if i set up a tropical fish tank which is 22liters how long is it before it is safe to put my fish in?

Answer 1

First thing you want to do after you have your things in place, (filter, gravel, plants ect...) you need to add water conditioner. This will remove any chlorine and chloramine that are present. These compounds are lethal to fish. Let the water heat and sit for about 24-48 hours. Test your PH. If you find it out of range, (high end 8.4 or higher low range 6.4 or lower) you may need to do some adjusting BEFORE YOU ADD FISH. Lets assume ph meets ok parameters to move on.

Depending on the size of your tank as the others indicated, you'll need/want to get what is known as hardy fish. I will go into that shortly. There are ways to perform the nitrogen cycle without fish, however I have never attempted this to effectively comment on that. Hardy fish are fish that can endure shifting in the water chemsitry that is going to occur over the next couple months. Such fish would include but not limited to, Danio zebras, guppies, mollies, platties, and white clouds. These fish have a stronger ability to adapt to the rise in ammonia and nitrite that is going to occur.

Once you have added the proper amount of fish, which will depend on your tank size, the cycle will begin. Due to fish waste, respiration, excess uneaten food, and any plant decay, ammonia will begin to build up in the water. As this ammonia begins to rise, a bacteria called Nitrosomma's will begin to form which will oxidize the ammonia into another compound called nitrite. It is very important you have a set of testing kits which measure your ammonia levels, nitrite, nitrate, and ph. Ph comes into play with ammonia becasue at readings of 7.8 and up, the toxicity of the ammonia becomes much more worse. If you see reading beginning to reach .5 ppm (parts per million) and higher, your fish may begin to exhibit signs of ammonia poisoning. Fish will stay near the surface of the water and appear to be gasping for air. This is because ammonia damages gill functions and irritates the scales. Ammonia going above 1.0 can begin to cause deaths depending on your ph. Either way, it is not safe for fish to be in waters of this condtion. If you see signs of distress or readings going past 1.0, you'll want to perform a small water change out of about 15-20%. Try to avoid doing this excessively because the bacteria need this ammonia as a fuel source to grow.

Nitrosommas and Nitrobaciters need a constant source of fuel in order to safely colonize the tank. Bacteria grow in your filter media and in your substrate. Bacteria generally takes about 24 hours or so to double in size so you need to be patient. Water changes will help your fish but the trade off is slightly longer times for your bacteria to grow to the size needed to keep the ammonia and nitrites reading at 0 in your water.

After about a week to 10 days, you should see a drop in your ammonia reading and your nitrites should begin to start showing readings. Nitrobaciters are the bacteria which oxidize nitrite into nitrate. Nitrobaciters take longer to colonize then Nitrosommas because they need nitrite to be present to develope. Until the Nitrosommas are stable and able to process all the ammonia as it's made, your Nitrobaciters will keep growing. This is why the nitrite readings take a little longer before they disappear. Nitrite going above 1.0 ppm will begin to effect your fish. Nitrite poisoning damages gills and the immune system, and causes fish to experience sypmtoms like smokers do. Nitrite binds itself to the blood cells and blocks oxygen transfer at that point.

Generally about 4-5 weeks of the cycle your ammonia should be reading a 0 and nitrites 0 as well. Shortly after your nitirtes begin to form, you should start seeing some readings on nitrate. Nitrate is the final oxidized product of ammonia in the nitrogen cycle. I'd like to point out here to Sunday, acceptable readings in nitrates are ok even at 40 ppm. At 40 ppm and higher you need to keep the levels lower with weekly water changes. This is how you maintain your nitrate levels. Nitrate in terms of toxicity to fish is much lower then ammonia and nitrite and until levels start going above 40 ppm your fish should be fine.

If you have any other questions feel free to email me.

I'd really like to see someone try to thumb this one down. This is 100% on the money and if you disagree, have some guts to come out and say so please

JV

Answer 2

Congratulations on your new tank. Now comes the hard part. Patience.

Your tank needs to cycle before it is safe for fish to live in. This means setting up the proper bacterial filtration that produces the nitrogen cycle. You can speed this up by purchasing various products on the market with live bacteria. The bacteria convert the waste products of the fish from ammonia to nitrite and the nitrite to nitrate. You should also get a test kit to help keep track of the cycle process and your water quality. The entire process can take 4-6 weeks.

Some people do use a live fish to help jump the cycle. So you could do that if you can't make yourself wait until you have fish in your tank, you can start with one fish for a week or two and see how that goes for you. It's better to use the bacteria first though and let that sit. Maybe if you can give the bacteria a week or two then start with a fish. The hard part is seeing how long you can wait. The longer you can wait, the better it will be for your fish.

Answer 3

I personally have a system for cycling tanks and with mine, you can add fish the same day. Go to your local fish store and see if they carry bio-spiro. These are bacteria essential for kickstarting the biological filter. After that, get a couple of cheap fish. Mollys are good, as they are mid-sized and seem to process a tank quite well for me. A completely cycled tank is likely going to take a month before all is balanced out and you see no nitrite/ammonia. At times I've been lucky and it's been faster. As far as letting a tank just sit, it doesn't do any good. If you don't have an ionics filter at home, you should purchase a bottle of Prime (that's the name). I find it to be the best and safest dechlorinator/stress coat formula to get ready the water. Good luck and I hope you have as much fun with the hobby as I do!

PS: If you're brave, you can get a couple of fish you really want, so long as you are adding the bio-spiro. I've never had a problem with it.

Answer 4

I assume you are using a new filter. The problem is that with everything being new you have not established a good bacteria bed yet. If you are going to put fish in buy cheap fish such as tetra's because the chance of them living with out a good bacteria bed is 50/50. Once you have established your bacteria bed you will be good to go. As far as when you can put fish in as long as you add declorinater it does not really matter because you are cycling the same clean water.

Answer 5

Wait 24 hours for the water to fully cycle and dechlorinate. Make sure you use water conditioner. When you do get fish, float them in the bag in the tank for at least 15 minutes and then you can let them loose, but do not put the water from the bag into your tank. Use a net to get them out and put them in or else you can contaminate your own tank. Use a stress coat conditioner as well when you put them in. It will make the transition easier on them.

Answer 6

well you have to wait till the chlorine gets evaporated. any where from 24 hours - 3 or 4 days. cycling the tank will take about 3 - 4 weeks.

Answer 7

24 hrs is too low if you have a new tank , in established aquariums, just as in nature, toxic ammonia from fish waste is broken down by bacteria into nitrite, which is itself broken down by a different group of bacteria into nitrate.

In a newly set up aquarium, those bacteria are not present in any quantity, and it takes time - about a 4 to 6 weeks under normal circumstances.

Check out this link:
http://www.bestfish.com/breakin.html

:-D

Answer 8

Wait at least 24 hours!

Answer 9

At least 24 hours, maybe 22 hours if you used water dechlorinating chemicals.

Answer 10

No not 24hours, IT has to cycle. heres a site http://www.worldcichlids.com/faqs/cycling.html