O.k. I need help...Bought my tank 10 days ago, set it up and let it cycle for 4 days (freshwater)....added a few fish and 3 days after adding them the water is beginning to look a little cloudy..I feed them very small amounts 2x's a day...it's a 20 gallon with guppies/mollies. Can you tell me what the heck I'm doing wrong? Should I leave it alone, or did I give my existing fish a death sentence or something? :(
Healthy? The lifespan of an average properly kept fan tail goldfish is well over 10 years. You poisoned them in thier own waste until they had finally had enough.
well personalty i've had fishes since i was 12 and i never left my tank for a couple of days to cycle or what ever and i never had problems with my fishes .. i had fan tail Goldfishes in a 10 gal tank that all 3 of them grew up to 10 inches long within a year .... they lived two years and they died cause the tank was too small for all 3 of them .. the last one died because i had to put it in a smaller tank i dont follow rules of the "fish tank" and my fishes grow healthy and beautiful
you said earlier that a freshwater tank only takes 3 days to cycle, is this true? if so im about to start cycling a 75g tank, how would i go about it to have it ready in 3 days?
Just put water in it, dechlorinate the water, turn on your equipment and let it run for 3 days. There is enough bacteria in the air that will get into the water to cycle the tank.
Sometimes the Nitrogen Cycle is so small that you can not see a spike in ammonia or nitrite... If your ammonia and nitrite are not detectable, then your aquarium is cycled. Although, you might not have a significant buildup of bacteria yet to keep fish. You may want to start off by adding a small cleanup crew. Then add a chromis and so on and so forth, depending on your success.
HI there iv set up a 20 gallon saltwater tank its been up for 2 weeks now i added a clown to help it ctcle my leavels dont want to go down how much longer do u think this will take help im doing water changes and everthing they just wont go down
It depends on how much rotten organic compounds you have in your water. Most modern aquarists suggest not to use a fish to cycle your aquarium. Keep doing water changes, but make sure you are using pure RO/DI water - double check it with a TDS meter if you are buying it at a store. You don't want your cycle to stop - it's on going. You just have to know when it becomes stable, and at that point, ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0 and Nitrate can be anywhere from 0 to100.
I need help at speeding the Nitrogen cycle. I have a ten gallon tank, with a penguin 100 filter, a heater, and I put in all my conditioners and all that (dechlorinator, Ick disease control), and my birthday is in 1 week and 3 days, and I was planning on getting a few shrimp, tetras, and loaches, but I need my tank cycled first. So far, i'm "feeding" the fish tank (fish flakes and fish tablets). Any cheap way to speed up the process?
Just so you know, this is a saltwater aquarium. Freshwater aquariums only take 3 days to cycle. If you want to ensure that your aquarium has it's own established eco-system, collect and use pondwater in the beginning and then use RO/DI water for each water change and top off. Pond water contains billions of bacteria and microscopic fauna that feed on fishwaste and neutralize ammonia caused by waste and urin in the aquarium. A 10g tank is extremely small, so be very picky about what you add.
Ghost shrimp are excellent little creatures to add to a freshwater aquarium, but make sure that they have adequate decorations or plant life in the tank. Depending on the species of loach and tetra, they can get quite large. The bigger the fish, the more waste, the less room = not healthy and dead fish.
I don't forsee any problems adding a couple fish at a time, and space it out a week or two between additions. Always add peaceful fish first and then buy progressively more aggressive fish.
One last thing, I have a testing kit for Nitrites, nitrates Ph alkalinity hardness and ammonia, and 3 days have past (I have 2 zebra danios as cycle fish), and nothing's changes. The chlorine is 0, as with nitrites, PH, and Alkilinity is high, and the hardness is, well, hard. Willt he pond water idea speed this up? or am I doing something wrong? PM me please!
I know it's a corral reef tank. My dad said if I can perfect a freshwater aquarium (keep them alive), then we can move o to the saltwater aquarium (which i've been studying up on for about a month now). I have a pond, so that'll help, but I heard that in the ycle process you don't want to do water changes. Thanks for the help, though. It really will help me :)
Btw, that's a great tank you have. Must've taken a while to get it going.
hi,i just bought the tank , i not really sure how to start it off, i purchase live sand, about to go buy lie rock, i want to know if i need to add any solution chemical to the tank.? thank you
I know it's a bit late to respond to this post, however I feel that other can learn from it. If you are mixing pure RO water with the appropriate amount of salt, and adding it to the tank, you do not need to add any chemicals. I highly suggest using pure Reverse Osmosis / De-Ionized water to start a tank. You should never de-chlorinate saltwater because it will destabilize the pH because of the neutralization of ammonia and nitrates. Liquid bacterias are plecebo's.
