Aquarium cycle tips?

[Lexi B]

After learning the hard way with my first tank, I'm trying very hard to ensure my new 20gl is going to be fully cycled for it's new fish. I've never done a complete fishless cycle, and I'm trying my best to seed some filter media in my current five gal for the new tank.

However, my 5gal doesn't really have the space for me to seed a while sponge filter so really I'm just letting the bio rings and intake sponge do their thing. So I don't know how long my 20 would take to be fully cycled with just those items?

I'm also going to use fritz zyme to help with the process.

Should I try ghost feeding and see if I get any ammonia spikes? Or just put a small bio load in gradually and hope that the bacteria colonies root fast?

Sorry if anything was unclear. I'm going to start cycling the tank Friday, so I'm a bit anxious about making mistakes. 

[BenA]

I have just completed a fishless cycle.

What you need to do is to inject your aquarium with ammonia to a level 3ppm, then introduce the bacteria liquid. You will have to do it for about a month, during this period you will have to keep the ammonia level as stated at 3ppm. Then at one point you will see your Nitrite rising, this means that you have a good level of Ammonia eating bacteria but not enough of Nitrite eating bacteria. Sometime later you will notice decrease in Nitrite and increase of Nitrate. Once you have several days showing 0 Ammonia and Nitrate have a major water change (don't forget to dechlorinate the water), make sure that the water is oxygenated you can start to introduce fish, don't rush though. The rule is to be very patient. 

[lefty o]

with some sort of seeded media, and fritz zyme7, its an almost instant cycle. add your seeded media, and dose with fritzyme7, test next day. should look clear and good, add some fish.

[FrozenFins]

I ghost fed my 40 gallon to get the cycle going and within one week the tank was cycled. With ghost feeding, fritz zhyme, and pre established media, your tank should be cycled almost instantley

 

Edited January 6, 2021 by James Black

[BenA]

Sorry, but I disagree with you. Have a look at Cycle Your New Aquarium The EASY Way (Beginner Friendly!) (fishlab.com) and Fishless Tank Cycling and Avoiding New Tank Syndrome - General Guides - Articles - Fishkeeping and probebly many more.

You must allow the bacteria to establish itself.

[Daniel]

In my fishroom, I don't cycle my new aquariums. I add water and plants from established aquariums and then the fish all within a few minutes. The processing of fish waste continues in the new aquarium with the bacteria adjusting their population size to available nitrogen.

[BenA]

16 hours ago, Daniel said:

In my fishroom, I don't cycle my new aquariums. I add water and plants from established aquariums and then the fish all within a few minutes. The processing of fish waste continues in the new aquarium with the bacteria adjusting their population size to available nitrogen.

That is a different matter as in this situation you do not start from scratch. When you start from scratch it is different. Currently I am populating the filter media for the 400ltr (100gl) tank that should arrive shortly, then with the media planted in the new filter the aquarium, at least in theory should be ready within few days

[lefty o]

with any seeded media she adds, and dosing the tank with fritzyme 7, it is no different than taking from a large well established tank and putting into a new one.  between the seeded stuff, and the fritzyme it is getting all the bacteria it needs. within a few hours the tank is essentially mature, as far as the cycle goes.

[Hobbit]

I agree that with the seeded filter media you’ll really speed up your cycle. Personally I always do fishless cycling but I also use a seeded filter sponge (or piece of a sponge) as well as some plants, snails, and gravel from my established tanks. With this method, I usually wait a week before adding fish. I only added ammonia with my first tank as a test to see if it could “eat” the ammonia I added, since I hadn’t started with any seeded media. In all my cycling experience, I’ve only once seen nitrite higher than 0–which is a shame because nitrite is the prettiest test! 😄 So if you don’t see your ammonia/nitrite moving, that doesn’t necessarily mean something’s wrong. 

There are a lot of different ways to cycle a tank and pretty much all of them work. Personally I would just add your bio load slowly and keep testing as you go. If you see any ammonia or nitrite, just don’t add anything for a bit and let the bacteria catch up. 🙂