to chase, and for my black phantom tetras to eat. The reason I know is because I let two of them out a week and a half ago, and they were both chased and then eaten. I want to release the bigger fry into the tank but I've put too much effort into their care to simply let them be eaten. So, I want to know what you think of this:

I want to get a 5- or 10-gallon tank, fill it with water from my currently-established aquarium, and use it to accelerate the growth of my danio fry, so I can sooner put them into the main tank. Plus, I can use it as a fry-growing tank for future 'generations' of fry, since they seem to turn up during every vacuuming.

The real meat of the question is this: If I take 5 or 10 gallons of water from my current tank and put it into the new tank, thus basically filling it to reasonable capacity, will I still need to cycle the new tank for the standard number of weeks? My understanding of the cycling process is that it's the WATER, not the glass or rocks or decorations, that needs to be sufficiently bacterialized, if that makes sense.

So, is cycling done because the tank GLASS is dangerous initially, or because new TAPWATER is no good for fish, or what? If it's the glass that is harmful, I understand the need to cycle each tank for x number of weeks. But if I put water from another tank into this new tank, does it make sense to wait x number of weeks before adding the fish?

Also, what kind of substrate/plants are suitable for danios? If this tank is only going to be a fry-raising tank, I don't really need to decorate it, but I would LIKE to decorate it if that wouldn't be a waste of time or money. My current tank has black smooth gravel, a handful of rocks (ranging from grape- to baseball-sized), a big 'temple'-type granite decoration, and 4 live plants. In this new tank, I'm thinking sand-type substrate and a higher number of small plants.

john&jen

I bought a 5 gal hex just for this purpose and filled it with tank water. It worked fine. I have guppy and platy fry in it... way over the 1 inch a gallon rule with no problems. You can get a Marineland biowhel tank at Walmart for 35 bucks. Its the same thing with a different label. I just added a little Hydor heater and the fry love it. I feed them Hikari fry food too. There is one decoration in it for cover and only the really fresh fry hang around it. The older ones are out and about.

kra-z-fishmumm

you are growing bacteria that keep the water safe for fish. The bacteria is found mostly in your filter and substrate. So, if you can put some of your filter from your existing tank, that can give you a little jump start. But it does still take time.

Nitrogen Cycle
This cycle usually takes from 2-8 weeks to complete and will happen in all new aquariums. You could speed up the process by using the filter material or gravel from an established tank. Even then it could still take a few weeks for the tank to cycle. This is the cycle whereby Ammonia is converted to Nitrites and Nitrites are converted to Nitrates. Please read the Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle article for more information.

Hope this helped some. The above I copied from Aquarium Water Chemistry from the home page.

ninilie

A grow out tank for the fry is a great idea. I have a new fry tank and a older fry tank where they get sexed and sorted. They love the guppy grass and java moss i have in it for them.

OzzyFan

Last night an adult danio got into the breeder box and ate two of the fry...so getting a fry tank is necessary now, if I want to let them live.

Perhaps what I could do is take the filter off my current tank and run it in the fry tank for half an hour or something (I don't know how long my 25-gal tank's fish can go without waterfall-circulated oxygen) to get the bacteria circulated. I also have a bottle of Cycle that I've been using after that tank's water changes, and I could certainly get a scoop of gravel and put it in the new tank. The only problem with that is that my current tank is full of little snails, and if there are eggs in the gravel, I really don't want to transfer those.

lilsoccakid

running the filter temporarily wont cycle the tank. the bacteria live on the filter and gravel, and none is found in the water. you should cut off a big chunk of ur filter from the established tank, and put it in the new filter, while supplying it with a constant ammonia source

kra-z-fishmumm

LSK is right, putting your filter on for just a few hours won't do it and would probably hurt your old tank. Also, I have heard HORRIBLE things on here about Cycle,,,search for the threads. Best thing I can think of is for you to try and get some Bio Spira,, can put it and the fry in the same day from what I understand. Hope it all works out.

1gamma45

I got a 5 gal for my Fem guppy to have her fry in then for them to grow in. I took and filled it with water from my cycled tank and took rocks from it and put in the new tank. Still took about 1 week for the ammo to come down to 0 but all is good sept she still has not dropped and looks like she is about to explode with fry.

COBettaCouple

What I'd do is setup a 10g tank for them.. Use Prime to treat all the water and move some gravel from the cycled tank over to seed it. Do daily 25-40% water changes while it cycles.

To speed things up more, get a sponge filter and put it in the cycled tank for a week, then move it to the fry tank.

Cycling is done to build colonies of 2 types of nitrifying bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrites, then nitrites to nitrates.

OzzyFan

I couldn't find any Bio-Spira at the store...and I've only ever seen Prime in one store here; I think the products common in America may not be common in Canada. Either that, or we're not shopping at the same stores.

Anyway, I bought a 5-gal and I filled it with water from my established tank, and put some gravel from that tank in the 5-gal as well. It's currently circulating, but the water is a tan color because presumably I didn't get enough of the finer particles out when rinsing it. I didn't have a colander fine enough to filter this gravel because it's small gravel. Anyway, I've added some Cycle, Waste Control, and flake food, so we'll see what happens. However, I am a little concerned that all this circulating sand-dust will scratch the glass.

COBettaCouple

I'd recommend against "Cycle". It attempts to establish a bacterial colony that wipes out the nitrifying bacteria that you want in a tank, instead you're left with a never-ending cost of adding cycle and still having mini-cycles to deal with. You can use carbon for a few hours to clear the tank of Cycle.

The best way is to just use Prime for water conditioner (it helps lock the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate toxins plus takes care of the heavy metals and enhances slime coating) and do daily water changes of 25-40%. This should keep the levels low and what toxins you have will be of minimal effect on the fish in the tank. If Prime is unavailable, increase the amount of water changed and look for Amquel+ or Fish Protector.

If you're able to get a sponge filter and run it in the established tank for a week, it won't be too long until the new tank is cycled and you can go to a less frequent schedule of maint. on it.