 Super Fast Way to Cycle a Tank [message #6978] |
Sat, 16 June 2007 18:42  |
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I cycled a 55 gal tank in 9 days completely. Didn't think it was possible but it was and the best thing was I didn't have to add any chemicals to do it (except water conditioner of course).
I set my tank up with just gravel, put all new media in my XP3 Rena Canister filter and added 80 Rosie goldfish/feeder fish. Set the temp of the tank at 78 degrees. These little fish can't handle much more than that but if you can get the temp even higher it helps to cycle even faster. They were 10 cents a piece and was only charged for half of them. So I paid 4.50 for them after taxes. I used regular tap water and added the correct amount of water conditioner to keep chlorine from damaging the filter media.
80 fish
On day 1 June 7, my ammonia
(NH3/NH4) was at .25ppm
nitrites (NO2) was at .10ppm
nitrates (NO3) was at <10ppm
50 fish
day 3 June 9,
NH3/NH4 = 5.0ppm
NO2 = .25ppm
NO3 = 10ppm
40 fish
day 5 June 11,
NH3/NH4 = 5.0ppm
NO2 = 1.0ppm
NO3 = 10ppm
30 fish
day 5 June 12,
NH3/NH4 = 2.5ppm
NO2 = 2.0ppm
NO3 = 20ppm
20 fish
day 7 June 14
NH3/NH4 = 1.0ppm
NO2 = 1.0ppm
NO3 = 20ppm
10 fish
day 8 June 15
NH3/NH4 = .25ppm
NO2 = 1.0ppm
NO3 = 40ppm
0 fish
day 9 June 16
NH3/NH4 = 0ppm
NO2 = 0ppm
NO3 = 160ppm
On day 1, 30 of the fish had died over nite. Every nite after that fish had died but on the very last nite, I had to get rid of the last 10 fish. My daughter took them and put them into a small tank and all but 2 died.
I had to do a water change on the 9th day. I did a 80 percent water change and it took my NO3 right down to 15ppm. I will be checking the ammonia and nitrates every day for 3 days then every other day and when I am sure everything is stable, it will be weekly that I do water changes and chem checks. As you can see by the numbers above, they changed drastically on some days especially the very last day. I could't believe my eyes when I saw the 160 and even retook the test just to make sure.
I didn't believe that cycling a tank could be done this fast but I saw it with my own two eyes and was amazed that what could have been 6-8 weeks of very agonizing waiting, was a very short successful cycle.
* The intention here was not really to kill all these fish, however I did know that it was most likely going to happen as these little fish don't last long anyways.
The intention was to do it chemical free. The waste that these fish produced is what cyles the tank so quickly. They are continually fed. One could probably get away with not using 80 of these little fish.
What fish did survive which wasn't many, did go into another aquarium until their deaths. They weren't flushed, thrown in to a lake or pond, or killed just because.
[Updated on: Mon, 10 March 2008 10:07]
Please come visit me at www.atozthatsme.com
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| Re: Super Fast Way to Cycle a Tank [message #6988] |
Sat, 16 June 2007 20:02  |
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I should also add that this method can be used when you are starting out completely from scratch. No other tanks to take water, gravel, or filter media from.
Please come visit me at www.atozthatsme.com
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