Hi all! A cycling ??

[GrillMaster]

Hello to everybody....Great site!! Lookin forward to alot of conversation with all of ya..From Connecticut by the way. Any Ct members fell free to step forward..

I am cycling a 55g with a Emperor 400, an a whisper 300 hangin on the back at the moment. It has 3 silver dollars in it. It also has gravel substrate, rocks an plastic plants in it... Its in its 12th day. I did a test tonight, an the results are as follows...

Tap water is 7ph
water in the tank for the last week 6.9 ph
nitritrite- 0
nitrate- 0
amonia-.50ppm

What stage of the cycle am I in?? Should I do water changes to lower the amonia levels or just let it run its course. The fish do not seem to be affected by it to much, an eat like pigs. The water is cloudy. Does this mean the bacteria is still mutiplin?

I have learned from all the readin, that i am gettin a 45g bb to raise the juvies in(6 of them)sportin an aquaclear filter with pre-filter sponge attached. I will age the water in a 45 gallon drum for daily 50% water changes in the 45g tank.

I have also learned that I will probably acumulate a few more tanks before this is all said an done. Finally,........I have learned that you guys will see alot of me for awhile so ya better get use to it.....; )

[hexed]

Hi,
Welcome to Simply! I'm from CT as well :) Where in CT are you?
Yes you need to do water changes because you have fish in the tank. Do a 50% water change and be sure to get the entire gravel bottom. The water should not be cloudy :( Do not overfeed the Silver Dollars, that's why your water is cloudy. When you vacuum the gravel you will see how much food is wasted. If your going to get the 45 gallon, why not get the sponge filter and place it in this tank now? This way it will be cycled when you set up the 45 gallon. You can also do this with the aquaclear as well. That's what I did ;) When you get the 45 all you have to do is add the water.
Frank

[Ardan]

Good answers by Frank,
If you are in Connecticut get over to Al's (brewmaster 15) . Send him an IM.
He is a great guy, with lots of great fish and lots of knowledge. :)

You are in the begginning stages of the cycle, it will take 4 to 6 more wks probably. Nest comes nitrites (after ammonia goes up and then back to 0), when they go up and then back to 0 the cycle is complete.

hth
Ardan

[ronrca]

Yep! Beginning of the cycle! To tell you the true, cycling with fish is a pain. You have to keep monitoring ammonia/nitrite levels and do wc's so not to kill your fish and wc's hindered your cycling process which means it will take longer to fully cycled your tank, etc, etc!

If possible, I would go with the fishless cycle method. This will allow you to build a huge bio filter and be able to stock your tank with the fish you want rather than adding a few fish every month. You dont have to worry about wc's until the cycle is almost complete.

Something to think about! ;)

[GrillMaster]

Hi ya Frank...Mystic here. Guess were bout an hour apart. Thanks for the advice! I will definately slow down on the feeding, an get the WC done.

Lo there Ardan...I sent Brew an IM, and I am definately lookin forward to meetin him an pick his brains...I will also be gettin my discus from him when the time comes!!

So now I have 2 filters goin on the 55g. Will the whisper 300 suffice on the 45g? to small? If it is, I will get an aquaclear and replace the whisper to get it cycled. Then just transfer it to the bb 45g. Should I just run sponges in the filters, or use the charcoal packets in back of the sponges like I am doin now? :confused: :)

[Cosmo]

Drs. Forster and Smith sell cartidges for your emperor 400 made out of "cell pore media" that fit into the slot where the refillable containers goe. This stuff is supposed to be some of the best bio media around and will increase your bio capacity considerably - since you won't be using this slot to add carbon in the container, it's a perfect way to increase the efficiency of the filter w/o any sacrifice. For some reason, the catalogue lists them as being for Penguin 280 and 400's, but, since there is no such thing, they actually mean the Emperors. I have one in my 280, you'd need two for the 400

:)

Jim

[GrillMaster]

Yep! Beginning of the cycle! To tell you the true, cycling with fish is a pain. You have to keep monitoring ammonia/nitrite levels and do wc's so not to kill your fish and wc's hindered your cycling process which means it will take longer to fully cycled your tank, etc, etc!

If possible, I would go with the fishless cycle method. This will allow you to build a huge bio filter and be able to stock your tank with the fish you want rather than adding a few fish every month. You dont have to worry about wc's until the cycle is almost complete.

Something to think about! ;)

Hi Ya ronrca!!Thanks for the reply!! I think I am going to do just that!! I dont really care to much for the silver $$$ anyway. They are the most skiddish fish I have ever seen in my life.. I am surprised they havent knocked them selves out yet :rolleyes2

[Ardan]

Just go with sponges, no charcoal.

Cheaper :) and the charcoal can lead to some disease in discus, you don't need it anyway with all the wc unless you need to remove meds.

hth
Ardan

btw if you get fish from Al, he may have a seeded sponge you could get or buy and then no cycling worries! :) :) :) ;)

[GrillMaster]

Drs. Forster and Smith sell cartidges for your emperor 400 made out of "cell pore media" that fit into the slot where the refillable containers goe. This stuff is supposed to be some of the best bio media around and will increase your bio capacity considerably - since you won't be using this slot to add carbon in the container, it's a perfect way to increase the efficiency of the filter w/o any sacrifice. For some reason, the catalogue lists them as being for Penguin 280 and 400's, but, since there is no such thing, they actually mean the Emperors. I have one in my 280, you'd need two for the 400

:)

Jim
Thanx for the input Jim..Is there a place where I can get the catalog? web address?

[GrillMaster]

Here is a pic of the tank...I am going to plant real plants after the tank has cycled...

I misinformed all with the whisper 300 typo (no such animal) its a whisper 60..sorry about that :(

PH- 7.4
amonia- .50ppm
nitrite-0
nitrate-0

This after 2 -50% water changes...I am very much considerin takin the fish you cant see out, an doin a fishless cycle.... :undecided

[GrillMaster]

Just go with sponges, no charcoal.

Cheaper :) and the charcoal can lead to some disease in discus, you don't need it anyway with all the wc unless you need to remove meds.

hth
Ardan

btw if you get fish from Al, he may have a seeded sponge you could get or buy and then no cycling worries! :) :) :) ;)

Hey Ardan, I dont even have sponges in the Emperor :shocked: It has 2 charcoal bags, and 2 empty media canisters...I guess I should pull the charcoal bags out, an replace em with sponges. The whisper 60 also has 2 charcoal bags, and 2 sponges. So I will pull out the bags from the whisper also.

I would like to check out the media bags that Cosmo was talkin about with 2 sponges in each of them. I still need to add the prefilter sponges though.

[Eddie]

It's called a SUPER CARTRIDGE. I'm using one in my penguin 170. They are universal. I'm pretty sure thats what COSMO is talkin about. :o