mickey Posted January 24, 2010 Report Share Posted January 24, 2010 Hi, new to fish but very excited, bought a smal 28L starter tank today and cant wait to get the cycling over so I can put some fish in! From the Sydney area :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted January 24, 2010 Report Share Posted January 24, 2010 Hi Mickey, what sort of fish are you planning to put in your tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fergus Posted January 24, 2010 Report Share Posted January 24, 2010 Hiya! Welcome to AAQ :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey Posted January 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2010 Hello and thanks for the welcomes! I was hoping to put in 6 black widow tetras, 6 cardinals and maybe some cherry shrimp, is that too many fish for 28L? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted January 25, 2010 Report Share Posted January 25, 2010 I don't think it's to many. Are you going to run a filter in it? I assume so, since you're cycling it. What are you using to cycle it, BTW? I suspect that the shrimp may end up fish food, but tetras may be too small to do any damage. I know bettas will eat them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey Posted January 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2010 I haven't started cycling yet unfortunately. Went to the LFS today looking for an ammonia test kit and they didnt have any. I do have a small filter running in it which does 350L/hr. The LFS advice was to use fish to cycle the tank, they recommended putting in some white clouds. I explained I didn't want to use fish purely as a means to cycle, I'd feel like a horrible murderer! But they said that the whote clouds are hardy and would not be killed by using them to cycle. Would you agree with this? At the moment the tank is just filled with water, some gravel, plants, with heater and filter running so I can at least start trying to get my temps and ph's all sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted January 25, 2010 Report Share Posted January 25, 2010 I would prefer a fishless cycle so you have a high bacteria population when your new fish are added, rather than use whiteclouds which may not get the bacteria colony well enough established to cope with a higher bioload after the whiteclouds go. Incidentally, what would you do with the whiteclouds afterward? And just because they might survive a nitrogen cycle doesn't mean they wouldn't suffer through it - I'm with you on that front :applaud: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey Posted January 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2010 Ahh good, I'm glad you agree with that and that I didn't come home with any whiteclouds today! Is there anything in particular that you would recommend using for a fishless cycle? Thankyou for all your advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted January 26, 2010 Report Share Posted January 26, 2010 Pure ammonia :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey Posted January 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2010 Where would I get this in Sydney? Is it something I need to order over from the US? Sorry to be such a pest with all the questions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted January 26, 2010 Report Share Posted January 26, 2010 Pretty sure Lilli is talking about pure ammonia you can get from coles or woolies in the cleaning isle. Best to wait for her to reply though, especially with dosing instructions as I've no idea. Never used it to cycle a tank before. You can use water from an established tank if you have friends with a well established tank. Also the brown muck that's sucked up from the gravel in their tank, called mulm, and even some of their filter media as all these will contain an amount of the good bacteria you need to establish in your tank and give it a boost to start it's own colony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbzy81 Posted January 26, 2010 Report Share Posted January 26, 2010 First of all welcome! Secondly there are products you can use to help cycle the tank. My LFS has a product they sell called "Bio Boost" or there is an actual product called "Cycle" that most LFS's stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted January 26, 2010 Report Share Posted January 26, 2010 Just ammonia from the supermarket with no surfectants. I thought we had articles about fishless cycling at ausaqua.net but apparently not. I tried googling it, and the original author Chris Cow :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey Posted January 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2010 Thankyou for all your helpful advice everyone unfortunately I dont have friends with a well established tank, so tomorrow I'm off on an ammonia hunt! Might try a different LFS as well to see if I can get my hands on some Bioboost, thanks again everyone :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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