bungholio Posted February 7, 2004 Share Posted February 7, 2004 Hi I have a 4' x 18" x 18" with a Jebo 819 canister filter, and i will eventually be adding larger american cichlids, i was wondering how to cycle the tank in the shortest time, i have heard of Bio Spira by Marineland Labs, but i cant find it anywhere, any replys would be great thanks Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted February 7, 2004 Share Posted February 7, 2004 well u can use cycle or amtrite down, best thing is not to add too many fish if you cant cycle your tank for 6 weeks or if you dont have aged water on hand. If you introduce too many you will most likely get a ammonia or nitrate spike pretty quickly as there is no aged bacteria to handle the fish load . What i would do is add a couple of fish each week but no more cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 The quickest way is to use NEW IMPROVED CYCLE (read the label, its got a big red 'new improved' thing on it) and add 1/3 of your final fish stock. After speaking to a lot of other hobbyists, this is by far the fastest acting bottled bacteria culture available out here. You still have to watch it like a hawk, just as you do a traditional cycle, but the NIC stops it peaking too high and you should theoretically be cycled in 3 days, but this does depend on your water, fish, waste output, etc. My personal fave is fishless cycling with ammonia as you can get the tank prepared for whatever stocking density you need without subjecting the fish to water issues as well as moving stress. And BioSpira is not available here as far as i know, but it MIGHT be soon, as Marineland have just released a new version that doesnt need to be refrigerated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novafishy Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 bung, how i cycle my new tank is this: fill tank half dechlorinated tap water and half established water from old tank. buy 3 tiger barbs, or platys, goldfish, mountain clouds, etc and chuck it in the new tank. put in an established internal filter or something like that, and give it like a wk max and voila! new tank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebe Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 Like Callatya I am a fan (read dedicted convert/zealot) of fishless cycling. I recommend you read these articles: http://www.aaquaria.com/aquasource/cycling.shtml http://www.aaquaria.com/aquasource/cycle2.shtml Whatever method you use, make sure you get an ammonia, nitrite and nitrate kit. Cheers Lisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHL Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 Another method of rapid cycling, but specific to planted tanks, can be found at Chuck's planted aquarium page. The method outline is the safe method; I've done similar with a 100L, and the goldfish (5x 2") went in after a week. Daily testing yielded no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebe Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 Thanks for posting that link Poe! That's essentially the method I used on my discus tank, and am now using in my office tank. The long-term benefits would probably be reduced in a tank containing large american cichlids though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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