How to Instantly Cycle a Fish Tank | Part 3 Cycling Experiments
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- Опубліковано 19 чер 2024
- Does “instant cycling” work? Find out in the conclusion of my 1-year-long cycling experiments.
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🛒 MATERIALS I USED
▶ Water test kit: amzn.to/38crc9I
▶ Test strips: amzn.to/3pp09xW
▶ Sponge filter: www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ Water sprite: www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ Fritz Zyme7 (nitrifying bacteria): www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ Tetra Safe Start Plus (nitrifying bacteria): amzn.to/3pkgDYh
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📚 RESOURCES
▶ Watch the entire Cycling Experiments series: • AQUARIUM CYCLING EXPER...
▶ How to Cycle a Fish Tank FAST! • How to Cycle a Fish Ta...
▶ What is the Nitrogen Cycle for Aquariums? • What Is the Nitrogen C...
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0:00 Is the myth of an “instant cycle” true?
0:46 Method 5 - “Instant cycle” with fish
1:30 How to instantly cycle your aquarium
1:45 Method 6 - Fishless cycle with established filter
2:20 Is the standard for fishless cycle too high?
3:06 Conclusion - Which cycling method is the best?
4:20 Tips for fish-in cycling
4:58 Will I be doing more cycling experiments?
#girltalksfish #nanofish #plantedaquarium - Домашні улюбленці та дикі тварини
*Did you miss an episode? Watch the entire Cycling Experiment series here: **ua-cam.com/play/PLlBBJ7xBuqubL9YSRiZuJY2fpeqzslu8t.html*
I recently got a 20 gallon tropical community aquarium and I am looking for some ideas for a centerpiece fish. Does anyone have any suggestions?
@@alexdentice5835 I always go for honey gouramis. In my experience, they didn't really bother the other fish and add a strike of colour. Though they might chase the other fish away when they feel threatened, they are generally peaceful. Hope this helped!
@@corygang7001 thank you so much, I will definitely look into them!
@Harrison Rowland I would say yes for everything except for the glofish. In a 10 gallon aquarium,especially with all those other fish, they will not be having a good quality of life at all. I recommend putting 5 or 6 neon tetras in your ten gallon aquarium. If you don’t like the neon tetras I would recommend about 3 serape tetras.
Hi Irene
Looks like you cycled more than someone competing in the Tour de France without any mileage! lol
At least you managed to get somewhere with the experiments, which was interesting to watch.
Am about to start my first aquarium, and was planning to get it planted up and cycled for a month, before adding any fish. Although I had a dream the other night and was in a aquarist store, and a member of staff told me a month wasn't long enough and I should cycle for 2 months before adding fish! lol
I think a big reason you aren’t meeting the “standard” is because you’re forgetting about the substrate. The gravel/ soil/ whatever you use can hold a huge amount of bacteria, more than the filter even.
Are you sure ??
@@rohandewan74 it’s true
@@rohandewan74 explains a lot
Leaving gravel out of the testing is like testing a car without the motor.
Especially if you have UGF!
I’ve been subscribed to your channel since “A Gamer’s Wife” (not sure when you switched) but this is my first comment for some unknown reason! I just wanted to let you know how helpful your channel has been to me during my fish keeping journey - your content is super concise, clear and interesting and you’re one of my favorite sources of information (plus your voice is great to listen to!) You show your successes and failures in such a funny and relatable way and I always look forward to watching the videos you put out - so thank you!!
Oh my goodness, that means so much to me! Thank you so much for your long-time support and for your first comment. 🤗
Same
Yes! What they said!!
Regarding the 'Standard 2 PPM ammonia and a cycled filter" experiment, the bacterial colonies likely died back quite a bit while it was just the two mollies, and the food/fecal matter they produced hadn't been enough to bounce it back to being "Fully Cycled" in the amount of time they were present, and that's why it took so long for that same filter to handle the 2ppm, vs an actually heavy bioload cycled filter straight from the heavy bioload tank to the test tank with 2 ppm ammonia. The colonies self-regulate, just like snails, fish, plants, whatever, and they were likely set up for two mollies and not a ton of decomposition yet(remember it took a week for ammonia to show up before), and then you tested them at 2 ppm ammonia... Anyways thank you for the in-depth analysis, just wanted to throw my theory out there even though I doubt you'll even see it.
