# Day 2!



## Zayna (Apr 19, 2009)

Its day 2 of owning a fish tank.. I have set everything up and switched it all on.
Cant wait to get some fish but must be patient...

I read on another forum that you can speed up the cycling process by adding some biological matter from a mature tank?? How does this work exactly?


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## Fishyfins (Feb 28, 2009)

it is fully possible to speed up the process by adding mature material from another filter. the process is simple.

all you need is a friend with a nice mature filter. all you would need to do is borrow one of their sponges from their filter, and squeeze it out in your own tank. yes, you are messing up your water with waste. yes the water will gmuky for a while. but all that dirt is riddled wit th good bacteria your filter needs. when this dirt is taken up, the bacteria will colonise your filter. then simply test the water for a few days to make sure its fine, and you shuld be ok to add fish.

of course, if the friend is very good, they may give you the sponges, in whch case, just put it into your filter and your ready to go


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## Zayna (Apr 19, 2009)

I am planning to keep tropical fish and my friend has cold water fish, will this be a problem??

So i just need to take the sponge out of his filter and squeeze it into my tank then return it to him? Will it do his fish any harm not having a sponge in the filter for half an hour or so??


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## Zayna (Apr 19, 2009)

Ok i done it, took a sponge off my friend, it wouldnt fit in my filter so i squeezed it out into my tank as suggested. what do I do now? Tank has been set up since yesterday evening.


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## Fishyfins (Feb 28, 2009)

as they are both freshwater species then it should be fine. theonly time it wouldnt work is marine > freshwater and vice versa. and it wont have done hs fish any harm either

now, just wait for theawter to clear and settle for a couple of days. each day, add a pinch of fishfood to the tank to feed the bacteria, and do regular tests. if all has worked, then you should see nitrates being produced


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## Zayna (Apr 19, 2009)

water is clear already, I have tested the ph level and it says its ideal.

I read on another forum that you can cycle a tank with a betta fish.. is this true? I am very keen to get a fish asap but I dont want to cause any suffering by sticking it in a tank that isnt ready.


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## Fishyfins (Feb 28, 2009)

well, yes, you could cycle with a betta if you wanted, just as you could cycle with any fish. but no matter what the fish is, betta or otherwise, its not gonna be very nice for them. no matter what the fish is, they are gonna be harmed by the high level of toxins in the water, so its best to do it without fish. some fish are more adapt at surviving than others, but as it still hurts them, i wouldnt ^^

as well as this, its not a good idea to get a betta if you plan on having other fish anyway. they dont get on well in community tanks, as they tend to be very shy, and get scared easily by the other fish. most bettas in community tanks get so scared they wont come out to eat and starve to death. id avoid getting a betta unless you only want him on his own in the tank (or with a harem of lady bettas)

and just one final point: why are you testing for PH? if you only plan on keeping a few basic fish, then i wouldnt bother. most commonly available species are so far removed from their wild counterparts that they can live happily in a huge range of water conditions, so unless something goes majorly wrong, the PH wont be an issue for them. on you start keeping very finicky fish such as discus, then you should worry about PH. at this stage in the game for you, id forget about it, and start testing for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate, which are by far more important to test for, especially early on in the tanks life.


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## hawksport (Dec 27, 2009)

A tip for you, nitrifying bacteria will multiply quicker in the dark.


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## Fishyfins (Feb 28, 2009)

hawksport said:


> A tip for you, nitrifying bacteria will multiply quicker in the dark.


really? wow, i didnt know that. 15 years, and the hobby can still throw up surprises XD


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## hawksport (Dec 27, 2009)

Can't remember the figures but I'm sure you could look it up on the web if you were interested. Nitrification, dentrification and the cellular respiration of maltase enzymes, all interesting reading


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## Zayna (Apr 19, 2009)

hawksport said:


> A tip for you, nitrifying bacteria will multiply quicker in the dark.


ooh thats interesting. Thanks for the advice fishyfins, only tested for ph cos thats what the instructions on the starter kit told me to do

According to the instructions i need to check the nitrate levels on day 4 so i shall be doing that tomorrow.

another question... I really would like a betta whereas oh has his heart set on getting some mini crabs as well as fish. Can crabs and bettas mix?


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2010)

hawksport said:


> A tip for you, nitrifying bacteria will multiply quicker in the dark.


Quite correct. Nitrifying bacteria are photosensitive, particularly to blue and ultra-violet light. However, once the bacteria have fully established themselves on hard media, they are no longer photosensitive.

For this reason, flourescent tubes that emit UV or near-UV light should remain off for the first few days of the aquarium's life, as nitrifying bacteria may be trapped in suspension in the water column.


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## Fishyfins (Feb 28, 2009)

Zayna said:


> ooh thats interesting. Thanks for the advice fishyfins, only tested for ph cos thats what the instructions on the starter kit told me to do
> 
> According to the instructions i need to check the nitrate levels on day 4 so i shall be doing that tomorrow.
> 
> another question... I really would like a betta whereas oh has his heart set on getting some mini crabs as well as fish. Can crabs and bettas mix?


sorry to say, but crabs cant mix with fish, period! its either one or the other. add crabs to fish, an even large fish will soon start to vanish, and you will see some very happy looking crabs. crabs are also great houdinis, and will escape from all but the most secure tanks.


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## hawksport (Dec 27, 2009)

Fishyfins said:


> sorry to say, but crabs cant mix with fish, period! its either one or the other. add crabs to fish, an even large fish will soon start to vanish, and you will see some very happy looking crabs. crabs are also great houdinis, and will escape from all but the most secure tanks.


Added to that, once you have crabs you can't use any copper based medications. Even if you take them out while you use it and perform a full water change, decor can absorb copper and release it at a later date.


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## Zayna (Apr 19, 2009)

hawksport said:


> Added to that, once you have crabs you can't use any copper based medications. Even if you take them out while you use it and perform a full water change, decor can absorb copper and release it at a later date.


oh good, i wasnt overly keen on buying crabs anyway.. they give me the creeps!


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