How to cycle (in my situation)

[EnderRen]

Okay, so my tank is in and filled with water! 10 gallons, and I have dropped some fish food in to spike ammonia. I used seachem prime for the water conditioner. I also have fritz zyme 7. I will be getting my first fish Tuesday , and so the day before he comes in I plan on dosing fritz zyme 7. (so as to eat the ammonia the food produced) Then I will dose seachem prime and zyme everyday for at least a week. (testing every day) Will this be safe for my fish (2 Corydoras Habrosus)? If not then what should I do?

[lefty o]

i would give the tank a small shot of fritzyme7 today.

[SugarBassJoe]

I've never tried your method, so i don't know if that would be the best way to go, it very well could be. Ive done a few fish in cycles, coincidentally I've done it with my hasbrosus corys. as well. I agree with lefty O, dose your tank with the fritzzyme sooner than later, get the bacteria started as soon as possible. Then i would test the water daily, be prepared to make smaller water changes daily, in my experience i was doing this for about two weeks until i started seeing the cycle begin to set in(not completely, but that's when i would see the test levels begin to normalize). Keep testing daily until you see consistent water parameters, then i would test every other day for a week or so, making small water changes as necessary. After about a month, my tank would stabilize, hopefully it will be the same for you.

Side note- don't forget to test for ammonia, especially at the beginning, you wont start seeing any nitrite/nitrate changes until this stage is done, if you see super high levels, then your water conditioner should only be a temporary fix, it will lock up that ammonia for a bit but wont get rid of it, change out a bigger portion of water to lower it. Also consider getting a few more corys to keep your pair company, i would recommend 5-6 for a 10G. I realize many would not recommend stocking a uncycled tank, but it can be done, good luck!

[EnderRen]

On 12/18/2022 at 11:06 AM, SugarBassJoe said:

I've never tried your method, so i don't know if that would be the best way to go, it very well could be. Ive done a few fish in cycles, coincidentally I've done it with my hasbrosus corys. as well. I agree with lefty O, dose your tank with the fritzzyme sooner than later, get the bacteria started as soon as possible. Then i would test the water daily, be prepared to make smaller water changes daily, in my experience i was doing this for about two weeks until i started seeing the cycle begin to set in(not completely, but that's when i would see the test levels begin to normalize). Keep testing daily until you see consistent water parameters, then i would test every other day for a week or so, making small water changes as necessary. After about a month, my tank would stabilize, hopefully it will be the same for you.

Side note- don't forget to test for ammonia, especially at the beginning, you wont start seeing any nitrite/nitrate changes until this stage is done, if you see super high levels, then your water conditioner should only be a temporary fix, it will lock up that ammonia for a bit but wont get rid of it, change out a bigger portion of water to lower it. Also consider getting a few more corys to keep your pair company, i would recommend 5-6 for a 10G. I realize many would not recommend stocking a uncycled tank, but it can be done, good luck!

I plan on getting more corydoras when my tank is cycled just a little bit more. So, after about a week of stable water parameters I will get two more corys, and continue to test, until water is stable again for a week, until I have about 6-7 corys.

[AndEEss]

Why are you putting fish in a non-cycled  tank? 
 

I’d try to link up with a local aquarium club, LFS or anyone who will be willing to give you some filter media. Otherwise, you’ll be actively poisoning your fish why you do a fish-in cycle.

But, as you seem resigned to this course of action, I’d recommend multiple 50% water changes per day for several weeks.

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by AndEEss

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Fish-in cycles are totally possible. Takes a lot of testing and water changing, but it’s totally possible. I did it with my first tank, not really knowing what I was doing, and didn’t lose a single fish. 
 

Considering you have the Fritz zyme 7 you should be fine. I would personally put that in your tank now, as stated by others above, to get the bacteria going. Test everyday, and change water as necessary. Prime can also be your friend to bind up any ammonia for 24 hours. 

[EnderRen]

On 12/18/2022 at 11:59 AM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Fish-in cycles are totally possible. Takes a lot of testing and water changing, but it’s totally possible. I did it with my first tank, not really knowing what I was doing, and didn’t lose a single fish. 
 