Thank you for being persistent and patient so we can learn from you. I am new to the hobby and have been voraciously devouring content. By far, your videos are the best, hands down! So again, thank you, thank you, thank you! ❤️🐟
I am so happy I found your channel. I have an angel fish that has grown HUGE and I am starting my first 30 gallon planted tank this weekend. Never actually cycled a tank or grown plants. I’m feeling like I have some more confidence about it all after watching lots of your videos! Thank you!!
Thanks for putting in so much work for all your viewers! This is such great info - thanks for putting in all the work for this experiment!
Great Job! You definitely had more patience than I would have to try so many experiments. For me its plants, plants, plants, and regular water changes until the plants and bacteria handle the load.
Great series Irene! Good job "debunking" some of the other methods out there.
Unbelievable amount of work in this 3 part series. I appreciate the effort and information. Thank you
Hello Irene, Great information on cycling. When I started my 15 gallon fluval flex back in April 2020 I started with a heavily planted aquarium. After one month I added two neon tetras and waited two weeks before adding two more while testing the water. I very gradually stocked the aquarium until I reached 8 neons and four glo tetras. The entire process took 12 weeks and the aquarium is in very good shape. The latest addition two months ago was a mystery snail. Cory from Aquarium Co-Op was very helpful with insights into raising my pH, which was quite low, to provide a healthy environment for the snail. Best Wishes to you and your family for a Safe, Healthy and Happy Holiday Season. Dan
A year of diligent research that will help many aquarists worldwide! Thank you for these instructables. Very informative!
I have subscribed! Anyone who takes this much time in the hobby about cycling is well worth my time. Been in the hobby for almost 28 years excellent video Irene a true hobbyist
Wow! So thorough. Much appreciated, Irene. Thank you.
I did the filter trick, but I also used gravel from the old aquarium. Plus some live plants. I waited a week or less before adding fish. Went well.
Hi I'm a new aquarist less than one year. I learned so much from this series. Good job thank you.
Just subscribed a few weeks ago :) Thanks so much for all this hard work you did to help us! I'm starting my 3rd aquarium, and will try to do cycling right with no casualties!
Great advice!
Betta newbie owner here!
Cycling my 5 gallon for my new male Betta and nurite snail!
My tank should be ready for my fish next week which will be a month!!!
Fingers crossed!
Just starting!
I’ll add plants as I go and read up on the best ones!
Blessings 🌹
Thank you so much for this video! You gave the straight up answer I needed!
Recently installed my first sponge filter ... ever! Seems like a perfect way to help cycle a tank! Thanks for the video again Miss!
Yay, my pleasure!
This was very helpful. I really appreciate the great information. Thank you.
Really enjoyed watching the results from all your experiments 🤓
I just wanna say thank u for these videos especially the cycling ones, im a beginner fish keeper and I had no idea about cycling i should have done more research and I should have asked more questions at the pet shop but I was struggling with ammonia spikes and I saw your video and it worked so I wanna say thanks
I'm so glad I could help! Hopefully I made it beginner-friendly enough to understand. :)
Very useful video series, thanks for sharing your experiences.
2:20 I love this series!
You must take into account that this filter was technically starved for at least one week. The two mollies were fed a relatively decreased amount of food when compared to the original tank you took the filter from. I still agree with your conclusion about 2 ppm ammonia being really high. I guess this is so that you are absolutely sure the aquarium is safe.
I love that you do experiments. It makes it so much easier to learn the ins and outs of this from my position, trying to start up. We followed your advice for alum-bathing plants, and now we'll see how the heck the (plant in) cycling attempt goes. I have some microtanks with fauna waiting to go but don't have a way that I know of to get my hands on established filter media. Er. Also, I'm going to get the test tube API master kit and compare its results to my API 5-in-1 test strips.
