New aquarium help with set up

I don't want my first batch of fish to die. What do I need to do for 3 rum nose tetra and 3 Cardinal tetras. It cant be as easy as letting water sit for a week and bringing in new fish? I read some stuff about nitrogen cycle and bacteria. How do I get all this going.

I'm using a 20g tank, topfin bubble wall.

 

Well....for starters, letting the water sit for a week will not accomplish anything.

First and foremost....you need to understand that stuff about bacteria and the nitrogen cycle.
That is absolutely the most important thing.

I'll keep it really simple for you.

You feed fish.....then fish poop.
Poop produces ammonia....ammonia kills fish.
Bacteria grows that eats ammonia so the fish won't die.
The bacteria that eats ammonia produces nitrite.....nitrite kills fish.
More bacteria grows that eats nitrite so the fish won't die.
Growing all of the bacteria that you need can take 4-6 weeks....you will need lots of patience, and a test kit.

Get a liquid test kit so you can test throughout the cycling process.

Read these:
Nitrogen Cycle, Fishless Cycle

Ask us any questions along the way. We will help you.

 

Alright, don't stress yourself out and panic is the first thing. Planning everything out is the best thing to do in this hobby. Do you already have the fish in your tank, or are you planning on getting them?

First off, if you already have them, return the rummy nose tetras if possible. Rummy nose tetras require a 30-gallon tank. Instead, add to your group of cardinal tetras. Tetras are schooling fish and need at least 8 to be together.

In terms of the nitrogen cycle, it's fairly simple. Assuming you have your fish in your tank, (and that you've dechlorinated the water [get a de-chlorinator if you don't, I recommend Seachem Prime, I'll explain why later]), your fish waste (poop) will decompose into compounds like ammonia. Ammonia is a toxin and can kill fish. Luckily, bacteria can eat ammonia and transform it into nitrite, which unfortunately is another toxin. Another set of bacteria converts to nitrate, which is perfectly fine.

Since you have a fish-in cycle, try doing water changes to keep ammonia and nitrite levels low to keep fish safe. Use Seachem Prime, as it can detoxify ammonia and nitrite, keeping fish safe. Definitely get a test kit as mentioned above, and please don't get test strips for now, they're quite faulty.

Good Luck!

 

I'm going to go through a fishless cycle and read up on it now. I remember trying fish cycles as a kid and I only ever killed them. But gathering a lot more knowledge 2.5 decades later so my kids can have some success with this.

Tank is full as of 2 days ago and ready to start a cycle
Ph 7
0 nitrate
0 nitrite
0 ammonia
Temp 77f topfin automatic heater

I'll be heading out today to get some pure ammonia to start the cycle.
Oh and chlorine didn't even register for the test. 0

 

Are you saying there is no chlorine in your source water? Is it from a well? What are you using to test for chlorine? Most public sources will have chlorine or chloramine.

Make sure it is "pure" ammonia. Unfortunately it won't say on the label if there is other stuff in it like detergents, surfactants etc. Give it a good shake and if it produces soap-like bubbles in the bottle, don't buy it.

I have found it in "Dollar Stores" and hardware stores. Grocery stores seem to sell the expensive kind with soaps detergents etc.

Dr. Tim's sells Ammonia for this purpose if all else fails.

 

For 20 gallons with 6-8 tetras, you shouldn't need to dose more than 1ppm of ammonia when fishless cycling.
Other articles and internet sources will tell you to dose 2-4ppm but that's just overkill and it will only lead to more hassle when you are wondering why your nitrite is so high and not dropping.
Dose 1ppm of ammonia and wait for it to disappear. Then dose 1ppm again.
As you do this you will see that the ammonia starts disappearing faster and faster each time.
Soon all of the ammonia will be gone within 24 hours.
You wont need to dose ammonia every day.
Please don't dose ammonia every day.
That's a common mistake that we see all of the time.

 

I don't want my first batch of fish to die. What do I need to do for 3 rum nose tetra and 3 Cardinal tetras. It cant be as easy as letting water sit for a week and bringing in new fish? I read some stuff about nitrogen cycle and bacteria. How do I get all this going.

