cam

Hi everyone,
I'm setting up an 80 gallon tank and I was wondering how long should it run before I can add the fish thanks for your help...

Tom

It all depends on the readings from your test kits.
Tom

genie

are you cycling it without fish?? If that is the case then it depends on your tests and how you are getting ammonia in the water. If you are going to cycle with fish then you can add a few (only a few) until the tank gets cycled. Then you can only add 3-4 fish at a time-- with like 2 weeks in between to let the cycle catch up.

It is IMO much easier to cycle without fish!!!

Good luck-- Jealous of the new 80 gallon!!! AHH tank envy!

cress10

Hey Cam, I would get the test kit, and cycle with a very few fish... I know that fishless cycling is easier, but you have an 80 gal, a little more room for error, so a few fish would make it through the cycle process. If you are like me, I like to see fish in my tank so this is what I would do! Good Luck!!!

Shrimpy

depends on the tests

Kevin

repeating stuff again shrimpy?
how about reading other pples posts b4 randomly blurting out what was said in the first post

JMatt1983

the best method for cycling is to try and get your hands on some filter media from a cycled tank, if not, than some gravel, maybe you can talk your lfs into giving you a small bag of it, but other than that, fishless cycle with pure ammonia, fish food, or bio spira if you can find is the shortest way, if going to do the cycle with fish it will take much longer due to the constant water changes

vak68

yes do the ammonia fishless cycle only takes days to do this ..look for store brand 100% no additves ammonia works great and fast ...then u have no worries on killing ur fish

COBettaCouple

pretty much, for any size tank, you ideally want to get 0 on ammonia and nitrites and 10 or less on nitrates. if you start adding fish before the tank cycles completely, then you can use prime as the water conditioner and monitor the chemistry closely along with very frequent water changes. we use prime as our tap water conditioner. i'd get the API master freshwater test kit for the most accurate results and test every couple days while cycling to watch for the ammonia and nitrite spikes. do you have live plants in the tank? what kind of fish are you looking at putting in there?

cam

Well I wanted to cycle the tank with fish...but I don't want to kill any fish in the process

COBettaCouple

have you checked: http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm ?

armadillo

I've cycled with fish several times and had no problem. I did hear that it could affect the lifespan of the fish, though.

It's also a lot of work as you need to test the water really frequently (every 2 days minimum), and change it where necessary. It also slows down your cycle due to the required water changes.

Final word of advice: use Prime conditionner as this detoxifies the ammonia/nitrites/nitrates (I believe Amquel+ could also do the trick but don't take my word for it. I've never used it).