Nitrogen cycle question for 3 aquariums?

Question

Hi, I have 2 10 gallon tanks and 1 25 gallon tank. 1 of the 10 gallon tanks I have already put fish in and the cycling process has started. My question is, when I do water changes on the tank that has fish in it, can I add that water to the other 2 tanks that haven't any fish in them? My idea is to get those 2 tanks to start the cycle process without fish. That way I won't hurt any more fish by putting through the process of cycling. Thanks for your answers. I learn so much from you all.

vort3xyz, Thankyou, I understand that now but a new question comes to my mind. How does a new fish store start all their tanks, they surely can't wait till they get their fish in and start selling them without going through the nitrogen cycle can they?

Answer 1

Do not put your waste water into the other tank. Forget the ammonia dumping into the tank. Ammonia does not leave the tank unless YOU remove it i.e. water changes. Adding additional ammonia to your tank is just a dumb thing to do. This was the 80's thing to do before they knew better. (I wish web sites would take this crap off)

The quickest way to do a fishless cycle process (and remember, when it comes to fish and trying to recreate mother nature, there is NO fast way) toss in a couple of small pieces of fish or shrimp. These decaying food pieces will jump start your cycle process.

Also, you should also NOT do a water change for atleast a week when using this process. Allow the tank to cycle naturally. Test your water after a week. When it stabalizes, you can add fish one to two at a time a week or more apart.

You and your fish will have a happier relationship.

Oh yes, and to answer you latter question, yes fish stores start their tank the same way, however their systems are different. Usually "Rows" of tanks are connected together in a store. (You cannot see this since it is behind the wall. Smaller stores can have up to 15 tanks connected to this system. They do not worry about ich due to steralizers attached to the filters.

Most stores will not attach all the tanks. usually runs. Top to bottom on a wall, or rows across.

The next time you go to Petsmart, ask them to show you how they are set up. You will be amazed as to the plumbing alone.

Answer 2

While it is true some people think this helps, it doesn't. The fact of the matter is, unless there is a constant supply of ammonia for the bacteria to eat, the tank won't cycle no matter what you do.

This is my tried and true method to cycle a tank without fish. Go out and buy a bottle of pure household ammonia. Make sure it doesn't contain "cleaning agents" or "surfactents" these are soaps and will kill your future fish. Shake the bottle, if it foams at the top, put it back and keep looking. Buy an aquarium test kit that measures ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Liquid tests are more accurate than strips. It has to measure those three things! Get an eyedropper while you are at it. The pharmacy usually has them.

Add a few drops of the pure ammonia to each EMPTY tanks and test the water for ammonia. Keep adding drops of ammonia until the test reads 1.0 PPM. That is parts per million. Write down how many drops it took to reach that amount. Every day at the same time, test the water again and add that many drops of ammonia.

After about 2 weeks, the ammonia reading will drop sharply before you add the ammonia, it may even read 0. This means there should be Nitrite in the tank now. Test to make sure. Keep on testing the ammonia and nitrite daily and keep adding the ammonia after you test. After about 2 more weeks, the nitrite should drops sharply and NITRATE should appear on the test.

When you get a nitrate reading, stop adding ammonia and do a 30% water change. You can then lightly stock the tank with a few fish as it is now cycled. Try not to go overboard at first or you risk crashing your cycle.

This leads me to the most common mistake people make after their tank has cycled. Changing the filter media all at once, and destroying their bacteria colony.

The majority of your bacteria colony lives in your filter media. In some types of filter this is a sponge or something similar. In others it’s a cartridge or bag. If you remove this sponge or bag and replace it with a new one, you just threw away your bacteria colony and you are right back where you started from with a tank that needs to cycle again. A much better way is to rinse the media in the bucket of used tank water when you do a water change. This gets rid of most of the waste, but keeps your bacteria. If you have a large enough filter, you can replace half of the media at a time, so you don’t destroy the bacteria colony completely.

It’s also important to vacuum the gravel in your tank regularly with your water changes. This removes hidden rotting food, and gives the bacteria living in the gravel the necessary oxygen they need to live. How often you do this is based on the bioload of the tank.

