# Am I ready



## dellins (Sep 29, 2009)

Hi there,

I havent done this fish stuff since I was a little tyke and am totally out of tune. I just bought a 55g starter kit and it's been up and running since Sunday with nothing added to the water. I plan on cycling the tank with fish.

Is it safe for fish at this time?

Thanks in advance


----------



## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

welcome to the community.

I would highly suggest you cycle without fish, since the fish will be put through extreme stress and possible death.

And when you said there is nothing added tot he water....you mean fish/plants wise right? I think the kit comes with a sample of water dechlorinator...you added that tot he water right?

There is a good thread on the beginner's corner...its actually right above this thread...about Fishless cycling and then there is a disgution with cycling with plants. Its the safest ways of cycling, and its not really a pain in the derrier. (aside from waiting).


----------



## dellins (Sep 29, 2009)

The tank has been sitting running since Sunday with everyhting setup (fake plants, stones, etc.) Wouldnt the chlorine evaporate over that time?


----------



## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

yes it will....but usually it takes about 24 hours for all of the chlorine to evaporate and this is only when you keep the water super aerated (ie, having a good air pump to fully overturn the water for the duration of the 24 hours). So couple of mls of decholinizer for instant results is much more effective then days of waiting with air stone.

plus, you are going to need to use the dechlorinizer when you do water change anyways...


----------



## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

What type of filtration are you running?

To answer your question, it is not safe to add fish yet. If you insist on a _fish-in_ type of cycle, I would recommend cheap fish which you wouldn't mind losing as there is a very high % of losing some of them. If you can wait, Hitch has mentioned using plants as a way of speeding up the cycling process.

I don't endorse bottled bacteria but in your case, it wouldn't hurt since you're starting from scratch. You can find a bottle of Cycle at Big Al's which are readily available.

You will definitely need a bottle of dechlorinator unless you plan on storing water before water changes.


----------



## dellins (Sep 29, 2009)

Im using an HOB filter and will be getting the dechlorinator in the next day or two.


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Dellins, welcome back to the hobby and welcome to the forum.

Where are you? If you can get some filter squeezings or gravel detrius to seed the bacteria in your tank from a hobbyist close by that woudl be the best. Or possibly even from the store. IMO, liquid "bacterial starters" are as good as peeing in your tank.


----------



## dellins (Sep 29, 2009)

Im in the Bathurst and Steeles area. Anyone close by?


----------



## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

I agree, getting cycle is pointless...just a waste of money..

speaking of peeing.....it is a good source of ammonia.


----------



## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

Hitch said:


> I agree, getting cycle is pointless...just a waste of money..
> 
> speaking of peeing.....it is a good source of ammonia.


I agree, which is why I'm saying I don't endorse and bottled bacteria but looking at his situation...I'd say it's still better than putting the fish right now untreated.

What is also a waste of money is buying the fish and putting them into an un-cycled tank.

Dellins if you can't find someone to give you cycled media to seed your system, goto a fish store nearby. I'm sure they'll have no problem giving you some. That is a great way to jump start your tank. Even then, I would still give it some time to seed your filter before purchasing fish.


----------



## planter (Jun 9, 2008)

I've used the bottled bactiera several times before in the past without ever losing a fish. I know that others have had mixed or negative results using it though. I agree with ameekplec, finding a used filter to seed the tank is the best way to jump start the cycle. If you do plan on cycling with fish I would suggest to try the bottled bacteria. After all it can't hurt if that's the way you plan on cycling the tank. 

As far a plants go they do help but they need a few weeks to adjust to the tank before they start to feed on ammonia or nitrites. You also need a lot of fast growing plants not just a few here or there. IMO it's one of the more difficult methods of cycling a tank.

The safest and best way to cycle a tank with filter mulm or fish is "fishless cycling using pure ammonia. No fish are put in harms way and no waterchanges. Use the search engine on this forum, or google it.

Welcome to the forum and welcome back to the hobby.


----------



## Harry Muscle (Mar 21, 2007)

Hitch said:


> yes it will....but usually it takes about 24 hours for all of the chlorine to evaporate and this is only when you keep the water super aerated (ie, having a good air pump to fully overturn the water for the duration of the 24 hours). So couple of mls of decholinizer for instant results is much more effective then days of waiting with air stone.
> 
> plus, you are going to need to use the dechlorinizer when you do water change anyways...


All of this assumes that there's only chlorine in the water. More and more communities use chloramine, which will not evaporate even after a week of standing. If you live in Toronto, Missisauga, or probably most of the outlying communities chances are you got chloramine, so you have to use the dechloranator, it's the only way to get rid of the chloramine (short of fancy carbon filtration ... and not the normal aquarium carbon filtration  )

Harry


----------



## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

ha, yes.....totally forgot about chloramine...XD


----------



## Abner (Apr 7, 2009)

If i still worked at yonge and steeles i would bring you a sponge from my filter...if you wanna come to lawrence and marlee for it you more than welcome but i was reading about the fishless cycle with pure ammonia and it seems to be a really good way to go about it so you should give it a look see.


----------



## dellins (Sep 29, 2009)

It's been one week and all seems good so far, havent tested the water yet (still waiting for the test kit to arrive).
Thanks for all the input.


----------



## Tearran (Oct 4, 2009)

any easy way to start the cycle is drop a tiny bit of fishfood in the water, it will start to decay and the cycle is started.


----------



## Tibob32 (Sep 26, 2009)

cycling with fish isn't so bad either. If you get hardy fish and do a lot of water changes, the cycle should end without losses (it will take a longer time though)


----------



## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

only doing large water changes would decrease the ammonia and nitrites in the tank sufficiently not to stress out the fish, and doing those large water changes would essentially defeat the purpose of cycling. :/

its true that getting hardy fish...te fish prob wont die...but the immense stress the fish is subjected to is harsh to say the least, since ammonia and nitrite spikes in an uncycled tank occur extremely quick.

Just pee in the tank and wait a couple of weeks.


----------

