NEW TANK CYCLE

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widowmaker123
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Morning

I have bought a new tank and going to start the cycle with fluval cycle, but am not sure how to do this I have read the instructions about the dosage over 3 days then weekly, but do I have to do any water changes?

Thanks
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Stephen
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Hello and welcome to the forum.

You intend to do a fish-in cycle as opposed to a fishless cycle.
Fluval wrote:Dosage new aquariums:

DAY 1: 25 mL per 10 US Gal (37.8 L)
DAY 2: 10 mL per 37.8 L (10 US Gal)
DAY 3: 10 mL per 37.8 L (10 US Gal)
Dosage after adding fish and or medicating : 10 mL per 37.8 L (10 US Gal)
Weekly dosage for regular maintenance activities and to maintain a strong beneficial biological colony: 5 mL per 37.8 L (10 US Gal)
250 mL (8.4 fl oz) bottle treats up to 1892 L (500 US Gal )
What size is your new aquarium?


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Ric
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Welcome to the forum.

You could have a look at the starter guides: https://www.aquariumforums.co.uk/guides

Here we recommend a fishless cycle as it removes any stress from the fish. It may take somewhat longer at the beginning to get your filter mature to deal with any fish waste but it is safer, as there is no risk of any fish being poisoned by ammonia.
An alternative would be to find a local fishkeeper in your area and get some of their filter media to 'seed' your brand new filter.
Ruth
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I always do the later part of what Ric said - some cycled media and add fish slowly. First fish go in with the media and keep a check on the ammonia levels. What size is the tank?
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Greetings :] & welcome to AF-UK
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black ghost
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Fluval Cycle doesn’t always work. I’d use Tetra Safe Start, Dr. Tim’s, or Waterlife Biomature.
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plankton
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Welcome to the forum. :)
I agree with @black ghost - it depends whether the water in bottle matches the water in the tank with Cycle.
Whatever you do use with the stuff you buy, it's best to follow the instructions to the letter, as most of them (not Dr.Tims) need a small number of small fish to provide the ammonia.
The easiest (and cheapest) way (and best for the fish) is to use ammonia as per the instructions @Ric pointed you to. :)
widowmaker123
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the tank is only small 57 litres i was going to do a fishless cycle and use fluval cycle to start it off, im assuming i would add food to create the ammonia for the cycle to start?

thanks for your help i would prefer this did not end in disaster!
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plankton
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Using food is unpredictable, at least with straight ammonia you know whereabouts you are in the cycle and can control the ammonia to keep it progressing steadily.
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black ghost
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Food also takes a lot longer, because you first need to grow heterotrophic bacteria to break the food down into ammonia.
Do you not have another filter you can take some mature media from?
Or you could use ‘bacteria food’ like Bacterlife, which is even quicker than ammonia usually.
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