cycling

[brotherluv]

I am starting a 20g freshwater tank tomorrow and  wanted to know how long I should cycle the tank before I add fish...

[Shawn84]

Anywhere from 4-6 weeks. But you can add 1 fish to start the cycling process. Molly, guppy and danios are usually best fish to start with.

[dan2x38]

A more humane method is fishless cycling. You can Google it. Even small trace amounts of ammonia (NH3) first stage of a cycle permanently harms fish's gills. Their gills burn while exposed to it. The 2nd stage is nitrite (NO2) it can cause brown blood disease which is basically caused by a major shortage of O2. The fish are slowly suffocating in their own waste.

This hobby is all about patience. Cycling with fish or fishless have not shown to be any faster than the other. You can post a request in the classifieds 'Looking For' to get some used filter media to jump start your cycle. This supplies your filter with some of the beneficial bacteria then by adding small amounts of NH3 (pure ammonia) it feeds the filter and the bacteria multiplies.

A fishless cycle is accomplished by using pure ammonia and your test kits. You add enough to get NH3 registering from a test of approx. 2 ppm - do not over dose with ammonia it will take much longer to cycle so just don't pour it in. I used an eyedropper and counted the number of drops. You start testing for nitrite (NO2) after approx. a week. NO2 should show and NH3 should become zero. You keep adding some ammonia so NH3 stays at zero. This part of the cycle takes the longest converting from NO2 to the final stage nitrate (NO3).

Start testing after a week then every 2nd day for NO3. Once you start seeing NO3 remember to keep adding small doses of your pure ammonia. Soon NH3 & NO2 will be both be zero and just NO3 will register on your tests. This means the cycle is complete and without any fish be subjected to toxic nitrogen compounds that permanently harm them.

You are ready for your first water change. Do a 25% WC then add a small dose of NH3 to see if it is gone within 1/2 a day to a day - if so you can add your fist fish. Not many because each time you add fish the bio-filter has to multiply (populate) to handle the new bio-load. Monitor the fish for stressed behavior keep testing the water for the next month. Keep temps low but in the fish's safe range - this will keep O2 levels high.

Another thing if your planning on adding plants you can add them during the cycle just do not over dose with the pure ammonia... Good Luck!

[brotherluv]

Is there anyway I could get the used filter media from my goldfish tank?  My wife started it 2 here ago and I pretty much ignored it until I got the marine tank.

[dan2x38]

+1  yes you use some of the filter media from the goldfish tank for your new freshwater tank. In fact if that goldfish tank is a healthy setup it will be a great seed for new filter system. Be careful and do not remove to much media you can harm that systems bio-filter. Do not do this at the same time as a water change or filter rinsing on the goldie tank!

You can't use freshwater filter media for saltwater bio-filter populating though.

[brotherluv]

It looks like they are smiling. Especially after I added an led bubble wand. How do I extract the filter media?  do I just take water from the filter?

[Shawn84]

What kind of filtration system do you have on you goldfish? If you have a canister filter the tray that you put your biomax or which ever type you use and take only half of it and then replace that half with new one and do the same for your new tank.

[brotherluv]

It's a filter that hangs on the side of the tank with a carbon bag. (pretty poor quality)   I will be upgrading to a 29g tank for them as well with a quality filter.

[dan2x38]

You can post in the classifieds Looking For and ask for spare filter media. Often folks with canister filters will pull out a piece of filter floss and add a small piece to replace it. Taking just the water will do very little. I would give you some but have no freshwater setups any longer.

[brotherluv]

Thanks for the help peeps.