cycling and maintainence

I just finished putting together a 10 gallon ;D and i'm wondering how long it would take to cycle it if I were to use that product called cycle. also am I supposed to clean the tank w/ the fish still in it or do I move them out of the tank into something else until I finish changing the water ???. or would it be easier to cycle the tank with pure ammonia? thanks for the help

 

We used cycle at first - it didn't seem to help much and if anything it put our tank into a series of mini-cycles. The best product that I know of for advancing the cycle is BioSpira (check the refridgerated stuff in the fish area of your pet store.) A product called Zymbac Freshwater is like BioSpira but not as strong or fast, but lasts longer & is less expensive. I'd prefer using those to cycling the tank with pure ammonia, but the ammonia method will work.

Sounds like you've read these already?
https://www.fishlore.com/Articles/TheNitrogenCycle.htm
https://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

 

For routine water changes one you have cycled, you would leave the fish in the tank while you siphon out some of the old water (25-30% would be normal unless you have ammonia/nitrite issues, in which case you would want to change 50% at a time). When you put new water in, be sure that 1) the temperature is as close to the same as the existing tank water as you can get it, and 2) that you treat the water for chlorine/chloromines before putting it into the tank.

Since the tank is new, you are looking at approximately 4-6 weeks to cycle it using ammonia before you add fish. If you are wanting to speed that up and are willing to plunk down a few bucks, Bio-Spira that FLBettaCouple mentioned will do it virtually immediately...you add the Bio-Spira, then your fish can go in right away.

 

FLBettaCouple, I can't seem to find either one of the products you listed...any other suggestions, cuz i'm going to Wal-Mart to get the ammonia tomorrow or the day after that possibly

 

I have used Cycle on 2 tanks without issue... My logs show that with weekly 25% to 30% water changes and following the directions on the cycle container for dosage intervals and amounts that both tanks were fully cycled in 4 to 5 weeks.

This was done with fish and a SMALL amount of purposeful over feeding. The tanks in question are a 10 gallon and a 29 gallon. ;D

Hope that helps ya out!!

P.S. The 10 gallon tank has an under gravel filter with a power head and an Aqua Clear HOB filter hooked to the under gravel to promote flow. The 29 gallon tank has just a HOB filter. They BOTH have bacteria beds in the filters to promote growth and a place for that growth. ;D

 

problem is I can't really afford to buy that cycle product every month cuz i'm still a kid w/ an allowance that depends on my report card averages...(sadly)

 

Cycle is a dormant bacteria that is not the normal good bacteria you want in your tank, hence why you don't have to worry about refrigerating it like you do with Bio-spira. Bio-spira needs to be refrigerated in order to make the bacteria dormant long enough to get it into your tank and doing it's thing. Cycle on the other hand just introduces new bacteria that may or may not help with keeping ammonia and nitrite low. The problem is that if it does it's job and keeps them low, then there isn't anything for the good more permanent bacteria to eat, which is why some people say it causes mini-cycles. I've been trying a similar product called Stability, though so far I don't think it's helping with much of anything. If you can't get bio-spira or zymbac then you would have just as good of a chance getting the tank to cycle without cycle as with. Just go for the normal cycle process. It will take 6-8 weeks, but will give you a great base to work with for a long time.

 

It's like 5 bucks and that should be plenty to cycle a ten gallon probably 3 times... ;D

If that's to much give me your paypal account info and I'll send the 5 bucks to ya... ;D

 

maybe I'll just stick w/ the pure ammonia from Wal-Mart cycle process, but thanks for all the help guys and gals

 

If money is tight, then that is the best thing to do. By the time it cycles you will have enough money saved up to buy a nice stock of fish. Good Luck!