New fish keepers cannot get aquarium filters safely cycled

“Hey all, I got a used fx2 and I feel like the more I read about what order the media has to go in, the more confused I get. A lot of people on FB/Reddit say they use course on the bottom trays and fine media like a polishing pad on top, as well as bio somewhere in the middle/top. After doing some research, I’ve found that that isn’t correct. The water in these filters flows bottom to top FIRST but then goes back down through the middle towards the bottom and out the bottom. This means that your”

“Hello, I got a Marineland Portrait 5 gallon tank which has been awesome for the past month. I have been fishless cycling now for 26 days with the tank and I am almost done cycling but I am doing something stupid and changing the filter system. 🫠 The reason is the tank has a back wall that separates the tank from a back compartment where the internal filter and submersible pump are. The pump water flow is too strong for a betta and even with little changes it still is too strong and the back com”

“I recently (8 days ago) upgraded from a 15g to a 55 g tank. Original tank had 3 Neon Tetras, 1 Nerite Snail, and numerous ghost shrimp. transition, I added 99% of the water from the 15g to the new tank and added tap water on top to fill. Treated all new water with API Quick Start. I added 10 more Neon Tetras and a pair of Angelfish. Changed substrate to a plain white sand and added 2 large chunks of Mopani wood. All other terrain stayed the same (fake plants and rocks). I lost all 13 tetras with”

“I am putting a new filter into my tank today. I know the old one needs to be kept in the tank for a few weeks but does the old one need to be kept running, or does it just need to be keep in the tank? My tank is not very big so I am worried about causing too much water movement. submitted by /u/KaptainDumbass [link] [comments]”

“I got stared in this hobby with a simple aquarium kit, and a cheap cannister filter. Not a fan of the filter or its noise levels and I'm looking to switch. What's the best way to go about this? Running both filters for a while? submitted by /u/Chance-Selection-198 [link] [comments]”

“Hello! I am setting up a fish tank for the first time and got very overwhelmed trying to figure out how to cycle it. I ended up ordering Fritz Fishless Fuel and Fritz Aquatics FritZyme 7 How long will it take to cycle the tank using these two products? Are they legit products to start with? submitted by /u/tochinoes [link] [comments]”

“Hello! I have an 18L (Aqua one eco style 42) currently cycling, it’s been in storage a while and I plan on putting a betta in it which is what was in there previously. I don’t think i can really have anything else in there as it’s too small, other than maybe guppies right? Obvs not together! Anyway that’s not why I’m here. I keep seeing memes on various aquarium groups that show beginner, med, pro, expert aquarium owners that suggest the pros just have a bucket and the noobs have all the gear. T”

“I have a 55gal long angelfish tank with underground and over tank filter. I have had this tank going for 10+ years it ran great. I was doing my monthly cleaning gravel sifting decorations cleaning etc. And noticed some algae or what look like it growing out of the gravel I thought nothing of it now it has taken over my tank. It looks like a blanket of algae what could this be or causing it? I would hate to take my tank apart to scrub it for this stuff to come back. submitted by /u/Br”

“My fluval Biomax media looks like this after about 6 months. It's in my hang on back filter and has developed these brown spots. Should I be concerned or is it okay? My aquarium is freshwater. Thanks! submitted by /u/bluenut33 [link] [comments]”

“So, my 20 gallon has been cycling (fishless) for a couple of weeks now. I know the process takes a long time. I also added some live bacteria (have had luck in the past with it, I know some people don’t believe in it). I am using ammonia drops and it the levels keep dropping. I will dose it to 2-4ppm and it will be almost gone in a day or two. Testing also shows I have nitrates, but I have not had the nitrites show up at all, not even a hint of purple. Can someone help me understand what’s going”

“We bought a second hand 76l aquarium and ciano cf89 filter. Tried to do a finless cycle but it didn’t get anywhere after 5 weeks. Went to the aquatics shop for advice, they said to add the fish alongside NT Optimus when doing water changes and Satus dosed daily. We’ve had two baby orandas in there for 1 week, we’ve done one 40% water change on Friday. I’ve been adding Satus daily as advised and used Optimus for the water change. Tested today and Ammonia was 1ppm, Nitrites 2ppm and Nitrates 20ppm”

“I’m soon going to get my first ever tank and have been researching how to set it up and then maintain it. I’ve seen in various places that when cleaning my filter I must use tank water not tap water, as to not kill beneficial bacteria. However, I’ve also seen various other people say that it’s not necessary and tap water is fine, just not to rinse my filter for too long. Does anyone have any personal experience with this, has rinsing your filter with tap water destroyed your tanks ecosystem? Is”

