nik
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Registered: 19th Jun 00
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Bought a new fish tank earlier, only a small 28 litre one for the kitchen. I have set it all up but it's still REALLY murky. I used the fertiliser/soil stuff underneath the gravel to help the plants. Obviously when I filled it up with water, the water went murky/brown etc.
Will this settle back down? Should I be running my filter now or will it fill it up with crap?
Cheers 
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Russ
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Registered: 14th Mar 04
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yeah just give it time. make sure you have a filter big enough to cope, it will get blocked up pretty quickly at the start, so just wash it out in tank water
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nik
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Cheers mate, have whacked the filter on now will put heater on too then
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Demo
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key to a good tank set up is like key to good bodywork
all in the prepwork and patience
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nik
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Registered: 19th Jun 00
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Yeah, it's still cloudy, hope the cycle shouldn't take too much longer now is annoying having to wait 
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nathy_87
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sort of fish, coldwater or tropical?
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Cosmo
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What you using to cycle it?
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dannymccann
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quote:
Originally posted by 5dr corsa-3dr_polo
sort of fish, coldwater or tropical?
Well considering hes got a heater I dont think it will be coldwater 
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Rob_Lee
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i left my tank for 2 weeks without fish to get good bacterial cycle going!
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Cosmo
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quote:
Originally posted by Rob_Lee
i left my tank for 2 weeks without fish to get good bacterial cycle going!
Easiest way is to put a load of prawns or something into an old pair of tights and leave it in the tank for a day or so. Will give you the massive ammonia spike to kick start the cycle and speed it up!!
Edit - oh and you must of had some sort of ammonia source Rob? Or it wouldnt of cycled.
[Edited on 22-10-2008 by Cosmo]
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SXI - Matt
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Registered: 8th Jul 07
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To cycle leave tank for a couple of weeks to settle down let the water settle and temprature settle, then put 1 to 2 hardy fish in like molly's they will run the gourntlet and do the cycle for you there the kind of fish that can survive the spiking of ammonia ect, once the tank has cycles arond 2 weeks it should take add a couple at a time of the fish you want hardy fish first after about 6 months (can do it before but i found this a sensible time for mine to settle how ever is 125 litre obviously be diffrent for a smaller tank will settle quicker but still be patient), tank will be fine to add angels ect worked for me there are many diffrent ways out there, like the chemical way using ammonia but when you put fish in it will still do a naturel cycle
[Edited on 22-10-2008 by SXI - Matt]
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Cosmo
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Have you copied and pasted that? Either way its a load of rubbish!
Over load the filter with a load of ammonia to begin with (ie. more than the max stock of fish you'll ever have will produce).
The de-nitrifying bacteria that is ever present in the water will attach to the filter media and begin to increase in numbers. Once this starts to increase it will turn the ammonia into nitrites.
This will then be turned into nitrates. Once you can measure a high amount of nitrates (as you should be doing regular tests during the cycle) its time for a fairly large (20%) water change (as nitrates can only be removed via this way, so thats why you do water changes every few weeks). This is the end of the cycle and fish can be introduced.
No need to stagger them being introduced, as your filter should of reached its max capacity during the cycle.
The end.
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SXI - Matt
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The way i did worked for me on both tanks and worked very well intorducing staggered isnt a must but i did it as its safest way imo, i forgot to mention the water changes, oh and over loading with ammoni to start with can stall the cycle, i dont understand why its complete rubbish?
[Edited on 22-10-2008 by SXI - Matt]
[Edited on 22-10-2008 by SXI - Matt]
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Cosmo
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quote:
Originally posted by SXI - Matt
The way i did worked for me on both tanks and worked very well intorducing staggered isnt a must but i did it as its safest way imo, i forgot to mention the water changes, i dont under stand why its complete rubish?
Its complete rubbish (maybe a harsh comment!) as that just isnt needed!
Once you overload the filter for the cycle, you have introduced a hell of a lot more ammonia than your max stock level of fish will ever do - so no need to stagger it over 6 months or more as you mentioned.
In fact you could even argue staggering when you enter the fish is worse for them - as each time you do you make them have to fight for the territory they occupy all over again, causing stress and therefore increase the chances of them picking up diseases that are naturally present in every tank.
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Cosmo
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quote:
Originally posted by SXI - Matt
oh and over loading with ammoni to start with can stall the cycle
No it doesnt.
The cycle will not start without an ammonia source. If you REALLY overload it then you will find your readings showing a large amount of ammonia as well as nitrites (and possibly nitrates), but all that means is you have fully loaded the filter and to remove the ammonia source and to wait out the final parts of it before you stock the tank.
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SXI - Matt
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I see what you mean about over loading but iv seen this stall a cycle before and using chemicals is great but when you introduce it still starts a "naturel" cycle we've tested it before and it done it every time, this is why i say stagger so the filter has reached its max, the bacteria will grow wether you keep adding fish or not so they wont all suffer the spike only the first 2 will
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SXI - Matt
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quote:
Originally posted by Cosmo
quote:
Originally posted by SXI - Matt
oh and over loading with ammoni to start with can stall the cycle
No it doesnt.
The cycle will not start without an ammonia source. If you REALLY overload it then you will find your readings showing a large amount of ammonia as well as nitrites (and possibly nitrates), but all that means is you have fully loaded the filter and to remove the ammonia source and to wait out the final parts of it before you stock the tank.
Thats why you add two hardy fish to start the cycle, and what you have just described is a stalling of a cycle they all peak together not in stages which is how iv always been told to do it to prevent any problems further down the line
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Cosmo
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quote:
Originally posted by SXI - Matt
I see what you mean about over loading but iv seen this stall a cycle before and using chemicals is great but when you introduce it still starts a "naturel" cycle we've tested it before and it done it every time, this is why i say stagger so the filter has reached its max, the bacteria will grow wether you keep adding fish or not so they wont all suffer the spike only the first 2 will
Im not saying use a chemical source of ammonia - infact if you read above Im saying use prawns, so the breakdown of them gives off the ammonia.
Have you a reason for the cycle stalling? Ive cycled a lot of tank (and big big tanks too I might add) and I have never experienced this happening.
And no, if you reach its max it wont cycle anymore, unless you're doing the cycle wrong. The de-nitrifyng bacteria doubles every 24hrs, so it quickly reaches max, and if you keep the ammonia up to the decent level when you add the max stock of fish you'll notice no difference.
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Cosmo
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quote:
Originally posted by SXI - Matt
Thats why you add two hardy fish to start the cycle, and what you have just described is a stalling of a cycle they all peak together not in stages which is how iv always been told to do it to prevent any problems further down the line
My post above probably answer this post too....Im not using fish to cycle Im using rotting fish (prawns) as the source of ammonia. Hence building the ammonia levels way above what the max stock (say 15 fish) of the tank would be, therefore increaing the de-nitrifying bacteria in the filter (if its big enough anyway) to the level required to filter for the 15 fish.
The cycle will not stall in this way as their is always a constant source of ammonia.
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Shrek
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Marines FTW!
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SXI - Matt
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Very true once move out and get a place of my own i will be getting a marine tank, alot more expensive but well worth it
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