freshwater tank cycle?

Question

what do i need to know about the initial cycle of the tank? I have a 2.3gallon tank. What can i use as a cleanup crew to clean the bottom of the tank? what other live organisms can i put in it, like live rock or plants?

Answer 1

For the initial cycle of the tank I will give you a couple of links at the bottom of the page. Check those out and if you have an questions after reading them feel free to email me.

A 2.3 gallon tank won't support much in the way of organisms, but you can do a few. I would suggest one fish like a betta, dwarf gourami or similar size fish and maybe 2-3 ghost shrimp to be the cleaning crew. You could replace the shrimp with pygmy cory cats. Live rock is a marine item in most cases. You can of course have live rock for freshwater, but it's not something you would need to look for in a smaller tank.

As far as plants are concerned the biggest problem you will have is enough light. Most smaller tanks don;t have a bright enough light to support a big selection of plants, but Java Moss or Java Fern would be two choices that should do quite well in your tank.

http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php
http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Fishlesscycle.htm

Hope this helps and welcome to the hobby!

MM

Answer 2

This is a very small tank at 2.3 gallons. I am not sure what you plan to long term house in it outside of maybe a Betta or guppies. Basically the cycle is ammonia will build up from fish respiration, waste, plant decay, and any excess food. Bacteria that converts that into nitrite takes hold and grows. Once there is a source of Nitrite, a secondary bacteria grows that oxydizes that into Nitrate. Nitrates are the least harmful out of the three, and can be maintained by regular water changes. You'll need to get a test kit to measure your ammonia and nitrites. Anything else let us know. MM has outstanding answers as does copperhead, peetee, and Ghapy, all top contributers on here.