I'm using a 20g tank, topfin bubble wall.

If you want to start the nitrogen cycle rapidly the best way to do that is with a filter from an established fish tank doesn't matter which one or which kind put the old filter with all the healthy bacteria into your new aquariums filter and let it run for at least 48 hours that will jump start the nitrogen cycle introduce healthy bacteria and you should be able to add fish pretty soon. Make sure you get a master test kit to test the ammonia nitrates nitrites and pH levels for a few days before you decide to add the fish

Are you saying there is no chlorine in your source water? Is it from a well? What are you using to test for chlorine? Most public sources will have chlorine or chloramine.

Make sure it is "pure" ammonia. Unfortunately it won't say on the label if there is other stuff in it like detergents, surfactants etc. Give it a good shake and if it produces soap-like bubbles in the bottle, don't buy it.

I have found it in "Dollar Stores" and hardware stores. Grocery stores seem to sell the expensive kind with soaps detergents etc.

Dr. Tim's sells Ammonia for this purpose if all else fails.

I'm sorry but I don't believe that this information is at all correct. I cross references post just now and got completely different contradictory information than what was given. So please before you do anything cross reference that information that he just gave you

If you want to start the nitrogen cycle rapidly the best way to do that is with a filter from an established fish tank doesn't matter which one or which kind put the old filter with all the healthy bacteria into your new aquariums filter and let it run for at least 48 hours that will jump start the nitrogen cycle introduce healthy bacteria and you should be able to add fish pretty soon. Make sure you get a master test kit to test the ammonia nitrates nitrites and pH levels for a few days before you decide to add the fish

I'm sorry but I don't believe that this information is at all correct. I cross references post just now and got completely different contradictory information than what was given. So please before you do anything cross reference that information that he just gave you

And why are you worried about the chlorine? They sell products that you're supposed to add to water before you add it to a fish tank to get rid of the chlorine

Well....for starters, letting the water sit for a week will not accomplish anything.

First and foremost....you need to understand that stuff about bacteria and the nitrogen cycle.
That is absolutely the most important thing.

I'll keep it really simple for you.

You feed fish.....then fish poop.
Poop produces ammonia....ammonia kills fish.
Bacteria grows that eats ammonia so the fish won't die.
The bacteria that eats ammonia produces nitrite.....nitrite kills fish.
More bacteria grows that eats nitrite so the fish won't die.
Growing all of the bacteria that you need can take 4-6 weeks....you will need lots of patience, and a test kit.

Get a liquid test kit so you can test throughout the cycling process.

Read these:
Nitrogen Cycle, Fishless Cycle

Ask us any questions along the way. We will help you.

Yes yes yes this is proper and correct information

Well....for starters, letting the water sit for a week will not accomplish anything.

First and foremost....you need to understand that stuff about bacteria and the nitrogen cycle.
That is absolutely the most important thing.

I'll keep it really simple for you.

You feed fish.....then fish poop.
Poop produces ammonia....ammonia kills fish.
Bacteria grows that eats ammonia so the fish won't die.
The bacteria that eats ammonia produces nitrite.....nitrite kills fish.
More bacteria grows that eats nitrite so the fish won't die.
Growing all of the bacteria that you need can take 4-6 weeks....you will need lots of patience, and a test kit.

Get a liquid test kit so you can test throughout the cycling process.

Read these:
Nitrogen Cycle, Fishless Cycle

Ask us any questions along the way. We will help you.

Yes yes yes this is proper and correct information

I'm going to go through a fishless cycle and read up on it now. I remember trying fish cycles as a kid and I only ever killed them. But gathering a lot more knowledge 2.5 decades later so my kids can have some success with this.