Nitrate is not living, therefore can not be killed. Nitrate is rarely ever at high enough levels to kill fish, therefore test your water for nitrite and ammonia. Increase your biological filtration by adding another mechanical filter and deepening your substrate. It could also be a pH or O2 problem, so make sure your water level is at neutral pH, 7.0, and that you do not have glass tops that seal the entire top of the tank.
Hi, great video. We set up our tank a couple of weeks ago. It is a 55 gallon tank with 2 3 inch oscars and several 2 inch blood parrots. Recently, the water has gotten cloudy, even if we do water changes, it turns cloudy in a couple of days. We used to change the filter media during ever weekly water change but we stopped. Now we just rinse it in tank water. Any suggestions?
When talking about freshwater or saltwater tanks, the most important "ingredient" to a healthy and successful aquarium is bacteria. For your aquarium, the bioload is too high. One Oscar can get up to 14" even in a small tank and requires at least 55g on it's own. I suggest taking out either the oscars or the parrots. Then, increase your biological filtration. Deepen your substrate and buy a mechanical filter with a larger surface area for bacteria to grow on. The white cloud is a bacterial bloom
Hi, welcome to saltwater aquarium keeping! Before your cycle ends, I suggest completely getting rid of your crushed coral and going with live sand. Crushed coral builds up detritus/waste too easily and does not aid in de-nitrification. Algae is never a bad thing, as long as it is kept in check by a clean up crew, water changes, siphoning, or through the use of a refugium!
Congrats are starting a new aquarium. Now you have the responsibility to learn all that you can to keep your new aquarium inhabitants alive and healthy!
Can you do a fish cycle tho? even if they're not hardy, i use Seachem Prime that claims to removes all the toxic from ammonia and still get the cycle going
I don't use prime in saltwater. Since it detoxifies not only ammonia but also nitrate, it can cause pH swings that are more likely to kill your fish than a small amount of ammonia.
If you do a cycle with fish, I suggest a hardy fish such as chromis or even a clownfish. I personally do not like to have the chance of killing living creatures though. That is why I recommend a fishless cycle.
If you started with live rock, it is going to have dead things on it. The dead matter creates ammonia. Nitrosomonas convert ammonia into nitrite and then nitrobacter converts nitrites into nitrates.
As long as you test your water and it shows no trace ammounts of ammonia or nitrites, and only some nitrate, you should be fine. This process can really take anywhere from one week to one month, depending on water volumes, how much dead matter, and how quickly bacteria builds up in your system.
It takes between 3 days to 30 days to complete the nitrogen cycle. Bacteria has to grow in your tank on all of the surfaces. Your ammonia will spike, then Nitrites. Once you are reading zero Amm. and trites, then you can add fish, however long that may take your aquarium. Aged tank water from the pet store contains nitrates, phosphates, chemical additives and other things, ... all but enough beneficial bacteria to complete the cycle.
can i use accrual f to cycle my tank?
MegaHayhayhayhay 5 months ago
That tank is nice but from my view it don't look level look at the water line
86yukon 6 months ago
O.k. I need help...Bought my tank 10 days ago, set it up and let it cycle for 4 days (freshwater)....added a few fish and 3 days after adding them the water is beginning to look a little cloudy..I feed them very small amounts 2x's a day...it's a 20 gallon with guppies/mollies. Can you tell me what the heck I'm doing wrong? Should I leave it alone, or did I give my existing fish a death sentence or something? :(
slapurmommaz 7 months ago
When my tank has finished cycling will there be any nitrogen and amonenia in the water? If so how do i get rid of it. Thanks.
lei5ght19n 8 months ago
expert village wannabe!!! jk good infos
crazywilburclan 8 months ago
@andymohammed
Healthy? The lifespan of an average properly kept fan tail goldfish is well over 10 years. You poisoned them in thier own waste until they had finally had enough.
lastloserpicked 9 months ago
well personalty i've had fishes since i was 12 and i never left my tank for a couple of days to cycle or what ever and i never had problems with my fishes .. i had fan tail Goldfishes in a 10 gal tank that all 3 of them grew up to 10 inches long within a year .... they lived two years and they died cause the tank was too small for all 3 of them .. the last one died because i had to put it in a smaller tank i dont follow rules of the "fish tank" and my fishes grow healthy and beautiful
andymohammed 1 year ago
very very perdy fish
123FIREball200 1 year ago
you said earlier that a freshwater tank only takes 3 days to cycle, is this true? if so im about to start cycling a 75g tank, how would i go about it to have it ready in 3 days?
erichoward15 2 years ago
Just put water in it, dechlorinate the water, turn on your equipment and let it run for 3 days. There is enough bacteria in the air that will get into the water to cycle the tank.
