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I will try to be as brief as possible. I am still in the process of cycling my tank and it has been over 2 1/2 months. I want newbies to read this in the hope that it will save them great frustration on many levels. To start, my local pet store (not a chain) never advised the use of hardy fish. They did say start out with only a few but that was it. After limited online research, I learned of the cycle process on my own. I did this the best I could but soon realized that I was doing too much. Here are my mistakes.

1. Chemicals:
I used ammolock. The helpdesk for Aquarium pharmaceuticals was very friendly and took time to explain this product to me. I was worried about the high level of ammonia in the tank. I knew it was necessary to cycle the tank but wanted to know if this product would alleviate the toxicity without interrupting the nitrogen cycle. He swore up and down that this product would in deed convert the ammonia to a non-toxic form but would not adversely affect the cycle process. Well, 8 weeks went by and I was frustrated by the fact that A) there were still no nitrites present 2) I believe the ammonia bound up and created a crusty coating to all parts of the filter that got pretty thick. 3) Water quality was very poor. Started losing fish. Some had eye cloud and white spots. This forced me to use yet another one of their products called Melafix. This cleared up the problem, but forced me to start the process all over again. In the last 6 weeks I have used no Ammolock and have lost less fish and I am already showing increasing level of nitrites. I also do not have that crusty substance building up anymore. I am sure these guys know about these effects. But hey, they are selling even more product to fix problems caused by another one of thier products. Brilliant! Do not use these types of chemicals to try and make the cycle process more comfortable for your fish. Mine suffered more than need be because of this trash. Ammolock should read, "Do not use on new tanks" and if you need this product there is something wrong with your tank that needs to be corrected. There should be no ammonia present in an established tank. If you do, find the cause. Don't mask it with something else and let the problem get worse.

2. Water changing mistakes:
My Ammonia has gone through the roof, but I am now doing 15% water changes now that the nitrites are going up. I plan on doing this until the Ammonia begins to fall on its own. Before (last six weeks) I have only been doing 10% every week. In the beginning I made the mistake of doing 25% or so every week which was also preventing the bacteria from getting going. Too much new water will stress any new bacteria and possibly wipe it out. I do condition my city water to remove chlorine and other contaminates.

3. Cycle accelerating bacteria
I purchased Bio Spira. First of all, they sold me this when they knew my tank was just filled. I now know what they should have. And that is that there were no nutrients for the bacteria to feed on and simply died off. $13 down the drain. I tried bio-spira again a few weeks later and this did not seem to do any good. Who knows if this stuff stayed refrigerated or what? I think it is a marketing ploy and unnecessary. I have read from many others that have noticed no benefit from it either.

4. Over-feeding
I went by what my trusty pet shop idiot told me and fed my fish twice a day. Someone from the same shop later told me that once every two or three days was appropriate and that hungry fish are healthy fish. The later seems to hold true. Particularly during the cycle process. I was overfeeding for sure. I drop a small pinch of flake food every two days and half a shrimp pellet for my bottom feeder and they have been fine.

5. Trusted my pet shop
Everyone I spoke to had a different answer to every question. Just last week I was speaking to one of the guys that I was relying on to guide me through this process and he out of the blue said, "There is no cycle for fresh water tanks. That is for salt water tanks". My jaw dropped at that point realizing that I had been relying on the biggest idiot in the world who acted like he was the Mr. Miagy of fish. Of the 4 people at this shop, not one of them agreed on anything. In the same conversation, the other guy jumps in and says, "Yes, freshwater tanks do cycle" but followed that statement with " Fish can become immune to nitrites and lowering the PH will make Ammonia completely non-toxic". I can understand less toxic, but wow. Any way, this is my story, I hope it helps someone.

BTW, I also have some live plants now and they are awesome. In one month they have thrived and really add to the tank. I highly recommend them. Research them first as there are many different kinds.

