As promised...couldnt get one of the night cycle since my camera wont pick it out properly...

Thats a 32" rubberised airstone around the back and the blue blur is my Siamese fighting fish...At present I have a normal filter to handle upto 60 litres and another small one to handle upto 40 litres since I have a breed of catfish that produces waste like you wouldnt believe and insist on wrapping it around things....

wow! just read all of that, its great info. could do with it in every fishy shop! & im sure some fishy shop owners cud do with reading that so they have a clue! i might actually write something myself, something a bit shorter to give people when they buy a new tank set-up, some customers just dont believe me when they get an answer they don't like, at least if its in black and white, they cant argue with it! have printed it out to read properly later coz once again im supposed to be working, and once again, fish have distracted me. oops!

One thing about my lfs, they do explain the tank cycling to customers, and I think It's a disgrace that some shops don't!!

Quote:

I've read through the original post but I can't see any link or instructions on how to do a fishless cycle of the tank. Have I missed something?

Also, is it true that you have to do a 100% water change after a fishless cycle? It seems to me that the old method of adding a couple of hardy fish is easier?

EDIT: It's ok, I've since found some interesting websites with more details

Good point about the link as it is not working Hmmm

Edit: Have added one of the missing links

Here's another for you to read

http://www.bluecrayfish.com/cycle.htm

Has this link already been posted somewhere?

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk ... rticle.php?article_id=113

- it is FAQ's on fishless cycling from PFK magazine.

Wanting to cycle my new tank, I could not get ammonia anywhere (you would have thought I wanted to make bombs with it the looks I got). So after reading this article, I bought Biomature and Bacterlife. I took half the filter sponge out of existing Biorb and tucked it in to new external power filter, set up tank with dechlorinated water, plants etc, added Biomature (which I think contains ammonia actually) as per instructions until got nitrite peak level then no more Biomature, but added Bacterlife as per instructions, daily testing until nitrite level zero. Then just a big water change to bring nitrate level down and moved fish in. This all took about 5 weeks. It was really straightforward - no complex calculations, just adding measured amounts of stuff according to tank capacity.

Thanks for that Cathie good to hear someone who has used the PFK method with good results, as for the link it is on the bottom of the Alian anna one on the first page

of course it is, excuse old age and dying brain cells, I bet that's how I found it in the first place. well at least it proves how straightforward it is if even I managed it!

Another good link

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/nitritepoison.htm