Hey - newbie :D

[Big_P]

hey all, im from Yorkshire in England and new to this keeping fish game so come on here for tips *PEACE!*

 

[exhumed07]

well u came to the right place. got plenty of people to bounce ideas off of and to give advice. and in fish keeping there are no dumb questions so ask away

 

[Big_P]

thanks exhumed

a term i've seen a lot on here is "cycle" now im guessing it had nothing to do with riding a bike lol

can you/anyone put it into simple english of what it actually means that the newbie would understand without using abbrevations etc lol - thanks in advance

 

[lauraf]

To "cycle" a tank means to get the bacteria established that turns the stuff that is deadly to fish into stuff that is less toxic. Fish poop and other waste produces AMMONIA (very bad). Bacteria will establish that eats ammonia, and turns it into NITRITE (still bad stuff). Another kind of bacteria eats nitrite and turns it into NITRATE (better). When you do water changes, you remove the nitrate so it stays at a level that is not harmful to aquatic life.
If you add fish before this bacteria has had a chance to establish in the tank, you have a bunch of ammonia and nitrite in the water that often kills the fish - it's the most common reason for "mysterious" fish deaths in a new tank . . ..
Cheers, welcome to MFT.
Laura

 

[exhumed07]

there is a way to do a fishless cycle but I have never done one. I do a fish in cycle which is more labor intensive as u need to do alot of water changes to keep the toxins down. if u do plan to do a fish in cycle get hardy cheap fish such as danios. and make sure u have test kits for the 3 major toxins, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate before u add your fish. u will notice within a couple days the tank water starting to cloud up, perfectly normal as ammonia rises, keep an eye on the ammonia levels and do water changes as the level rises. you will notice the tank clearing up after a week or so on average. then it will get cloudy again as the nitrites start to spike. again keep an eye on the levels and do water changes as neccessary. finally the tank will clear up again and the cycle will be more or less over. if anyone has anything else to add feel free. and big p feel free to ask questions if anything is unclear

 

[Big_P]

thanks you two, much appreciated -
as for the water changes etc i kinda new those details but didn't know the term cycle refered to them so im glad thats cleared that up

i will defo, be asking questions as when they arise lol not got really anything to ask at present -

just ordered a gravel filter syphon as i had been using just a tube syphon but thought i would invest in one

im considering getting another plec but heard they poop a lot -
what else is a cheap bottom feeding fish?

 

[exhumed07]

cory cats are pretty popular and pretty active as well. I'm a fan of the upside down catfish. dojo or kuli loaches. and just fyi plecos are not that great at realy cleaning anything. fish stores sell them saying they will keep the glass clean, thats pretty much a lie. sure they will munch on the algae growing on the glass but won't realy affect the algae growth or clean the glass any.

 

[ValRasbora]

Welcome!! At first, cycling seems soo intimidating. Once you get the idea, it's quite simple.