How Long Does It Take To Cycle a 55 Gallon Tank?

Question

Please help me!
i need to know how long it take's to cycle a 55 gallon tank, what is the best product to use and when can i put the fish in there. i am trying to set this up in time for valentines day and would really like to know.
i am going to put yellow electric cichlids in there and a little later figure 8 puffers.
i need to also know if the fish need to be in there because i hear in some cases the fish need to be in there to complete the cycle and i heard that they can't until the cycle is done.
I NEED HELP!

Answer 1

It depends on how you cycle, and also the temperature of the water. It can take 2 days or it can take 6 weeks.
It is easier to cycle when you understand why you need to cycle.
In the wild, and in established tanks, there are nitrifying bacteria that break down toxic ammonia from fish waste and excess food into less toxic nitrates. In a brand new tank, these bacteria don't exist, so any fish in the tank will produce ammonia, which, not being broken down by bacteria, will kill or weaken the fish. So, it is vital to cycle your tank. There are a few methods. Do you have access to an established tank? These bacteria live in the gravel and in the filter cartridge, so if you can get some from another tank, you can put the bacteria right into your tank (don't let the gravel or filter cartridge dry out). If you do this, in a day or two, your tank will beready for fish.
Another way is to get Bio-Spira. It is the actual live bacteria in a little pouch, and your tank will instantly be ready for fish. http://fishstoretn.com/bio_spira.html
The following two methods take longer, because you need to get he bacteria to develop on their own. The first is called "fishless cycling" - so, you put a source of ammonia into the tank, and the bacteria will respond. You can either sprinkle a bit of fish food in every day, or put in some pure ammonia every few days(not the scented stuff) or even a piece of shrimp and it rot.
Lastly, you have use fish to cycle. However, this frankly borders on animal cruelty because the fish has to basically live in ammonia and nitrites for the 2-6 weeks it takes for the bacteria to develop. Many fish also die when this happens.
If you're going with a 2-6 week cycling, you'll need to get a testing kit... which you should get anyway. When you start adding ammonia, the ammonia levels will rise. Then they will down, and the nitrite levels will rise. And then the nitrites will go down and the nitrates will even out at about 10-40ppm - that is when you know your cycle is complete and your tank is ready for fish.


If you do one of the first methods, you can cycle by v-day. Otherwise, you'll have to wait. If you need to, you can set up your tank and add ONE fish, and every day do a 15% water changes. This will reduce the ammonia to bearable levels.

About your stocking options: omit the puffers. Puffers are not good tankmates for any fish ; they have a tendency to either be voracious and attack everything else, or very shy and be attacked by everything else. I think your tank would be nicer and healthier if you got 3 yellow labs and 3 blue haps.

Answer 2

Bio-Spyra will get things going pretty much instantly. That only takes care of the nitrifing aerobic bacteria. Let the tank run for 2 days to get the clouding out, then add the refridgerated biospyra and the fish. At that point its pretty safe. Its about 18-36 dollars for a full dose for 55 gallons depending on if you want 1 or 2 doses.

To get the nitrafying anarobic bacteria going in the gravel, it takes forever and there isn't much you can do to help. During the first 2 months, its essential to monitor nitrite levels and change the water when it spikes. Adding aquarium salt 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons will also help prevent nitrite toxicity. You have to monitor this becuase it nitrifiying bacteria work much faster than nitrafying ones can grow. This makes an imbalance in production & consumption of nitrites the first month or two.

Non-refridgerated products like bio-zyme and fritz zyme take many doses to get things going over a week to a month. They help, but they take a lot longer. Cheaper solutions aren't even worth looking at, as the creepy critters inside will be dead on arrival.

You can help things by putting in a cheap sponge filter in the tank. You can also get things going way faster by getting gravel and filter media that's been used and still wet / filled with living bacteria. Your 1st tank will be the hardest to set up since you have to play the waiting game.

Answer 3

You can use fish to cycle, or you can do a fishless cycle using a product called bio-spira. Bio-spira is the only product of its kind that works, and it has to be kept refrigerated. Just follow the directions on the package with this product, it should get your tank cycled quickly.

If you are cycling with fish, choose a few hardy fish (zebra danios are often used). If you choose danios, make sure your fish store will take them back after the tank is cycled because they are not compatible with your cichlids. I would get about 5 for a 55 gallon tank. Put them in, do 25% water changes weekly, and test the water weekly. First you will see a spike in ammonia. Next you will see a spike in nitrites. When your tank readings are ammonia-0, nitrites-0, nitrates-under 20, your tank is cycled. This could take anywhere from 3-8 weeks. After the cycle, take the danios back to the store and SLOWLY stock your tank with the cichlids. Make sure to do 50% weekly water changes from here on out to keep your nitrates under 20, preferably under 10.

Answer 4

It can take 1-8 weeks depending on what method you use. For a quick cycle, use biospira. Biospira is the only proven product. It must be kept refridgerated until use. Then feed the tank some fish food to give the bacteria a food source. You can add the fish the next day if your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate tests showed the biospira worked. Cycle is a product that does not work. The bacteria are dead in the bottle.

You cannot mix puffers and cichlids. Puffers prefer to be solitary. They also live in brackish water and don't do well in full freshwater, which is needed for the cichlids.

Answer 5

I won't go into the whole process of the nitrogen cycle, I think it's been covered. You can search for fishless cycling, or cycling a fish tank on Yahoo if you want more info. I agree with the first post, get yourself some BioSpira. I used it alone without any other source of bacteria, and my 75 gallon tank was completely cycled in 9 days. That was last May and my levels have remained stable. The most important thing to keep track of your levels. You need to spend about $30 and get a Freshwater Master Test Kit.

Answer 6

Cycling a tank takes at least 3 weeks. Size really doesn't matter as a What matters is that you are putting enough "ammonia" into the tank. Remember that all food eaten, or uneaten turn into ammonia. Which is eaten by bacteria which produce nitrites. Then another set of bacteria turn nitrites in nitrates. Cycling is just the time it takes for populations of bacteria to build enough to convert all the toxic ammonia, and nitrites to less toxic nitrates.

There are basically 2 ways to cycle a tank. With fish, and fishless. The advantage of fishless cycling is when you are done you can just throw in a bunch of fish. When cycling with fish you'll need to slowly stock up your tank even when you are done cycling.

Answer 7

55 Gallon Long

Answer 8

it all is based on the pump.
different pump/ filter systems can cycle more water than others when you buy them they tell you the cycle rate