Such great videos. Amazingly helpful. Thank you.
fantastic series on cycling an aquarium,
Thank You
I always cycle a new tanks with either an established filter or established plants, or both if possible. Then I add some easy green from aquarium coop. I also throw in some fish food to create ammonia. And it works for me, however, it’s been trials and errors for me to get here, as this is the life of a fish keeper. Currently have a 40g breeder that has a filter, Java fern, moss balls, fertilizer, and food going. Thank you for all you do! As I always learn something new from your videos!! You and Cory sold me on sponge filters haha.
Haha, sponge filters FTW!
Been keeping fish since 2009 and all my tanks' beneficial bacteria can be traced back to the very first cycle I made in a backyard pond. I always store some extra sponge filters or filter media in my larger tanks.
THIS IS SO HELPFUL , I am currently battling with nitrite spike since I had an outbreak so that I had to use malachite green that killed almost all the bacteria 😭
I'm so glad to hear that! Good luck with recovering your beneficial bacteria.
Watched all three videos. Very helpful and an interesting experiment! Thank you.
Thanks for sharing all of this - awesome material. All of the aerobic bacteria (and anaerobic bacteria to some extent on the nitrate/nitrite side) additionally on the plants and substrate in the original tank probably could have helped handle that 2 ppm ammonia - but not something worth testing that's for sure!
Great video, very informative, thanks for sharing
I love your enthusiasm and find your video delivery very engaging. I've been a fish keeper for around 15yrs. my tanks brace bar finally came adrift and I don't trust my repair, so I've got a new tank ordered, I'm hoping the transfer will go without drama, oh well here goes!
Good luck! Moving tanks is so time-consuming for me, but then you have an immense sense of satisfaction afterwards. 😊
For the final experiment, all of the biofilm surfaces in the first tank (the control) are not in the second tank (the experimental setup). The sponge filter wasn’t the only thing handling the bioload in the control tank, whereas it was being expected to handle everything on its own in the second one. I.e., Cory’s now-famous M&M video.
ETA: impressive amount of work overall!
Awesome series ihave wathched all three series
These videos are incredibly helpful! Can not thank you enough!
You're so very welcome! Thanks for watching. :)
Thanks for making these videos. We are trying to cycle our first tank, and these have great information.
Good luck to ya!
Thanks for the great information.
Thank you 😊 I'm setting up with a tank with Cory's ......and I'm also impatient when it comes to cycling.
Thank you so much for your content. I'm an aquarium noob and your breakdowns have been very informative and helpful with my newfound obsession.
I'm so glad to hear that! Thanks for subscribing too. 😊
Sweet series you got here. I’m as impressed as I am informed. Thanks for all you do Irene; I appreciate you!🙏🏾
Thank you so much! That really means a lot to me. I didn't realize that cycling was a controversial subject because I've definitely been seeing more criticism with this series.
@@GirlTalksFish Really? It could be because a lot of us “discover” a working method & run with it so long that they’re not open to “options” or “alternatives.” You really went the extra mile by bleaching everything between experiments.
In fact; all you really did was observe & report; what’s the controversy?🤔
@@deadfred821 Ah, mostly criticism on my methods, how I should have done xyz instead, why my conclusions are incorrect, etc. Maybe it would have helped to preface each video with a blanket statement of "I'm just a hobbyist, not a professional researcher with a laboratory and funding, so I can only do so much at home." 🤷♀️
@@GirlTalksFish Should have told them to throw money at you since they wanted laboratory level results…🤦🏾♂️ We need an electron microscope, a hadron collider & a squeegee🤣
Great series. Must watch for anyone in the hobby.
Thank you so much! I hope it saves people a lot of time and waiting. :)
Thank you Irene...your vdos always inspire me to give my best
My pleasure! Thank you for watching and encouraging me. :)
Great video. Agree that cycled media is the best way to get a new tank started.
I also agree the standard of 2ppm is too high in most cases. Maybe a target of 1ppm or 0.5ppm is approrate for low to moderately stocked tanks.
I wanted to highlight that it is possible to have a cycled tank process 2ppm in 24 hours. I have been using dr Tim's ammonia to keep my tank cycled while my new fish arrive. The tank was previously overstocked with African cichlids and fed twice a day. It has no plants. I'm able to process 2ppm to 0.0.25ppm on this well established tank. Both KH and GH are around 8.
