FA+
Shop
Fish In Cycling
12 years ago
Most of us have been here before. We follow the old fishkeeping myths, run the brand new tank for a week, go to the store, buy fish, and suddenly, the fish are sick and dying, and we run around like a chicken with our heads chopped off trying to find out why.
Most people start off their fish keeping career with a fish in cycle. Don't feel bad.
Now, I also know that most of us become attached to our fish as soon as we get them, and we don't want to take them back to the store to do a proper cycle. I understand that feeling. And thankfully, there is a way to keep your fish, but it'll take a lot of hard labor.
Your fish will be stressed, keep this in mind. I do urge to take the fish back and do a fishless cycle, but the urge to keep them can be strong.
Here is the best way to do a fishless cycle.
Water changes are essential, change the water as much and as often as possible. Ammonia will always be present in the tank, don't follow that myth that you shouldn't change the water cause you're taking the ammonia out and starving the bacteria.
I recommend changing at least 50% a day during a fishless cycle, preferably more. You need to keep the ammonia and nitrite below 0.25ppm.
Look into a good, reliable test kit to test your perimeters daily. Test strips don't cut it, they're too inaccurate and won't give a proper reading at lower levels. API provides a good liquid test kit that'll give you a reading of the perimeters you need. Nutrafin provides a line of liquid test kits as well.
Cut back on feeding. I know some food vials say to feed the fish twice or even 3 times a day, but you don't need to feed that much. Cutting back on feeding will keep the water cleaner, and there will be less stuff rotting in the tank producing ammonia. You can get away with feeding them once every 2-3 days. They won't starve.
Keep the lights turned off. This might sound weird, but the lights can be stressful for the fish. You want to keep them as stress free as possible during a stressful time. This is a simple way to calm the environment.
If you've got a friend, family member, or attentive fish keeping store nearby, urge them to give you some dirty filter media. You may be able to seed bacteria from their dirty filter sponges, pads, or ceramic balls, leading to speeding the cycle, or even instantly cycling the tank. It may take up to 1/3rd of the filter's media to completely cycle a tank, but any amount will help.
Good Luck
-Onidrase
Most people start off their fish keeping career with a fish in cycle. Don't feel bad.
Now, I also know that most of us become attached to our fish as soon as we get them, and we don't want to take them back to the store to do a proper cycle. I understand that feeling. And thankfully, there is a way to keep your fish, but it'll take a lot of hard labor.
Your fish will be stressed, keep this in mind. I do urge to take the fish back and do a fishless cycle, but the urge to keep them can be strong.
Here is the best way to do a fishless cycle.
Water changes are essential, change the water as much and as often as possible. Ammonia will always be present in the tank, don't follow that myth that you shouldn't change the water cause you're taking the ammonia out and starving the bacteria.
I recommend changing at least 50% a day during a fishless cycle, preferably more. You need to keep the ammonia and nitrite below 0.25ppm.
Look into a good, reliable test kit to test your perimeters daily. Test strips don't cut it, they're too inaccurate and won't give a proper reading at lower levels. API provides a good liquid test kit that'll give you a reading of the perimeters you need. Nutrafin provides a line of liquid test kits as well.
Cut back on feeding. I know some food vials say to feed the fish twice or even 3 times a day, but you don't need to feed that much. Cutting back on feeding will keep the water cleaner, and there will be less stuff rotting in the tank producing ammonia. You can get away with feeding them once every 2-3 days. They won't starve.
Keep the lights turned off. This might sound weird, but the lights can be stressful for the fish. You want to keep them as stress free as possible during a stressful time. This is a simple way to calm the environment.
If you've got a friend, family member, or attentive fish keeping store nearby, urge them to give you some dirty filter media. You may be able to seed bacteria from their dirty filter sponges, pads, or ceramic balls, leading to speeding the cycle, or even instantly cycling the tank. It may take up to 1/3rd of the filter's media to completely cycle a tank, but any amount will help.
Good Luck
-Onidrase
their solution: Buy a pleco
._.