Arofanatics Fish Talk Forums

Arofanatics Fish Talk Forums (http://www.arofanatics.com/forums/index.php)
-   Tank set-ups, Filtration & Water Management (http://www.arofanatics.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=4)
-   -   Beginner's Reference - New Tank Syndrome (http://www.arofanatics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=451117)

Spakase 27-01-2011 04:31 AM

Beginner's Reference - New Tank Syndrome
 
For someone new to fishkeeping, or wish to learn more how to set up an aquarium safely, here is a reference guide on the Nitrogen Cycle which is very comprehensive.

For a tank to be fully cycled with ammonia and nitrite totally absent from the tank (zero), it would take 40 days.
After 30 days, nitrite will be falling, hence one month to one and half month is the normal time for a complete tank cycling.

The tank cycling time can be reduced by the mixing of old filter material in the new filter. The addition of beneficial bacteria can also help speed up the cycling process.

Nevertheless, when starting a new tank, it is advisable to monitor ammonia, nitrite and ph very closely and ensure that your fishes are not exposed to toxic levels of ammonia and/or nitrite.

Do pose any questions if you are in doubt or need clarification on any of the points.

ranmaru1987 27-01-2011 06:32 PM

hi.. i would like to add on some remedies if there are already fishes in the tank and there is an ammonia or nitrite spike..

Ammonia spike remedy
- Lower tank pH. This may be the best and most effective remedy as ammonia is not deadly at low pH levels. But do take note to lower it slowly. Try not to lower by more than 0.3 a day.
- Lower tank temperature. Like pH, ammonia is less deadly at lower temperatures.
- Do a water change to dilute the amount of ammonia in tank. Preferably not more than 30% as too much may be dangerous. Remember to add anti chlorine if not chlorine will kill any BB in the tank and whole cycle will restart.
- If ammonia rises to too high and dangerous levels, add amquel. I recommend this product as it does not remove ammonia but instead converts it into non toxic for, thus allowing cycling process to continue.
- Reduce feeding

Nitrite spike remedy
- Do a water change to dilute the amount of nitrite in tank. Preferably not more than 30% as too much may be dangerous. Remember to add anti chlorine if not chlorine will kill any BB in the tank and whole cycle will restart.
- Reduce feeding.
- Add salt to 0.3%. The chloride in salt(sodium chloride) reduces the toxicity of nitrite to fishes.
- Increase aeration.

Always test your water regularly during cycling process. This way u can catch anything that goes wrong and remedy it before it becomes a disaster. If u have fishes in the tank and it is undergoing cycling, feed sparingly, do more frequent wc, do not introduce any more fishes till tank is fully cycled. If tank is fully cycled, introduce fishes slowly instead of dumping them all in at once.

Spakase 28-01-2011 01:50 PM

Here's a thread on ammonia and it's toxic range.

angelo 15-03-2011 12:41 AM

My suggestion.

- Do not perform water change during tank cycling. With water change, longer cycling duration.
- To reduce the toxicity of nitrite to livestocks during tank cycling and not to slow down the BB growth and multiplying rate. Add ~0.1% salt is more than enough.

Why 0.3%?

bench 29-03-2011 12:26 AM

do the 40days and 30 days rule apply to all sizes of tank? i got a 850 litres tank, with commercial BB, no wc, and small fishes to cycle, can i speed up the time needed?

Spakase 29-03-2011 01:14 AM

The standard time to cycle a tank can be reduced. It is best to continue to measure ph, ammonia and nitrite throughout the cycle period just to ensure that it is complete.

yeezermac 18-03-2013 01:04 PM

Thanks for the tips! Very helpful!

findkenny 12-04-2013 01:49 AM

Diatoms
 
I got a newly set up planted tank. After a few days I noticed what appears to be diatoms bloom! any remedy? :confused:

findkenny 12-04-2013 02:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by findkenny (Post 9358456)
I got a newly set up planted tank. After a few days I noticed what appears to be diatoms bloom! any remedy? :confused:

btw... i threw in some yamato shrimps. doesnt seem to work.

hanks9800 12-04-2013 12:10 PM

Hi sifu, today is the 5th day of my 6ft sump tank water cycling. I'm using Biozyme Formula 100 and there are 4 TFB in the tank. But there is still no nitrite buildup. Am I doing it correctly? Thanks.