Great vid very informative
Great video! Really informative. With method 4 in your previous video, adding the bacteria with plants, would you also recommend adding ammonia as well to add additional food since the plants and bacteria would be competing for it? Unsure if the bacteria growth would slow down without it since its competing with the plants.
Thank you very much !
This instant cycle has worked perfectly for me for bettas in 5 and 10 gallon tanks. Unfortunately I added 3 new platys to a QT with established filter media but ended up getting some ammonia 😣. I tossed in some live plants from established tanks and used seachem prime and everything worked out fortunately.
I use this method lots!! I always keep tons of spare bio media in any of my 3 canister filters specifically for cycling new tanks. Of course, I also dose with a bacterial starter for the first week just to be sure the ammonia stays at 0ppm!
Niiice!
Irene, I agree with most of what you said, but my only point of clarification is when you mention that your sponge filter from an established tank did not handle 2ppm of ammonia in the quarantine tank, I thought back to Cory's example with the M&M's. All of our BB does not live solely on or in our filters, it is on the glass, decor, gravel, etc. So by moving the filter, we are moving some of the BB, whether that may be a 1/3, 1/2, it is some of the previous total and we can't say exactly how much ammonia it alone will handle. Thus in the new tank, it will take time to catchup or reduce to the new bio-load.
I think your videos are great and very helpful, keep up the great work.
I've always used the method of cycling with fish food (so feeding the tank daily with food) and using Seachem Stability and that has always worked for me when cycling a new tank
Nice! I'd love to test this cycling method one day... after I've recovered from doing so many API water tests. :P
I’ve been doing this for 2 months and my tank still isn’t cycled! I want it to be over already, it’s so so hard tubbing an axolotyl
@@Tilly1770 are you adding food every day?
I always have at least 2 sponge filters inside my big canister filter at all times. Just grab one dunk it in the water and take it to the new tank but I usually grab a couple rocks, some plants or a scoop of substrate too.
I have done the cycled filters a lot. I'm still a little Leary of new shrimp tanks. The aquarium soil for caridina still will give off a lot of ammonia and if shrimp are present it sometimes goes bad. Thanks for your time and effort. Very much appreciated.
Thanks for the awesome tips from your experience! Very good warning about shrimp tanks using buffered substrate.
All those aquasoils are not meant for fish-in cycling even if you have lots of plants and even filter media or beneficial bacteria. You will get stuck trying to take out water to buffer the ammonia and be counter-acting your cycling efforts as you are unwittingly removing lots of your store bought beneficial bacteria and you will be adding prime (sulphites) which harms amphipods and other crustaceans particularly the small ones with small detox organs.
If you use Amazonia or Stratum you need to use bacteria and test your Ammonia for less than 0.25ppm.
Testing for Nitrate can be useless as Nano tanks with plants can rip through it instantly and you will get a false negative.
I had a heavily planted 5.5g nano and got amazing results but had to supplement everyday with NO3 20 ppm, it could deplete that in a day!
Cycling that tank was horrible, fish with red gills gasping at the surface from the Stratum off-gasing and the bacteria taking 2 weeks instead of 1 because I was doing too many water changes messing with the bacteria colony. you wouldn't think that would reduce the bacteria much but it totally DID.
Great video..really enjoyed..
Awesome, thank you!
I'm watching this video because I needed an emergency quarantine tank for a sick angel, hopefully this works! Thanks!
Thank u for making all of these videos I’m thinking of getting a beta fish
Thanks
Greatest cycle tank video
Love your videos. They are very helpful. I actually keep of marine pure gems in a mesh bag hidden in the back of my planted tanks. When I need a quarantine setup or hospital, I pull the bag out and just place it on the bare bottom tank. This can be done with cheap bio rings or any established biological media. I use that with a small hang on the back packed with mechanical media. Pour in some bottled bacteria and this seems to do the trick very quickly.
Noice! That's definitely the best way to go IMO if you have existing tanks.