SnakeBlitz33 2 years ago
@SnakeBlitz33 Your full of shit!!
truckdriverruss 1 year ago
@SnakeBlitz33
This is terrible adivce and I hope no one takes it. WTF bacteria in the air cycle your tank?? Thats the dumbest shit Ive heard all day.
seedlessone 4 months ago
i am cylcleing my saltwater tank but it has been a month but nothing happend
nerflover1000 2 years ago
Sometimes the Nitrogen Cycle is so small that you can not see a spike in ammonia or nitrite... If your ammonia and nitrite are not detectable, then your aquarium is cycled. Although, you might not have a significant buildup of bacteria yet to keep fish. You may want to start off by adding a small cleanup crew. Then add a chromis and so on and so forth, depending on your success.
SnakeBlitz33 2 years ago
@SnakeBlitz33 u where write it was done
nerflover1000 1 year ago
you need a source of ammonia, either by putting one or two fish in, or some salt form ammonia
HariltonMW2 1 year ago
HI there iv set up a 20 gallon saltwater tank its been up for 2 weeks now i added a clown to help it ctcle my leavels dont want to go down how much longer do u think this will take help im doing water changes and everthing they just wont go down
ale13110 2 years ago
It depends on how much rotten organic compounds you have in your water. Most modern aquarists suggest not to use a fish to cycle your aquarium. Keep doing water changes, but make sure you are using pure RO/DI water - double check it with a TDS meter if you are buying it at a store. You don't want your cycle to stop - it's on going. You just have to know when it becomes stable, and at that point, ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0 and Nitrate can be anywhere from 0 to100.
SnakeBlitz33 2 years ago
I need help at speeding the Nitrogen cycle. I have a ten gallon tank, with a penguin 100 filter, a heater, and I put in all my conditioners and all that (dechlorinator, Ick disease control), and my birthday is in 1 week and 3 days, and I was planning on getting a few shrimp, tetras, and loaches, but I need my tank cycled first. So far, i'm "feeding" the fish tank (fish flakes and fish tablets). Any cheap way to speed up the process?
hiddenThecakeisalie 2 years ago
Just so you know, this is a saltwater aquarium. Freshwater aquariums only take 3 days to cycle. If you want to ensure that your aquarium has it's own established eco-system, collect and use pondwater in the beginning and then use RO/DI water for each water change and top off. Pond water contains billions of bacteria and microscopic fauna that feed on fishwaste and neutralize ammonia caused by waste and urin in the aquarium. A 10g tank is extremely small, so be very picky about what you add.
SnakeBlitz33 2 years ago
Ghost shrimp are excellent little creatures to add to a freshwater aquarium, but make sure that they have adequate decorations or plant life in the tank. Depending on the species of loach and tetra, they can get quite large. The bigger the fish, the more waste, the less room = not healthy and dead fish.
I don't forsee any problems adding a couple fish at a time, and space it out a week or two between additions. Always add peaceful fish first and then buy progressively more aggressive fish.
SnakeBlitz33 2 years ago
One last thing, I have a testing kit for Nitrites, nitrates Ph alkalinity hardness and ammonia, and 3 days have past (I have 2 zebra danios as cycle fish), and nothing's changes. The chlorine is 0, as with nitrites, PH, and Alkilinity is high, and the hardness is, well, hard. Willt he pond water idea speed this up? or am I doing something wrong? PM me please!
hiddenThecakeisalie 2 years ago
I know it's a corral reef tank. My dad said if I can perfect a freshwater aquarium (keep them alive), then we can move o to the saltwater aquarium (which i've been studying up on for about a month now). I have a pond, so that'll help, but I heard that in the ycle process you don't want to do water changes. Thanks for the help, though. It really will help me :)
Btw, that's a great tank you have. Must've taken a while to get it going.
hiddenThecakeisalie 2 years ago
hi,i just bought the tank , i not really sure how to start it off, i purchase live sand, about to go buy lie rock, i want to know if i need to add any solution chemical to the tank.? thank you
alov2kill 2 years ago
I know it's a bit late to respond to this post, however I feel that other can learn from it. If you are mixing pure RO water with the appropriate amount of salt, and adding it to the tank, you do not need to add any chemicals. I highly suggest using pure Reverse Osmosis / De-Ionized water to start a tank. You should never de-chlorinate saltwater because it will destabilize the pH because of the neutralization of ammonia and nitrates. Liquid bacterias are plecebo's.
