cycle ?

[xrayjeeper83]

Hopefully in the next 2 weeks Bloat will be moving to his perm home. That will leave my 55 empty. My question is how long do I have to get another puffer/or what ever I get before I have to start worrying about the bacteria dyin off. Dont want to have to cycle the tank again.

[J-P]

pretend there is a fish in there and feed the tank old flake food at about 1/2 the amount you normally would. Reduce the water changes to about 1/2 also but do a good gravel cleaning with the water changes.

Or take the old filters off the old tank and put them on the new tank for the time being, get a bunch of substrate in a stocking and sink it in the new tank and change it all back over once the old tank is ready to be populated again (if it going to take more than a few weeks).

[jmiller]

You could also dose with pure ammonia daily until it's time to add the new fish.

[xrayjeeper83]

Alright, Really dont want to deal with moving my filter over if I dont have to. So Ill try putting flakes in. There are some ghosts and an oto in the tank, but I know that wont keep it cycled very well. Maybe Ill put my beta in there for now to help out some.

[JRC3]

I betta in a 55g. Think about how many of those little 8oz store display cups would fit in a 55g stacked up front to back, side to side.

I agree with feeding the tank with some flake food...This is how I've actually fish-less cycled without using ammonia.

[J-P]

the bacteria adjusts to the spikes in the bioload.. and usually adjusts fairly quickly (which is why you get mini cycles). As long as you're not dropping 300 fish in there or a muskie, it should able to keep up

[xrayjeeper83]

Good to know.


And this betta started out in the cups, got home went into a 5G, is living in a 10g now. He is going to go nuts if I move him to the 55. But it wont be perm home cause im thinking maybe a congo puffer

[RTR]

I agree with most of the above. Flake is easy, and keeps all the bacteria alive and healthy, not just the nitrification bugs - to me that is a big plus. In unplanted tank I tend to alternate flake and ammonia, but in planted tanks you should not use ammonia (it promotes algae) with lights on normally.

HTH