Tank is full as of 2 days ago and ready to start a cycle
Ph 7
0 nitrate
0 nitrite
0 ammonia
Temp 77f topfin automatic heater

I'll be heading out today to get some pure ammonia to start the cycle.
Oh and chlorine didn't even register for the test. 0

If you want to start the nitrogen cycle rapidly the best way to do that is with a filter from an established fish tank doesn't matter which one or which kind put the old filter with all the healthy bacteria into your new aquariums filter and let it run for at least 48 hours that will jump start the nitrogen cycle introduce healthy bacteria and you should be able to add fish pretty soon. Make sure you get a master test kit to test the ammonia nitrates nitrites and pH levels for a few days before you decide to add the fish

I'm sorry but I don't believe that this information is at all correct. I cross references post just now and got completely different contradictory information than what was given. So please before you do anything cross reference that information that he just gave you

And why are you worried about the chlorine? They sell products that you're supposed to add to water before you add it to a fish tank to get rid of the chlorine

Yes yes yes this is proper and correct information

Yes yes yes this is proper and correct information

Alright, don't stress yourself out and panic is the first thing. Planning everything out is the best thing to do in this hobby. Do you already have the fish in your tank, or are you planning on getting them?

First off, if you already have them, return the rummy nose tetras if possible. Rummy nose tetras require a 30-gallon tank. Instead, add to your group of cardinal tetras. Tetras are schooling fish and need at least 8 to be together.

In terms of the nitrogen cycle, it's fairly simple. Assuming you have your fish in your tank, (and that you've dechlorinated the water [get a de-chlorinator if you don't, I recommend Seachem Prime, I'll explain why later]), your fish waste (poop) will decompose into compounds like ammonia. Ammonia is a toxin and can kill fish. Luckily, bacteria can eat ammonia and transform it into nitrite, which unfortunately is another toxin. Another set of bacteria converts to nitrate, which is perfectly fine.

Since you have a fish-in cycle, try doing water changes to keep ammonia and nitrite levels low to keep fish safe. Use Seachem Prime, as it can detoxify ammonia and nitrite, keeping fish safe. Definitely get a test kit as mentioned above, and please don't get test strips for now, they're quite faulty.

Good Luck!

Yes the seek him prime is a great product. However it is not recommended to do a fish in cycle. It is very difficult to keep the ammonia down while the nitrogen cycle is going on. It's very stressful on your fish and in the one time that I did try to do a fishing cycle my fish passed away. Just for future notice or reference try to get a hold of a filter from an established aquarium any kind doesn't matter and put that filter into your new aquariums pump let it run for a good 48 hours and that will jump start your nitrogen cycle introduce healthy bacteria and cut your time down by more than half

 

Fact: Most Public water sources contain chlorine and chloramine.
Fact: Most water wells don't contain chlorine.
Fact: you should use a water conditioner regardless of your water source.

If you let the water sit in the tank for 2 days before you tested for chlorine then your test would most definitely be 0 as the chlorine has evaporated out of the water.

Always use a water conditioner.....always.

Seachem Prime is a common favorite and arguably the best water conditioner on the market.

As for the ammonia, you definitely don't want to use ammonia with detergent in it.
I would recommend getting your hands on Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride....it's sole purpose is to be used for fishless cycling.

 

Fact: Most Public water sources contain chlorine and chloramine.
Fact: Most water wells don't contain chlorine.
Fact: you should use a water conditioner regardless of your water source.

If you let the water sit in the tank for 2 days before you tested for chlorine then your test would most definitely be 0 as the chlorine has evaporated out of the water.

Always use a water conditioner.....always.

Seachem Prime is a common favorite and arguably the best water conditioner on the market.

As for the ammonia, you definitely don't want to use ammonia with detergent in it.
I would recommend getting your hands on Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride....it's sole purpose is to be used for fishless cycling.

Yes I second this notion! Dr Tim's is an amazing product and so is seachem

 

I appreciate the skepticism regarding my chlorine levels being 0. It is in fact 0 or near 0. I have had the tap water in the tank for several days. I have a master kit and I tested everything this morning to provide those readings. I also busted out my spa dip sticks to make make sure. Yes there it reads 0 so assumption is nearly no chlorine in the water.

I unfortunately don't have access to a used filter. I may need to add some ammonia to the water to kick start things and I will see if I can find Dr. Tim's as per your suggestion. Thanks.
Thanks for the information and glad to see a good supportive and knowledgeable community here.

