To cycle a tank there has to be a supply of ammonia. So to do a fishless cycle your parents will have to either add ammonia to the tank, or add fish food etc that can rot and become ammonia. And I'm not certain, but I think it tanks a little bit longer than 3 weeks to cycle a tank. If you want to speed up the process you can seed the tank a filter from a cycled tank, or some gravel from a cycled tank. Or there are products on the market that claim do the same thing (I think Bio-Spiro is one of them). Even if you seed the tank, you still need a source of ammonia so that the bacteria don't starve. You might buy a couple gold fish or something and have your parents feed them. Here's a couple helpful links...

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/s ... less.shtml
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/n ... tcyc.shtml

Any other questions?

 

You can do some things to get it started, but moto_master is right, it'll take longer than 3 weeks. It
usually takes 4-6 weeks. Asking your parents to have an understanding of fishless cycling in order to
add the correct amount of ammonia and test parameters each day may not be practical, but there are
other options.

First read those links that moto_master provided and have a good understanding of the
process yourself. It should answer your questions.

What you then might do to make it easy for someone else to start fishless cycling for you is this. After
you get it set up, add enough drops of ammonia to bring it up to about .5ppm and no more. Keep track
of how many drops it took. Ask your parents to add that many drops each day until you get back. Now
this isn't the typical way of doing this, but it simulates a light fish load. That fish load would be adding
ammonia to the tank each day. It's the same as adding a few small fish, but easier on the fish. By the
time you're ready to take over after 3 weeks, ammonia should have spiked and dropped and now be
reading 0, and there should be a reading of nitrite. At that time, you can increase the daily dose of
ammonia if you plan to initially stock with more than a few fish. Then just finish out the process by
continuing to add a daily dose of ammonia until nitrite drops.

 

At that time, you can increase the daily dose of
ammonia if you plan to initially stock with more than a few fish. Then just finish out the process by
continuing to add a daily dose of ammonia until nitrite drops.

Do I add the larger dose of ammonia and wait for the nitrite to drop while the fish are in there (probably around 10 or 12) ? Or do I add the fish after the nitrite drop?

Also, should I ask my parents to do small water changes each week? or are none required while it's cycling?

(one more thing...I may be able to borrow a friend's filter/some media...by how much would this speed up the process typically?)

Thanks for all the help! Really appreciate it.

 

Do I add the larger dose of ammonia and wait for the nitrite to drop while the fish are in there (probably around 10 or 12) ? Or do I add the fish after the nitrite drop?

You don't add ammonia while fish are in the tank, no. Those links should answer a lot of questions.

Also, should I ask my parents to do small water changes each week? or are none required while it's cycling?

None required. Just have them add the ammonia. Keep it simple for them.

(one more thing...I may be able to borrow a friend's filter/some media...by how much would this speed up the process typically?)

It's speeds it up to 8 days or so for me. You may come home to a cycled tank.

 

It's speeds it up to 8 days or so for me. You may come home to a cycled tank.

Say for for example it cycled in 10 days. After the 10 days, should anything be done to the aquarium until I'm home? (water changes, any sort of chemical added etc, etc)

Thanks for the links, I'm reading them now...

 

Do I add the larger dose of ammonia and wait for the nitrite to drop while the fish are in there (probably around 10 or 12) ? Or do I add the fish after the nitrite drop?

Add the fish after the Nitrite drop. Essentially, the pure ammonia that you are adding is taking the place of fish in regards to the cycling process. You want to wait until the nitrite has dropped completely to add any fish. and at that point you can stop adding ammonia.

Also, should I ask my parents to do small water changes each week? or are none required while it's cycling?

They should NOT do any water changes during the cycle, nor should you once you get back until the cycle is complete. Once the cycle is complete, do a massive water change (80%), make sure to dechlorinate the water you add back into the tank, and then add the fish.

(one more thing...I may be able to borrow a friend's filter/some media...by how much would this speed up the process typically?)

Essentially, a fully functioning biofilter from another tank ca

n instantly cycle a new tank. Meaning that you could set up the tank and add the filter and fish immediately. You would still want to watch the water parameters for about a week, and if you see only nitrate on the rise than you know you are in good shape. However, even in this case it is very possible to see a mini-cycle, but if you can keep ammonia and nitrite levels low enough (.25 ppm or less) by means of water changes, most hardy fish will survive it. Not that it's the best scenario for them, but I would bet they would be ok.