“Hi y'all :) I've been having a lot of fun with my first tank that I established in January this year. A friend of mine helped me set it up; he gave me most of the equipment but didn't really explain the science or reasoning behind what he gave me. As I've always been mesmerized with Aquariums, I have caught a bad case of multiple tank syndrome. Don't worry: I'm not rushing into things. But I found a great deal for a 80cm /120L tank from a guy the next town over who's”

“I know I will have to test water parameters often, but will I be looking at days or weeks until I can add fish? It’s a 29 gallon, natural bio substrate, carbon filter from an established tank, and driftwood with biofilm on it also from an established tank. Also have about two plants so far. I put QuickStart in but I’ve heard that it really doesn’t speed up the process. submitted by /u/BitterPop4071 [link] [comments]”

“I have four neon tetras in a five gallon tank. Last week one of them started swimming sideways and had buoyancy problems. I fasted them for three days and then he started swimming like normal again and I thought we were out of the woods but the next day he was back down at the bottom of the tank. It’s been four days and he’s still alive but barely moving at the bottom of the tank. My water parameters are all normal and the other three fish are totally fine, swimming and eating normally. Anyone h”

“Just to preface, any advice is needed, I might just not be understanding things correctly. I started my first ever fishless cycle in my new 75 litre (20 gal long) tank on the 11th of July this year. My tap water where I live is at 7.5ph, and 5kh.(Gh around 6/7). I am using a sponge filter as well as a heater and live plants in my setup, and am hoping to start with Cherry Shrimp and snails to begin a low maintenance to get me started in the hobby Everything seemed to be going perfectly at the sta”

“Just got a 75 gallon tank. What’s the best way to go about water changes and how much? I plan to do a planted tank and stock with guppies and platys. Also what type of filter and how big should I use? I got a decently sized sponge filter from the guy I bought it from he said there was plenty of bacteria on it but the filter is dry are the bacteria still usable? Any advice appreciated submitted by /u/Good-Cable-4870 [link] [comments]”

“So i upgraded my 10g to a 20 long, in my 10g I only kept neon tetras. Once I upgraded I added more fish within the next 2 weeks. This is likely where I fucked up. But I used old tank water to help the cycle and I've been running my new larger filter with my tank for about 5 days now. Roughly 2 weeks after complete upgrade. No judgement pls. My filters were never paid for and Amazon never told me so it wasn't until I realized 4 days later that I had to re order and wait another week. Howe”

“How do I switch from my HOB to sponge? Like not physically, but what do I do to ensure you don’t throw off my tanks beneficial bacterial. submitted by /u/Bobs_Burgers7 [link] [comments]”

“hey guys! I'm new to this and my aquarium is still cycling but I intend to add neocaridina and amano shrimp in the future. I have a Fluval fx6 and the filter inlet is massive and has big gaps. so I made this sponge pre filter. I know it will demand more cleaning and maintenance but for now I like the looks of it and the flow is the same as the original inlet. I use a tube from a Fluval outlet spray kit and I made dozens of 8mm holes in the tube . the sponges were from Amazon, 80mm long with”

“Hi! I set up my first ever tank about 3 weeks ago and I have been keeping track of water parameters ever since then. However I’m not actually sure if my tank is cycling or not because I haven’t gotten any nitrite readings, and overall ammonia and nitrates have been very low. I have live plants (anubias, small Java fern, mugwort and wisteria) and accidentally picked up a couple pest snails which have been living in there right now, and I used fluval bio stratum. I thought I had enough bacteria to”

“the guy at the petstore didn't really aswer when I asked him that so I was wondering what to do. Also the filter is from an italian company called Newa and the filter is called "Newa Duetto internal filter" submitted by /u/Abbabbabbaba [link] [comments]”

“My tank is a 50gal freshwater community with a light to medium population density. My current SeaChem Tidal 75 is great, but showing its age. I was just gonna get a new pump so it's on hand for when the worn one shits the bed, but $40 for a canister? How could I decline.... submitted by /u/ExtraChegg [link] [comments]”

“Hey guys! This is my first tank. I have 6 tetras, 3 blue and 3 red. I do plan on getting more. I have a canister filter with lily pipes in a 20 gal for a set up. I was wondering if anyone could recommend some tank mates for the tetras? I want something with color and maybe a little bigger? I also want to get shrimp and have a planted tank. Any recommendations on plants, or where to buy them and how to keep them alive would be appreciated!! This is just the set up for right now I promise it will”