 

I appreciate the skepticism regarding my chlorine levels being 0. It is in fact 0 or near 0. I have had the tap water in the tank for several days. I have a master kit and I tested everything this morning to provide those readings. I also busted out my spa dip sticks to make make sure. Yes there it reads 0 so assumption is nearly no chlorine in the water.

I unfortunately don't have access to a used filter. I may need to add some ammonia to the water to kick start things and I will see if I can find Dr. Tim's as per your suggestion. Thanks.
Thanks for the information and glad to see a good supportive and knowledgeable community here.

If you have a pet store locally where you live that you trust I know mine does and will do this for me and has several times in the past if you ask the associate that is working in the fish department if they have a piece of a healthy filter to start a new aquarium they will provide you with one and sell it to you and I've never paid more than $1.99. however I have several aquariums that are healthy and established that I will be more than willing to ship you a filter to start your new tank depending on where you live it may take a little while to get there but I would ship it priority if you would be interested in that

 

Just for future notice or reference try to get a hold of a filter from an established aquarium any kind doesn't matter and put that filter into your new aquariums pump let it run for a good 48 hours and that will jump start your nitrogen cycle introduce healthy bacteria and cut your time down by more than half

Ehh...almost.

Think of cycling your aquarium like painting the walls of your house.
The seeded media from another filter is like someone handing you a large paint brush full of paint ready to go so you you don't have to dip the brush yourself....but you still have to paint the walls and that takes time.
Just like the paint....the bacteria grows to coat all of the submerged surfaces in the tank. As that bacteria grows its like adding extra coats of paint to the walls until you have enough coating all over and the job is done.

 

Great news l! We have ammonia! I'm happy because I went the natural route with just adding food instead of pure ammonia.

Its a shade between .25 - .5, I'm leaning towards .5

My nitrate is 5ppm.

I used some of those bacteria balls from the store, hopefully nitrite starts to rise soooooon. Anyone think it will be good by the end of the week?

So from what I understand from all the reading and unknowingly killing fish (26years ago!!!).....this bacteria will allow the fish to live for more then an hour! It will have an actual lifespan! because it can breath and not be overwhelmed with whatever literal poop is in the water?

Thanks everyone. Fairly excited here.

Fact: Most Public water sources contain chlorine and chloramine.
Fact: Most water wells don't contain chlorine.
Fact: you should use a water conditioner regardless of your water source.

If you let the water sit in the tank for 2 days before you tested for chlorine then your test would most definitely be 0 as the chlorine has evaporated out of the water.

Always use a water conditioner.....always.

Seachem Prime is a common favorite and arguably the best water conditioner on the market.

As for the ammonia, you definitely don't want to use ammonia with detergent in it.
I would recommend getting your hands on Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride....it's sole purpose is to be used for fishless cycling.

I took your advice and purchased a conditioner. I'll add it to my tap water before water changes.

Thanks.

If you want to start the nitrogen cycle rapidly the best way to do that is with a filter from an established fish tank doesn't matter which one or which kind put the old filter with all the healthy bacteria into your new aquariums filter and let it run for at least 48 hours that will jump start the nitrogen cycle introduce healthy bacteria and you should be able to add fish pretty soon. Make sure you get a master test kit to test the ammonia nitrates nitrites and pH levels for a few days before you decide to add the fish

I'm sorry but I don't believe that this information is at all correct. I cross references post just now and got completely different contradictory information than what was given. So please before you do anything cross reference that information that he just gave you

And why are you worried about the chlorine? They sell products that you're supposed to add to water before you add it to a fish tank to get rid of the chlorine

Yes yes yes this is proper and correct information

Yes yes yes this is proper and correct information



Yes the seek him prime is a great product. However it is not recommended to do a fish in cycle. It is very difficult to keep the ammonia down while the nitrogen cycle is going on. It's very stressful on your fish and in the one time that I did try to do a fishing cycle my fish passed away. Just for future notice or reference try to get a hold of a filter from an established aquarium any kind doesn't matter and put that filter into your new aquariums pump let it run for a good 48 hours and that will jump start your nitrogen cycle introduce healthy bacteria and cut your time down by more than half

Thanks for going through to confirm and elaborate.

