kuhli loach Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 I have heard that my first fish I will be adding, Kuhli loaches ,are quite sensitive to having good water conditions and am wondering if there is a way i can do a fishless cycle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Use cycle or stress zyme approx 2-3 weeks before adding fish. There's other ways, by adding small amounts of fish food but I'm a bit simple and find all that too complicated, I prefer the ease of biological additives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malevolentsparkle Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 running the filter in an existing tank is great, and/or grabbing some filter media from an established tank if your filter works that way is great too. adding a bit of fish food everyday is the easiest way i recon. do you have any test kits? nitrite is the most useful for cycling a tank, when the nitrite goes up and then down again your tank is cycled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Use cycle or stress zyme approx 2-3 weeks before adding fish. There's other ways, by adding small amounts of fish food but I'm a bit simple and find all that too complicated, I prefer the ease of biological additives. you add the additive, but there MUST be a source of food for the bacteria. In this case either put some cheap fish, ammonia or a shrimp or something in there. No amount of stress zyme / cycle will cycle a tank without a source of ammonia. Those products merely speedup the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuhli loach Posted January 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 is a week long enough to cycle a tank or should it be longer? I'll use the fish food and the nitrate test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 Not fully cycled, no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuhli loach Posted January 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 thanks am now going with buying ammonia and good bacteria and regularily testing with nitrate, nitrite and ammonia test kits till 0 nitrite and Ammonia and high Nitrate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 Your nitrate needs to be at least under 50ppm and preferably less than 25ppm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuhli loach Posted January 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 oh! our water is high in nitrates how do I lower them (or will they lower themselves in the cycling process) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 8, 2011 Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 oh! our water is high in nitrates how do I lower them (or will they lower themselves in the cycling process) How high in nitrates? And now, they won't lower themselves. Plants, denitrators and deep sand beds can remove them, but your best bet is water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 8, 2011 Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 How will water changes help if the tap water is high in nitrates? Found this... Health Effect of Nitrates on People High nitrate levels in water can cause methemoglobinemia or blue baby syndrome, a condition found especially in infants under six months. The stomach acid of an infant is not as strong as in older children and adults. This causes an increase in bacteria that can readily convert nitrate to nitrite (NO2). Do not let infants drink water that exceeds 10 mg/l NO3-N. This includes formula preparation. Nitrite is absorbed in the blood, and hemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying component of blood) is converted to methemoglobin. Methemoglobin does not carry oxygen efficiently. This results in a reduced oxygen supply to vital tissues such as the brain. Methemoglobin in infant blood cannot change back to hemoglobin, which normally occurs in adults. Severe methemoglobinemia can result in brain damage and death. Pregnant women, adults with reduced stomach acidity, and people deficient in the enzyme that changes methemoglobin back to normal hemoglobin are all susceptible to nitrite-induced methemoglobinemia. The most obvious symptom of methemoglobinemia is a bluish color of the skin, particularly around the eyes and mouth. Other symptoms include headache, dizziness, weakness or difficulty in breathing. Take babies with the above symptoms to the hospital emergency room immediately. If recognized in time, methemoglobinemia is treated easily with an injection of methylene blue. Healthy adults can consume fairly large amounts of nitrate with few known health effects. In fact, most of the nitrate we consume is from our diets, particularly from raw or cooked vegetables. This nitrate is readily absorbed and excreted in the urine. However, prolonged intake of high levels of nitrate are linked to gastric problems due to the formations of nitrosamines. N-nitrosamine compounds have been shown to cause cancer in test animals. Studies of people exposed to high levels of nitrate or nitrite have not provided convincing evidence of an increased risk of cancer. Do a Google search on how to reduce it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuhli loach Posted January 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 surely aquarium plants should absorb most of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 8, 2011 Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 surely aquarium plants should absorb most of it Some...But then you're into high lighting, CO2, fertilisers, constant pruning... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted January 8, 2011 Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 you add the additive, but there MUST be a source of food for the bacteria. In this case either put some cheap fish, ammonia or a shrimp or something in there. No amount of stress zyme / cycle will cycle a tank without a source of ammonia. Those products merely speedup the process. Ohhh, I've only ever used the additive twice a week for 2-3 weeks then added fish, never had a problem, maybe because we add the fish slowly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted January 8, 2011 Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 To the best of my knowledge there has not been a fatal case of methemogloinemia in NZ but I am sure that a lot of people have got sick from worrying about nitrate in the water supply. There are a lot of prerequirements for it to be a problem and most healthy foods like spinach are high in nitrates. Nitrite is used in the manufacture of pickled pork, bacon and ham. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pink_fish Posted January 12, 2011 Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 Ohhh, I've only ever used the additive twice a week for 2-3 weeks then added fish, never had a problem, maybe because we add the fish slowly? Yes - during the 2–3 weeks with no fish your tank hasn't been cycling at all – once you add the fish it will begin cycling. Don't use Stresszyme etc., with no fish – it won't do anything. But the bonus of running a tank for a couple of weeks with no fish is that your plants can get a bit of a start before any fish can chew them or dig them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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