PH - 7.18
Ammonia - 0.5 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - 0 ppm

thor 11-03-2014 08:46 PM

hi all i am new to arowana hobby
my new tank is 5x2.5x2 with sump tank
to cycle the water 1 month, with biohomme plus and momotaro and sea shells
will it be good enough?
can guide me
i really keen to know
regards
thor

BubbleBubble 11-03-2014 08:59 PM

Now can instant like everything else. If u like check with lfs.

BubbleBubble 11-03-2014 09:01 PM

Beginner's Reference - New Tank Syndrome
 
If u r asking whether media good enough or not I'll tell u even a an old filter wool enough to fit air driven box filter enough soil nitrogen bacteria... when u change water enough water every week... in any case u will do if u wan healthy faster growing aro swimming in ur tank.

thor 04-05-2014 09:22 PM

hi all
i have been running my new tank for almostr 2 weeks plus
i suing wizz fast cycle solution, 2 large pleco and 1 fei feng
currently ph is 7.5 ammonia is 0 ppm and nitrate is 2 to 5
is my water ok?
any advise
cheers
thor

leo lim 10-08-2014 07:43 PM

If my tank is 3ft tank and intend to use only ohf with wools and not other media. Still have to cycle tank to build up good bacteria?
ie intend to use only mechanical filtration.
I wants to keep Gold fishes.

Last Friday setup new tank and added anti-chlorine. Today added some GF and most of them all stay restless at the bottom...one is floating....

KiwiChew 20-08-2014 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leo lim (Post 9728794)
If my tank is 3ft tank and intend to use only ohf with wools and not other media. Still have to cycle tank to build up good bacteria?
ie intend to use only mechanical filtration.
I wants to keep Gold fishes.

Last Friday setup new tank and added anti-chlorine. Today added some GF and most of them all stay restless at the bottom...one is floating....

Wool generally serves to provide only mechanical filtration though it can also provide some form of bio filtration if unwashed for a month. But you should really consider getting proper media like biohomme plus+ to culture BB which is essential for establishing the nitrogen cycle.

Your Gold fishes are probably dying from ammonia poisoning as there are no established BB yet to convert ammonia to nitrite...and remember to dechlorinate your tap water as they will kill your BBs. You may use Seachem Prime to achieve that.

Do read up on how to setup nitrogen cycle for new tanks. Its a must for all freshwater fishes especially gold fishes which are extremely fragile...

ongchi8 29-08-2014 01:45 PM

rest my 6ft x 3ft x 2ft tank yesterday.. putting all new medias in the sump

i put new water in the tank with ph is about 8.2ph

why is it in the 2nd day of cycle.. the ph become 9.0?

is this normal?

mengyang_neo 29-08-2014 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ongchi8 (Post 9739406)
rest my 6ft x 3ft x 2ft tank yesterday.. putting all new medias in the sump

i put new water in the tank with ph is about 8.2ph

why is it in the 2nd day of cycle.. the ph become 9.0?

is this normal?

I assume u are using bio home? New bio home will push up the ph. After a few days the ph will slowly drop.

Oneiromancer 29-08-2014 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ongchi8 (Post 9739406)
rest my 6ft x 3ft x 2ft tank yesterday.. putting all new medias in the sump

i put new water in the tank with ph is about 8.2ph

why is it in the 2nd day of cycle.. the ph become 9.0?

is this normal?

What media did you put in the sump? Was there coral/oyster shells?

ongchi8 29-08-2014 09:29 PM

im using mr aqua ceramic rings...

ongchi8 29-08-2014 10:08 PM

i think its not the media.. i encounter this problem before using different media...

i post that thread on the stingray forum..

i fell frustrated so i reset my tank using new media, suspecting that it might be the media that cause my ph to rise... but here it goes again.. the same problem

there should be something wrong with my water... but i dont know

our water system at home has a water softener for the whole house... and pass by a carbon filter before it goes to a hose for my water change...

all my other tanks are ok with some arowanas on it..

only this tank with some rays previously occupying it has a problem...

does water softener cause it?
or the carbon filter?

but i have lots of friend hobbyist using it also and all of them are fine...

