Cycling help please

[chaoslite]

I have finished cleaning, resealing and sterilizing the 60g. I am however at a loss of how to cycle it. I normally have cycled my tanks with Molly's and slowly added fish. I have media from the new filter being seeded in the 40g filter. It has been there since Friday. My HOB for the 60g is too big to sit on the 40g due to the brace, so I just took the media and added it to my already running filter.

1.Once the media is seeded what do I need to do?

2. Should I use RO water since that is what is running in my 40g?
I can buy that at my LFS.

Any help would be appreciated since I want to buy some discus from Kenny and put them in the 60g.

Mishka

[reefenthusiast]

Mishka,

You don't need to spend money on RO water to raise discus. All you need is aging, dechlorinated tap water.

James

[chaoslite]

Ok. How do I go about doing that? Can I do that in the actual tank or should I buy a big trash can?

Mishka

[reefenthusiast]

I have a 55 gal used plastic drum that I bought from a pepsi plant for $5. I don't see why you can't use any large, plastic trash can to hold water. I use Brute trash can to store my salt water for my reef tank, and just about everyone I know in the reef hobby uses that as well. If it's safe for a reef tank, I'd think it's also safe for fresh water fish as well. I have a pump in my storage tank to keep the water circulating and a heater. I also add Amquel Plus into the water to neutralize the chlorine and chloramine from the water. Our water authority switches back and forth often between chlorine and chloramine in their water treatment.

[chaoslite]

Reefenthusiast I appreciate your help. Maybe this is a stupid question but how do I know it has aged properly?

Mishka

[reefenthusiast]

I believe the main rationale behind aging the water is to give your water time to stabilize the pH level. With that said, I usually let my water sit for 24 hours before I use it. I'm sure different people let the water age differently. The best way to know is to test your water pH level at different time interval and see how long it takes for your water pH level to stabilize. After a few times, you get a sense of how long it normally takes for you.

[DerekFF]

24 hours of sitting + dechlorinator, airation is a plus too, helps circulate.

[chaoslite]

I have no place inside to keep the aging can. Is it all right to set in on a outside covered patio?

M

[wesleydnunder]

Back to the cycling question:

Once you've seeded your filter there are a couple ways to cycle the tank.

First, make sure you have a reliable test kit with a minimum of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate tests. The new filter has to have food, the first of which is ammonia. You can buy pure ammonia and add to the tank until you have around 3 ppm. Test and add daily as needed to reach the 3 ppm mark...or

You can add a few tough fish like zebra danios to provide the ammonia for your cycle...or

You can add something like food flakes or a piece of shrimp which will produce ammonia as the heterotrophic bacteria go to work on it.

However you decide to get your ammonia in the tank, you can track the cycle progress with testing. As your biobed grows, ammonia will be consumed, so the ppm will drop and nitrite ppm will rise. After a week or two another bacteria will begin to grow and the nitrite will decrease and the nitrate will rise. This whole process requires a continual source of ammonia or it will slow down or stall.

Once your ammonia and nitrite fall to zero and your nitrate continues to rise you can safely start adding fish. At this point I usually do a water change or two to drop the nitrate down to 10 ppm or below before I start adding discus. Take your time with the stocking also or you can easily overwhelm a newly-established biobed.

Mark

[chaoslite]

Thanks guys. Does anyone know if I can put the aging can on my covered patio? It does get hot in the summer time being that I am in Southern California.
Mishka

[reefenthusiast]

I have no place inside to keep the aging can. Is it all right to set in on a outside covered patio?

M

I don't know what the temp is like in your area year round, but if it's anything like VA weather, it'd be hard to keep the water temperature fairly constant without considerable expense in having a chiller, heater and a temp controller. Another thing to considered is how much of the outside element will eventually find its way into the tank and possibly contaminated it. If space is limited, depends on the size of your display aquarium, you can use something like a 20 gal tank to hold your water. It might mean doing smaller water changes each day. But it's most likely better than having your storage tank outside.

[FishkeeperforLife]

Depending on what your trying to keep up with has far as water changes go bottled RO water will cost less than a dollar a gallon or you could always purchase an RO unit somewhere between a 100 to 200 dollars.

[chaoslite]

My LFS sells it for $0.29 a gallon. I suppose I could produce it for less than that. If just seems a bit complicated.

:o