Question: Cycling! Please help asap

[brella]

hi,
so i'm getting my axies sometime today...i know they are already out for delivery.

well i recently was informed about cycling the tank. i bought some liquid cycling stuff at the pet store that is supposed to cycle a tank faster. i added that and its almost been 24 hours. is that stuff good enough?
if its not good enough, what do i do?!

i'm really freaked out about getting them because i dont know if the tank is good!

 

[blueberlin]

Hi Brella,

The "starter bacteria" that most people sell actually do not work. There is one called BioSpira that actually does help, but it can be hard to find.

An aquarium can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to cycle. If you have nowhere else to keep your axolotls, the tank will cycle with them in it. This means that you will need to be chaning at least 20% of the water in the aquarium each day until the tank has cycled. You can buy dropper tests (test tube tests) to test the water periodically - when the nitrite (NO2) and ammonia levels are at 0 and you show a nitrate (NO3) reading, your tank is cycled.

More info on cycling can be found here:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml

Don't freak out. Most of us go through this at first.

-Eva
http://www.caudata.org/forum/announcement.php?f=57

 

[ianclick]

Hi Brella,

Firstly try not to freak out. Have a look at www.axolotl.org it has heaps of information about all things axolotl.

Secondly the best things for cycling a tank are patience and time. There are many quick fixes available most don't work well or at all.

Good Luck