Help cycling tank

[mewsha]

Just bought a good filter and the nitrite and nitrate kits. all i need now is to start cycling my tank.

i've been looking at buying pure ammonia but its really hard to find in sydney :-(
some products i have no idea if i should buy and use

Cloudy Ammonia | National
Coles: Cloudy ammonia
the only ingredient listed is ammonia (i suspect theres more ingredients?)

right now i have a lot of fish flakes in the tank but the ammonia level is only at 0.50ppm. right now i'm finding it very hard to reach 4ppm.

should i just buy one prawn and leave it there? does this method smell?
i'm worried its going to smell bad because the temperatures lately are extremely hot

 

[mewsha]

also since i'm getting only one axolotl (hatched in august), how would i maintain the cycled tank? I'm scared that the bacteria will die off from lack of ammonia.

 

[rachel1]

Your cycle really only needs enough bacteria to deal with the ammonia that your axolotl is producing. Any excess bacteria probably will die off, but the idea is to achieve a balance so that all the waste produced by your animal is used to feed your nitrifying bacteria. As far as an ammonia source, I live in the US, so I can't really help you there. From what I can find, cloudy ammonia has soap in it, so that is not what you want to use.

 

[mewsha]

oh ok thank you! i'll just use a prawn or something because the fish flakes are really messy and doesnt seem to be working very well.

 

[Xtophr]

If you think the fish flakes are messy... :lol: Put it in netting so you can remove it without it falling apart. Yes, it will smell.

Cloudy ammonia is bad.

If the ammonia bottle creates 'foam' when shaken, it's the wrong kind. The good ammonia will have a few bubbles that break immediately.

If it smells like anything other than ammonia, it's the wrong kind. Look for no surfectants, or perfumes.

How long are you anticipating this taking? It doesn't happen quickly. It can, i.e. DOES take weeks for the ammonia to start being converted to nitrite. And the second part, nitrites to nitrates, takes longer.

Once your tank is completely cycled you can maintain it by adding a small amount (1ppm of ammonia a day, which should disappear quickly). You do a final water change to get rid of the nitrates that result before adding an animal.

 

[mewsha]

thank you
i let the owner of the axolotl know that i wont be picking up the axolotl for a while, since im cycling the tank

i started cycling the tank yesterday and i just came home to find the tank cloudy. not sure if this is normal or not, but i just added a prawn to the tank (i hope mum won't find out i took her prawn ahahah)

 

[mewsha]

the level of ammonia also went down to 0.25ppm, again not sure if thats meant to happen that quickly?

 

[mewsha]

here is a pic of my tank right now.

it was clear in the morning, does anyone know if this is good?

 

[axys]

i cant tell but that looks like an axolotl in the bottom of the tank, its really cloudy so i would maybe take him out. if not, u need to do major water changes but that will make the cycling take longer. i cannot find ANY pure ammonia in my area what so ever. i checked every possible place i could think of. all home improvement stores, pet shops, autoshops and stores, clean dryers. anywhere. so i ended up doing fish in cycling with goldfish, about 3 larger for a 20g tank. im about 2 weeks in. it keeps things consistant. so if u absolutely cant find it u could do fish food or goldfish. once its cycled and u put ur axolotl in u dont have to do anything to maintain the cycle as long as it doesnt crash for some reason. try not to clean the filter really rough, so want to clean it but maintain the bacteria colonies on there. after a fully cycled tank partial water changes weekly should be enough to keep the tank water quality good

 

[mewsha]

thank you for the tips! i started cycling the tank yesterday using a prawn as i dont have shrimp, i too think it looks like an axolotl :lol: i'm also getting my first axolotl in a few weeks! so excited

ammonia is now 2ppm wooo!!! the fish flakes only reached 0.50ppm, luckily my sister found a prawn in the fridge ahaha

 

[Xtophr]

Cloudy tanks can be from bacterial blooms, which is normal when cycling a tank; it may take a week or two to clear up.

 

[Xtophr]

Also, you could ask the current owner to supply some seeding material from their tank (as that's where your future axie will be coming from anyways)...

 

[Cacique]

Just wanted to mention that if anyone wishes to do a fish-in cycle, you might as well grab the critter you're going to keep. Getting a different critter like a goldfish won't do anything, they'll still suffer from the bad parameters. If you're going to do this, you might as well pick up your axolotl and follow the same procedure; daily water tests and changes until the tank is cycled. There are no such things as "cycling" fish.

 

[keiko]

Just wanted to mention that if anyone wishes to do a fish-in cycle, you might as well grab the critter you're going to keep. Getting a different critter like a goldfish won't do anything, they'll still suffer from the bad parameters. If you're going to do this, you might as well pick up your axolotl and follow the same procedure; daily water tests and changes until the tank is cycled. There are no such things as "cycling" fish.

I agree. I've heard of people using fish for cycling without any water changes and honestly that is pretty much the most cruel thing you could ever do to an animal that is not able to get out of the water.

 

[mewsha]

hmm cycling a tank with a fish seems a bit scary, i'd never attempt doing it because it is cruel

anyway i had to restart cycling because the ammonia was way too high probably due to the prawn (i think) and i'm guessing the bacteria died because of it

the colour from the test went from dark green (8 ppm) to blue

 

[Cacique]

hmm cycling a tank with a fish seems a bit scary, i'd never attempt doing it because it is cruel

anyway i had to restart cycling because the ammonia was way too high probably due to the prawn (i think) and i'm guessing the bacteria died because of it

the colour from the test went from dark green (8 ppm) to blue

The only cruel thing about fish-in cycling would be if the water parameters are allowed to reach toxic levels. If you are able to do frequent testing and water changes (at least daily) then there's no reason why it would be cruel.

 

[mewsie]

How big is the tank, mewsha? (Cool username by the way )

Either thats a very very very big prawn or a very very very tiny tank. Can you get prawns that are significantly bigger than axolotls? If an axolotl was the size of that prawn was in the tank, it would be way too small a tank. Your little buddy is probably tiny at the moment, but he won't be for long!

If temperatures are so warm that you are concerned about smell, I would be concerned about axolotls. They will sicken in warm conditions, and if that tank is as small as it looks, you are going to struggle to control both water conditions and temperature, and could be setting yourself and your axolotl up for some bad times.