I do this too with sponges and bio media and it’s always super helpful. I’ve even used lava rocks and it seems to work pretty well
This is super interesting, as i tried the fishless cycling with ammonia, and added in some cycled media, i got a small spite in nitrite which disappeared overnight and now have nitrates (only 10ppm might i add) but i am most definitely NOT processing 2ppm in 24hours, more like 2ppm in 72hours
I've read 3-4 ppm, and thought that sounded high! However, another takeaway should also be that the filter is hardly the only place your nitrifying bacteria live. Your original tank was also probably fine once you were suddenly missing a sponge filter. Why? Because there was also bacteria on other surfaces (and filters) in the tank. So bringing only the filter over doesn't really bring it all. I've still seen ammonia/nitrite spikes using "established" filters to speed up the cycle in new QT tank.
Hi I’m getting a fish soon and I love watching your channel
I loved your videos! They really helped me.
I have a 9 gallon fluval tank with some plants ( java fern, amazon sword, anubis's) and only one Betta. Every time I feed him is one by one pellet ( because I'm training him), so no food go to the bottom of the tank.
It's been 4 weeks and I have been measuring every day and nothing! Cero ppm amonia, nitrates and nitrites. Cero, nothing, nada! Is that normal? Should I wait more? What can I do?
I'm new, this is my first fish so I don't have a reliable source to get stablished media. I'm using the API test kit every day to test the water
Hope you can help me!!!
Thanks!!!
Will this work for gold fish to. Thanks I learned a lot watching your shows. .
I'd love a comparison of Fritzyme 7 vs API Quick Start vs. Tetra Safe Start vs.....
Hey I love your videos. Can you do a fish dedicated to plattys or clown killis ?
Thank you! Just about to set up my 10 gallon for breeding RCS.
Awesome! Best of luck to ya. 🦐
That is one of the benefits of having multi tank syndrome, you always have established media.
Now I want to check out the dwarf platys.
👍💓👍
Hey so I’m thinking about getting my first beta fish actually just my first fish in general and I was wondering if this method worked with a brand new filter? And does it work as fast?
I have been starting tanks using exactly the last method with adding ammonia chloride drops with an established filter media. My results are identical, 1 week to process from 2ppm. The upside to this is obviously your filter is not all your bacteria. By the point you can process that much ammonia in the tank, you can pretty much go in with a heavy stocking out of the gate.
Great video been trying to fishless cycle my tank with 4ppm of ammonia for 9 weeks now. Ammonia is around 0.025 ppm but nitrite won't go below 0.2ppm. Nitrate is 30 ppm.
for the purposes of saying "0" ammonia and nitrite, I think you are close enough! 0 doesn't actually mean 0 for many people, but if you get really low, you'll be OK.
Recently instant cycled my 75g w fish by using a sponge from my 36g. Worked flawlessly. Never even saw ammonia 😃
what about nitrates ?
@@Kat-hs2ij yea cycled quick enough that I saw nitrates in a couple of days.
This was how i started my first tank :)
I siphon the bottom of a well-established tank and throw that bucket of beneficial bacteria goodness in the new tank set-up and get a healthy, instant cycle! That's the best way I know how to do it!
Sponge filter vs Box filter! ;)
Excellent series! :D
Thank you! I haven't tried box filters yet, but I have a local breeder who swears by them.
Fun stuff, I wish I could go back to grade school and do these science projects!
Lol, right? I did science experiments as a kid, but it's a lot more fun when you're doing it for yourself. :)
Potting soil from a houseplant or cow manure work as well as established filter media! Black Kow can be found at home depot!
Can we use HOB filter for this cycling method? And the foam filter media inside the hob?
amazing. :)
I started cycling a planted tank, since it's my first tank and I don't have an old filter, I asked the fish store to give me some water. It's been a week already and the plants starting to grow and the nitrites went down. Hope I'm doing it correctly 😅
Can the spare sponge in the matured aquarium be just lying in the water without being connected to a filter? Thank you.
I just cycled 5g tank (for shrimps) within less than 4 weeks using bacteria from a bottle, plants and small amount of food (which I replaced every 2 days). Now 2 danios are swimming there before I buy the shrimps in ~ 2 weeks time.
