I have read the page that talks about fishless cycling, but I am still have no ideas on how to do it.
Can someone tell me all the steps on how to do it?
Do I need to keep the tank(filter, airpump) running while doing the cycle, or just trun everything off and wait for the bacteria to grow?
Thanks!

In a fishless cycle, you will set up your tank just as if you were going to put fish in it. Get the filter going, full of media, the heater going to warm the tank up ( slightly warmer than you will for the goldies, actually, will help promote the beneficial bacteria growth), etc. You do not need to put in the deco or turn the lights on every day, though.

Add in clear ammonia until it is in a concentration of between 2-4 ppm or so.

Then sit back and wait.

The bacteria will appear. As long as you have given them a good platform to colonate, your cycle will develop. Good platforms are the ceramic cylindars, sintered glass, lava rock, bioballs, sponges, biowheels that are in your filter.

So is that mean that after i added in the ammonia, all I need to do is to just wait for around a month and without doing anything??

Basically - Yes. Since you do not have to protect the fish you do not have to do any water changes. You will have to have the filters running. I have occasionally had a bit of scummy algae grow and other dust/waste need to be cleaned out. I also like to monitor the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels. Test the ammonia and the nitrite once a week for a few weeks. When you see nitrites appearing, test for nitrates, too. When the ammonia level drops, you will have to start adding a bit of ammonia back into the tank to keep "feeding" the beneficial bacteria and to keep the cycle developing............

So do I have to perferm the cycle after the 25% water change everyweek?
And what about after the whole tank of water change every month??

Lets take this back just a step - to the basics and see if I can make it a bit clearer.

When we refer to a tank's "cycle" we are refering to the process that takes the fish's waste and turns it into a less toxic substance that you can then remove from your tank's water by regular water changes to dilute the substance down.

A fish makes ammonia. That is its waste. Ammonia in the tank's water is toxic to the fish. The ammonia is processed into nitrIte, a toxic substance, too. The nitrIte is then processed into nitrAte - a substance that is not as toxic. Since the nitrate cannot be processed and does not go anywhere, as more and more ammonia is made into nitrIte and then into nitrAte, the nitrAte concentrations in the water will build and build, until there is too much nitrAte in the water for the fish to be healthy. To reduce the amount of nitrAte in your water, you remove it by removing a portion of your water and replacing it with water that has no nitrAte in it.

It is this process that is called the "nitrogen cycle" or the changing of the fish's waste into a less toxic substance. A tank that is "cycled" means it is set so that it can process all the waste that the fish in the tank produce. A tank that is "cycling" means that it is not yet capable of processing all the waste from the resident fish.

The way the cycle works is through the use of bacteria - good bacteria that reside in your filter. There are two types of bacteria. One type processes all the ammonia into nitrIte. It uses oxygen and ammonia to make nitrIte.

The second type of bacteria will process the nitrIte into nitrAte, also using oxygen.

You then will change out some water to lower the amount of nitrAte in your tank.

When you are doing a fishless cycle - or building the colonies of beneficial bacteria to process the ammonia and consequently, nitrIte, you do not have to worry about the toxic amounts of ammonia or nitrIte or even the amounts of nitrAte that are in the water during the time it takes for the bacteria to grow and work. There are no fish to harm. So you just let it go.

First the type of bacteria that processes the ammonia to nitrite will grow. They will make loads of nitrite in the tank. The presence of this nitrite will encourage the second type of bacteria to grow - the type that will change the nitrIte into nitrate.

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When you have a cycled tank - a tank that is processing all your fish's waste - you will need to do water changes approximately once a week to reduce the concentrations of nitrAte - the final nitrogen stage of the waste. NitrAte values of over 40ppm or so can bother fish - some fish more than others. High nitrAtes can lead to lower immunities, poor breeding, SBD and a few other problems. To remove the nitrAte, you will remove a portion of the tank's water and replace it with nitrAte free water.

The beneficial bacteria that make up your cycle are not in your water - they reside on the bio media you have placed in your filter - the sponge or ceramic cylindars or sintered glass or bioballs or whatever. When you do a water change, do not be afraid to change out whatever volume of water you need to to reduce the nitrAtes to where you want them. I rarely do a water change of less than 50% - most are 50%. I like big water changes. They work for me and my tanks. This changing will not harm, change or stunt your cycle..... the bacteria are not harmed in any way.

For example, if a tank of mine reads 40ppm nitrates, and I change 50% of the water, I will only have reduced the nitrates to 20ppm. I, personally, like it to be at about 5ppm or so, so I would change out about 75% of the water, or I would change the water more often than once a week to keep the nitrates lower.

I do NOT change the filter media. I rinse the media out in used fish water to remove the waste, but the beneficial bacteria will remain if you do not use any water that is different pH, or contains chlorine or whatever from your tap. The filter is where the cycle resides and it stays just fine.

