How long did it take you to cycle?

Here is a list of pet shops in MI that sell fish. One is in your city, apparently.

 

Here is a list of pet shops in MI that sell fish. One is in your city, apparently.

Noah's Ark was closed a while ago.

The town is so tiny, there isn't enough business.

 

Well, were any of the other stores within an hour's drive? There's got to be something.

 

I am not sure.

I know for a fact the closet PetSmart is 3 hours away.

There could be some local fish stores somewhere, but the entire area is like deserted. If you drive up here, during the last one hour you will not see more than 5 cars on the express way.

 

hmm... Vash, have you considered moving?

Oh, and my neons weren't in my filter. Pretty sure they just got eaten.

 

If you drive up here, during the last one hour you will not see more than 5 cars on the express way.

I'm left wondering why they bother calling it an expressway..... ;D

 

hmm... Vash, have you considered moving?

Oh, and my neons weren't in my filter. Pretty sure they just got eaten.

As the matter of fact, yes.

Just got my double degrees. I doubt I will find a job here in this puny town lol.

I'm left wondering why they bother calling it an expressway..... ;D

If you don't get off the express way here and continue another 100 yards, it's the checkpoint to Canada lol.





OMG!

Update on my cycle for the 40 gallon.




BIG surprise !

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - still off the chart of course (bright red...which I don't see a match on any of the color)
PH - 6.6


I test it twice to be sure...
I can't believe that the nitrite went down from off the chart to 0 in just 24 hours. It was way over the 5.0ppm max that the test kit could display.

By the way, I never changed the water. I was planning on doing it after the substrate change.

Let me add some more ammonia lol. We'll see how it goes tomorrow(probably in 12 hours) before I replace the substrate.



On the side note, my 10 gallon now has a PH of 8.0...went up from 7.8(my tap water has PH of 8.2). I thought as food rotten in there and the build up of nitrate both would lower the PH. Why did it go up? I still have RCS and Zebra Snails in there. Will it be bad for them? What should I do?

 

My water's buffer sucks!

I just added a lot more ammonia. The reading is 2.0ppm.

The PH went up from 6.6 all the way to 8.0 !

 

Hazah! You are CYCLED =)
Remember, colony can double in size in 24 hours and you added more surface area...viola!
Your right, the buffer looks non-existant to swing the pH over a full point.
When ammonia hits zero again I would start doing big water changes to get nitrate down under 5ppm (it may take quite a few, and remember, keep an eye on the filter media, make sure it stays submerged in tank water). I'd test ph then.
Sorry, I don't know anything about invertabrates or shrimp or their requirements, someone else who does please help!

N

 

By the way, I never changed the water. I was planning on doing it after the substrate change.

Let me add some more ammonia lol. We'll see how it goes tomorrow(probably in 12 hours) before I replace the substrate.

It's not a good idea to mess with the tank like that so soon after cycling. While you appear to be cycled, your bacteria is far from established. Changing out the substrate at this point could easily throw things into disarray. I'd wait a couple of months.

 

How long did it take you guys tanks to cycle? Was it a fish-in or fish-less cycle? What fish did you end up getting? (this is just for fun since I'm under quarantine)

 

I failed as a beginner, didn't cycle the tank and all if my fish died. I cycle my tanks now, but I was clueless back then

 

Cycled a 10gal in 2 months with plants & dr Tim's ammonia. fishless cycles are easier imo

 

The last tank I setup without seeding was more of an experiment. It was 10 gallon dosed with Seachem Stability. On the second day I added 3 rasboras, kept an eye on the water closely. It was fully cycled in 10 days.

 

two months for small tanks for a 3 ft and four ft it took 3 months to cycle them

 

It took me a little under a month to cycle my 20g. It was a fishless cycle and currently has 3 female platys and 4 platy fry

 

I have a 75 gallon
It took about 2-3 months, I added a small amount of food in the tank, tank got cloudy after a while, then cleared up and was ready. I let it cycle without a filter for a good while (because I hadn’t bought one yet)
I didn’t purposely wait 2+ months, it was more that I didn’t get the fish for a while,

 

I did a fish-in cycle with a single tiger barb (not the best; I know) in a 5 gallon in a week. The only reason mine was so quick is because I squeezed in the filter cartridge gunk from another tank a few times. Quickest and easiest way ever! It currently houses around 30 molly fry. Don't worry, it's not permanent!

Last August, back when I didn't even know what a cycle and BB was, I added fish to a 10 gallon the same day I got them. They are all still alive, except one. By the time I got an API Freshwater Master Test Kit--around a month ago--there were 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 20 nitrates.