 

egggh... I meesed up the whole quoting thing in my post above... but you can figure it out.

 

Say for for example it cycled in 10 days. After the 10 days, should anything be done to the aquarium until I'm home? (water changes, any sort of chemical added etc, etc)

Have them just keep adding the ammonia. They won't know if it's cycled or not. When you get home,
run the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate tests. If ammonia and nitrite are 0, and nitrate is above 0, then
you're cycled. Do a series of small partial water changes to get the nitrates down if needed. I've seen
large water changes on a newly cycled tank cause nitrite spikes and others have reported the same.

What are you planning to initially stock with and how many and what size?

 

egggh... I meesed up the whole quoting thing in my post above... but you can figure it out.

No worries, i figured it out lol.

Makes sense. Well, I'll try to get the filter media to speed up the cycle while I'm away, then just hope for the best when I get home. Hopefully it will be fully cycled, if not, I'll wait until it's finished.

After
you get it set up, add enough drops of ammonia to bring it up to about .5ppm and no more

As far as figuring out how much ammonia to add each day to attain that 0.5ppm that Tim mentioned, what's the best way to do that? Add drops, test, add more drops, test, etc? Any typical number of drops/10gallons or anything?

 

What are you planning to initially stock with and how many and what size?

I'm planning on adding ~6 Saulosi and ~4-6 Maingano (and eventually ~Acei, maybe at the same time, maybe after the summer, I'm not sure yet because I dont have the prices yet)
So, we'll say about 10 fish to start with.

I'm not possitive on the size, but I think I will be receiving juvies with my order.

 

As far as figuring out how much ammonia to add each day to attain that 0.5ppm that Tim mentioned, what's the best way to do that? Add drops, test, add more drops, test, etc? Any typical number of drops/10gallons or anything?

Yes, that's the best way. Ammonia concentrations can be different with different brands, but the
walmart brand took 10 drops per 10 gallons to bring it up to 1ppm, so start with 5 drops per 10 gallons.
I don't see your tank size anywhere, but for a 55 for instance, you'd add about 20-25 drops, wait about
10 minutes and test. What size tank?

Just wanted to add that getting it at exactly .5 isn't important. Ballpark it.

So, we'll say about 10 fish to start with.

I'm not possitive on the size, but I think I will be receiving juvies with my order.

I'd probably then bump the dosage up to 1ppm once you get home and take over just to be safe. You
shouldn't need more. Test after 24 hours at that dosage to make sure ammonia and nitrite are 0.

 

I don't see your tank size anywhere, but for a 55 for instance, you'd add about 20-25 drops, wait about
10 minutes and test. What size tank?

The tank is a 90 Gal (48Wx18Dx24H)

So I'll try to pick up the Walmart brand and go with ~10 drops/10Gallons, so 90 drops..
ouff lol that's a lot of drops.

 

Start with less. Start with 50 and test. If it's something below 1ppm (those color charts can be hard to
read), then it's good. If you accidentally add way too much, you can do a water change to bring it down.

 

that's a lot of drops.

What I ended up doing was adding drops to a teaspoon to see how many that was, and if I recall, it was
about 100. Then going forward I could just use the teaspoon or a half teaspoon or whatever instead of
counting out drops each time.

 

What I ended up doing was adding drops to a teaspoon to see how many that was, and if I recall, it was
about 100. Then going forward I could just use the teaspoon or a half teaspoon or whatever instead of
counting out drops each time.

Perfect, that's helpful.

K, well I think I finally have it figured out! Perfect!

Thanks for the help all! I'll post some pics in about 2 months once everything is done and set up the way I want it...ugh, so long to wait! Ah well..should be worth it. :fish:

 

And make sure that the ammonia is completely pure... no surfactants, color or perfumes.

 

And make sure that the ammonia is completely pure... no surfactants, color or perfumes.

+1
Don't want to poison the tank. Good luck and if you have any more questions just let us know.

 

ugh, so long to wait! Ah well..should be worth it.

You will find that patience is possibly one of the most important virtues in this hobby. 9 times out of 10 if you rush something, you'll end up regretting it.