Tank cycling

[downxxer]

I have some queries hope the pros can enlighten me. Normally how long do I need to cycle before I introduce L46 into the tank?
What are the pros and cons of putting sand into a pleco setup?

[Edmundo]

IMO, if your cycling is done without any aid of BB media, it may takes as long a a week. If u intend to use BB media, i believe 2-3days is suffice. Easylife Fluid Filter Media is good.

Sands, i love, cos i like a natural touch, but not too thick, otherwise iz hard to maintain.

[downxxer]

Thanks for your advice. Saw your impressive tank setup. Can I use mosura bt-9 for cycling? Is it necessary to use ketapang leaves?

[Edmundo]

Jus for fun, setup another design last night :D. Im not sure of Mosura, is it for Shrimps? i think should be fine. There are couples of product available too. K leaves can be used too, but it cant cycle your tank with BB. It merely condition the water. Just like peat. :)

Cycle yo tank well, i lost a batch of breeding colony zebra due to this err..... damn regret....... :(

[barmby]

Hi downxxer, i use 4 weeks to cycle the tank. by week 4th, i put some hatchet fishes into the tank and test out. Most time - they are perfect. it may seem not right to do for animal lover.

Any tank with sand looks nice. But sand is also hard to siphon out the dirt. Therefore, these are the consideration.

Actually, one don't have to put anything to ccycle the tank. Just anti chlorine, chloramine, aeration and don't always wipe the tank.

[downxxer]

thanks for your advise bamby. Guess you one of the pros here too. How many you have currently?

[Edmundo]

Actually, one don't have to put anything to cycle the tank. Just anti chlorine, chloramine, aeration and don't always wipe the tank.

Iz depends on what rate the tank is needed to be cycled. IMO, iz rearing a colony of BB, if one simply cycles the tank with anything, it can be done without doubt, overtime, the water will be safe to use, however, the BB is minimal, and if the hobbyist overload the tank, the system will not be able to cope and eventually may cause the fish to pass on, which may left one puzzled "i cycled the tank for 4 weeks, why my fish still hit the bucket?"

Btw, wat is the definition of cycling a tank? :confused:

[downxxer]

Cycling I think it for enough bb to grow and water to be stable

[barmby]

downxxer, thank. me no pro. I learnt from past articles by akoh, gecko, celtic, edmundo and etc. I have ...... ZERO L46 :)

L134 I have 18 pcs !! :)

[barmby]

Iz depends on what rate the tank is needed to be cycled. IMO, iz rearing a colony of BB, if one simply cycles the tank with anything, it can be done without doubt, overtime, the water will be safe to use, however, the BB is minimal, and if the hobbyist overload the tank, the system will not be able to cope and eventually may cause the fish to pass on, which may left one puzzled "i cycled the tank for 4 weeks, why my fish still hit the bucket?"

Btw, wat is the definition of cycling a tank? :confused:

Make sense :) But you are not suppose to overload the tank! :)

[Edmundo]

But most love to buy and load........... wahahaha :D

[downxxer]

Care to share what filter medias you pros use? Heard from a bro to use oyster shells or coral rocks. where to get this. And i am going to look for black gravel and more shapes of driftwood. where got a large choice. Been to NA, C382, seaview cant seems to find nice ones.

[Edmundo]

Oyster and cocker shell are useful for buffering the ph. I used cannister with BioHomme, red or grey i dun mind.

For nice dw, u can try Green Chapter at clementi. Ithink they sell ADA standard DW. :)

[Mr.XPlecos]

Hi downxxer, i use 4 weeks to cycle the tank. by week 4th, i put some hatchet fishes into the tank and test out. Most time - they are perfect. it may seem not right to do for animal lover.

Any tank with sand looks nice. But sand is also hard to siphon out the dirt. Therefore, these are the consideration.

Actually, one don't have to put anything to ccycle the tank. Just anti chlorine, chloramine, aeration and don't always wipe the tank.

IMO, if your cycling is done without any aid of BB media, it may takes as long a a week. If u intend to use BB media, i believe 2-3days is suffice. Easylife Fluid Filter Media is good.

Sands, i love, cos i like a natural touch, but not too thick, otherwise iz hard to maintain.

Part about sand, do becareful if you're going to run any OHF filters. I've lost 2 TOM 800 powerheads partly due to my own negligance to alleviate pump such that the inlet portion of the powerhead is a significant distant away from the sand surface.

The 1st one stopped running completely after 1 yr in the tank and the replacement I bought lasted like 3 months before problems surfaced.

Small particles of sand gets ****ed into the magnetic shaft, causing the shaft to be worned out. This causes unnecessary noise or vibrations, plus unpredictable stoppages of the powerhead especially when I off the power supply to maintain my OHF.

I'm still running on my 2nd TOM800 thou, but it is running at a significant low efficiency due to the worn out shaft. Would take pics to show if it stops working again. Time to change to some other brands of powerheads when my wallet recharges.

The plus point about fine sand is that it is easier to maintain compared to other forms of substrated as poops wouldnt get trapped in between (pleco poops are much massive compared to the gaps between sand particles), makes maintenance easy.

[barmby]

I use Dolphine power head for my planted tank to drive my outlet for CO2 distribution. It has been working really well for as long as I remember.

Downxxer, I use good old tradition Ehiem substrat and bio ring. The last layer before water goes to tank - I use biohomme. And this BioHomme - I never wash them but rinse with used tank water.