I like many others, knew almost nothing before joining this forum. In the summer of '16, I won a goldfish at a July 4th fair. I put it in a 10 gallon the same day I got it. That's already small enough for a goldfish. Then, I decided to get two mollies and some kind of sucker fish, probably a cory... I don't even know what it was called. And a black moor goldfish, too!

Needless to say, the tank didn't last 6 months. May God bless these poor innocent fish.

 

I did a fish-in cycle with a single tiger barb (not the best; I know) in a 5 gallon in a week. The only reason mine was so quick is because I squeezed in the filter cartridge gunk from another tank a few times. Quickest and easiest way ever! It currently houses around 30 molly fry. Don't worry, it's not permanent!

Last August, back when I didn't even know what a cycle and BB was, I added fish to a 10 gallon the same day I got them. They are all still alive, except one. By the time I got an API Freshwater Master Test Kit--around a month ago--there were 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 20 nitrates.

I like many others, knew almost nothing before joining this forum. In the summer of '16, I won a goldfish at a July 4th fair. I put it in a 10 gallon the same day I got it. That's already small enough for a goldfish. Then, I decided to get two mollies and some kind of sucker fish, probably a cory... I don't even know what it was called. And a black moor goldfish, too!

Needless to say, the tank didn't last 6 months. May God bless these poor innocent fish.

aww sorry for your fish. I was also reckless when joining this hobby just in January. I wasn’t aware of the nitrogen cycle, set up a 10 gallon tank, let it run for like 5 days before buying fish, pet store told me everything seems fine. Ended up buying like 6 fish of like 4 different species and even a goldfish which didn’t last a month. But now I have started over I know all about the cycle and very informed now and my 10 gallon tank is still cycling, it’s been about 5 weeks now.

 

I cycled a 20-tank fish room many years ago with fish in (feeder goldfish from the LFS). I tested frequently and did water changes to keep combined ammonia and nitrite at 1 ppm or below. I logged the results, and each tank was cycled in five to six weeks. After about 10 years life happened and I had to take down the fish room.

Two years ago I set the fish room back up. I took the advice of Cory from Aquarium Coop and added live plants to help seed the bacteria colonies. This time each tank was cycled in two to three weeks.

I never use bottled bacteria. I know it doesn't work as advertised, and I'm not convinced it works at all.

 

I cycled a 20-tank fish room many years ago with fish in (feeder goldfish from the LFS). I tested frequently and did water changes to keep combined ammonia and nitrite at 1 ppm or below. I logged the results, and each tank was cycled in five to six weeks. After about 10 years life happened and I had to take down the fish room.

Two years ago I set the fish room back up. I took the advice of Cory from Aquarium Coop and added live plants to help seed the bacteria colonies. This time each tank was cycled in two to three weeks.

I never use bottled bacteria. I know it doesn't work as advertised, and I'm not convinced it works at all.

Congrats on successfully keeping so many fish! How did you ever manage to keep up with all of the maintenance? I only have three aquariums, and that's stressful enough.

Now that I think about it, using feeder goldfish is actually a really smart idea! They poop a lot, causing ammonia to come up, but are very hardy, so they will survive the cycle! That is so smart. I might actually consider doing that the next time I have to cycle a fish tank. Good luck coming back to the hobby! You should make your own thread just for your fish room. I would totally follow!

 

I made the mistake (?) of breeding guppies. I got the bug bad. To selectively breed you need six to eight tanks per line. I have four lines, and 20 tanks in my fish room, and I'm constantly fighting with not enough tanks. Most of the top guppy breeders have a minimum of 100 tanks, some as many as 200.

I figured ways to be more efficient with tank maintenance, especially water changes. I got a submersible pond pump for draining and ran plastic hose to the floor drain in the other room. I hook up a hose to get water for refilling from the tap. I can move 250 gallons of water during 50% water changes (total 250 gallons of water, 125 out, 125 in) in less than an hour, and that includes setting up the pond pump and the refill hose and putting everything away when I'm done. I start with draining the first tank, then when it's done I move the pump to the second tank and use my fill hose (with a Python Hook) to fill up the first tank, so I'm running both the pump and the tap continually full blast, going from one tank to the next. I have a little container of Prime with an eyedropper, one squirt per 10G's. It works really slick. Also once a week I vacuum the mulm off the bottom and do a 25% water change. That allows me to feed pretty aggressively for growth, including at least two feedings of live brine shrimp every day.

