How to Cycle a Fish Tank the EASY Way!

Cycling a new aquarium just means growing plants and beneficial bacteria that help purify the water from the toxic ammonia in your fish’s urine and poop. This process always takes forever, but since I already own a few tanks, here’s what I did to speed things up when cycling my daughter’s new tank.
🐟 MATERIALS I USED
(I work for Aquarium Co-Op but do not receive commissions from their links.)
▶ Sponge filter: www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ Live plants: www.aquariumcoop.com/collecti...
▶ Fritz Zyme7 starter bacteria: www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ Ammonia test strips: www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ Multi-test strips: www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
🌿 RESOURCES
▶ Aquarium Cycling Experiments: • AQUARIUM CYCLING EXPER...
▶ What Is the Nitrogen Cycle for Aquariums? • What Is the Nitrogen C...
🦐 EXTRAS
▶ Members Only content: / @girltalksfish
▶ Instagram: / girltalksfish
▶ Merch store: girltalksfish.creator-spring.com
ATTRIBUTION
Music from Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicsound.com/referra... (if you use my referral link, I get 1 month free 😀)
#shorts #aquarium #fishtank

[@GirlTalksFish]

*What's your go-to method for cycling aquariums?*

[@hallehuckleberry]

leaving a fully set-up tank sitting for like two months 😭 sometimes life gets in the way of your aquarium goals

[@Kevin-ci4ky]

Throw everything in there except for fish and then u stare at it for 2 months

[@wiz78129]

Get a real pet

[@hallehuckleberry]

@@wiz78129 rude

[@Dave-Rough-Diamond-Dunn]

I add an established filter, and some substrate from another tank, and feed lightly for a week or two, gradually increasing the amount over that time. If your filter is big enough, it'll contain enough bacteria that you can consider the tank cycled on the first day really. In 40+ years, I've actually cycled an aquarium twice, moving house, despite always having had between 8 and 20 running most of the time.

[@MrsShocoTaco]

Why's it a spiral?? 😂

[@teehee1172]

Constipation that happens to a Lot of live bearers

[@thebeigesheep6132]

Free pogo stick

[@EmEm78]

I was waiting for him to start bouncing around the tank on it, like a spring.

[@singingsunflower9000]

​@@EmEm78 her

[@MeMe-better_than_you]

@@singingsunflower9000 this mf

[@masterpo1465]

That fish is an artist

[@mondraymondo]

This is the first time i see spiraling poop 🤣

[@enterpriserubber]

It’s a worm

[@HowNeatImImpressed]

@@enterpriserubber No it’s actually not

[@MingCrab8404]

Nah it's a gravity coil

[@siddharthpanda9945]

​@@enterpriserubber no that is not due to bacteria it's happen due to some kind of food

[@GingersRule135]

@@MingCrab8404💀💀

[@vortiez.]

bro got that boing fish

[@TabithaSummer16]

There seems to be a lot of anger in the comments about the decor. If you have watched her other videos you know she LOVES planted aquarims, this was for her daughter, it was a mix of fake decor and live plants. Although some things she did may not have been the smartest or easiest way to do it, she is very educated and knows a lot about fish. She is very careful about stuff and loves her fish, she is not a bad person for putting a few colorful decorations for her daughter to enjoy. She put some live plants in there to. And to all the people saying those fish were injected with dye, they aren't. Their geneticlly modified, breeded to make them colorful and hardy fish, it doesn't mean its right, but its not the fishies fault, they still need good homes. Also she has a longer more in depth video about how she set up this tank. Check it out before you judge her please.

[@barbrabarbra3537]

That is exactly why seeing her put together this tank is so disappointing. The modified glo fish are far from hardy though, colorful yes. Toys should stay out of the aquarium.

[@TabithaSummer16]

@@barbrabarbra3537 There is not toys in there tho, its just some fake decor, its not the biggest deal ever to have a mix of fake and live plants...

[@annagraham7222]

@@barbrabarbra3537are you talking about the treasure chest? It’s made for aquariums and is a bubbler

[@StuffieLover69]

I think the glow fish idea is from this popular version of glass fish that are manually injected with dyes. Glow fish are actually super healthy and don't have many of the issues regular fish do and are extremely eco friendly because they cannot possibly survive in the regular envirnment (everything will see and eat them). I wont say it's wrong because this is literally one of the most humanely bred domesicated species that both got bred for health and aesthetics. It's not as terrible as people think of it as but it's not perfect.

[@LotusAndGlitch]

Bro colorful doesn't mean bad, I agree with you.

[@MegaMindyLou]

The corkscrew poo is killing me! Time for some spirulina.