I cycled my planted tank (tissue cultured) no floaters at 1 ppm ammonia with some API Turtle Sludge (beneficial bacteria) I had on hand and my cycle completed at almost 3 weeks. Trying to start a new shrimp tank but I'm a little too broke to get more plants so cycling isn't as quick but I'm in new hurry to get it up and running at the moment so it's just no maintenance decoration right now lmao
hi, where'd you get the ammonia bottle?
I’m about to buy a second hand fish tank and fish with two fx6 filters so once I fill my tank with water and turn on the filters how long before I can add the fish thx
In your experience, are Anubias plants superior in their contribution to nutrient control in a tank?
Thanks for doing cycling tutes for the sake of UA-cam :)
Haha, you're welcome! It was worth it to prove/disprove some things that I've read on the internet.
Would it be safe to move my established axolotl sponge filter in to a completely new set up,going from 100ltr to 180ltr?
What are the plants on the surface with the long roots at 4:15?
Still new to this hobby only have two tanks and about to start the cycle on my third and ive only had success with fish in cycles, fish in wasnt the way i wanted to do it but after one tank not failing to even start the cycle (possibly because of a junk bottle of bacteria) and one tank stalling mid cycle after 3-4 weeks i been able to start and complete cycles with fish in the tank first try without loosing fish, i kno its more work and i kno theres more risk and i kno not everyone is willing to take that risk and do that work but it might be the only way i cycle tanks in the future
Does bacteria ALL die off when the tank goes dry or does some of it lay dormant? Because I started cycling my aquarium a week ago (using some old fish flakes and turtle food) and the ammonia was already dropping and nitrates were showing up in the tests after about 48 hours. I spiked the ammonia with fish food again and it's going down already with nitrates getting pretty high. The tank/gravel/canister filter was home to fish for a good 5-6 years before we stopped and let it dry up the last 4 or so years
There's a great marketing opportunity, provide (sell) cycled filters for new aquarists, though you'd have to skip any warranty since a newbie can kill things fast. I love the cycle, it's a great biology experiment, but I took Biology in College so I'm patient. Thanks Irene for doing all the work!
My pleasure! Yes, I actually found out from a channel member that L.R. Bretz sells cycled media, so looks like he's already jumped on the train: lrbaquatics.com/products/cycled-mulmy-bag-o-water
I had a 6 year established 15 gallon tank and just upgraded to a 32 gallon on Saturday. The person I bought it used from gave me 2 bags of ceramic bio beads that had been living in her established tank, I added 1 of my 2 bags of bio beads and I added 2 very very dirty sponges, and the following day I purchased & HEAVILY planted my tank and then moved 7 tetras from my established tank.. and oh my word, the stress lol! So far I don't have any ammonia, nitrite or nitrate but scared to lose my fish. At which point is it safe to add the rest of my fish? I have a pleco, 6 amano shrimp and 5 pygmy corys to move
As someone who lost a whole colony of shrimp because I didn’t know about proper cycling, this vid is a GODSEND. I’m definitely going to give my rebuilt tank the ‘fishless plant’ treatment.
could you mix a few types to speed up the process? for instance, im currently ghost feeding a heavily planted aquarium and treating with fluval cycle
however im in week 2 and theres quite a bit of protein bubbling at my surface water
Thanks for the great information?
This may be a dumb question but does the sponge filter need to be running (hooked to the airline) in order for this to work or could I just "store" an extra sponge filter in an existing tank?
Also, what's the vac you're using at the very end of this video?
You can "store" because effectively, being in your existing tank will be a source of surface for bacteria to grow on.
However, I believe there is value in having the water run through the sponge material also, bringing in food source and oxygen, which is the reason most of the bacteria lives in the filter.
What is the indicator we use to cycle the tank ?
nitrate detected? Any values to reach?
Or
drop in nitrite, and increase reading in nitrate?
I’ve been doing a lot of research about cycling and told my wife that we would have to wait weeks before we could safely keep fish and she’s not with it. After explaining cycling she now sarcastically calls me a “marine biologist”.
When can you take your media from a recently cycled aquarium to establish a new tank? How long should I wait to change the media once cycled?