# CYCLING MY TANK



## Deaner (Apr 18, 2006)

Hi i am in the process of cycling my tank, i took out my piranhas because it wasnt cycled yet, the ammonia was getting very high and they were going to die. Right now the nitrites are 1.0 ppm and my ammonia is about 3.0 ppm. I was reading that is it best to have your ammonia around 1.5 - 2.0 to cycle the tank. Should i be doing any water changes to drop the ammonia or just let it cycle and wait for the nitrites and ammonia to reach zero? I also put in this stuff called "cycle" should i keep putting this in after water changes? i will attach an image of it. Also there is this slime stuff on my driftwood, is this normal or no?


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## Deaner (Apr 18, 2006)

Can someone please leave me some feedback, i need some help here,.. thanks


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## ads910 (May 26, 2004)

im cycling mine at the mo to, ive been using something called stresszyme but im not asure if its doing any good, so far i am only getting readings of 0.25 for ammonia, how long has your cycle been goin for mine hasd only been 3 days.


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## Deaner (Apr 18, 2006)

Oh my tank has been goin for a couple weeks now, Actually here are my parameters

Ammonia 3.0
Nitrates 20
Nitrites 3.0

Does this look like the cycle is going well? Should i just leave it and let it cycle? Also could someone tell me if the slime all over the driftwood is normal. Should i be putting a teaspoon of salt in my tank?Also the ph of my tap water is pretty high like around 8.0 - 8.5. I was told this is alright from my lps because my piranhas were already in that high of a ph and they like a high ph. Should i be putting some peat moss in or whut? thanks alot


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## timmy (Mar 29, 2004)

Deaner said:


> Oh my tank has been goin for a couple weeks now, Actually here are my parameters
> 
> Ammonia 3.0
> Nitrates 20
> ...


Lokks good. A couple weeks left. Make sure you leave some source of ammonia inthe tank. Get some bio spira at your lfs.


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## Deaner (Apr 18, 2006)

Lokks good. A couple weeks left. Make sure you leave some source of ammonia inthe tank. Get some bio spira at your lfs.
[/quote]

What is bio spira? pure ammonia? or just the same sorta stuff that is like the "cycle"

could somone else give me their ideas on this please


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## studmuffin992 (Feb 27, 2006)

acouple of weeks i recieved my new tank last thursday 110uk gallons placed the old gravel frm my 30gal in the new 1 and squeezed the foam pads frm the old filter into the new tank releasing the bacteria then i placed a pair of oscars into the tank for 2day and then my Piranha went in and there perfectly fine plus the whole time iv kept them i have neva tested the water or anything its a total waste of money and it aint cheap for them testing kits. All 11 P's are in the new tank with the oscars and 2 plecos 1 is aorund 10-12''


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## Deaner (Apr 18, 2006)

studmuffin992 said:


> acouple of weeks i recieved my new tank last thursday 110uk gallons placed the old gravel frm my 30gal in the new 1 and squeezed the foam pads frm the old filter into the new tank releasing the bacteria then i placed a pair of oscars into the tank for 2day and then my Piranha went in and there perfectly fine plus the whole time iv kept them i have neva tested the water or anything its a total waste of money and it aint cheap for them testing kits. All 11 P's are in the new tank with the oscars and 2 plecos 1 is aorund 10-12''


That really didnt help me out, with my topic can someone give me a respsonse thanks


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## Phtstrat (Sep 15, 2004)

Sorry to let you down, but Cycle doesn't actually work.

If you want a quick cycle, Bio Spira is basically the bacteria you need, only frozen. If you can find it at your LFS, I think they say it cycles a tank almost immediately.


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## theanimedude (Jun 4, 2005)

just get some dirty water and pour it in there. then it'll speed it up real quick.


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## studmuffin992 (Feb 27, 2006)

dont waste days and days just get an old foam pad frm a filter squeeze the dirt frm it into the tank add water conditioner and some bacteria (bugs) and some old gravel if u have some and ur ready.


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## Deaner (Apr 18, 2006)

studmuffin992 said:


> dont waste days and days just get an old foam pad frm a filter squeeze the dirt frm it into the tank add water conditioner and some bacteria (bugs) and some old gravel if u have some and ur ready.


