I'm back :)

[Cammie]

Hi Everyone,

Gosh I've missed you guys!

I've moved house, got two kittens and finally got round to setting up my tank again
It's amazing how much I really missed my fish.

So as you can see from my signature, I have an empty tank!

I have just this minute finished arranging my tank with some plants and stuff. I've added water, conditioner and some "cycle". I'm doing a fishless cycle and I can't seem to find pure ammonia anywhere
I've read a lot about how these products (cycle) are basically a waste of money but how else can I introduce ammonia to my tank, food?

In the meantime, I would love some ideas on what fish to add! I'm thinking as colourful as possible

I hope you are all well?

x x x x

 

[Cammie]

Oh, I'd just like to add, I'm waiting for my tank to cycle before I add fish.

Didn't want anyone to think I didn't know what I was doing (I don't, I just pretend lol!).

P.s. I learnt the hard way about cycling, my LFS told me to set the tank up for a week and then add some fish, this was a while ago and way before I found MFT. So this time I would like to do it right

x x x x
Trying to upload pics but it's not working so well.....

 

[Cammie]

I've added some pics of my tank setup and of my "Thundercats" for the cat lovers

 

[lauraf]

Hi, welcome back! Lurve your kitties - they look just like mine.

If you can't find ammonia, you can literally 'feed' the tank. The food decaying will generate ammonia. You can also speed up the cycle by getting a used filter from a healthy tank - it's a hunk 'o gunk (trademark )
I should sell hunks 'o gunk seeded from my tank. OMG, this is how to support our fish habit, guys! Post signs outside your lfs offering used filters from your healthy tanks!!!

Sorry Cammie - remind me how big your tank is again?

 

[achase]

If you can find pure ammonia you can use things such as shrimp or fish flakes because when they decay they produce ammonia. I have never used things and I know they can get messy, so I would wait for someone who has used this method of the fishless cycle to come along and explain the details.

Very nice setup and your kittens are adorable. Did you mention their names? As for fish I think tetra's are always a nice starting fish and there is a huge range
of colors.


Hehe Laura we posted at the same time. Her tank is 24 gallons I believe *looks at her signature*......lol! Are those your cats Laura?

 

[lauraf]

OMG, achase, I'm so dumb - I didn't even look at Cammie's sig.
Yes, those are two of my three kitties - Koko is my big black guy, and that's Hannah as a kitten - she's also the cat in my avatar 'helping' the fish
They're best friends.
Jasmine is a cranky old tabby.

 

[Dylandrewsdad]

Welcome Back! Just throw in a raw shrimp, it will decay and create ammonia. When the cycle is over, remove the shrimp add fish and BINGO! I always use established filter media to start a new tank. Sometimes there is a mini cycle, but in most cases not!

Good Luck!

 

[OrangeCones]

When I lived in Florida, there was a LFS that did salt and freshwater fish. If you bought a small bag of either crushed coral or gravel from them, they would toss it into their central filtering system for eithr salt or freshwater, and give you an 'aged' one that was in there already (they used the FIFO method, First In First Out). Alternately, if you wanted to used your own gravel, you brought it to them in a 'knee high' panty hose, and pick it up in two weeks. It allowed you to 'seed' your new tank.

Great Idea for any LFS reps lurking around!

Welcome back, Cammie!

 

[Thyra]

I believe OC has some excellent ideas - and experience. I don't. But I was not able in my area to find pure ammonia and after research of ammonia and surfactant I am thinking that pure ammonia will get harder and harder to find because so much of the population is looking at eco-friendly cleaning agents and obviously surfactants make the chemicals in them easier to break down. I suspect one of the companies like API will eventually figure out what is going on and sell pure ammonia, but it will take time and it will cost.

 

[OrangeCones]

I guess I'm lucky, my local hardware store sells 10% ammonium hydroxide (90% water) as 'Janitorial Strength Formula' ammonia. Cheap too, when you consider how long a gallon would last you. If it wasn't so hazardous to ship, I'd make a fortune selling it online!

 

[lauraf]

I guess I'm lucky, my local hardware store sells 10% ammonium hydroxide (90% water) as 'Janitorial Strength Formula' ammonia. Cheap too, when you consider how long a gallon would last you. If it wasn't so hazardous to ship, I'd make a fortune selling it online!

OC, you'll sell pure ammonia, and I'll sell water-packed hunks 'o gunk! Fortune made.
Yeah, right

 

[achase]

OMG, achase, I'm so dumb - I didn't even look at Cammie's sig.

Your not dumb! It could have happened to anyone of us....I'm pretty sure it has at one time or another. Your cats are all very cute and great names! Since we seem to be sharing our lovely cats I thought I would share a picture of mine as well. His name is Griffin!!

I always use established filter media to start a new tank. Sometimes there is a mini cycle, but in most cases not!

I'm confused everyone says that they just use old filter media from an established tank and bingo there tank is cycled or it has a minicycle (how long would that mean?). When I did that for my second tank it still took awhile for it to cycle like a month. Did I do something wrong like not wait along enough between adding the media to the tank and then adding ammonia.

 

[lauraf]

achase, Griffin is a real beaut! I'd love to see more pics.
K, so the used media helps a tank speed up the cycle - it doesn't replace the need to get a regular bacteria colony established. Imagine that you have the bacteria eating the ammonia to make nitrites, and the bacteria to make those nitrites into nitrates. What is supplying the ammonia to begin with? So you still have to get ammonia into the tank, either through pure ammonia, or used filter media that you keep adding, or fish food, or a dead shrimp . . . .

 

[achase]

Thank you. I could show your thousands of pictures, I just LOVE my cat!! I could start a thread just on my cat.....but I don't know popular it would be! Hehe

I used pure ammonia because my mom said that if I wanted to continue to live at home I could not let food rot in my room regardless if it was in a tank or not. Lol! I guess I was just disappointed that it took my second tank almost the same amount of time to cycle as my first even though I added established filter media, "used" substrate, and plants.

 

[Cammie]

Thank you guys! All great advice, I think I'm going to "feed my tank" for the time being, if I don't find ammonia in the interim.
I think I was actually getting moody because I didn't have the fish to look after and just chill out and watch them
They're in a great spot too, just by the stairs so I will see them everyday (obviously!).
It's amazing how much people don't know about fish keeping over here! People almost don't believe me about what you have to do and that goldfish should be kept in a lot of water!

The "Thundercats" are "Suki and Boo"......they were supposed to be girls but when I got them home, they turned out to be boys! Oh well!

Came down this morning to find my tank yellow! Must be the tannine in the driftwood, I've got some new carbon in, hopefully that will sort it.

Anyways, great to hear from you guys x x x x

 

[prakash8820]

It looks very coool.. Cammie.. And so are all of your cats.. I didnt knew I am amongst cat lovers too... U have cat fishes... I mean cats and fishes...