Jun 23, 2009
Posted by Freshwater Aquariums in FAQ | 5 Comments
How Can Accelerate The First Nitrogen Cycle In An Aquarium?
Hello. I was wondering if the following method can work.
My 10 gallon aquarium had water in it and two small fish for a week. According to tests the water has very little nitrate nitrites. I bought a cooked shrimp , put it in a jar, then poured the aquarium water over it. In one day the water became cloudy. I am thinking , can the needed bacteria develop there . And afterwards could I pour it in the aquarium?
Thanks, any advice is appreciated.
I really wouldn’t advise doing that.
Since you already have fish in the tank, you’re going to have to be careful with everything else that goes in to it.
If you really want to jumpstart the cycling process. Ask around, friends, family, petstores that have fish, and ask if they’ll give you some mature filter media.
If you can get this… make sure that it’s kept wet preferably just with some tank water as you bring it home.
Pop it in to your filter (along with your filter media) and you pretty much should have insta cycle.
Now I wouldn’t go and fully stock the tank, but if their tank was healthy and stocked fairly well, then there should be enough beneficial bacteria to start stocking your tank slowly.
EDIT: Don’t buy into that crap that sits on the counter and collects dust. I don’t care what anyone says but none of it works.
I’ve tryed Cycle, I’ve tryed Stability and it did absolutely nothing except cause my to waste my money on it.
If you want something that will work though (if it’s a good batch)…. Try to get Bio-Spira. This is the correct bacteria that is needed. It’s kept refrigerated to keep the bacteria alive.
So if it’s hot outside and you get some, you gotta make sure to keep it cool, or use it as soon as you get home.
With Bio-Spira… the instructions say to dump it in the tank (I would do it in the filter) and then add your fish right after.
The stuff is expensive though, but many people swear by the stuff.
Did you test for ammonia as well? If all the levels are low it may mean that the cycle is complete. Bear in mind though that the bacteria will only multiply as much as they have food ie ammonia. The two fish you have in there may not be producing that much waste so there may only be just enough bacteria to handle that small load.
I personally like using filter bacteria products like Nutrafin Cycle or Seachem Stability. It allows you to add a few more fish right from the start and helps the whole filter cycle get off to a good start. I would still avoid putting in anything really sensitive or expensive.
All that you are going to do if you try that is cycle your jar, then pour polluted water into the tank – so it’s not a good idea. It’s not the water that has to cycle, it’s the filter. So pouring dirty water in doesn’t help much.
At the moment you have fish in the tank, they are OK, just leave them be. You dont want to try and speed up the cycle when you have fish in the tank, take it slow and the fish will survive fine.
Best way to jumpstart the cycle is to get some gravel, filter media or even better a whole filter from an established tank. That brings real live bacteria into the tank instantly and really starts the cycle quickly. So once you have a tank running, it’s easy to cycle the next one. But getting the first one running is a pain.
Ian
The best product i ever used to get good bacteria in a tank is to buy Bacteria in a bottle. They sell at most pet shops. This stuff is great. Depending on your tank size, it more than halves the time needed to wait before adding fish. Please don’t pour that dirty shrimp water into your tank.
I use pure ammonia…..cause I’m a bad *** gangsta like that.
You should read up on how to do that…it’s fun and cheaper than buying bacteria in a bottle….out of the those the only one that’s worth a damn is Stability…don’t buy that Cycle crap…it’s worthless….your just adding dead bacteria to the tank.
Think about it