The feeders work great. Two different LFS's were glad to loan me some feeders. They start out as scrawny fish about an inch and a half, and I return them a few months later all fattened up and they can sell them for pond goldfish.

 

I cycled my 10 gallon with 2 guppies. I dosed the apI quickstart and I did daily or once every 2 day water changes and the cycle finished in 5-6 days, maybe a week. I never used test kits and everything went smoothly, please don't attack me

 

I cycled my 10 gallon with 2 guppies. I dosed the apI quickstart and I did daily or once every 2 day water changes and the cycle finished in 5-6 days, maybe a week. I never used test kits and everything went smoothly, please don't attack me

Oh wow really.. maybe I should start dosing that daily.

 

Oh wow really.. maybe I should start dosing that daily.

I think it depends... some people say it works and some say it doesn't. I just dosed it so that there was already bacteria and it could colonize. I mean it worked for me lol. Also, this is random, but I literally added food to the tank(to add ammonia) before adding the fish and the fish were just pecking at the rotting food.... tank goodness they were okay haha. I don't know, I just fed them daily, did a water change(maybe around 30 percent) and I added new fish and everything was fine.

 

I'm kind of impatient so I just squeeze a cycled sponge filter all over the tank which then kind of cycles it fast.

 

I cycled my 10 gallon with 2 guppies. I dosed the apI quickstart and I did daily or once every 2 day water changes and the cycle finished in 5-6 days, maybe a week. I never used test kits and everything went smoothly, please don't attack me

that's a fast way to do it I am not a fan of quick start as it can be over used when setting up a tank

 

that's a fast way to do it I am not a fan of quick start as it can be over used when setting up a tank

wait what do you mean???

 

I'm kind of impatient so I just squeeze a cycled sponge filter all over the tank which then kind of cycles it fast.

what u did works to

wait what do you mean???

what I mean is if u use to much it over doses the tank and dosnt do the cycle any good its ok to use if done correctly half a cap full is all that is needed when using that

 

what I mean is if u use to much it over doses the tank and dosnt do the cycle any good its ok to use if done correctly half a cap full is all that is needed when using that

Oh. I just added a teaspoon at first and added a drop or two 1 or 2 times a day afterwards... I honestly didn't really know what I was doing with adding the random drops of the liquid lol.

 

wait what do you mean???

wasn't trying to be mean I am just trying to help

Oh. I just added a teaspoon at first and added a drop or two 1 or 2 times a day afterwards... I honestly didn't really know what I was doing with adding the random drops of the liquid lol.

u may have over done it just a tad

 

wasn't trying to be mean I am just trying to help

yeah I know, I just didn't really understand your post since I didn't know what you meant my overdosing the quickstart. Thanks for your responses by the way!

 

cool your welcome I am happy to help u and every one on here sorry for the late reply

 

Cycled my 20 gallon high in a month and 2 days, fishless cycle, used ammonia to kick start the process, that was the longest month hahaha, was so happy when I saw 0 nitrites

 

fishless, tons of leaflitter, live plants, hitchhiked bladder snails and starter bacteria: cycled within 3 weeks.
Without adding any ammonia. The plant matter from the leaves was enough.

 

I think it was 2 1/2 weeks for my 20 gallon to cycle using fish flakes,

 

I just finished a fish in cycle on my 36 gallon, using plants, Stability, Prime, driftwood from an established tank, and 5 zebra danios. We seem to have completed the cycle on day 12. Planning on adding 3 more danios and seeing how the water parameters respond.
Also running a fish less cycle on a 3.5 gallon using ghost feeding and stability. It’s slow going but I think we are starting to see some ammonia now, not testing this one daily, down a test tube and I’m not in a hurry!

 

Cycled my 20 gallon high in a month and 2 days, fishless cycle, used ammonia to kick start the process, that was the longest month hahaha, was so happy when I saw 0 nitrites

Oh congrats!!! lol I thought you said that it cycled in 2 days and I was like woah

 

How long did it take you guys tanks to cycle? Was it a fish-in or fish-less cycle? What fish did you end up getting? (this is just for fun since I'm under quarantine)

It usually takes a month for me. I have always done fish-less cycles. My tanks are a qt/fry tank, a twenty gallon, and 10 gallon. The qt/fry tank has a bunch of endlers. My 10 gallon has more endlers and will have a betta. My 20 gallon has zebra danios, guppies, honey gouramis, and panda cory cats.

 

I cycled my 40Gallon and my two 5Gallons by seeding them in my other tanks. Had them ready for fish (after a month of seeding) in 4 days.