SnakeBlitz33 2 years ago
how can u kill nitraat in water cuss my guppies stay on bottem of tank and there not moving can u tell me m8
remco19 2 years ago
Nitrate is not living, therefore can not be killed. Nitrate is rarely ever at high enough levels to kill fish, therefore test your water for nitrite and ammonia. Increase your biological filtration by adding another mechanical filter and deepening your substrate. It could also be a pH or O2 problem, so make sure your water level is at neutral pH, 7.0, and that you do not have glass tops that seal the entire top of the tank.
SnakeBlitz33 2 years ago
Hi, great video. We set up our tank a couple of weeks ago. It is a 55 gallon tank with 2 3 inch oscars and several 2 inch blood parrots. Recently, the water has gotten cloudy, even if we do water changes, it turns cloudy in a couple of days. We used to change the filter media during ever weekly water change but we stopped. Now we just rinse it in tank water. Any suggestions?
Blackbelt44 3 years ago
When talking about freshwater or saltwater tanks, the most important "ingredient" to a healthy and successful aquarium is bacteria. For your aquarium, the bioload is too high. One Oscar can get up to 14" even in a small tank and requires at least 55g on it's own. I suggest taking out either the oscars or the parrots. Then, increase your biological filtration. Deepen your substrate and buy a mechanical filter with a larger surface area for bacteria to grow on. The white cloud is a bacterial bloom
SnakeBlitz33 2 years ago
you need more live rock.
casino007007 2 years ago
casino, Oscars live in freshwater, not saltwater. Live rock comes out of the ocean, hence only for saltwater aquariums.
SnakeBlitz33 2 years ago
i started a 12 gallon saltwater tank a week ago and i only have crush coral in it right now and its growing some algae on it..is this good or bad?
XxMarine1993xX 3 years ago
Hi, welcome to saltwater aquarium keeping! Before your cycle ends, I suggest completely getting rid of your crushed coral and going with live sand. Crushed coral builds up detritus/waste too easily and does not aid in de-nitrification. Algae is never a bad thing, as long as it is kept in check by a clean up crew, water changes, siphoning, or through the use of a refugium!
SnakeBlitz33 3 years ago
great video. i just started my nitrogen cycle yesterday dec. 24. 08...
bonez201 3 years ago
Congrats are starting a new aquarium. Now you have the responsibility to learn all that you can to keep your new aquarium inhabitants alive and healthy!
SnakeBlitz33 3 years ago
Can you do a fish cycle tho? even if they're not hardy, i use Seachem Prime that claims to removes all the toxic from ammonia and still get the cycle going
tauquenmay 3 years ago
I don't use prime in saltwater. Since it detoxifies not only ammonia but also nitrate, it can cause pH swings that are more likely to kill your fish than a small amount of ammonia.
If you do a cycle with fish, I suggest a hardy fish such as chromis or even a clownfish. I personally do not like to have the chance of killing living creatures though. That is why I recommend a fishless cycle.
SnakeBlitz33 3 years ago
ah thx for replying, I have a freshwater aquarium btw, does that count for something?
tauquenmay 3 years ago
I wouldn't worry about using prime in a freshwater aquarium. Just follow directions.
SnakeBlitz33 3 years ago
If you have a freshwater aquarium, it should only take 2 to 3 days to cycle. Saltwater aquariums have different chemistry.
SnakeBlitz33 3 years ago
If you started with live rock, it is going to have dead things on it. The dead matter creates ammonia. Nitrosomonas convert ammonia into nitrite and then nitrobacter converts nitrites into nitrates.
As long as you test your water and it shows no trace ammounts of ammonia or nitrites, and only some nitrate, you should be fine. This process can really take anywhere from one week to one month, depending on water volumes, how much dead matter, and how quickly bacteria builds up in your system.
SnakeBlitz33 3 years ago
is this a salt aq? I can't wait for 1 month to put 1 fish! can't I just bring edged aqurum water from the pet shop?
purelaker 3 years ago
It takes between 3 days to 30 days to complete the nitrogen cycle. Bacteria has to grow in your tank on all of the surfaces. Your ammonia will spike, then Nitrites. Once you are reading zero Amm. and trites, then you can add fish, however long that may take your aquarium. Aged tank water from the pet store contains nitrates, phosphates, chemical additives and other things, ... all but enough beneficial bacteria to complete the cycle.
SnakeBlitz33 2 years ago