Oops, new tank filled with fish before I learned about cycling

I have a 55-gal running for just over a week now. After letting the
water circulate for a couple of days, I put in 4 or 5 gouramis.
Everything looked fine, so I put in a bunch more over the weekend.
The only advice I received from the store was to change 20% of the
water per week for the first 2 months.

Now that I've spent some time reading the postings and a few dedicated
sites, I know learned about the nitrogen issue, growing new bacteria,
etc. I really hope I can manage this cycle and not lose the fish in
the meantime. There are around 16 small gourami variants, plus a
small blue lobster.

Should I mainly focus on water changing or try one of the accelerant
products I've seen mentioned?

The tank has 2 powerflo pumps feeding an under-gravel tray, plus an
Aquacleer 300 carbon filter running continuously. The plants are
fake, and the gravel was purchased new. The tank came with large
corals that had been used by the previous owner, though they had been
sitting dry in the garage for several years.

Thank you for any advice.

"Ralston88" wrote in message
om...

The tank has 2 powerflo pumps feeding an under-gravel tray, plus an
Aquacleer 300 carbon filter running continuously. The plants are
fake, and the gravel was purchased new. The tank came with large
corals that had been used by the previous owner, though they had been
sitting dry in the garage for several years.


I just started a new tank, too, and I put Cycle in to condition the water.
This is a concentrated solution of bacteria that consume the nitrites. It
sounds to me from reading the advice in here that you should get a nitrite
and ammonia tester and be sure to change water frequently enough to keep the
levels down, plus maybe use some extra Cycle. I'm sure others will give
good (ie better) advice.

I just wanted to mention one thing, though. It is my understanding that you
should not mix coral with tropical fish. I thought that it can rip the
scales off of them. Maybe a wives' tale? I have a box of coral from when
this was a salt water tank years ago (also 55 gal), but I wouldn't use it
for tropical fish for that reason, plus it isn't native to their habitat, so
it looks kind of strange to me.

dwhite

If you know someone who has an established tank, see if you can borrow or
have a cup of their gravel. Take it home and dump it in to your tank. The
gravel will have the nitrifying bacteria your tank needs to get the cycling
going in a hurry. Another option would be if someone could let you have
some of their filter media. Use their old filter media in your filter to
kick start that cycling. Keep it wet and don't rinse it. Same with the
gravel if you go that route. Also, if you don't have them already, get an
ammonia, nitrite and pH test kits. The added old gravel or filter will help
speed up the cycling process but you may still see a spike depending on the
amount of media you get and the fish load of the tank it came from, you
might even get the joy of "instant cycling"!. Partial water changes will
help control the toxic levels down. Using something like ammo-lock or other
chemicals that remove ammonia may only postpone the cycling so I wouldn't
recomment using them to remove the ammonia or nitrite completely. You may
consider using a small dose to reduce the amount of ammonia or nitrite if
the levels get to high. The key is to leave a little so the bacteria has
something to eat and your tank cycles quickly with minimal stress on the
fish more naturally.

The artifical corals would harden the water and raise the pH of the tank.
If your fish prefer soft water, I would not recommend using the corals as
decorations. I had a 5 gal bucket of crushed coral that I use to buffer my
freshwater tanks. I just added a couple ounces when needed since our tap
water is extremely soft. I've even seen ads for aragonite for use in
African Chiclid tanks.

Justin


"Ralston88" wrote in message
om...
I have a 55-gal running for just over a week now. After letting the
water circulate for a couple of days, I put in 4 or 5 gouramis.
Everything looked fine, so I put in a bunch more over the weekend.
The only advice I received from the store was to change 20% of the
water per week for the first 2 months.

Now that I've spent some time reading the postings and a few dedicated
sites, I know learned about the nitrogen issue, growing new bacteria,
etc. I really hope I can manage this cycle and not lose the fish in
the meantime. There are around 16 small gourami variants, plus a
small blue lobster.

Should I mainly focus on water changing or try one of the accelerant
products I've seen mentioned?

The tank has 2 powerflo pumps feeding an under-gravel tray, plus an
Aquacleer 300 carbon filter running continuously. The plants are
fake, and the gravel was purchased new. The tank came with large
corals that had been used by the previous owner, though they had been
sitting dry in the garage for several years.

Thank you for any advice.

"Justin Boucher" wrote in message
...

Using something like ammo-lock or other
chemicals that remove ammonia may only postpone the cycling so I wouldn't
recomment using them to remove the ammonia or nitrite completely. You may
consider using a small dose to reduce the amount of ammonia or nitrite if
the levels get to high. The key is to leave a little so the bacteria has
something to eat and your tank cycles quickly with minimal stress on the
fish more naturally.