 

One last question. When my cycle is done. Should I go straight for the fish I want or should I introduce something different and potentially more Harty?

Possibly overthinking it due to poor experiences a long long time ago. But I don't want to put some fish in after the cycle and have them just die within the day or week. So I'm planning a lot.

We are set on a tetra tank. Aside from drip acclimation (yes it's probably overkill but slower is always better). Is there some kind of methodical approach I may be missing. Our first few fish w

Cardinal tetra
Rummy nose
Skirt tetra

My personal experience says Cardinal will go first and then rummy. I have no idea about skirt. All-in-all I want to avoid any of this.

Should I start with something more harty that can co-exist exist with these little fellas beforehand?

Great news l! We have ammonia! I'm happy because I went the natural route with just adding food instead of pure ammonia.

Its a shade between .25 - .5, I'm leaning towards .5

My nitrate is 5ppm.

I used some of those bacteria balls from the store, hopefully nitrite starts to rise soooooon. Anyone think it will be good by the end of the week?

So from what I understand from all the reading and unknowingly killing fish (26years ago!!!).....this bacteria will allow the fish to live for more then an hour! It will have an actual lifespan! because it can breath and not be overwhelmed with whatever literal poop is in the water?

Thanks everyone. Fairly excited here.

I took your advice and purchased a conditioner. I'll add it to my tap water before water changes.

Thanks.

Thanks for going through to confirm and elaborate.

Ammonia 0.25
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0

Maby I do need to go grab some pure ammonia. Nitrate dropped to 0 in under 12hrs. Not sure what that's about.

 

I seeded my 15 gallon tank and I’m in week 2 nitrites just about peaking and very little nitrates yet. I’m figuring another week so it’ll be 3 weeks for mine with a filter media from 1 of my old tanks. Without seeding it’ll be at least a couple weeks longer for you. It’s hard to wait but to do it right it takes time.

 

I seeded my 15 gallon tank and I’m in week 2 nitrites just about peaking and very little nitrates yet. I’m figuring another week so it’ll be 3 weeks for mine with a filter media from 1 of my old tanks. Without seeding it’ll be at least a couple weeks longer for you. It’s hard to wait but to do it right it takes time.

Ok great to know. I'll see if I can work something out with the local shop. Appreciate your input on this, it's all very new.

 

Ehh...almost.

Think of cycling your aquarium like painting the walls of your house.
The seeded media from another filter is like someone handing you a large paint brush full of paint ready to go so you you don't have to dip the brush yourself....but you still have to paint the walls and that takes time.
Just like the paint....the bacteria grows to coat all of the submerged surfaces in the tank. As that bacteria grows its like adding extra coats of paint to the walls until you have enough coating all over and the job is done.

Duhhhh clearly using filter media won't magically turn a raw aquarium set up into a healthy bacterial ecosystem immediately but it just starts the process and ffwds it sometimes as fast as 3-5 days

 

I chucked in some of those bacteria/enzyme balls from aqueon. Totally dropped my ammonia, nitrite and left me with a little nitrate. They was a couplebdays ago. Check in tomorrow because I'll measure things in the morning after kids goto school.

On a side note I've decided to go the slow route with food. I'll grab a some frozen shrimp tomorrow and chuck it in. I'm doing this based on some info I found on here. I don't know how tontag the post so I'm doing a little copy and paste/summery.

By not skipping the slow decay of foods/protein I am developing colonies of bacteria that convert protein to urea and then to ammonia which then begins a proper nitrogen cycle.

We can kick off the process with ammonia, but with the slow process using food/a frozen shrimp we have a full complement of bacterial colonies in the tanks.

starting with just ammonia or ammonium chloride, we grow the bacteria that convert ammonia > nitrite > nitrate. It's skips a process that will happen eventually.