[@faithcaraway565]

For anyone who says fish is a starter pet😭 there are NO starter pets just be ready to work

[@aloevera5600]

A fish is like having a dog or a cat in space, like you gotta control their air and environment too-

[@Horselover922]

I would personally remove colored gravel! It degrades and it seeps into your water making your tank cloudy even after water change! Also gravel degrades over time and becomes sharp so fish (like corydoras) or snails that dwell on the bottom can develop sores! Sand is a much better option and doesn't need to be sifted through with a gravel vac as the debris stays on top! (From personal experience) my tank was always cloudy even after water changes so I removed the pink/purple gravel and replaced it with black instead but I was made aware by a friend who also has fish that the gravel can erode and become harmful to species that dwell on the bottom so I changed it out for sand and have had a much better tank since! (My corydoras also sift through the sand and keep it so much cleaner than the gravel!)

[@secretformulathief910]

Also there's studies that show color preference and it always lands on more natural colors, reds, browns, ect I also find colored stuff really stresses my fish, which is why I moved to 100% natural tanks, no artificial colors

[@MIKA_zuki00]

It’s just usually good practice to have 100% natural substrate and plants in a tank as it’s a whole ecosystem plus plants help to take out nitrates in the water, and plastic plants, usually can end up, causing tears in fish fins.

[@hankanderson8633]

Thanks for being so kind about it tbh

[@DoktrDub]

When it comes to the test strips, they usually aren’t very accurate and ammonia test is the most unreliable one, If you wanna be sure, get an API master test kit, or an individual ammonia one.

[@cockatoode705]

the strips are far more fool proof and more accesible to people with disabilites, people with a lot of tanks, children, and new fish keepers. seen a lot of people lose fish because their nitrates were off the charts, but they didnt do the nitrate test properly and kept reading 0

[@DeezNuts-hf2xm]

@@cockatoode705 so they refuse to read the easy instructions and thats somehow the test kits fault? And are you trying to argue its better to have incorrect results than it is to use a proper test kit correctly?

[@cockatoode705]

@Deez Nuts it's not discus's fault they are sensitive, should we reccomend them to first time fish keepers? I would rather beginners have something easy to use and read rather than something that if you shake a bottle for two seconds shorter you get the wrong results. I know so many people who bought a test kit, used it twice, then stopped using it because it was overwhelming and complicated. Would you rather those people continue not using their test kit, or use strips and actually use them? I prefer people test their water and get the right result instead of going "well that's your fault"

[@DeezNuts-hf2xm]

@@cockatoode705 it comes with easy to use instructions…..you telling me since they cant follow basic instructions they shouldn’t have to? Yeah theres a learning curve to be in the hobby, you dont let a beginner violinist be concert master just because they refuse to get past a learning curve, yes if they cannot do a basic API test than they shouldnt be in the hobby at all, these are live animals not decorations to be used however you want. Test strips dont work. Pretty simple concept

[@LowFrequencyJim]

@@cockatoode705 If you can't use a simple test kit then you shouldn't keep fish, simple.

[@homicidalmuffin9063]

Everyone please note that this is a FISH IN aquarium cycle and these are more dangerous for fish and also tend to take longer. You don’t need any living fish to cycle a tank 👋 you can use pure ammonia or fish food to simulate a fish

[@silverdirtdraws9828]

Please note the tank didn't need cycling as they used an already seeded filter.

[@BlueHairPerson]

Not the rainbow gravel, rainbow artificial plants, and non natural decor 😭😭

[@elipatton9625]

Also the test strips the drops are so much more accurate but the price is a bit higher

[@whatinthefudge5346]

It's also not a girl

[@JohnWatts-xu7cb]

I already know this, but keep on going don’t stop😊

[@corydorassterbai8659]

Woo, was that a spoiler for the 20 gallons tank? Julli corys and some kind of rasbora/tetra?

[@GirlTalksFish]

🤫😉

[@Kevin-ci4ky]

😮

[@SharkGirlValentine]

This is SO helpful wow I was losing my mind about trying to find all these complicated products and learning all this science. This makes a lot of sense and I’m going to follow it

[@volturnianlobster9350]

I just go to the river and steal some water and a few rocks that are COVERED in algea for my new little shrimpys

[@amandah2866]

I love using used sponge filters or filter media with my tap water which has 0.025 ppm amonia in it.

[@jigokutsuushin]

Most of the time, just transplanting a used sponge filter is enough as long as I don't overstock and overfeed. Aside from sponge filters, I sometimes use the other filter media like ceramic rings from established tanks, put them in a net bag, then place them in the new tank for a couple weeks to "seed" it.

