Starting my cycling today on my 85 gallon tank

flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by pfcbizz http:///t/388846/starting-my-cycling-today-on-my-85-gallon-tank/60#post_3433738
you use a few drops of ammonia for what reason ?
To kick start the cycle.
Old school understanding.....nothing happens in a fish tank until there is a fish, the fish eats the food and produces ammonia that triggers the nitrate cycle.
Now we fast forward to today and we understand better....we don't need a fish, just some waste to start the cycle and not have to hurt a fish or risk it's life. A little ammonia or a chunk of raw shrimp and your good to go...after ammonia is added, the good bacteria we want begins to feed on it reproducing, and pooping nitrites, and then that triggers some other good bacteria we want that feeds on the nitrites, they poop nitrates...we remove nitrates through water changes until we have the perfect balanced tank and nitrates are removed by macro algae, algae scrubbers or remote deep sandbeds..... to name a few methods.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
I really needed that, now i feel better. Ok so why would you think ammonia in some form is needed to beging the nitrogen cycle
 
pfcbizz

pfcbizz

Member
Ok people I got the cycle thing, Lol, so my next question is I have 2 GVP Powerheads in my tank is that too much water flow for my 85 gallon tank, they have 3000L/h each ?
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///t/388846/starting-my-cycling-today-on-my-85-gallon-tank/60#post_3433740
I really needed that, now i feel better. Ok so why would you think ammonia in some form is needed to beging the nitrogen cycle
LOL...Because i didn't know what else to call it (nitrate, nitrOgen cycle)....and I swear that is what I always thought was going on...OP may not need a lesson from you professor. I don't want to highjack a thread...Can you PM me and explain in clear stupid English so I can underatnd it...why we need a fish back in the olden days to start a fish tank if it isn't the ammonia?
 
pfcbizz

pfcbizz

Member
Lol, you guys can seem really mean at times with the way you answer people's questions, that's not nice.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by pfcbizz http:///t/388846/starting-my-cycling-today-on-my-85-gallon-tank/60#post_3433742
Ok people I got the cycle thing, Lol, so my next question is I have 2 GVP Powerheads in my tank is that too much water flow for my 85 gallon tank, they have 3000L/h each ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by pfcbizz http:///t/388846/starting-my-cycling-today-on-my-85-gallon-tank/60#post_3433750
Lol, you guys can seem really mean at times with the way you answer people's questions, that's not nice.
Joe is really smart and I suppose I get on his nerves sometimes. I call things the wrong names and often I get the job done and things turned out right, but it's by sheer mistake because in reality, I had no clue of really understanding what I was doing...I am very sincere when I ask him to explain it better for me so I can learn. I don't understand big professor words so he has to remember to use terms I can grasp. I didn't think our banter sounded mean to each other....I'm glad you knew to laugh and not think things took a bad turn.
I am not familiar with the power heads so I can't comment on your question...
 
pfcbizz

pfcbizz

Member
I understand, I'm just a pieceful person and I understand everyone dosen't know what others may know and there isn't stupid questions but at times stupid answers, and by me being new here I don't know the relationships people here have with eachother and how they communicate with eachother but I've had some people here answer me meanly I guess because I don't know so I ask and I don't just go along with anything I hear so I do research and I may comment what I've research and invite different opinions, but my thing is if anyone feels their to advanced or smart to teach others what they know or feel they have no desire to answer people's questions in a friendly manner why answer or better yet why are they here they should be where everyone knows everything, Now I'm not here to cause trouble but I don't like being looked down on either and don't like other people being treated meanly either we should want and need to be nice to eachother, Now with all that said if I offended anyone what I said must of hit home, but for those I didn't thank you for your time and advise, and I'll be ask alot more about this world of saltwater fish and tanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/388846/starting-my-cycling-today-on-my-85-gallon-tank/60#post_3433758
Joe is really smart and I suppose I get on his nerves sometimes. I call things the wrong names and often I get the job done and things turned out right, but it's by sheer mistake because in reality, I had no clue of really understanding what I was doing...I am very sincere when I ask him to explain it better for me so I can learn. I don't understand big professor words so he has to remember to use terms I can grasp. I didn't think our banter sounded mean to each other....I'm glad you knew to laugh and not think things took a bad turn.
I am not familiar with the power heads so I can't comment on your question...
 
S

saxman

Guest
There's a protocol for cycling with liquid ammonia or ammonium chloride. You need to be REALLY careful not to add TOO MUCH ammonia or you can stall your cycle. I'd go with the shrimp or the ammonia, but not both. The reason is this: the bacteria responsible for oxidizing NH3 (Nitrobacter) grow much more rapidly than those that convert NO2 to NO3 (Nitrosomonas), so what happens is you have lots of bacteria competing for the same space, and the more you feed the Nitrobacter, the more they crowd-out the Nitrosomonas, so you end up stuck at NO2 (nitrite). Nitrosomonas is also more "touchy" than Nitrobacter so it doesn't handle this well.
The one thing I can say about the pure NH3 method is you know EXACTLY what your concentration is, however, I hate testing water a lot, so I use the "shrimp" method.
Whatever method you use, it's important to "challenge" the tank with a source of nitrogen (NH3) after you feel the cycle is complete. I typically recommend adding a single feeding's worth of food (based on your initial stocking level) and see how long the tank takes to process it (NH3 and NO2 to zero).
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/388846/starting-my-cycling-today-on-my-85-gallon-tank/60#post_3433744
LOL...Because i didn't know what else to call it (nitrate, nitrOgen cycle)....and I swear that is what I always thought was going on...OP may not need a lesson from you professor. I don't want to highjack a thread...Can you PM me and explain in clear stupid English so I can underatnd it...why we need a fish back in the olden days to start a fish tank if it isn't the ammonia?
Flower, flower, F L O W E R. in my heart I felt that I should explain to you that my post was not meant for you because as I sent the post your post beat me to it. so you see my post was directed to the OP
 
pfcbizz

pfcbizz

Member
@ Saxman, I am using the shrimp and live rock, florida joe told me to take a reading on friday to see where my ammonia is, and as far as I know I don't need to do anything more, but I have had the shrimp in the tank since sunday I tested the water yesterday and got no reading but that was before I added the LR and bacteria supplement.
 
symonsay

symonsay

New Member
The method i use is drop the ammonia first, when i see the ammonia is going down i put some shrimps or just drop some food daily, that way i don't put to much ammonia and keep the cycle going on, if you can put some live rock you might complete your cycle faster.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member

The method i use is drop the ammonia first, when i see the ammonia is going down i put some shrimps or just drop some food daily, that way i don't put to much ammonia and keep the cycle going on
ok so this may get me thrown off the site but WTF
 
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