Contradictions in tank cycling

[casey]

I've read the article that Cynthia suggests on cycling a tank, as I'm currently cycling my new tank at the moment. The article suggests an ammonia source such as frozen brine shrimp, however, the man from the aquarium who sold me the tank is adamant that this doesn't work as well as live fish.

He suggested that I leave the tank to run for 24 hours and then throw in some comets and just leave them in there for my axolotl to eat when I put her in there after the tank has cycled.

I said to him what anyone on this forum might say - I'm worried about using fish in an axolotl tank because they might carry parasites or nip my axie's gills but he assured me that this is the best way to do it.

What should I do? I swear all this conflicting information is more confusing than a Constitutional Law case!

 

[rheann]

Hey casey, I would go with Cynthia's advise. I don't think you can find anywhere where there is better advise given other than this website

 

[jennifer]

EdK around? He may know more than I do about the pros and cons of the two methods.

I don't know which method is better. Both work. Your concerns about fish are justified. The other reason some folks don't like to use fish for cycling is that the fish must endure the initial surges in ammonia and nitrite, and some people consider this cruel.

 

[sharn]

yip if you use fish it WILL hurt them and may even die. why use that method when you can do it without harm to any little fish

 

[casey]

Thanks everyone. I read that goldfish can "withstand" high amounts of ammonia - I guess I didn't read it as "withstand" = "tolerate". I don't want to make goldfish have to "tolerate" anything they don't need to.

I think I'll just use the frozen brine shrimp that I have.

Is one cube enough for a 140litre tank?

 

[edward]

Hi All,
It was requested that I write that article without using fish as the source of the ammonia as a lot of people kill the fish when cycling a tank that way.

Both systems are equally effective (if you discount the deaths of the fish) as both supply a relatively consistant source of ammonia to drive the cycling of the tank. That amount of brine shrimp will start the cycle but make sure to monitor the tank so you know when to add more ammonia source.

Ed

 

[casey]

My tank is also still quite cloudy.

I washed the sand out soooo many times last night, until the water ran clear and then put it into my tank. It was very cloudy last night after I put the water in and has cleared quite a bit, but is still cloudy.

Does it normally take this long for the water to clear? It's been about 20 hours so far.

Also, whilst my tank is cycling over the next 4 weeks, should I do any water changes? Or only at the end when I do a 20% water change before I put Stella in there?

The man at the aquarium told me to do a 10% water change every week, until the tank has finished cycling, but I have a feeling he may be wrong again.

Also, I have a filter which runs through the top of the tank and has some foam things to collect the dirt etc. How often should I clean these out when the tank is cycling, or should I not clean them out at all? Again, the man suggested that every time I do a water change I should clean them out in the "dirty" water which I remove from the tank.

Sorry that I have so many questions, I just want to get it right, first time around.

Thanks!

 

[joan]

Run the filter, it will help with the cloudiness. Mine took a few days to go away.

Don't do any water changes while cycling the tank, especially if you're not cycling with fish or the axolotl itself. You don't want to get rid of the water, as it contains all the chemicals you're trying to use.

Run the filter continuously while cycling, this is where your bacteria will grow, inside/on the filter. So you don't want to clean it out while your bacteria are starting to grow. I also recommend putting in any extra decorations you plan on using. Your bacteria will adhere to any substrate in your tank. What kind of filter are you using?

 

[casey]

Thanks for "clearing" that up for me Joan.

The filter is one that came with the tank - a Jebo 375 Aquarium pump. I don't know any other information about it.

It's an internal filter and I've turned the output to face the wall of the tank so that the flow isn't too strong. But I may have to get a "floating island", that is, if I can find one in Australia. I might have to order it from overseas.