Oneiromancer 30-08-2014 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ongchi8 (Post 9739636)
i think its not the media.. i encounter this problem before using different media...

i post that thread on the stingray forum..

i fell frustrated so i reset my tank using new media, suspecting that it might be the media that cause my ph to rise... but here it goes again.. the same problem

there should be something wrong with my water... but i dont know

our water system at home has a water softener for the whole house... and pass by a carbon filter before it goes to a hose for my water change...

all my other tanks are ok with some arowanas on it..

only this tank with some rays previously occupying it has a problem...

does water softener cause it?
or the carbon filter?

but i have lots of friend hobbyist using it also and all of them are fine...

Hmm.. putting pH aside for awhile, how are the occupants doing? Are they eating well and not exhibiting unusual behaviour? What are your other parameters?

ongchi8 01-09-2014 08:07 AM

there are still no fishes inside the tank because it my 1st day of cycling..

Oneiromancer 03-09-2014 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ongchi8 (Post 9740593)
there are still no fishes inside the tank because it my 1st day of cycling..

As long as it's stable, I personally feel that it's no issue. Fluctuations kill. Also lower pH kills off your BB.

ken_yg 09-09-2014 05:36 AM

The increase in PH got to do with aeration, which is different in each tank/filtration system.
It is also related to pump flow rate & any air stones setup in the tank that increase tank aeration, thus increasing O2 & reduction of CO2.
I would think you have a good filtration system that also help to maintain high O2.

Quote: http://www.myaquariumclub.com/how-to...arium-498.html

● Aeration - Increasing the oxygen concentration in your water will serve to drive down the carbon dioxide concentration. As discussed above, less carbon dioxide translates to a higher pH. Therefore, you can increase the aeration in the tank to raise the pH.


Quote:

Originally Posted by ongchi8 (Post 9739636)
i think its not the media.. i encounter this problem before using different media...

i post that thread on the stingray forum..

i fell frustrated so i reset my tank using new media, suspecting that it might be the media that cause my ph to rise... but here it goes again.. the same problem

there should be something wrong with my water... but i dont know

our water system at home has a water softener for the whole house... and pass by a carbon filter before it goes to a hose for my water change...

all my other tanks are ok with some arowanas on it..

only this tank with some rays previously occupying it has a problem...

does water softener cause it?
or the carbon filter?

but i have lots of friend hobbyist using it also and all of them are fine...


tommyn 14-04-2015 10:56 PM

Tank filled up with AC, no pump running since last week.

15/04 @ 0030hrs on pump and added BB
15/04 @ 1500hrs on of hydra stream
15/04 @ 1530hrs added TFB
15/04 @ 2130hrs took test.
PH 7.4
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrite 5.0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm

Noob here, are the readings acceptable? Will it be ok to let tank to cycle for a week then add in aro?

AdamC 19-05-2015 11:31 PM

Fish-less cycle is tricky and often unsuccessful. You need some level of bioload to trigger the nitrogen cycle.

shiokmc 21-05-2015 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamC (Post 9858117)
Fish-less cycle is tricky and often unsuccessful. You need some level of bioload to trigger the nitrogen cycle.

well.... .. best source of 'natural' ammonia never fails me... .. .. ;) 24hrs also rays can go iN

tru3xaznxb0i 24-05-2016 11:08 PM

im currently in this situation.. my ammonia levels are really high, and also doing 20-30% wc daily.

Ong88 18-07-2019 10:55 AM

Effective hack is to use donor biofiltration material/media from matured tanks.

Been doing it all this time.

Just make sure the filtration is same type.
Had bad experience using donor from submerged sump media in a new OHF FILTER, the ohf was aerobic filtration fast flowing water while sump is more anaerobic gentler flowing water.


All times are GMT +9. The time now is 10:03 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright © 2000-2008 Arofanatics.com (Since 30th August 2000)