Considering you have the Fritz zyme 7 you should be fine. I would personally put that in your tank now, as stated by others above, to get the bacteria going. Test everyday, and change water as necessary. Prime can also be your friend to bind up any ammonia for 24 hours. 

yep I use seachem prime to help with the ammonia, I will put a dose of zyme in right now...

[EnderRen]

On 12/18/2022 at 2:45 PM, Pepere said:

My experience with bacteria in a bottle products was quick establishment of ammonia metabolising bacteria, but nitrite metabolising bacteria took weeks and weeks…

I found I could not cycle  a tank any quicker using multiple bottles of bacteria in a bottle than I could without using bacteria in a bottle products.

i probably spent close to 200.00 trying multiple brands and dosing,dosing, dosing, and redosing….

If I were starting from scratch knowing what I know now, I would simply dose with ammonia and wait and test to document the progress…

I would also buy plants and plant densely… The plants will have some bacteria on them to help seed the tank.

I would do the hardest thing a fish keeper can do…. Wait Patiently….

And to be truthful, I heard people say all of this when I started, and I didnt listen to them.

 

instead I insisted on paying 200.00 tuition to the bacteria in a bottle people…

 

 

I hear the concerns, and am prepared for what befalls me. If the fritz zyme 7 doesn't work (The one I found that was most recommended by the most amount of people), then I will not continue testing with the bacteria in a bottle. I am only starting with a few fish, and I am planning on following the steps laid out by most people who do fish in cycles.

[EnderRen]

On 12/18/2022 at 2:45 PM, Pepere said:

My experience with bacteria in a bottle products was quick establishment of ammonia metabolising bacteria, but nitrite metabolising bacteria took weeks and weeks…

I found I could not cycle  a tank any quicker using multiple bottles of bacteria in a bottle than I could without using bacteria in a bottle products.

i probably spent close to 200.00 trying multiple brands and dosing,dosing, dosing, and redosing….

If I were starting from scratch knowing what I know now, I would simply dose with ammonia and wait and test to document the progress…

I would also buy plants and plant densely… The plants will have some bacteria on them to help seed the tank.

I would do the hardest thing a fish keeper can do…. Wait Patiently….

And to be truthful, I heard people say all of this when I started, and I didnt listen to them.

 

instead I insisted on paying 200.00 tuition to the bacteria in a bottle people…

 

 

Also I do plan on (hopefully) getting some filter media / anything that could have bacteria to seed my tank.

[Patrick_G]

So two Corydoras Hasbrosus in a 10 gallon right? That should be pretty easy. You'll want to do water changes at least weekly and test for Ammonia and Nitrites frequently, but those are pretty small fish with a tiny bioload so you should be cycled before toxins get to levels where they're dangerous to the fish. You won't see the big spikes in Ammonia and Nitritre like with a fishless cycle but be patient and it'll cycle. 

[EnderRen]

On 12/18/2022 at 5:14 PM, Patrick_G said:

So two Corydoras Hasbrosus in a 10 gallon right? That should be pretty easy. You'll want to do water changes at least weekly and test for Ammonia and Nitrites frequently, but those are pretty small fish with a tiny bioload so you should be cycled before toxins get to levels where they're dangerous to the fish. You won't see the big spikes in Ammonia and Nitritre like with a fishless cycle but be patient and it'll cycle. 

Thank you for the advise, it feels good to be validated. I will proceed with caution, and check water parameters daily!

[DaniV]

I did the fish-in cycle, but I was told at a LFS that some fish are more suited for it than others.  She suggested goldfish and mollies, I went and got dalmatian mollies.  Those little guys have been real troopers putting up with my cycling fumbling, and they're happily swimming around with my swordtails.

That being said, I did try to add some Corys in the middle of the ammonia/nitrite spike phase (cause I'm an idiot, lol), and in a week I lost them all.  I was testing every day, trying to stay on top of the water changes, adding the live bacteria, still lost all of them in the end.  I hear that Corys are very sensitive with water parameters, so keeping an eye on them is an absolute must.  Hope you have better luck with the Corys than I did!

[Bev C]

Scissortail Rasbora  are very hardy to for cycle a tank that is what i had many  moons ago i had 3 one lived 7-8 years