# cycling



## RBP7 (Oct 13, 2006)

mt boss wants me to start a 55g fw. it has been so long since i have cycled a tank. i was wondering if i clean everythig out, fill it up and put a shrimp in there for a week should that start it off? we are running a cascade filter any one ever run one of these?


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

RBP7 said:


> mt boss wants me to start a 55g fw. it has been so long since i have cycled a tank. i was wondering if i clean everythig out, fill it up and put a shrimp in there for a week should that start it off? we are running a cascade filter any one ever run one of these?


1)Fill it up
2) dechlorinate the water then wait a day
3)add somepreviously established bio media to filter if possible, add gravel and whatever deco you want.
4) Add somethign liek bio spira to speed up the cycle.
5) wait a couple days then if its a community you could add a couple cheap fish that you want.
6) I would then wait at least 2 weeks and preferably a month or more before adding any more fish


----------



## RBP7 (Oct 13, 2006)

why uld i have to declor the wate if aftera few day's the chrinewill evaporate with my airstone. one of my friend never used declor, he just added a airstone to his water change water and waited a few days


----------



## Wide_Eyed_Wanderer (Aug 22, 2006)

I would do what sean 820 says. Why wouldn't you dechlorinate the water? Why not just dechlorinate it instantly rather than wait a few days, its like 5 bucks a bottle for the stuff.


----------



## fishguy1313 (Feb 19, 2007)

RBP7 said:


> why uld i have to declor the wate if aftera few day's the chrinewill evaporate with my airstone. one of my friend never used declor, he just added a airstone to his water change water and waited a few days


you need to use some kind of dechlorinator.


----------



## RBP7 (Oct 13, 2006)

ok i got my boss to pick some up.

also i dont have seeded bio media. and i dont mind waiting to add fish do i need bio spira


----------



## RBP7 (Oct 13, 2006)

lil help?


----------



## Big-Kev (Mar 29, 2008)

If your not in a hurry then you don't need bio spira the bacteria will build up naturaly as long as you have ammonia source in the tank.
Cycling the tank will take about 3 to 4 weeks, watch your water parameters with a good test kit.

I've always used cheap live fish to cycle a tank, I never tried using a piece of shrimp.
If someone has used this method please comment.


----------



## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

Bio-Spira or something like (I've used both API Stresszyme and Freshwater TLC) it will really speed things up. You can use cheap fish (goldfish) or you can use pure ammonia and and eyedropper to do a fishless cycle. Good luck.


----------



## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

If you fill up the tank with municipal water you will need to add conditioner to the water to break the chloramine bond so that the chlorine will be instantly neutralized and the ammonia be converted to ammonium. remember chloramines = chlorine and ammonia.... If bio spira is used and is used correctly you can put the fish in the same day you add the bio spira. Just dont use for the first month conditioners like amquel, prime, or ammo lock... Use *start right, aquasafe, nov-aqua*


----------



## the_skdster (Aug 15, 2006)

Dr. Giggles said:


> If bio spira is used and is used correctly you can put the fish in the same day you add the bio spira. *Just dont use for the first month conditioners like amquel, prime, or ammo lock... Use start right, aquasafe, nov-aqua*


Oh, never knew that. Care to explain why those should not be used? Thank you.


----------



## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

the_skdster said:


> If bio spira is used and is used correctly you can put the fish in the same day you add the bio spira. *Just dont use for the first month conditioners like amquel, prime, or ammo lock... Use start right, aquasafe, nov-aqua*


Oh, never knew that. Care to explain why those should not be used? Thank you.
[/quote]
ClickMe Read posts # 1 and # 8....


----------



## RBP7 (Oct 13, 2006)

yeah im not gonna use bio spira just gonna wait it out


----------