But why not use something like Cycle, which contains the bacteria you need
in a concentrated form? Does it not really work? I'm curious because I've
been using it and I'm more or less trusting that it is working.

thanks,
dwhite

The only product many are willing to support is that from Marineland called
Bio-Spira. It is hard to find, since it is perishible (must be kept
refrigerated). Cycle et al. are not the same....different bacteria.

"Dan White" wrote in message
et...

"Justin Boucher" wrote in message
...

Using something like ammo-lock or other
chemicals that remove ammonia may only postpone the cycling so I wouldn't
recomment using them to remove the ammonia or nitrite completely. You
may
consider using a small dose to reduce the amount of ammonia or nitrite if
the levels get to high. The key is to leave a little so the bacteria has
something to eat and your tank cycles quickly with minimal stress on the
fish more naturally.

But why not use something like Cycle, which contains the bacteria you need
in a concentrated form? Does it not really work? I'm curious because
I've
been using it and I'm more or less trusting that it is working.

thanks,
dwhite

Personally, I've never had any real luck with over the counter cycle
starters or enhancers. Perhaps I just managed to get the container that has
been sitting on the shelf for 3 years and most if not all of the bacteria
inside have lost their effective lifespans or something. Others I've heard
have had no problem using them, so in the end it's one of those "Your
results may vary" type things.

Besides, now that I have 1 well established freshwater and 1 marine tank
running, should I need or want to start another, I can easily get that
"instant cycle" situation by taking some media from either tank.

Justin

"Dan White" wrote in message
et...

"Justin Boucher" wrote in message
...

Using something like ammo-lock or other
chemicals that remove ammonia may only postpone the cycling so I
wouldn't
recomment using them to remove the ammonia or nitrite completely. You
may
consider using a small dose to reduce the amount of ammonia or nitrite
if
the levels get to high. The key is to leave a little so the bacteria
has
something to eat and your tank cycles quickly with minimal stress on the
fish more naturally.

But why not use something like Cycle, which contains the bacteria you need
in a concentrated form? Does it not really work? I'm curious because
I've
been using it and I'm more or less trusting that it is working.

thanks,
dwhite

On 16 Aug 2004 13:18:05 -0700, Ralston88 wrote:

I have a 55-gal running for just over a week now. After letting the
water circulate for a couple of days, I put in 4 or 5 gouramis.
Everything looked fine, so I put in a bunch more over the weekend.
The only advice I received from the store was to change 20% of the
water per week for the first 2 months.

Now that I've spent some time reading the postings and a few dedicated
sites, I know learned about the nitrogen issue, growing new bacteria,
etc. I really hope I can manage this cycle and not lose the fish in
the meantime. There are around 16 small gourami variants, plus a
small blue lobster.

Should I mainly focus on water changing or try one of the accelerant
products I've seen mentioned?

The tank has 2 powerflo pumps feeding an under-gravel tray, plus an
Aquacleer 300 carbon filter running continuously. The plants are
fake, and the gravel was purchased new. The tank came with large
corals that had been used by the previous owner, though they had been
sitting dry in the garage for several years.

Thank you for any advice.

I made the same mistake with the tank I started this summer, but it worked
out fine with Nitrivec wich I added for the first 10 days.

I would be suspicious of something that you just add once since there is
nothing that the bacteria can feed on in a freshly started tank.

The best would be if you could get some filtermedia from a running tank
with the same kind of water you have (pH).

Regards,
/PeterS

Get the test kits and monitor regularly. If the Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates
go high do a water change....simple.

Bio Spira is the best bottled bacteria to use.

Ralston88 wrote:

I have a 55-gal running for just over a week now. After letting the
water circulate for a couple of days, I put in 4 or 5 gouramis.
Everything looked fine, so I put in a bunch more over the weekend.
The only advice I received from the store was to change 20% of the
water per week for the first 2 months.

Now that I've spent some time reading the postings and a few dedicated
sites, I know learned about the nitrogen issue, growing new bacteria,
etc. I really hope I can manage this cycle and not lose the fish in
the meantime. There are around 16 small gourami variants, plus a
small blue lobster.

Should I mainly focus on water changing or try one of the accelerant
products I've seen mentioned?

The tank has 2 powerflo pumps feeding an under-gravel tray, plus an
Aquacleer 300 carbon filter running continuously. The plants are
fake, and the gravel was purchased new. The tank came with large
corals that had been used by the previous owner, though they had been
sitting dry in the garage for several years.

Thank you for any advice.

Thanks for all the replies. I don't know anyone with a tank to share
their bacteria, so i guess I'll focus on water changes.

There seems to be alot of disagreement about the additives.

|| Thanks for all the replies. I don't know anyone with a tank to share
|| their bacteria, so i guess I'll focus on water changes.
||
|| There seems to be alot of disagreement about the additives.

Last resort, ask your LFS, but try and get some from a planted tank....

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