How Long?

[TigerBarb12]

How long will it take my 38 gallon to cycle if i put an old filter cartidge from my 10 gallons in the filter, and use the old gravel for a while?? Will i be able to add fish the day of the tank setup, or add after about a week or so?

[JustOneMore20]

Its hard to say.....tanks cycle different lengths of time. If you use the old filter cartridge and some gravel from an established tank, then you could add a few fish that day. I always setup tanks this way and add fish the day I set them up. You could possibly have an ammonia or nitrite reading if you add too many fish at once, so start by adding a small group.

[TigerBarb12]

So should i add my 6 tiger barbs, they are hardy, is that fine for first day, or only add half?

[FishHead]

im still cycling my 55. i added in some decor from another tank, added amquel plus and bacteria. my ph is 7.8, so im waiting for that to drop before I add any fishies. its been about a week and a half for me so far.

i would wait at least a week before you put any fish in your tank.

[JustOneMore20]

If you move filter media over and use some old gravel, you will be able to move fish over immediately as long as it isn't a ton of them. Filter media contains lots and lots of beneficial bacteria assuming you move it over from a cycled tank and keep it wet.

[mousey]

Fish head, are you adding any ammonia to that tank to feed the bacteria?
if not it will not cycle and the bacteria you transfered will have died.
why do you think the ph is going to drop? it should not drop because of cycling.
You want to get the ammonia to drop. Read up on cycling! From what you have written, you do not seem to have a grasp of the process!

[TigerBarb12]

your ph should be between 6 and 8, why should it need to drop, u want ur nitrite and ammonia to drop the most

[TigerBarb12]

i had another question, would my tank look stupid with 3 filters? wanted to know if i could use 2 15 gallon filters, and then another 10 gallon filter, or just buy one for the 38?

[jlspitler]

just get a empeor 400 that should be fine. we have 2 on our 55 gallon. and i have a 1000 gallon gph on my 75

[TigerBarb12]

how much does that filter cost, im 15 years old, im not rich?

[FishHead]

Originally Posted by mousey

Fish head, are you adding any ammonia to that tank to feed the bacteria?
if not it will not cycle and the bacteria you transfered will have died.
why do you think the ph is going to drop? it should not drop because of cycling.
You want to get the ammonia to drop. Read up on cycling! From what you have written, you do not seem to have a grasp of the process!

yes ammonia is added already
sorry, i forgot to put that in the earlier response.

[FishHead]

Originally Posted by TigerBarb12

your ph should be between 6 and 8, why should it need to drop, u want ur nitrite and ammonia to drop the most

ammonia is good to go, as well as nitrites and nitrates...i guess i am a little anal with wanting the PH at around 7-7.5 when I add in fish. could just be me being overbearing or something

[mousey]

Thanks for the explanation. Sometimes it is hard to remember that we don't know what you did to get the tank started. In our excitement to communicate we leave out pertinent info.
The best advice is to leave the PH alone. If you have hard water many people have stated that within a couple of hours the water is back up again despite using the ph reducer. The chemicals are hard on the fish.
Better to get fish that don't mind harder water and higher ph . On the other hand fish that prefer lower ph can adapt fairly well to the higher ph. They just may not breed.
I have tetras in ph 8.2 and they are now 4 years old.They are black skirts and they do lay eggs( and eat them) despite the high ph.
Hope this encourages you to leave the ph alone.

[FishHead]

Originally Posted by TigerBarb12

i had another question, would my tank look stupid with 3 filters? wanted to know if i could use 2 15 gallon filters, and then another 10 gallon filter, or just buy one for the 38?

i would grab a larger filter as well and still use on the of 15's with it.

[FishHead]

Originally Posted by mousey

Thanks for the explanation. Sometimes it is hard to remember that we don't know what you did to get the tank started. In our excitement to communicate we leave out pertinent info.
The best advice is to leave the PH alone. If you have hard water many people have stated that within a couple of hours the water is back up again despite using the ph reducer. The chemicals are hard on the fish.
Better to get fish that don't mind harder water and higher ph . On the other hand fish that prefer lower ph can adapt fairly well to the higher ph. They just may not breed.
I have tetras in ph 8.2 and they are now 4 years old.They are black skirts and they do lay eggs( and eat them) despite the high ph.
Hope this encourages you to leave the ph alone.

thanks mousey. yeah im leaving the tank as is. i tested the ammonia today and it is good to go. im adding my barbs tomorrow, then the catfish..i'll snap more pics within a few days..

[JustOneMore20]

Originally Posted by TigerBarb12

how much does that filter cost, im 15 years old, im not rich?

Again....it depends on where you buy it.

My first suggestion for a 38g is a small canister filter, but if thats too expensive, then I'd go with an Aquaclear 70 or the Emporer 400.

The only examples I can give you are online. The Emporer 400 is $37.99 at Bigalsonline.com. You can expect it to be more than that at a LFS. The Aquaclear 70 is $41.29 at Big Als Online.com. It will be more in the store I'm sure. A Rena XP2 canister would be perfect for this size tank....they run about $70 online and would be more in the store, but would be excellent to use alone on the tank (with maybe one of the smaller ones for the old media).

Lets try to keep this thread on topic with the OPs questions (I know he's the one that got off topic).

[TigerBarb12]

So how long will it take to cycle for fish to be able to be added?? Im using old media and half old gravel?

[Scuba Kid]

This was your original question.....which was answered quite nicely:

Originally Posted by JustOneMore20

Its hard to say.....tanks cycle different lengths of time. If you use the old filter cartridge and some gravel from an established tank, then you could add a few fish that day. I always setup tanks this way and add fish the day I set them up. You could possibly have an ammonia or nitrite reading if you add too many fish at once, so start by adding a small group.