“Advice needed! I have this 20 gallon freshwater tank that has been set up and been cycling for a little bit over a week. We have four tetras that we originally got the same day that we set up our tank and they seem to be doing very well and this past weekend we added three amano shrimp and two snakeskin guppies. Unfortunately, one of the shrimp and one of the guppies already died a day into us having them we tested the water before we got them and after and it looks like all the parameters are g”

“13 neon tetra, 13 red eye, 14 mini cory 3 foot long tank i change the water more often with RO, it evaporates about 2 gallons a week, i upgraded to a canister filter rated for 50 gallons with added a gallon of water to the tank it also has 2 sponge filters lots of shrimp (25 ish) and babies i added the brown ones to the 4.5 gallon one the side which just has 2 rice fish and snails, lots of plants and nice schooling behavior from the red eye but the neons are new as of today, the cory are always”

“We are setting up a 10 gallon tank to eventually put a betta in. We are trying to do our first fishless cycle. We added fritzyme nitrifying bacteria as well as Dr. Tim’s liquid ammonia about a week ago and this is what our water is looking like right now. What do we need to do next? Do we add more ammonia or bacteria at some point? How do we know when we are finished? We are total beginners. submitted by /u/zman6754 [link] [comments]”

“There is these two options, an Atman AT-3337S for 100$ or Fluval 207 for 178$ (which is expensive to me but can still pay it). My Aquarium is a planted 33 gallon with mainly ember tetras, cories, shrimps and snails.. This Atman canister does not have many reviews since it is not well known however it outputs 1500 L/H (double of the fluval) and can fit double the media filter capacity than the fluval 207 However I am afraid if the Atman can make an anoying noise or leak due to little reviews. AI”

“Hello everyone, I started a new 63 gallon tank 2 weeks ago and have been using seachem prime and stability for the quick start process. I've gradually added 23 rummynose tetras last week and they seem healthy and active with bright red noses. I've been testing the water parameters and they consistently read ammonia 0, nitrate 0. I am wondering how people would interpret this recurring darker blue colour from my nitrite tests. The colour is consistent even after a 40% water change two day”

“Okay I've been cycling the tank since a few days to a week before the 29th of July and since then I've dosed the tank 3 times, the last time I did was this past Saturday or Sunday that just happened. Based on these results pictured, what should I do? Do I need to water change or just let it ride and be patient? submitted by /u/Asleep_Tax7964 [link] [comments]”

“Hi there - I have a canister on my 28G tank but I am finding it really hard and intimidating to keep up the maintenance. I put filter floss in a while back but nearly drained my tank trying to take it out so it's been left in there for much longer than it likely should have. Aside from that, the tubes are dirty and I'm too scared to clean them. I have CO2 being injected through the filter but have no issue just setting up a diffuser instead. In the past I've run sponges and thought I”

“I started a fishless cycle on August 1st using ammonia carbonate (fishtank ammonia is super hard to get around here) and Stability. Things are finally happening but I’m going to be travelling this weekend. Will my cycle crash or anything if I don’t add fish right away? And will it be okay leaving it for 3 days? I’ve been testing daily and haven’t had to add any ammonia. Attaching a picture of my tests from today! submitted by /u/AwkoTaco04 [link] [comments]”

“Hey everyone! Sorry for the weird question but, I recently was gifted a fluval 107 canister filter for my 20 gallon saltwater tank. I wanted to know the best way for me to cycle the filter before I put it into the tank. I was either going to use water from a water change in a 5 gallon bucket to cycle it, or add it to the tank while still using my old HOB filter I’m just not sure what would be best. Thank you all and sorry for the weird question submitted by /u/OhNonoRelavent [link] &”

“I’m a fairly newer fish keeper. I have an established 72ga bow front tank that has a Fluval 407 canister filter and 2 medium size sponge filters. I want to start a brand new 30ga tank and I have a Fluval AC50 HOB style filter for it. My question is this; can I run the AC50 in my established tank along with the current filtration to get a start on the beneficial bacteria, if so how long would I need the AC50 running in my tank before I moved it over to the 30ga? submitted by /u/Havabo”

“Hi everyone, im setting up my new tank but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this. To speed up the cycling process , my new tank is the same filter as one thats been established for a long time. Its a fluval 207 and im thinking of just swapping half the media, the tray in the side that holds the coarse media. Has anyone had any success with this and is it too much media to be swapping? Also am I at risk crashing my established tank with fresh media? submitted by /u/In”