My equipment:
18 Gallon tall tank
Penguin 200 Bio-wheel HOB power filter
Generic pump with small air stone
Single-bulb hood. Unsure wattage

Stock:
1 Angel
2 Platys
1 Bottom Feeder
1 Neon Tetra (were 4) will go to 6 after cycle completes
2 Rasbora Tetras (were 4) will go to 6 after cycle completes

Lost several Tetras during cycle. I strongly advise not adding these kinds of fish until cycle is completed.

Thanks for the information. I started cycling my tank
5 days ago with three glow light tetras.Today I have two.

Realized I should have put this in another area. Sorry

Welcome to the world of fishless cycling. Or, how not to lose prized and much loved fishes.

Fishless cycling, as the phrase suggests, involves finding a means of building up a colony of filter bacteria in your chosen filter medium that doesn't involve having fishes present. How is this done? Well, there are several ways, but all of them, ultimately, converge upon one basic idea, namely providing nutrients for the bacteria to feed upon and develop.

Of course, the bacteria of interest - the ones that perform the Ammonia->Nitrite->Nitrate conversion steps - aren't the only ones that will be needed. They're of vital importance from the standpoint of the fishes that will live in the aquarium, but they require other bacteria to provide them with some nutrients in the first place. And those bacteria - the ones further back in the chain - are the ones responsible for decomposition.

So, a source of organic matter to decompose is needed. Fish food is a nice handy source - your everyday flakes that will, in time, feed the fishes once they're established. But, in a fishless cycling setup, that food is also used initially to feed the bacteria.

Now here's the fun part. In the past, people have dumped a quantity of fish food into the aquarium and let it rot - far more in one go than they would feed to any fishes present. Yes, you end up with decomposing organic matter if you do this, but you end up with other problems too - such as bacterial blooms.

The way I approached this with the Panda Nursery was to add fish food to the empty aquarium as if I was feeding some resident fishes. Why did I do this? Simple.

Allow me to compare the two thus. Dumping a sizeable quantity of organic matter in one go into the aquarium is a bit like dumping a dead buffalo in your living room. You'll have a lot of meat, but pretty soon that living room is going to be a festering, stinking hovel. Pretty soon, the only creatures that WILL want to live there will be lots of flies. Adding fish food in small, measured quantities each day, on the other hand, is more akin to putting bacon rashers in your freezer. The house stays habitable, and you get to have a nice bacon breakfast each morning.

Likewise, adding small, measured quantities of food daily to the aquarium provides the bacteria, as they grow, with a constant food source. They are not overwhelmed at the start of the operation, and gradually grow to colonise the filter. Eventually, a complete colony of ALL the requisite bacteria needed for a functioning biological filter will appear - and will do so because they've been fed properly. No need for additives.

As the colony develops, the amount of food can be gradually increased. Start off with a tiny quantity each day initially, and gradually work up to the amount that would be fed to a tankful of real live fishes. About 4 weeks should be the requisite time over which this is done.

Once the filter colony has settled, and the Ammonia and Nitrite readings are zero, the first fishes can be added. This again is an incremental process. In a community aquarium, which is intended to contain multiple species, start off with the bottom feeders first (Corys etc), then add the middle and top feeders about 4 weeks or so, again in controlled numbers, after the bottom feeders have become established.

This takes time. Because the bacteria take time to multiply to the point where they are capable of processing the wastes produced by the incoming fishes. There is no 'fast' way of doing this. Anyone who tells you otherwise has his eye on your wallet, and some snake oil to sell you. Exercise patience, cultivate the colony of bacteria, and stock incrementally once the bacteria colony is established, so that the colony isn't overwhelmed by a sudden jump in nutrients (i.e., fish wastes).

People may look strangely at you adding food to an 'empty' aquarium, but that's the point - it isn't empty. The first living things - the bacteria - are preparing to gain a foothold from the moment you first add water. Your job is to give the bacteria a nice comfortable home, so that eventually, they in turn will provide a nice comfortable home for the fishes. And, by cultivating the colony with gradually increasing nutrient levels, you will give the bacteria a comfortable home.

Remember, you can't rush Nature. If you try to, Nature will bite back. Steady does it all the way.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

We have two threads running on this topic, see http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/31274.1.htm?4# and post further there.

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