 

Duhhhh clearly using filter media won't magically turn a raw aquarium set up into a healthy bacterial ecosystem immediately but it just starts the process and ffwds it sometimes as fast as 3-5 days

It absolutely can speed up the process, but there are a few variables to consider. I think there are alot of misconceptions about seeded media that lead to false hopes of a rapidly cycled tank.

The 2 main factors to consider are:

1. The bioload of the tank
*(not the size of the tank) - you can put 1 oscar in a 55 gallon tank or put him in a 125 gallon tank. The bio load is the same, therefore you need the same amount of beneficial bacteria to satisfy both tanks.

2. How much seeded media are you using? - you can put 1 seeded bio ring in that 55 gallon tank and its not going to hurry things along very fast. But if you take the entire filter from that 125 gallon tank and put it on the 55, you're going to be finished cycling a heck of a lot quicker.....but again, that depends on the bioload... is it for the same oscar? Or a school of danios?

Moving alot of bacteria over to satisfy a smaller bioload is going to cycle quicker than using a handfull of bio rings for a larger bioload or to kick start a brand new system. You're still looking at several weeks for the latter.

3. Don't put an oscar in a 55 gallon tank.

 

It absolutely can speed up the process, but there are a few variables to consider. I think there are alot of misconceptions about seeded media that lead to false hopes of a rapidly cycled tank.

The 2 main factors to consider are:

1. The bioload of the tank
*(not the size of the tank) - you can put 1 oscar in a 55 gallon tank or put him in a 125 gallon tank. The bio load is the same, therefore you need the same amount of beneficial bacteria to satisfy both tanks.

2. How much seeded media are you using? - you can put 1 seeded bio ring in that 55 gallon tank and its not going to hurry things along very fast. But if you take the entire filter from that 125 gallon tank and put it on the 55, you're going to be finished cycling a heck of a lot quicker.....but again, that depends on the bioload... is it for the same oscar? Or a school of danios?

Moving alot of bacteria over to satisfy a smaller bioload is going to cycle quicker than using a handfull of bio rings for a larger bioload or to kick start a brand new system. You're still looking at several weeks for the latter.

3. Don't put an oscar in a 55 gallon tank.

Your explanation has me thinking about the load I'm putting in vs what is suggested. Flakes of food every few days vs a floating piece of shrimp.

Sounds like people really like the shrimp route and it's related to bioload. Shrimp just sits there 24hrs a day unloading it's bioload until it's removed. Placing food flakes in the tanks doesn't have nearly the same load and so it gives sub par results

 

Your explanation has me thinking about the load I'm putting in vs what is suggested. Flakes of food every few days vs a floating piece of shrimp.

Sounds like people really like the shrimp route and it's related to bioload. Shrimp just sits there 24hrs a day unloading it's bioload until it's removed. Placing food flakes in the tanks doesn't have nearly the same load and so it gives sub par results

You're thinking in the right direction.
Personally, i prefer liquid ammonium chloride because you can measure exactly what you are putting in the tank, therefore you can test accurately and you can see the rate that it converts.
Along with a pinch of fish flakes here and there because phosphates and carbon help the bacteria grow.

Look up Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride on Amazon. Its cheap, and it's developed for cycling fish tanks.

 

You're thinking in the right direction.
Personally, i prefer liquid ammonium chloride because you can measure exactly what you are putting in the tank, therefore you can test accurately and you can see the rate that it converts.
Along with a pinch of fish flakes here and there because phosphates and carbon help the bacteria grow.

Look up Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride on Amazon. Its cheap, and it's developed for cycling fish tanks.

Just had to connect the dots. Was never really an academic wonder.

 

Ph 7
Ammonia 1
Nitrite.25
Nitrate - a close 5ppm

I suppose I'm registering both nitrite and nitrate because of those bacteria/enzyme balls we threw in a few days ago.


I added in some flaked tuna today instead of running running to the store. About 1 teaspoon.

I checked around and surprised to see no one carried pure ammonia from the fish stores. I can just grab it from a regular store in a larger quantity but I'm done running around for today.

 

I checked around and surprised to see no one carried pure ammonia from the fish stores. I can just grab it from a regular store in a larger quantity but I'm done running around for today.