“\ **thanks guys PH too high. * **\ * New to aquariums and fish. I cycled my planted Fluval Flex 15 for 1.5 months before the water was right. I did a second check to make sure it could handle ammonia and it was fine. So Wednesday I bought 8x neon tetras, 1x red honey gourami, 1x nerite snail. I acclimated them to the water. A few hours later one was dead (removed), next morning Thursday one more (removed), later Thursday two more, (checked water each time and removed dead), two dead this morning”

“I have a 125L planted tank that I cycled for about a month and can process 2ppm ammonia in 24 hours, and just added 12 ember tetras a few days ago. They've settled in a lot already but a couple are still quite shy. I've tested the water every day so far and maintained 0ppm ammonia and nitrites, and have about 10ppm nitrates at the moment. I'd like to add some kuhli loaches (probably 6-8 in total) how long should I wait? I don't want to overload the tank adding too much at once, b”

“I should have kept my old filter from my tank when I rescaped it, but it was sitting vacant for so long so I just got rid of it. Every time I think “maybe it’s been long enough and I can get a betta now”, I test the water and I’m immediately humbled. Starting from scratch has tested my patience, but I know it’ll be worth the wait. *Tank is empty! submitted by /u/prairieform [link] [comments]”

“tank is a 2.5 gal, planted with driftwood. pretty hefty sponge filter taking up a lot of room that i just grabbed from my 20 gal that has 2 separate sponge filters. submitted by /u/overxall [link] [comments]”

“Next battle is going to be figuring out why I can't get plants to thrive here. They always disintegrate after a few months. With the FX2 at 50% flow, there's still enough water current to make my beta unhappy so I need to break up the flow with some plants. I also need to get rid of the baby snail shells all over the substrate. Trying to catch them with a net is an exercise in futility. Maybe I need to mask them by adding some pebbles? submitted by /u/Lonely_Emu_700 [link] &#”

“I’m current doing a fish less cycle. I’m adding ammonia to my water and API quick start. A couple of days ago, I dosed my water with 4.0 ppm ammonia and just last night, it has dropped to 1.0 ppm and my nitrites read as 5.0 ppm. I tested my nitrates and the results were 160 ppm. I know that my nitrates are currently high, should I stop adding ammonia or should I do a water change to lower my nitrates and then continue to add ammonia to continue to cycling process? submitted by /u/ema”

“I’ve gone through so much with this 3 month old tank. I’ve had cycle stalls and crashes to the point where I finally bought established filter media online and after 0 ammonia and nitrite readings for 4 days despite feeding the tank and water changes. I have my betta and was gonna add shrimp but today I checked the readings and it was 0.50 ammonia / 5.0 nitrite. I’ve spent 100s at this point on seachem stability, api QuickStart and Fritz zyme 7. My tap water ph is high I’ve already lost one bett”

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“I have a ten gallon tank right now that has a typical hob filter, but im hoping to swap it out for a sponge filter, as it’s already killed one of my mystery snails and a few shrimp via sucking them into it. I have a weird fix where I stuffed some sponge into the intake, but it’s been broken for a while and tends to spray water when I’m not careful. My second issue is that I have an empty 20 gallon that I have been wanting to use, as I have shrimp, about six neon tetras, and two peacock gudgeons”

“We're upgrading our pygmy/honey gourami 10g to a 20g. Our current HOB filter will be going to the new tank, as well as all the plants. We're using new substrate though, because we hate the one we used in our first tank, and I'm going all natural for hardscape this time. How badly will the cycle be messed up without the substrate and decor? It's a well-established tank that's been up for 8 months, so the filter has plenty of bacteria by itself, but I know a lot lives on surfac”

“i re scaped a tank that had fallen into disarray, and messed up my cycle. i replaced the sand, and rinsed off all of the wood in the tank with a hose, and changed from an hob filter to a canister filter (i put back in all of the ceramic media from the old filter). i’ve had to cycle the tank with all the fish in it, and have lost a few fish so far. It’s a heavily stocked tank and used to be set up kinda like a walstad tank, with no water changes and only topping it up. water was consistently 0ppm”

“Hi I’ve been cycling my freshwater tank using ammonia. This is my first fishless cycle. I don’t have chart physically for reference but I had my nitrite spike 1.5 weeks ago I believe. Then I added turbo 700 and some live plants a few days ago. Then I retested this morning and nitrite have dropped, ammonia seems <0.25 or 0. And nitrates are 0. What do I do next to confirm it’s finished cycling?? Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate test in order left to right. 1st pic: 3 weeks ago 2nd: 1.5 week ago 3”

