# New 240L tank questions



## Ladybgemini (Aug 11, 2010)

Hi all,
I got myself a 4ft 240l tank at the weekend.

When I got it home, i cleaned it and put new sand in the bottom and filled with water, waited 15 mins and added tapsafe and the filter (with media from established tank), plastic plants and some ornaments from established tank and a heater..

The reading the following day were ammonia 0 nitrites 0 and nitrates between 5 and 10.

I had fed the tank with food for 3 days and still no ammonia or nitrites.

I added 4 barbs to the tank (I was told they were a hardy fish and would be ok with the cylcling process)

They have been in there 2 days, happy and eating and pooping!

I did a water change on one of my smaller tanks and added this water to my new set up.

I have added the squeezings from 2 more stablished filters and so far my readings are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 10-20 nitrate.

My Question is, how long before I see ammonia and nitrite? I have an stablished tank full of fish waiting to get in their new tank but i dont want to add them too quickly.....:goldfish:

Thanks...Rachel x


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

That size tank and that few fish, it could take as much as 10 days before you start seeing any signficant reading. I started with 4 in a 75g and that is about how long it took to start showing. As long as you keep it with those fish, you possibly could not even see nitrite....I never did. Usually, nitrite doesn't show until about a week after ammonia starts. Plus, you already have established bacteria in the tank...even more reason why you may never see nitrites (based on your current stock level).


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## luspin (Dec 29, 2010)

Currentley got a rio 125 tank which has been running for years. I recentley got a Fluval 240 tank for free and want to move all my fish from the 125 to 240 tank.

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Fish Tanks


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## Ladybgemini (Aug 11, 2010)

SO should I move a few more fish over into this new tank?

I dont want to cause them any stress if possible but dont want to wait for ever for it to cycle.

I can always move them out if the ammonia spikes.

I have some lemon tetra x 5, xray tetra x 5 2 sword tails, 2 yoyo loaches, a gibbecep, 2 weather loaches and some cory's.

Which if any should I move into bigger tank to help it get along....


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

2-3 may not hurt. Just monitor it.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

A good way to get ammonia readings fast is to dose straight ammonia. Get an unscented bottle of pure ammonia with no sulfactants (sp?) and dose daily to get your concentrations up. With a tank that big, you could even do capfuls a day. That kind of ammonia would jump-start your cycling very quickly, especially with the bacteria already in the tank.

For a tank that big however, you might be waiting a few weeks before you are in a position to add fish and not worry.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Just remember to remove the fish if you dose with ammonia.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

jrman83 said:


> Just remember to remove the fish if you dose with ammonia.


Durr. -1 for me for not thinking about that.


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## Ladybgemini (Aug 11, 2010)

Thanks for your help guys, I added a few more fish to the tank yesterday so will give it a couple of weeks and see how it goes.

I was always prepared to wait for this tank to cycle properly as I was thrown into the cycle lark very quickly last year when i started keeping fish and my LFS told me to stick 3 goldfish into a 20l tank after having the water sit for 3 days.....you can imagine the nightmare the happened.....I have read and read and researched everything to do with my tanks since then and have vowed never to make that mistake again...talk about learning the hard way lol.

I've saved every penny for ages to buy this big tank so will make sure its right before i add my fishies from my other tank as i do lurve my little guys n gals and am looking forward to the day they can move into their new home, which has yet to be decorated lol..:fish10:


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Hmmmm....decorations.....what do you have planned?

I think your cycle will go pretty fast with the established bacteria in there. I think most of the time that helps prevent the spikes you typically see.


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## Ladybgemini (Aug 11, 2010)

I was going for an underwater sunken village look i think, i love the castles, cottages and little watermills you can buy so this is probably what i'm going for, with a few tree like fake plants....originally i wanted to keep it nice and bright with white quartz but it isnt going to stay white for long i guess lol.

My other option is an underwater scrapyard! with all the sunken cars, bus's and lorry's, traffic lights and tyre piles. Not sure which to go for yet, will have to see what the LFS has in on saturday.

I noticed my filter was running a little slow so i just had a quick look in it and its full of brown slime (yay), i've removed the media that i slipped in from the other tank as there is now plenty on the new media. I rinsed it out in the tank before replacing it in the original filter in the other tank.

R x


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Why don't you just move all the fish over along with the filter from your old tank? If you used the filter I don't think the tank would go through much of a cycle because the filter is already cycled.


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## Ladybgemini (Aug 11, 2010)

They are both small filters so used I used two. In terms of the tank (2.5ft clearseal) they are in they are both fine and if anything the tank is overfiltered but in terms of my new tank i not sure they will make a difference being so small? I'm not sure, this is just womens logic lol. 

I took the media from one of them and added it to the filter on the new tank and also used the squeezings from my other two filters in my 2ft tank and added that too.

I still have no ammonia and nitrites and the nitrates is about 20 and i have 9 fish in there now.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

You have a liquid test kit, right?


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## Ladybgemini (Aug 11, 2010)

jrman83 said:


> You have a liquid test kit, right?


yes i sure do! I've been testing every morning.

Aquarium Gallery - PICT0006


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