Try Ace Hardware

 

Ace Hardware janitors strength is great stuff just don’t buy ammonia with surfactant. Surfactant is a soap

 

Alright, so once you get on to your liquid ammonia, wait for everything but nitrates to drop to 0. Then, dose to 2 ppm, and wait. Do nothing until everything but nitrates drops to 0. Repeat until the process takes less than 24-48 hours.

After that, you can add shrimp, although I'd be a bit hesitant on adding shrimp to a new tank, as they are a bit delicate when it comes to water parameters. Adding a nerite snail might be safer, and then you can just start acclimating fish into the tank.

 

I think he was talking about adding raw shrimp as an ammonia source to cycle the tank. (?)

 

I think he was talking about adding raw shrimp as an ammonia source to cycle the tank. (?)

Yes correct

 

I chucked in some of those bacteria/enzyme balls from aqueon. Totally dropped my ammonia, nitrite and left me with a little nitrate. They was a couplebdays ago. Check in tomorrow because I'll measure things in the morning after kids goto school.

On a side note I've decided to go the slow route with food. I'll grab a some frozen shrimp tomorrow and chuck it in. I'm doing this based on some info I found on here. I don't know how tontag the post so I'm doing a little copy and paste/summery.

By not skipping the slow decay of foods/protein I am developing colonies of bacteria that convert protein to urea and then to ammonia which then begins a proper nitrogen cycle.

We can kick off the process with ammonia, but with the slow process using food/a frozen shrimp we have a full complement of bacterial colonies in the tanks.

starting with just ammonia or ammonium chloride, we grow the bacteria that convert ammonia > nitrite > nitrate. It's skips a process that will happen eventually.

I was the exact same way when I joined this site. You begin to research setting up an aquarium and before u get to far u start hearing only how the nitrogen cycle and suddenly ur down a rabbit hole of extensive and detailed info about it and because of the sense of urgency u feel you start spiriling and ur at the point where ur thinking screw it I'll just create a mix and match method and surly that will start the cycle. I did it also but there's so many variables and once fish are introduced the whole tank changes rapidly which in tern throw all ur levels up and down. Just relax and for the love of all that's holy CALM DOWN nature works on his own time

 

I was the exact same way when I joined this site. You begin to research setting up an aquarium and before u get to far u start hearing only how the nitrogen cycle and suddenly ur down a rabbit hole of extensive and detailed info about it and because of the sense of urgency u feel you start spiriling and ur at the point where ur thinking screw it I'll just create a mix and match method and surly that will start the cycle. I did it also but there's so many variables and once fish are introduced the whole tank changes rapidly which in tern throw all ur levels up and down. Just relax and for the love of all that's holy CALM DOWN nature works on his own time

*Staring blankly*

K

 

I was the exact same way when I joined this site. You begin to research setting up an aquarium and before u get to far u start hearing only how the nitrogen cycle and suddenly ur down a rabbit hole of extensive and detailed info about it and because of the sense of urgency u feel you start spiriling and ur at the point where ur thinking screw it I'll just create a mix and match method and surly that will start the cycle. I did it also but there's so many variables and once fish are introduced the whole tank changes rapidly which in tern throw all ur levels up and down. Just relax and for the love of all that's holy CALM DOWN nature works on his own time

I see that you joined last March.
It's your 1 year anniversary!
Congrats on making it through your first year of fishkeeping!

 

Ammonia 2
Nitrite .25
Nitrate 5

Looks like things are brewing. The colors are a solid shade this morning + 1 on the ammonia reading.

I'll remove some of the floating tuna today. At what point would ammonia be too high and result in me to consider a water change.

 

Ammonia 2
Nitrite .25
Nitrate 5

Looks like things are brewing. The colors are a solid shade this morning + 1 on the ammonia reading.

I'll remove some of the floating tuna today. At what point would ammonia be too high and result in me to consider a water change.

2ppm ammonia is more than plenty....i would let it process. Once you see it go down to 0ppm add some more.
Just keep repeating that and don't let the ammonia climb much higher than that.

