The Puffer Forum

Looking to start up a new tank and curious what is a good chemical when media is out of the option.

People here swear by Tetra's Safestart. I've followed their advice and used it with success, so it seems to me a good product. It will speed up cycling a tank, but the tank will still take 1-2 weeks AT LEAST to become completely cycled/stable, as the bacteria need time to build up a good colony. Many partial water changes are needed during this time, not nearly as many though if the tank was cycling W/O Safestart. I did 2X 50% PWC a week and my tank seems to be stable and cycled (been running for 3 weeks).

would throwing in garbage fish help or ruin the cycle? I plan to start fresh when I move, as Im upping to newer filters but neither uses the same media that I use now. I'm going to a fluval c3 and a aquatop cf500 uv canister, instead of an old outdated fluval 304 and aqua tech 30-60

actually, could I cut up old media and throw it into the filters once I dechlorinate the tank?

Meisterkiyoh wrote:actually, could I cut up old media and throw it into the filters once I dechlorinate the tank?

You could, and it should work... or you could even keep the old filters on and run both old and new until the new filter has a good colony of bacteria. Doing any of those would essentially cycle your tank immediately. Actually using "garbage fish" would probably help keep the tank stable, so the bacteria continue to get needed nutrients until you get the permanent residents. Some would recommend fishless cycling though library/water-filtration/fishless-cycling/, as it's more humane.

Look for a bacteria head start. I found something called turbo start. It can be used over 10x the dosage safely. I cycled my 60g in 3 days. Probably not the smartest move but my fahaka is still alive months later. If you want to play it safe throw in a used bio filter if that's not acessible throw in guppies or gold fish to help. Test your water and make sure your parameters are safe. And no, not many people will agree with me but i did it and i shared my experience.

im moving after the holidays and Im completely redoing my tank, But I dunno if I would be able to set up my tank asap when I move so I don't know if I would have media with live bacteria. thanks for the suggestions. Could I run the new canister on my current setup, and then when I move, just put an airstone and put food in to produce ammonia for it to feed on? I don't know, I'm just trying to think of different situations incase I cant get it setup right away.

Keep your bio In a Ziploc bag. It should stay moist. Im assuming that's the key.

would throwing in garbage fish help or ruin the cycle?

Do you think this living being knows it's just garbage?

It'd be fed to my girlfriends turtle after the cycle is done. I was thinking more of some shubunkin or rosy reds. By the way, any experience with API Quick Start?

Pufferpunk wrote:

would throwing in garbage fish help or ruin the cycle?

Do you think this living being knows it's just garbage?

I kept my guppies lol i would nt call em garbage but they were potentially temporary...poor things

"If crab grass were called any other name would it be any sweeter?" -Simpsons

Meisterkiyoh wrote:It'd be fed to my girlfriends turtle after the cycle is done. I was thinking more of some shubunkin or rosy reds. By the way, any experience with API Quick Start?

Whether it's food or not, you should treat every living creature with respect, especially if you're it's caretaker. I didn't feel like saying much, but since PP brought it up... I used to have a corn snake and I bred my own mice for it's meals. Despite being food, I took good care of them, fed them well, made sure they had a good environment, and even had some 'keepers' that I kept as pets and sometimes 'played with'. Anyways, PP is saying that you should treat that animal with respect, even if it is just food. Every life is worth something. It's easy for people to forget since we're at the top of the food chain, whatever that means... or is worth.

I apologize if I sounded rude about anything. We raise colonies of mice for her snakes, we currently have 3 sets of newborn mice. One from a female I decided to keep(Lulu) and take care of.

Don't worry about it. We just ask that you learn. Some people are quite sensitive here about fish, be it puffer or not. We strive to set a standard of excellence for caring for our aquatic friends! If you're willing to admit you're wrong and apologize, you're heading in a better direction then most people are...

Um... Btw just curious, what fish do you plan on keeping lol? I don't see it mentioned anywhere.

Meisterkiyoh wrote:I apologize if I sounded rude about anything. We raise colonies of mice for her snakes, we currently have 3 sets of newborn mice. One from a female I decided to keep(Lulu) and take care of.

Wooo snakes i got a ball python what do you have? I love seeing them eat mice as much as i love seeing my fahaka puffer eat the face of crustaceans