Should i be making sure the ammonia stays above 2.0 with pure ammonia? Also is this bio spira stuff they same idea as cycle? and is this slime on my driftwood a good thing? I just squeezed a dirty foam pad from my feeder tank, hopefully this speeds the whole process up. would it be a good idea to put a tablespoon of salt in there as well? thanks


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## ads910 (May 26, 2004)

iv seen this cycle stuff you are using i was goin to use some myself but it seems that it only speeds up the cycle process a little, from what i here unless its frozen or refrigerated then the best thing is to not bother wasting the money on it, where are you from, a gerden centre neer me sells something called bactinetts it is refrigerated live bacteria that will cycle the tank straight away but unfortunately they are sold out and i cant find it anywhere else check this website www.bactinetts.com


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## Deaner (Apr 18, 2006)

Im from ontario, i was told this is live bacteria that will cycle the tank... it seems to be starting the cycle with my nitrites goin up n stuff,... it should be just couple weeks and it will be done... hopefully, does anyone know if i should just put 2 of my 4 piranhas in there first once its done so it doesnt start cycling all over again?Does anyone know anything about this slime on my driftwood for the 5th time? lol


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Since you ar very well into the cycle according to your results i would just add 60 drops a day of pure ammonia into your tank until fully cycled. You are going to have a large bio load with all those fish so to be on the safe side 75 drops a day will be better until ammonia and nitrites are zero. before adding fish do as large a water change you can and reacclimate all your fish. Don't waste your money on additives at this point. The product "cycle" does not contain the right nitrifying bacteria anyways to cycle a tank.


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## Deaner (Apr 18, 2006)

jerry_plakyda said:


> Since you ar very well into the cycle according to your results i would just add 60 drops a day of pure ammonia into your tank until fully cycled. You are going to have a large bio load with all those fish so to be on the safe side 75 drops a day will be better until ammonia and nitrites are zero. before adding fish do as large a water change you can and reacclimate all your fish. Don't waste your money on additives at this point. The product "cycle" does not contain the right nitrifying bacteria anyways to cycle a tank.


Alirght, so i can get pure ammonia from my local food store?I think it has started to cycle because there were piranhas in there already and i took them out and they left quite a bit of ammonia in there once they left, is this correct? Also since my nitrites have already spiked should i just put half of 60 drops in. according to the DR he says to put 30 drops in after they spike... Another thing that i was wondering was, if my ammonia is already 3.0 and i put in a buncha drops will it not be through the roof, or is that good to get the bioload up for my piranhas that are coming, i was just thinking that because in the dr's write up about fishless cycling he said to try to keep it around 1.5-2.0. Can someone please answer my question asap please, im going to go pick up the pure ammonia today, thanks alot


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## Deaner (Apr 18, 2006)

Deaner said:


> Since you ar very well into the cycle according to your results i would just add 60 drops a day of pure ammonia into your tank until fully cycled. You are going to have a large bio load with all those fish so to be on the safe side 75 drops a day will be better until ammonia and nitrites are zero. before adding fish do as large a water change you can and reacclimate all your fish. Don't waste your money on additives at this point. The product "cycle" does not contain the right nitrifying bacteria anyways to cycle a tank.


Alirght, so i can get pure ammonia from my local food store?I think it has started to cycle because there were piranhas in there already and i took them out and they left quite a bit of ammonia in there once they left, is this correct? Also since my nitrites have already spiked should i just put half of 60 drops in. according to the DR he says to put 30 drops in after they spike... Another thing that i was wondering was, if my ammonia is already 3.0 and i put in a buncha drops will it not be through the roof, or is that good to get the bioload up for my piranhas that are coming, i was just thinking that because in the dr's write up about fishless cycling he said to try to keep it around 1.5-2.0. Can someone please answer my question asap please, im going to go pick up the pure ammonia today, thanks alot








[/quote]

As of now my parameters i just checked, are

Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 10.0
Nitrates - 40

So im assuming i should put smoe pure ammonia in there to get the nitrites down and finish the cycle, but i could not find any of that stuff today at the store....

Should i just put a buncha feeders in the tank or whut is the deal here?
could i take 50 percent of my water out of my feeder tank that has about 8.0 ammonia in it , also it has about 7.0 nitrites and 30 nitrates and put it in the tank? 
im freakin out here i dont know what to do!


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## doctorvtec (May 15, 2004)

theanimedude said:


> As of now my parameters i just checked, are
> 
> Ammonia - 0
> Nitrites - 10.0
> ...


Try a hardware store. You should get a steady ammonia source in the tank.


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## studmuffin992 (Feb 27, 2006)

i dont know why use all waste time in doing this my piranhas have been fine even wen i first set up my first tank i neva cycled it at all and they were fine!


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## doctorvtec (May 15, 2004)

studmuffin992 said:


> i dont know why use all waste time in doing this my piranhas have been fine even wen i first set up my first tank i neva cycled it at all and they were fine!


Well, you DID cycle your tank. You did it with your piranhas.

The effects of ammonia and nitrate poisioning can be alot like smoking. It is later in life when the health problems can arise.

Cycling youry tank BEFORE you introduce your fish is very important in the longevity and overall health of your fish.


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## WillieWonka1 (Mar 20, 2006)




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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Deaner,

I forgot the size of your tank but if its 100-125G stick with what i said since you will have a high bio-load. 75 drops a day, same time each day, until ammonia is zero and nitrites are zero.

StudMuffin -- keep up with your answers and you won't be posting any time soon.


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