# how long



## 1waypiranha (Nov 6, 2003)

how long should i keep gold fish in b4 i put my new .5in baby rbps in the water...so i know its good for the fish to live in????..thanks..

MATT!!!!....


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## EMJAY (Feb 27, 2003)

how big is the tank, and how long have you had it running?

welcome matt, thats my name also...shhhh


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

you can add them when your tank is cycled. the ammonia and nitrites should be at 0ppm and the nitrates low. get at water testing kit and keep track of it, then you'll know when it's cycled.

Joe


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## Guest (Nov 15, 2003)

I would safely guess that your tank will fully cycled in two months.

If you want to cut that shorter, you can buy a test kit and test frequently for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. This way you can see exactly when it is cycled.

The addition of Bio-Spira may reduce the time necessary to cycle your aqurium.


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## anstey (Oct 9, 2003)

WhenI cycled my tank all I done was set it up, put water in it and let it filter through the filter and get it to the right temp and I just left it running with no fish in it and in about 4 days I added my piranha and it was fine and now I have three in there and they are all fine and that was about 3 months ago.... So thats why I don't understand why you need to cycle a tank for such a long time with fish in there......Maybe I was just lucky..
Ryan


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## str8up (Sep 20, 2003)

cycling....
Ok...let's see here..
I have also placed my fish in uncycled water....
Not in the past 15 years though...lol
First...let's understand what a cycle is..
when you use fresh water to start a new tank...
when you have a new filter...gravel and all the stuff...
Your water is not setup or cycled.

First of all:
nitrates...bacteria....and etc...play a key role in the health of your water.
If you don't have a bacteria base in your tank...your water is not setup.
What is setup?
Fish pee and poop in the water... This causes amonia to be in the tank.
When this happens...high levels can cause harm to fish.
The bacteria will eat at the bad stuff in the tank water...and turn it into other things that are helpful for a setup tank and healthy fish.
(trying to keep this simple)
They cause the tank to be fish friendly...optomizing the water for fish and making it easier for them to live, heal, flourish into healthy fish. (nature thingy)
IF you were to setup a new tank.... it will be clear for several days perhaps...then it will cloud up.
This is all that above stuff...trying to get right with itself.
It is helpful to add "outside" bacterial source ie...from a diff setup tank....
My last 130 g setup took under ten days to cycle.
I will attribute this to the "presetup gravel from a diff tank" i used in the WET/DRY filter I built..
I made a place in the filter where 15 lbs of gravel could be placed for this reason as well as filtration...Gravel stops most all debri from passing through it and the tank I took it from had been "setup" for nearly a year...and I was always happy with the water quality in that tank.. So I used that gravel.
I also placed about a dozen "other" fish in it to help keep the amonia levels up a bit and speed up the process so that the bacteria had something to munch on...hence grow more stable and get it's job done faster.
I'm tryng hard.....lol
Simply put... after your tank goes cloudy... it will eventually get clear again.
I wait to put my prize fishies in a new tank 'till it's cycled....I love my P's..
How long it takes....well... There are many tricks as I stated above a few...
But only your water and what you do with it will decide this.
Hope this helps.....Str8


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## 1waypiranha (Nov 6, 2003)

thanks everyone for there info..the tank i have is only 29G..and 3 rbps..thanks again..MATT!!!


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## str8up (Sep 20, 2003)

NO problem bud....


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