ok lads and ladies,
i got the fluval 2plus for the new tank , i have 2 cycled goldfish tanks, (and i have 3 unshown goldfish to show you guys when i get time!!!!) the new tank is 20 gallons, i wish to cycle this without adding a fish, can i take a few handfulls of gravel and put them in a stocking, then place this in the un cycled tank, and then feed this bacteria in the stocking by adding a pinch of flakes to the water ?

Kev

Hey, Kev - the article under Freq Asked Questions here is wonderful on Fishless cycling. Also http://www.aquahobby.com/tips/fishless.html and
http://www.tomgriffin.com/aquamag/cycle2.html They all helped me. I am a total convert to fishless cycling. It was wonderful, quick and so easy on the fish and me (no water changes until it is complete!!)

i was hoping for an alternative source of ammonia,


what about if i was to usea small amount of ater and large amounts of fish wastes (from gravel vacuuming ) and placing this in the uncycled tank,

could this work ??

Kev

Yes, that should work well.

Or you could try adding a dash of urine - your own, not someone else's! - as that's chock-full of ammonia too.

think i will try the vacuumed fish waste first (and probably many other things too) before trying that one

i will let you know how it turns out

When I start a new tank with out fish. I use 30% of the water from the other tanks. gravel, and anything that would have brown algae on it. Oh and also any kind of filter media to place into the new filter

what im thinking of trying, is take some tank water from the established tank of mine, rinse the old filter media in this water, and place one of the media pads from the new tank in the bucket with the old tank water and squeezed media and leave it in there for 15 mins or so,

what do you think ?(i consider doing this as i dont have any normal media replacements for the old filter, what i would do if i did was take 1 pad from the old one, cut it in half and it forms the 2 foam medias for the new smaller one thats what i did the one of the carbon pads he he.

Kev

That would be okay.

my mind is slowly begining to work like a goldfish keeper, should be quite a good thing as it works for nothing else other than gulping

Kev, instead of dropping in flakes and waiting for the ammonia to appear, why not adding pure ammonia from the store, and you have instant ammonia? I did that with my 75 gl tank with my veils in it, since I didnt wonna put this delicate fish through any cycling, and it was so fast!

i didnt want to risk getting the wrong ammonia

i think the vacuumed waste should work ok though, i like to experiment a little

Okay, Emma....I've got to hear more about this urine bit.
Kristin

Well, this is something I figured out a little while ago, actually during an extremely dull meeting at work. I couldn't be bothered listening to the idiot - I mean my esteemed colleague - drone on any more, so I sat back and quietly worked out Emma's Theory of Fish-less Cycling.

Urine contains ammonia, and a fair bit of it too. It is also - oddly enough - a sterile product, unless you are suffering from an illness of course. So therefore, it stands to reason that if you put a small cupful of it in the new tank, you'd have a clean, safe (and free!) ammonia source to feed the biobugs and start the cycle off, yes?

Personally, I think I'd prefer to use my own rather than any donated by someone else - however kindly it was offered! - and I suspect that gentlemen fish-keepers might have a much easier time actually collecting the aforementioned urine for use in the tank than us ladies, but hey! Where's there's a will......!

classic !!!! still dont think i would try it has anyone here tried it ?

Kev

didnt think anyone would own up to that one lol