Cycling a ten gallon tank

Question

i just set up my ten gallon tank about 2 days ago and there are NO fish in the tank yet and it just started to cycle i think because the water got cloudy. does anyone know anything as to when it will get clear or how can i speed it up, when it will be done cycling or do you know its done when the water clears up? and when do you think it will be appropriate to put 1 or 2 fish in, end of this week? just any addition answers to help me will be appreciated!!

Answer 1

Crystal Clear is a liquid that is easy to come by, it clears cloudy/murky water. It can be used with or without fish. One small bottle treats 400 gallons.  

Answer 2

Water clearifer works good and it is ok too add 1-2 fish by the end of week. In the middle of the week put in the filter cartiage.

Answer 3

Cycling properly takes 4 to 6 weeks usually.  You need to add a source of ammonia and then wait for bacteria to build up.  You'll need a water test kit to test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.  

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Answer 4

at the end of the week like saterday go get a hardy fish

Answer 5

The answer to all your questions:

http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php

Answer 6

Okays. Cycling a tank is basically getting the good bacteria to grow. The bacteria eats up the amonia, turning it into nitrite and finally into nitrate (which you remove with regular water changes!).

The trick to cycling is patience. I have a 8 gallon tank and cycling it properly has REALLY paid of. It results in a lot less work and fuss in the future. You really can enjoy a tank when its cycled properly!

First off, have the tank running as it would be with fish in it. Filter on, heater on etc. Also have all your wanted plants, decorations and gravel in there to because the bacteria live on this!

Cycling a tank properly takes around 4-5 weeks. Do you have test kits? If not, buy some because they come in VERY handy. Get a three pack! You need amonia, nitrite and nitrate test kits (drop not strip). Over the weeks monitor the change in these substances.

First you need high amonia! Put a teensie pinch of fish food in every two or so days to get that going. This will get high and spike (reach a peak and then suddenly fall rapidly). It should go to 0.

Then your nitrites will go up and spike and should be at 0.

Then your nitrate will go up and once you have nitrate and no amonia of nitrite your tank in cycled! congrats!

To speed it up you can rise you tanks temp slightly. If you can get your hands on it, a handful of gravel from a cycled healthy tank would do wonders! But make sure to keep it wet when taking it to your tank because we don't want that precious bacteria to die! I used chemicaly things to try and speed my first ever tank up but it really wasn't worth it. Maybe it sped it up slightly but not much at all.

HAVE FUN!  

Answer 7

My experience is that a tank only needs to be "cycle" for 24 hours but should have probably been cycled when the water was put in.  And by cycling I mean run with the filter and chemicals like Cycle, Aquasafe, etc.  Are you using a filter with carbon...if so that should give the water that crystal clarity.  If its still cloudy after 24 hours, you may want to bring a sample to the pet store if they'll test it for you.  There are many different products, some of which focus on reducing cloudiness in water.  I would put fish in once it looks better.