I'm looking to get a 10g tropical tank for our student flat in a few months. I was originally planning on doing a cycle with a few cheap fish, but it occurred to me that a feeder goldfish, being both hardy and messy, might get the cycle completed a bit faster and survive the process too. The goldfish could then go in the pond to make way for some nice tropical fish. Would this work? Are there any problems with using a goldfish in the water, assuming I turn off the heater?
Speed-cycling?
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I am new to these boards as well but am an old hand at exotic tropical fishes. I would avoid a cheap feeder goldfish because they harbour parasites which could contaminate your aquarium such as ich. These parasites might be dormant in your tank and resume their life cycle once you heat the water. If you really wanted to experiment with this method. I would use a healthy goldfish
No, using a fish that produces more waste is not going to speed up the cycle. If anything its going to slow it down because there is going to be ammonia in the begining.
The only ways to 'speed-cycle' is to use filter media or squeazeings from an eshtablished tank or by useing Bio-Spria. I have not tried Bio-Spira, but out of all the 'instant' cycle products out there, this is the only one I have heard of actualy working.
The only ways to 'speed-cycle' is to use filter media or squeazeings from an eshtablished tank or by useing Bio-Spria. I have not tried Bio-Spira, but out of all the 'instant' cycle products out there, this is the only one I have heard of actualy working.
Also...the cycle will go faster at high temperatures (above 80), which the goldies wouldn't like. Like Orion said...the only real way to speed cycle is using biospira. The fastest way to cycle w/o biospira IMO would be to crank the heat up, do a fishless cycle and seed the tank heavily with media from another tank.
I cycled My Tank in 16 Days with goldfish flakes and cycle. *DRUMMER*
I put a pinch worth of goldfish flakes for a week and added cycle 1st and 3rd days, on the 7 day I did gravel clean and 50% water change and added more flakes and cycle. Also added flakes on the 8th and 9th days and added cycle again on the 11th day.
On the 15th Day my readings were 0 ppm Ammonia 0.5 ppm Nitrite.
I did 25% water change and my Nitrite was 0.1 ppm, I then added more cycle and 4 fish 2xZebra Danios and 2x White Cloud Mountain Minnows.
On day 16 Ammonia 0 ppm Nitrite 0 ppm Nitrate 80 ppm (25% water change tomorrow, day 17)
I never done this b4 so don't take what im doing as nessesery right, I kinda went with the flow on this, because i couldn't buy ammonia in the UK
Also it messes up the bottom of the tank with rotting flakes
.But thats the way it as to be with out ammonia
P.S. No heater added till day 15.
I put a pinch worth of goldfish flakes for a week and added cycle 1st and 3rd days, on the 7 day I did gravel clean and 50% water change and added more flakes and cycle. Also added flakes on the 8th and 9th days and added cycle again on the 11th day.
On the 15th Day my readings were 0 ppm Ammonia 0.5 ppm Nitrite.
I did 25% water change and my Nitrite was 0.1 ppm, I then added more cycle and 4 fish 2xZebra Danios and 2x White Cloud Mountain Minnows.
On day 16 Ammonia 0 ppm Nitrite 0 ppm Nitrate 80 ppm (25% water change tomorrow, day 17)
I never done this b4 so don't take what im doing as nessesery right, I kinda went with the flow on this, because i couldn't buy ammonia in the UK
Also it messes up the bottom of the tank with rotting flakes
.But thats the way it as to be with out ammonia P.S. No heater added till day 15.
i hear biospira works just fine, but i personally think it's a waste of cash. just get some used media from established tanks and put that in. a lot cheaper than biospira (ie: it's usually FREE) and accomplishes the same task. i have *never* gone through a true cycle since my very first tank, because seeding from that one always kickstarts new setups.
No, water does not count as media. Generally there isn't much bacteria just floating around in tank water. (if it was it would mean we'd have to recycle our tank every time we do a water change right?) So usually the best thing to get is filter squeezings (that gooky brown stuff that you can squeeze off of sponge filters) and put it in a plastic baggy an then pour over your filter at home....or if its a tank with an undergravel filter you can get a handful of gravel and put that in some kind of pouch (nylons work great) and put that in your filter, or add to your gravel if you have a UGF in your tank also. Decorations might help too...but it would greatly depend on what the decoration is made out of (if its porous or not) and if it had a lot of water flowing past it or not...
^^ ditto what she said
i'll add too that the best IMO is just to take used filter floss and jam it in with the new media in the new filter. if you or someone you know uses pre-made filter packs, you can just tear off all or part of the floss-y part and squish that in. or you can swap a sponge from a used filter into a new one if that's what you have. there are many options. HTH!
i'll add too that the best IMO is just to take used filter floss and jam it in with the new media in the new filter. if you or someone you know uses pre-made filter packs, you can just tear off all or part of the floss-y part and squish that in. or you can swap a sponge from a used filter into a new one if that's what you have. there are many options. HTH!
cycle
I need to check out the bio-spira. I have used a product called Cycle by Hagan or maybe it's Hagen. Supposedly has live bacteria in it instead of freeze dried cultures like others do. It also claims to add more bacteria if you have high waste fish like larger cichlids. I use it in my Discus tank cause they like to poop. You can also add to the bio-wheel or filter sponge. But one thing is true - these products are so darn expensive.
I also "seed" my tanks from an established tank as well.
I need to check out the bio-spira. I have used a product called Cycle by Hagan or maybe it's Hagen. Supposedly has live bacteria in it instead of freeze dried cultures like others do. It also claims to add more bacteria if you have high waste fish like larger cichlids. I use it in my Discus tank cause they like to poop. You can also add to the bio-wheel or filter sponge. But one thing is true - these products are so darn expensive.
I also "seed" my tanks from an established tank as well.
Well,...From the way I read it - are you asking about taking the or removing the whole filter from the 2.5 or a piece of the floss? Not sure what kind of filter goes on a tank of that size. I wouldn't recommend removing the whole bacteria colony from one tank. Yes it's true the small tank should have bacteria living in the gravel as well but the filter is very important because of the oxygen that also passes over it during the process produces a lush bacteria colony. Perhaps seeding is an option or using a piece of the floss since millions of bacteria can live in a very small piece of floss. Not sure about your lfs, but mine sells live rock, sands, gravel and coral (for salt tanks).
As far as the canister filter goes, I always put the floss from an established tank ontop of the new sponge because you usually don't rinse that part and if you put it say where a resin bag or other things go, the bacteria colony could be destroyed during filter servicings, although it wouldn't be as much of a threat if you always use a small bucket of tank water from a water change to clean your media if needed as tap water has too many chlorines and chloramines and will kill the bacteria.
As far as the canister filter goes, I always put the floss from an established tank ontop of the new sponge because you usually don't rinse that part and if you put it say where a resin bag or other things go, the bacteria colony could be destroyed during filter servicings, although it wouldn't be as much of a threat if you always use a small bucket of tank water from a water change to clean your media if needed as tap water has too many chlorines and chloramines and will kill the bacteria.
Depends on the type of filter in your 2.5 G, you could change the filter pad on the 2.5 and fold it and put it in one of the media baskets in your canister filter. However if your 2.5 isn't fully cycled then it wouldn't do you much good to put in the 40. Maybe just squeeze the filter pad into the filter or swish your cartridge in the new tank (dechlorinated water!) You also dont want to completely start over with cycling the 2.5 so unless you're going to take it down or are pretty sure the 2.5 is cycled I'd just leave it alone.