For example, if you have a 10 gallon tank; and you follow the rule of 1” of fish per gallon of water, and you have four 2” fish in it, changing the water and vacuuming the gravel every 2 or 3 weeks should be sufficient.

But, let’s say you started out with four 2” fish, but then your pet store had a sale, and you just HAD to have some of those other cute fish, so now there are seven 2” fish in the tank. Seven fish produce a lot more waste than four, so they’ll need a bigger filter to grow more bacteria, and more frequent water changes and gravel vacuuming; like once a week, to keep the tank healthy. Since your tank is slightly overstocked, you must maintain it carefully to ensure the health of your fish. Also keep in mind what you buy as a 2” fish today may grow to be a 24” fish later, ask how big a fish will grow, and read the labels before purchase!

I hope this helps.

Answer 3

You can start a fish-less cycle by adding a SMALL amount of plain ammonia or ammonium nitrate to the other two tanks. The nitrifing bacteria that you are cultivating are present pretty much every where. Adding water from your cycling tank might hasten the process by a day or two,but that really isn't all that much compared to the 5 to 6 weeks that it takes to completely cycle a tank.---------Good luck.----PeeTee

Answer 4

i'm going to take a stab: when you have dechlorinated your water (even leaving chlorinated water interior the tank an afternoon or 2 will do this), you have a sparkling slate. upload in a fish. via urine, feces, uneaten nutrition, or perhaps the exhalations from their gills, you upload ammonia to the water. Ammonia is poisonous to fish. It burns their eyes, scales, fins, and worst of all: their gills. as quickly as ammonia ranges height, a clean micro organism: nitrite varieties. Nitrite eats up the ammonia as at as quickly as because it varieties. Nitrite is likewise poisonous to fish. It messes up their skill to soak up oxygen and with severe ranges over a quantity of time, they asphyxiate. After a pair of weeks of nitrite advance, yet another micro organism is born: nitrate..the good micro organism (interior limits, of direction). you may have 20 ppm on a testing kit. you relatively choose a try kit with an aquarium. minimum assessments in the process the biking area (that's 4-6 weeks) is for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. you will continually use a nitrate and PH try after the cycle. The betta will easily start up the cycle. I used my betta in a 30 gallon tank to start for each week or so then further in some golden danios (lots prettier and brighter than the zebras yet basically as hardy!) Corycats could be in communities of 5 or 6 as a fashion to maintain their popular education dispositions. Any much less and that they have got a tendency to get under pressure. stress reasons ailments which includes ich that are contagious. you're able to do much less, yet i would not flow any under 4. Platys are livebearers. you probably won't could subject approximately overpopulating the tank however as your different fish will probably eat the fry till they cover out in plant life someplace. presently, in my 10 gallon tank, I even have the three danios left from the earlier 30 gallon biking, a black betta named looking EMO, and 5 platys. because of the fact none of those fish are heavy waste manufacturers, I have not got any choose for a backside purifier. The platys and danios are piglets, too. somewhat ANY nutrition hits mid-tank..haha. Plus, the platys flow finding out on alongside the rock and decor consistently searching for little leftovers :)

Answer 5

Yes, you can, but it will not be super effective. There is bacteria in the water, but its not in high quantities there. Bacteria binds to sponges & bio-media... To leverage your first tank, you need to take media where the bacteria has colonized and distribute it to the other tanks. Usually this is done by sharing bio-wheels or bio-sponges. In your case, since you have 2 destination tanks & a source tank, moving your filter cartridge (the polyester floss with charcoal in it) to the other tanks will probably be the most effective way to help get things started. Moving the water can't hurt but it may not be as big of a help as moving some filter media along with it.

Answer 6

Look up fishless cycling at the link below and it will tell you how to cycle a tank without fish

Answer 7

LISTEN TO DANIELLE Z
The BEST way to cycle ANY tank Salt or Fresh water is to be patient.
"DON'T RUSH MOTHER NATURE"