set up length b4 introducing fish

[talktomrgibson]

how long should i have the tank set up before introducing discus?

[ILLUSN]

2 MONTHS

[the german]

all depends if you seed your filter before or not,there are some good products out there to do that.otherwise you have to let it run for 6-8 weeks.
get some bacteria to strat the filter they are cheap.

[Matt15]

I find adding some tetras will help with the cycle build.

[talktomrgibson]

if i add some tetras will they be territorial when the discus are introduced,
i am thinking of some blue rams as well. do you think i should introduce the discus at the same time as the rams or should the rams be b4 or after?

[Merrilyn]

Have a read thru the information in the stickies regarding cycling a tank.

The process of cycling is to build up a strong bacteria colony that will deal with the toxic waste produced by your fish, ammonia and nitrite, and convert it into non-toxic nitrate.

It takes time for that colony to establish and grow. It will only grow at the rate of the amount of available food. The process usually takes six weeks or more. You can either do a fishless cycle, using a green prawn in the water to supply the ammonia, or you can use some pretty tough fish, those that will be strong enough to stand the extremes of a cycling tank. (Goldfish are often used)

Your bacteria colony growing in your filter is a living breathing thing, and must be fed or it will die. A few little tetras will never be able to provide enough ammonia to feed a colonly big enough to deal with the waste produced by several large discus.

In my opinion, the best way to go is tossing a green prawn in the tank and allowing it to decompose. Don't change the water at all during the six weeks of the cycle. Plants are optional but make sure your filters are running perfectly. The bacteria colony will grow in your filter, not as so many believe, in the tank. It's the filter we want to cycle, not necessarily the tank.

That's why you could take a fully cycled filter from a mature tank, and put it on a brand new tank and add the fish immediately, with no ill effects.

Yes, a small amount of bacteria will grow on the gravel and surfaces of the tank, but for a newbie, it's easier to imagine the bacteria colony being contained in the filter.

Get some test kits. You need ammonia, nitrite and nitrate kits to monitor the cycle. You'll see the rise in ammonia after the first week, then sometime during the second week you should see the ammonia levels dropping and a rise in the nitrite levels. This means your cycle has started.

During the third and fourth week you will begin to see a drop in the nitrite levels and a steady rise in the nitrate levels. During the sixth week you should see zero ammonia, zero nitrite and a high level of nitrate. (You must have zero levels, even a trace reading means the tank isn't cycled).

Remove what's left of the rotting prawn, do a couple of big water changes, being sure to use a chlorine remover, and your newly cycled tank is ready to take a full load of fish. You can add them all at once (best with discus) or a few at a time.

Tetras and rams don't get territorial with discus, so add them whenever you wish. It's the discus who will get territorial with each other, that's why it's best if you add them all together, or at least in groups.

You can add products like "Cycle" to your tank to assist with the growth of the bacteria colony, but they're not the whole answer. Growing a colony takes time. There's no quick fix.

[talktomrgibson]

man thankyou so much for that!
that is REALY helpfull!

so this is gonna sound like a stupid question, but i'm assuming you mean a dead green prawn from coles or something like that?

:)

[ILLUSN]

dead prawn works best

[Gone Fishing]

I'm nearly finished cycling my breeder tank with a sponge filter.

I used some of Merrilyn's beef heart mixture and gravel from my community tank to cycle the tank, but I'm worried about disease establishing itself in the tank.
Even if I do a complete 100% water change clean the inside of the tank, get rid of the filter media and gravel,
is there a chance at all?

Many Kind Fishy Regards
Jason

[ILLUSN]

if you do all that then you'll have to recycle the tank.

pathogens wont live that long without a host.

if your really worried remove all the gravel and do a water change, but dont tough the filter, you'll need it and all is bacteria if you want to use the tank.

[Gone Fishing]

if you do all that then you'll have to recycle the tank.

pathogens wont live that long without a host.

if your really worried remove all the gravel and do a water change, but dont tough the filter, you'll need it and all is bacteria if you want to use the tank.Sorry ILLUSN,
When I said I would remove the filter media I meant the noodle (it was late Ha Ha!) that I dragged out of my community tank that I used to help establish some bacteria colony.
Kind Fishy Regards
Jason

[ILLUSN]

lol no worries mate.