Zodiac007

I have a 50 gallon aquarium. How do I cycle it? I've heard that you could cycle with fishes, how does that work? And how do you cycle it without fishes?

Thank you.


Also, how do you acclimate new tropical fishes?

I also have 3 comet goldfish that are EXTREMELY hardy. I mean it. They've lived for almost 4 years and they've been through very dirty tanks.
Can I cycle the aquarium with them? If yes, how do I do it?

Dozey

Welcome to FishLore
This article explains the process.
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
Unless absolutely forced to you should never cycle a tank with fish.

Sorry I missed your second question...
The “drip method” is preferred. Place the fish in a container that can hold at least double the amount of the water in the bag. If possible place and air stone in the container. Use an air hose with and an air value to create and create a siphon from your tank water. Adjust the air valve to allow a very slow drip but steady drip into the container. The goal is to double the bagged water amount in 2 to 3 hours. Lower the container into your tank and let the fishy swim away. If an air stone in the container isn’t possible I’d suggest reducing the time to 1 hour.

Of course at this time it would be best to place the new fish into a q-tank to avoid infecting your tank with any nasties that he may have brought home from the LFS.

If none of the above is doable, simply float the bag in your tank for 30 to 60 minutes open the bag, hold sideways in the tank and let the fishy swim out.

Lucy

Hi Welcome to Fish Lore

It's recommended that you try and avoid cycling with fish. The fish are exposed to toxic levels of ammonia and nitrites during the cycling process. To try and avoid as much damage to them as possible, you'd have to do 50% water changes daily until the tank is cycled, which could take up to a month.

You can use pure ammonia or fish food to cycle with out fish. Not only will no fish be harmed or killed, you won't have to do water changes.
Here's a detailed explanation on how to cycle with ammonia:
Ammonia instructions for a fishless cycle

To acclimate new fish you could float the bag so the temperature in the bag slowly adjusts to your tank temp. Add a small amount of tank water to the bag about every 15 minutes over the course of an an hour or two.
This allows the fish to adjust to your water chemistry,
If the bag gets too full, empty some out (not into the tank) try to avoid getting any water from the store into your tank.

Soooooo...which sounds better....daily water changes for a month or simply adding ammonia?

Good luck!

Edit: I forgot to include a link to the nitrogen cycle, but I see Dozey's provided it for you.

Zodiac007

Ammonia !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Lucy

Dozey

I just wanted to add that as a general rule of thumb cycling a tank with out fish takes approximately 1 month. However when cycling with fish the daily 50% water changes removes a great deal of the ammonia required for the cycling process. Cycling with fish will generally take two to three times as long.

So the question might be, “What sounds better, adding ammonia once a day for a month or daily water changes for 2 to 3 months?”

Zodiac007

how do you add ammonia once a day? where do I get ammonia?

Lucy

Read the link I gave you, it explains 2 ways to cycle with ammonia.

I got mine at a grocery store. Someone else found it at Ace hardware.
To test and see if it's ok to use, shake it, if it doesn't foam or have any additives it should be ok.

Zodiac007

does it matter what type of fish food it is? tropical or goldfish flakes? does it matter?

Dozey

Here's the Ace Hardware link...
http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...Id=34452478883

Almost any type of fish food will do. The food decays and gives off ammonia in the process. A shrimp will also work. Not a live shrimp but a shrimp that you would buy in a shrimp ring.

Emory

lol that link was to a 15 pack of ammonia-------> my MTS is not THAT bad

Dozey

Not yet!