 

2ppm ammonia is more than plenty....i would let it process. Once you see it go down to 0ppm add some more.
Just keep repeating that and don't let the ammonia climb much higher than that.

Ok if it jumps to 4ppm I'll water change it back down to 2

 

Hold up...i just thought of something.

So are you saying that you added like....Starkist or Bumblebee tuna?

Canned tuna can contain a decent amount of Mercury....mercury is lethal to fish.
That might not be the best idea.

According to edf.org (Environmental Defense Fund):

There are two main kinds of canned tuna: chunk light and solid or chunk white (albacore). All canned white tuna is albacore. Its mercury levels are almost three times higher than the smaller skipjack tuna, used in most canned light tuna products.

These recommendations are based on EPA guidance and estimates of mercury in the most popular canned tunas:

• Canned white, or albacore (0.32 parts per million of mercury). Children under six can eat up to one 3-ounce portion a month; children from 6-12, two 4.5-ounce portions a month. Adults, including pregnant women, can safely eat this kind of tuna up to three times a month (women, 6-ounce portions; men, 8-ounce portions).

I remember my dad telling me this years ago and warning me to stop feeding my kids tuna.

Im just not sure how much mercury is releasing into the water vs what the fish can tolerate.

 

Hold up...i just thought of something.

So are you saying that you added like....Starkist or Bumblebee tuna?

Canned tuna can contain a decent amount of Mercury....mercury is lethal to fish.
That might not be the best idea.

According to edf.org (Environmental Defense Fund):

There are two main kinds of canned tuna: chunk light and solid or chunk white (albacore). All canned white tuna is albacore. Its mercury levels are almost three times higher than the smaller skipjack tuna, used in most canned light tuna products.

These recommendations are based on EPA guidance and estimates of mercury in the most popular canned tunas:

• Canned white, or albacore (0.32 parts per million of mercury). Children under six can eat up to one 3-ounce portion a month; children from 6-12, two 4.5-ounce portions a month. Adults, including pregnant women, can safely eat this kind of tuna up to three times a month (women, 6-ounce portions; men, 8-ounce portions).

I remember my dad telling me this years ago and warning me to stop feeding my kids tuna.

Im just not sure how much mercury is releasing into the water vs what the fish can tolerate.

I already read into it beforehand. It's bound to the meat which hasn't really decayed, wont transfer out of teaspoon in 24hrs and can be measured/tested for. Processes/filtered out if needed. It's a nice little experiment and I'm sure this will end up as one if those things that gets blown out of proportion by some.

 

I already read into it beforehand. It's bound to the meat which hasn't really decayed, wont transfer out of teaspoon in 24hrs and can be measured/tested for. Processes/filtered out if needed. It's a nice little experiment and I'm sure this will end up as one if those things that gets blown out of proportion by some.

Very interesting....im glad you already read up on that.
So then, how is it producing so much ammonia so quickly if it isn't decaying?
I'm genuinely curious....ive never used tuna to cycle a tank.

 

Very interesting....im glad you already read up on that.
So then, how is it producing so much ammonia so quickly if it isn't decaying?
I'm genuinely curious....ive never used tuna to cycle a tank.

I meant its not fully decayed. I think 1 teaspoon in 24hrs will be fine. Since I hit 2ppm today I'm taking out my catalyst (tuna) out. I'll measure things out before introducing fish. Will be interesting to see the end result.

 

I'd still grab a mercury test just to keep an eye on it. Better safe than sorry.

 

100% and I can appreciate the cocern! Thanks. I am trying an alternative method but I won't be cutting corners on checking my water before hand. I have this and a hardness test coming in the mail.

Since I hit 2 for ammonia I cleaned out the meat used the net to collect whatever particles I could. Filter floss as a pre filter and all is well.

I'd still grab a mercury test just to keep an eye on it. Better safe than sorry.

This whole thing also brough me down a rabbit hole..... now reading on mercury biomagnification in Cardinal tetras of Rio diginero....yea yea I know the ones I get from the store are captive bred, but it's interesting non the less