# how long to cycle a 29g



## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

just got a new 29g all setup yesterday, i have sand in it. i used some established media in it, a large piece of slate(established) a large rock, also established and a smaller rock, also established. how long do you think it would take to cycle it, and is there any way to cycle it any faster, without bio spira cause i cant find it.


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

A sponge filter placed in an existing tank for a week will soak up the benificial bacteria and you can then place it in the new tank till thats established. They are rally cheap and i keep one around incase i have to pop my hospital tank.


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

i only have $23, cause i spent it all on the new tank and a kick ass stand i just made(very strong design, heheh)


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## Guest (May 12, 2004)

To cycle the tank, you'll need a filter running and some fish to produce the ammonia needed to initiate the cycle.

After you add your 'cycling fish', you can put things from an older, established tank, like cage decorations and especially gravel into the new tank. This will introduce the nitrifying bacteria cultures the tank will need to cycle. Or rubbing the old filter cartridge or sponge against the new one to transfer the bacteria.

It my be slightly over-budget (that's what credit cards are for) but I found the Emperor 280 to be the perfect filter for a 29 gallon.

No matter what you do, I would guess that it'll take a month or so to cycle a new tank.


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

i cant get feeder fish to cycle the tank till saturday and i already put a filter cartridge and rocks and some sand in the tank all established, is this bad, it has been a day since i did this?


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

im doing a water change on my p tank, should i dump shitty water in there to get some ammonia, im going to go ahead and do it, cause it will take forever to get a reply, unless u reply quick


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Throw a piece of fish or shrimp in there. That will work too. Make sure there is always some bit of decaying fish/shrimp in there till the golds go in there. The old water will not really have any bacteria just nitrates. Throw some of the filter gunk off your old filter pads in the filter area of the new one too.


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## benefit (Sep 3, 2003)

Keeping tabs on your water is the only sure way you will know if your tank is ready. Test your water


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## Guest (May 13, 2004)

illnino said:


> i cant get feeder fish to cycle the tank till saturday and i already put a filter cartridge and rocks and some sand in the tank all established, is this bad, it has been a day since i did this?


 I'm not sure what effect that will have. I don't know how long bacteria can live without food.

Raptor had a good idea of adding fishfood to the tank as a source of ammonia. That may tie the bacteria over until the weekend.


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

ok, i put a bucket of sh*t from under the rocks in there. i will put some shrimp in today. also i was wondering, when you clean your filter after like 2 months with no cleaning, is that brown goopey stuff bacteria, cause my filters have a lot of it. also i switched the filter i got with my 29g with a penguin 170 biowheel powerfilter, i think that is a good trade, so my 29g tank now has a cultured biowheel and filter, a few large cultured rocks, and 3 cups of cultured sand from an older tank. this seems to be like it should be a short cycle.


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## aznkon (Apr 27, 2004)

i've heard that sugar is a good source of food for bacteria too. the only thing is i'm not sure if it'll work well for new tanks. i know some hobbyists use a teaspoon of sugar every once in a while to stimulate the bacterial growth in more established tanks.


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

aznkon said:


> i've heard that sugar is a good source of food for bacteria too. the only thing is i'm not sure if it'll work well for new tanks. i know some hobbyists use a teaspoon of sugar every once in a while to stimulate the bacterial growth in more established tanks.


 not really worth the risk.


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## Guest (May 14, 2004)

aznkon said:


> i've heard that sugar is a good source of food for bacteria too. the only thing is i'm not sure if it'll work well for new tanks. i know some hobbyists use a teaspoon of sugar every once in a while to stimulate the bacterial growth in more established tanks.


 Sugars (glucos, sucrose, fructose) will feed bacteria, but not the useful nitrifying bacteria we are discussing here.

When cycling a tank, a specific group of bacteria is being established in the aquarium that performs specific chemical reactions. These bacteria oxidize ammonia and nitrite into nitrite and nitrate, and live off the energy difference between the two molecules.

There is a low energy yeild in those chemical reactions, so the nitrifying bacteria reproduce relatively slowly, for bacteria. Bacteria that feed on sugars reproduce much faster. That's why it takes a tank more than a month to cycle, but the yogurt that I forgot in my car last week went rancid overnight.


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