How long for my tank to cycle?

Question

I have a 10 gallon tank that until yesterday was up and running. I had to clean it out and remove the fish and put them in a hospital tank because one of my guppies was infecting everyone in the tank with fin rot. How long must it cycle before I can put new fish in? I am also in the process of cycling a 40 gallon octagon tank, too. Will that tank take longer because it is larger?

Answer 1

It usually takes about 4 weeks for a tank to cycle.  Size has nothing to do with it.  Keeping the temperature up so your ammonia source rots faster can speed things up.  If you have a tank that you can use some filter media or gravel from to seed the bacteria will help speed it up as well.  

Removing all the fish to another tank was kind of pointless.  You might as well have just treated that tank and removed the cause.  By moving them all you've just moved the problem to a new tank and created a lot more work for yourself.  The bacteria is with the fish not in the rocks or water.

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Answer 2

I would go with a month for the 10 gallon, and 2 for the 40.  You can be safe with shorter times but basically the longer you can do it, the better.  It takes a week minimally for the biological fliter to be good enough for fish- use something like Stress-Zyme to speed up the process.  Also if you are decanting the 10 tank ish into the 40, if they are free of disease put as much of their water in the new tank with them as possible.

Answer 3

A tank will take @! 2-3 months to cycle properly. I hope you added some cycle to the tank and follow the directions on the box. This will help with the process and the new fish you put in the tank. Treat the sick fish with Melafix or Coppersafe. This should help some of your fish with their tail rot.