Tips - Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle

From: Richard - Doing things the hard way I just bought a 10 gallon tank and interested in making this a hobby but as I've read everyones comments I've made lots of mistakes. First off, I bought 2 plecos, 2 gold fish and a crayfish and I put them into the tank as soon as I set it up. The water has been pretty cloudy for 2 days and I'm thinking about getting the biospira. Is there anyone who can give me advice on how to have a successful tank. I have the filter, air pump, tap water conditioner and the fish food that I've been feeding. How long does it take for the water to clear? And how do I know if its cycling properly.

Hi Richard - Ok, I think you need to slow down just a bit and read up on the cycle, setting up a tank, research the fish you'd like to keep (look into the smaller tetras or barbs) in a 10 gallon tank and then read some more. The plecos have to go back to the store or you need a much larger tank asap. The goldfish won't do as well with tropical fish and they are heavy waste producers and need at least 20 gallons a piece. They crayfish is another story altogether. The cloudy water could be the bacteria bloom which could be indicative of the beginning stages of the cycle. If you're only interested in keeping a smaller tank like the 10 gallon, look into keeping much smaller species and get that bio-spira too.

From: Chickadee - Tried Two Different Methods I have used two of the above methods to cycle tanks. I used the Ammonia method and liked the results I got because the tank stayed nice and clean without the mess that fish or fish food would have made but since I was introduced to Bio-spira, my method was set. My one word of advice is that you do not add the Bio-spira and wait for a long time to add the fish. I shake the pouch, pour the Bio-spira in the tank and add the fish. Just that quick. The Bio-spira needs the ammonia that the fish produce to start having something to nourish itself. Do not check the parameters for 7 days or you will make yourself crazy. You will have an ammonia spike, a nitrite spike and some nitrates as it does do a cycle in that 7 days but it does not hurt your fish. After 7 full days do a water change, not before and you will be so pleased with the lovely cycle you have achieved. The fish will be healthy and the tank will be fine.

From: Dan - Using Bio-Spira to Cycle I have used both freshwater and saltwater bio-spira. I feel that the product helps, but will not "instantly" cycle your tank. The amount of fish I lost when I used in in freshwater (2 out of about 10) was not worth just waiting for it to cycle in my opinion. I used it a few times for salt, and I still waited to put fish in the first time, but I just tried it again today when I had a serious problem with a newer tank and I was worried about my damsels... The nitrites went from 1.5 ppm to 1 ppm and I went from having no nitrates to 1 ppm in just a few hours. It appears to have significantly sped up the cycle. We will see what happens, but I feel it did help.

From: Will - Using Bio-Spira I tried fishless cycling a 75 gallon tank by adding pure ammonia. After a few weeks without observing any changes in the levels, I lost my patience and added bio-spira. Within 48 hours, I went from 4 ppm ammonia to 0. I never detected any nitrites. I was able to add a full load of fish without any problems at that point, although I did keep a very close eye on the water parameters for the first few weeks.

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