I am buying a tank that has the fish in it now. I have to move the fish and the tank at the same time, but need to cycle the tank before putting the fish back in.
I'll split the fish up between a 35 and 1 or 2 10s that I'm setting up today, and a 55 existing community tank, also a large ice for the oscars since they're too big fboxor anything else. I'll cycle all of these tanks (except my 55) with existing media from the 55 and some water from the tank they are currently in.
How long should I cycle the temporary tanks before bringing over the fish. They will be in these tanks until I get the 135 set up and cycled. Again, I will cycle the 135 with existing media and some water that is currently in it, so how long should it cycle? I hate doing things this way, but there are so many fish!
Best way to cycle tank and move fish in short time?
3 posts
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some1fishy - Posts: 9
- Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2009 11:49 am
Just because I know someone will ask- here's the fish- they are all well established.
going in the 135- 2x13" oscars, 1 med. leporinus, 15" tire track eel, 5 med jack dempseys, a med red devil, large golden algae eater, 2 pleco's (~18 in and ~8 in), 1 chocolate cichlid. I will be downsizing a bit here...
going in the 55- 2x5" clowns and 1 10" knife are going in my 55 unless that creates a problem.
thanks!
going in the 135- 2x13" oscars, 1 med. leporinus, 15" tire track eel, 5 med jack dempseys, a med red devil, large golden algae eater, 2 pleco's (~18 in and ~8 in), 1 chocolate cichlid. I will be downsizing a bit here...
going in the 55- 2x5" clowns and 1 10" knife are going in my 55 unless that creates a problem.
thanks!
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tomargir - Posts: 39
- Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2009 1:18 pm
There is no universal recipe for the time a tank needs to cycle.
The rule of thumb is that first ammonia and then nitrite concentrations must spike and then they must get back to 0 mg/L. This means there are enough nitrifying bacteria in your filter.
Mine took 2 months to fully cycle, but all of the equipment was brand new. If you get gravel from an established aquarium the process will speed up. You can also greatly decrease the cycling time by adding Biological primers sold by LFS.
As far as i understand you will reach full stocking capacity immediately, so you should better cycle with quite high concentrations of ammonia (ie 3mg/L).
The best thing to do is find a LFS that you can trust and get some biomedia from one of its tanks (you must know beforehand that no fish in the tank was or is still sick).
The rule of thumb is that first ammonia and then nitrite concentrations must spike and then they must get back to 0 mg/L. This means there are enough nitrifying bacteria in your filter.
Mine took 2 months to fully cycle, but all of the equipment was brand new. If you get gravel from an established aquarium the process will speed up. You can also greatly decrease the cycling time by adding Biological primers sold by LFS.
As far as i understand you will reach full stocking capacity immediately, so you should better cycle with quite high concentrations of ammonia (ie 3mg/L).
The best thing to do is find a LFS that you can trust and get some biomedia from one of its tanks (you must know beforehand that no fish in the tank was or is still sick).