Going on vacation - what to do?

italianguy626 · 06-25-2008, 11:08 AM

New poster here as well as a first time tank owner.

I bought my tank and related equipment Memorial Day weekend, so I've had it about a month. A friend tipped me off to fishless cycling, so I've been doing that.

I'm setting up the tank as a freshwater tank. It's 20 gallons. So far, the cycle has been going well. Waiting for my nitrAtes to spike and my ammonia and nitrIte levels to go down to zero.

My questions: I'm leaving Friday to go out of town for a couple of days, returning on Tuesday. During this time, the tank will just be on its own - I don't have anyone that can monitor it. Should I do anything before leaving or just let it be and hope things don't get too out of whack over the three days I'm gone?

Also, the filter cartridge that I have is a month old, so should I replace it? I noticed some white "scum" on it and the filter/pump housing this past week.

I also started out by using plastic "plants." Once I am ready to get fish, is it necessary to get a - don't know the technical term for it - "bubbler" to get oxygen into the tank?

orb4me · 06-25-2008, 06:55 PM

JMO, all you can do at this point is to leave it, maybe a little water change but thats all.

Come back frequently to check on your post before you leave, someone with far more experience will be along to help you.

I was gone 9 days with a tank cycling and all was well when I got back, I wish I could say I didnt worry, but I did.

somerton16 · 06-25-2008, 08:38 PM

hey italianguy welcome to FTF. i dont know that much about fishless cycling but how far along is the cycle? are you still adding ammonia? if you are maybe adding some decaying shrimp or other type of ammonia source before you go away so the good guys you have started dont starve off while you are gone? as far as the filter cartiridge there is no fish in the tank so there is no need to replace the cartridge since that is where all the bacteria is growing and untill you start get some good readings then there is no need to worry. some one will be in shortly to help ya out a little more

RJRofFL · 06-26-2008, 07:14 PM

Hi, IGuy. Check out my thread on "Fishless Cycling for Dummies" in the very beginning of this section. My guess is that you've got a couple more weeks at least to go. If you are keeping a journal or record, (as you should be), then you should have definitely some ammonia readings and by now perhaps some NitrIte readings.

Without going deeply into it, your dosing ammonia daily (or as needed) serves the purpose of "feeding" the bacteria which thrive on it,producing NitrIte, which get consumed, which in turn produce NitrAtes which is the end result we're looking for. We can safely assume the tank is "cycled" when this process of taking care of 5ppm of ammonia the bacteria consuming it can do so in a 24 hoiur period, yielding just NitrAtes. Then we do 80% water change to get rid of NitrAte.

I really don't think 4-5 days is going to "kill" the cycle, but to insure it doesn't "stall", I agree with the addition oif shrimp, or at the very least a small amount of flake fish food to decay and keep the little bacteria buggers bellies full.
Don't change the filter media, the bacteria are comfortable there, as well as in the substrate.
Might consider temp to 80-82 degrees too (no fish to worry about & the bacteria thrive better in that temp range, as they're probably from Florida ha ha).

Hope this helped. Keep in touch.

Bob

italianguy626 · 06-26-2008, 10:12 PM

Thanks for the tips all. I think I'll add the couple of flakes of fish food, as I don't have any decaying shrimp laying around and won't be able to go get anything else before I leave tomorrow.

drfong · 06-26-2008, 10:46 PM

I don't know how high you have been dosing the ammonia everyday, but if you add enough ammonia to get readings in the 6-8PPM level when testing, it will be fine to just leave it for a couple of days. I also agree, don't change the filter. Also the water temp is a good hint. Good luck