“First tank it's been 2 weeks the first week I didn't add enough good bacteria so I've only been dosing the correct way for about a week does my ammonia look like the right ppm my water is around 79 degrees thank y'all submitted by /u/Due-Will-8417 [link] [comments]”

“I have a tank that has cycled well with a regular filter, but I would like to switch it over to a sponge filter as I am intending to have shrimp and fry at some point. I don’t want to mess up the tank by removing an old filter and just popping in a new one-can I have both for a period of time or something in order to have a smooth transition? Or if there is any other advice it would be appreciated. Thank you! submitted by /u/Sad_Assumption6591 [link] [comments]”

“I am almost a month in on cycling a 20g tank. My ammonia is at 0 and nitrites are at 0. Nitrates are at 40ppm. I did a 50% water change yesterday because nitrates were 80ppm. Should I add ammonia now and see what happens or give it another day to try to get nitrates lower? submitted by /u/Intelligent-Bad-1201 [link] [comments]”

“Hi! First time setting up a tank properly. I plan to have a shortfin betta and some shrimp possibly in a couple of months. I put a filter media from an already cycled tank in the filter. I had a 3gal with some fish I gave to someone with a 75gal so the fish inside could be properly cared for. I grabbed the plants out of the 3gal to put in my 10. I have tried to find the plant I have pictured, but I'm not sure it's correct. submitted by /u/sparklesalad [link] [comments]”

“Hey folks, my son and I started a 20 gallon freshwater tank with live plants about a month and a half ago. We started with a fishless cycle and over the last month have added 9 residents. All this to say we have had a really healthy tank, our only casualty was a tetra who died in transit home. Coming up on the one month mark since adding fish (and one hitchhiker snail) I wanted feedback on which parts to replace. I’ve looked at the manual for our filter and can’t seem to really pin down where al”

“two weeks ago I was ready to give the whole tank away…. Now here we are. I know nitrate needs removing with a water change but how do I go about it? How much water, I don’t want another crash. I also want to add gravel back into my tank. Will this destroy the cycle😩 submitted by /u/TransitionTough [link] [comments]”

“I recently redid my betta tank and added some shrimp to it. She’s super chill and leaves them alone, but I noticed some were missing and I wasn’t finding any bodies or anything. Today when I was cleaning the tank and filter, a few dead shrimp came out of it. I’m looking to switch filters to something safer for the shrimp so they don’t get stuck up in there now that I realize this is happening but I don’t want my cycle to crash. Any advice on filters and how to go about keeping the cycle running?”

“I just moved my tank two days ago, and until yesterday the water was entirely poop brown. I cleaned the filter cartridge with tank water and tried to scrub the outside as it was very dirty. (3rd photo is what it originally looked like, 2nd photo is from yesterday, first photo is from today This morning, the filter broke and will now not turn on. I had to buy a new one, but my question is this- Should I replace the filter cartridge or keep the new one despite it intaking so much filth? I don’t wa”

“Hi hello fishy friends, I bought a 125 gal tank and stand a few months ago, renovated the shop space where it will be located, and now prepping and setting up the tank. With the tank came two free Aquatop Forza FZ9 UV filters. Upon testing, they both need the primer pistons replaced as well as the UV lights, about what I expected. I've already taken apart the filters and it seems like the impeller and motor work, but hard to say if I won't need some other parts once I fix the observable”

“Hello! (See disclaimers below). I’ve just added some salvinia minima to my tank, and I was wondering if this set up could be improved? I moved the air stone to the same side as my filter so that I could have a bigger area for the plants. Just want to make sure I’m not messing anything up with how it’s laid out. Of course any and all advice on the whole thing is welcome! Disclaimers I’m totally new to this, so please be nice to me lol. I unexpectedly inherited this tank the fish an d the set up,”

“sooo… i finished cycling about 2 weeks ago. i was dosing 2ppm liquid ammonia every night and would get 0ppm ammonia & 0ppm nitrites every following afternoon. i continued dosing the 2ppm ammonia until i was ready for fishies (to keep the cycle active). i welcomed 7 bronze corydoras this past Friday. unfortunately i did not acclimate them properly and have since lost 2. i’ve learned from my mistakes and thankfully the rest seem to be doing well. i plan to get more corys tomorrow; probably 3 t”

“I just got 6 Neon tetras and need help on what to get them. I currently have them in not so great conditions due to someone having to give them away and I just ended up with them. I have researched on what type of food they need and just need help on what things I should get. I just have a couple questions Can I put them in a 5 gallon or 10 gallon? What filter works for them? What heater ? What type of substrate/gravel would be good. What type of plant? How often do I need to clean the tank And”