Even though I do large water changes, I never do a 100% water change. This is not necessary. Of course - there are times when a tank is moved or something is being changed in my system that I change out 100% - but that is not the norm. There is no need to regularly change out 100% of your water - the tank will be just fine - in fact will be better for it - if you simply change the amount that you need to, to keep the nitrAte values where you wish them to be.

Oicic..~
I was thinking that the bacterias are in the water.
But now I understand how it works now.
So if the media for the filter is getting too dirty, and I want to change it, then i will need to perform the cycle again?(The filter I am going to get is comming with the aquarium kit. It is AquaClear 150 Power Filter.)

Yup - it is in the filter media.

Yes, your media will get messy after a bit. The trick to cleaning it is to squeeze the sponge out in a bucket of used fish water. When I am drawing water out to change the water, I use a bucket of the cleaner stuff and squeeze or bang or shake my media gently in the used water, too. Then it is replaced into the filter box. This retains all the good bacteria - no need to cycle again!

With an AquaClear, you will have sponges. So squeeze those sponges out in the used water and you will retain all the beneficial bacteria in them. Then replace them in the filter.

If I am not mistaken, an Aquaclear 150 pumps about 150gph, right? Typically, the filters that come with tank kits are set up for the filtration needs of a lightly stocked tropical tank, not goldies. Goldfish are notoriously messy fish - real slobs. They can muck up a tank in no time flat.

For this reason, it is recommended that you filter your goldfish tank to the tune of at least 10 times turnover each hour. This means if you have a 10 gallon tank, you want to pump at least 100 gallons of water through your filter every hour. A 20 gallon tank would need 200 gallons each hour.

I have Penguin 150s (150gph) on my 10 gallon tanks. I have Penguin 350s (350gph) on my 20 gallon tanks. I have Emperor 400s (400gph) on my 30 gallon tanks.

Depending on the size of tank you are getting, you are going to find that the AquaClear 150 will not be able to keep up with the waste load of goldies and you will be needing to add another filter to the mix.

Thanks for the tips daryl!
However, I am just planning to get around 15-20 neon tetras, and i heard some people said that the tetras are not as dirty as the goldies, so i guess the aquaclear 150(150gph) will be alright. But if i am wrong, please correct me.~ i am just a newbie ~

So the sponge is never need to be replaced by a new one??
and what about the BioMax and the carbon?
I read the manual at the aquaclear product page, it said the sponge need to be replaced every 3 months, the carbon every month and the biomax every 2 months.
So all i need is that clean the sponge every 3 months(or when it gets dirty) with the old tank water(without replace a new one), and the change the new biomax every 2 months and new carbon every month??

this is the product page:
http://www.hagen.com/canada/english/aquati...=01006000010101

Normal life span for carbon is about two weeks. Most people prefer not to use it unless they are removing meds or impurities from the water.

So I dont need to put any carbon in the filter unless i needed to filter the med??
and what about the bio max??

In general, no. The carbon really does not do much for you in general use.

The biomax is an inert ceramic ring - very porous. The beneficial bacteria will LOOOOOVE that - and will colonize that very nicely. You definately, without a doubt, do NOT want to replace that. If you were ever to want to shut the tank down and reset it - recycle it and all (bac infections or parasites, perhaps), you can even boil that biomax out and reuse it. It is GREAT stuff.

The sponge will rarely, if ever, have to be replaced. It, too, is very porous, and will become a wonderful platform for the benficial bacteria. It will also collect a lot of mulm and waste. So each week, squeeze it out really good in used fish water to clean it so the water runs through it readily. Then replace it. It will not lose any good bacteria for the squeeze and it will run much better.

That looks like a wonderful set up for some neon tetras. Those are such pretty bright little fish - I love the way they school around in the the tank.

I am eager to see a picture of your set up when you get the fish all set in!

So is this mean that the biomax will never be changed for life??(unlike the manual said replace the new biomax every 2 months)
And the sponge will only need to squeeze and clean with the used water every week?

Please correct me if I am wrong, but cant you dirasticly reduce the frequency of waterchanges by having a heavily planted tank? and what do the plants convert nitrate into?

That is corect, Lotte. The ceramic in the biomax rings will never break down into anything else. It is an inert substance. It serves simply as a platform for the beneficial bacteria to colonate. As far as the sponges, they, too, will hold a bonanza of good bacteria, but will also catch a lot of waste. You can squeeze that waste clean each week, while retaining the good bacteria, if you do it in used fish water. After a time (6 months - a year or so) the sponge may become so frayed and worn that it will need to be replaced, but in general, NO you do not have to replace it too often, either.



Finny - plants will use the nitrates in the water for food - to convert it into leaves and stems and such. So, yes - the more heavily planted your tank is, the less nitrate you will have to deal with. Plants, however, differ in what they do and use (oxygen/carbon dioxide) during the day and night, so you need to know how that will work.

No matter what amount of plants you have in your tank, you will still need to change out the water on a regular basis if you wish your fish to grow and thrive to the best of their ability. There are other reasons for changing out water other than to dilute nitrate values.... One reason is listed here:

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...?showtopic=7981