[@rat_dragon]

Great point! And yes, you're absolutely right. A seeded sponge won't work for a tank that's bigger or more overstocked than it (a 5 gallon seeded sponge won't cycle a 10 gallon, or a 5 gallon seeded sponge with 5 shrimp won't cycle a 5 gallon with 50 shrimp.)

[@sam3d]

Broh, if you had a pre-cycled filter! why did you still have to wait weeks to introduce fish? I am able to instantly cycle a new aquarium with a cycled filter.

[@nordette]

That's what I thought

[@MrDanAng1]

I have been doing that many times without any ammonia spikes. With the method in the video, 95% or more of the bacteria is starved to death, then the little remnant is slowly and also expensively growing back. Starter bacteria is usually not cheap and totally unnescessary here. They are absolutely awesome if you start a tank, including the filter from scratch though.

[@sam3d]

@@MrDanAng1 well I transfer filter media from one tank tot he next and all the bacteria is alive, allows for immediate cycling.

[@MrDanAng1]

@@sam3d Absolutely agree! 👍🏻

[@blitzcourt5021]

@@sam3d exactly what I did when I upgraded tank sizes. But it was from a 10 to a 75 so I still allowed for one week cycling

[@Killoer]

In fish with some cycled material~! Niceu I was able to finish a fishless cycle in a 40 gal, using some of these tips and I felt very proud~

[@Spamton.g.spamton_1997]

Please don’t tell me you starved your fish for a week

[@TheFishRoom]

Geez, I thought it had been impaled by a screwcumber for a second then. Great video!

[@briankepner7569]

Thank you I keep watching fish tank videos and the people don't talk about the cycles anymore. In the old days we were told to be careful and to cycle the tank for a rubicon anaerobic cycles to keep the fish healthy by providing a healthy environment.

[@ernestinasoria506]

Thank you so much for telling me this.❤🎉😊

[@deckarddwizardd1909]

That fish has a gravity coil

[@julltsuu]

This makes me want a tank again so bad.. i used to have a problem with overbreeding with my tetras and the.. (dont know what its called in english. In Finnish they r called monni, supplied a lot of pet stores with them). But i did enjoy it. And the tank was so pretty 🥰

[@bentleytelles7295]

Ty for the info

[@gabrielawilliams1999]

I love this. Thank you ❤

[@Beautyexpress07]

Instead of starving fish for days after getting them (because they could have eaten little before you got them too) you could just be responsible and cycle your tank completely before adding fish.

[@Andreas-gh6is]

Not feeding the first day is a good idea. Even after a few weeks without fish, the biological media will take a couple of days, more like a week to double once or twice to meet the new demand.

[@k9spot1]

You literally can’t completely cycle a tank without fish because there’s no source of ammonia without the fish waste. Even if you add outside sources of ammonia the microbiome will need a while to adjust to sourcing their food from the new fish waste because of particle size differences, etcetera when you first add fish. The best way in my experience is to add just one or two fish at first (they did that with the snail) and then just add a few more at a time. That being said, it’s certainly not always possible to space out your fish ordering slowly and most new fish owners won’t realistically be willing to take the time. When you have to add more than one or two fish all at once, feeding them none or small amounts at first is a MUST to avoid a toxic spike in ammonia and nitrites. That being said, a full week of no food as suggested here is a long time for nearly all fish unless they can graze algae or something naturally in the tank. I would recommend waiting just a couple days with no food and then adding just VERY small amounts that they are sure to finish and digest very efficiently. Your tank can not be fully cycled without fish and even after adding fish it will still take normally take several months to really balance out. There will likely be spikes of diatoms (red looking algae), green algae, and filamentous algae as well over the first maybe 6 months if you’re doing things right and those will all pass with very minimal cleaning. The myth of being able to quickly cycle a tank before you get fish is something propagated by the industries that make algae killers and other interventative treatments.

[@lotusleaf1365]

Tell me you don't know what you're doing without telling me you don't know what you're doing. If you have fish I fear for them and the aftermath of your tank

[@Andreas-gh6is]

@@k9spot1 I think you don't get the exponential growth thing about bacteria. Very little ammonium is needed to establish about half or even just a fourth of the capacity the tank will eventually need. That however takes a lot longer than the one or two redoublings still necessary, which again takes a few days.

[@batkat0]

​@@k9spot1toss in a grocery store shrimp and let it decay. Works every time for me. Silly to think the only source of ammonia is aquarium fish or bottled ammonia and nothing else.

[@jayjayhooksch1]

An easy way is with Seachem Prime. It detoxifies the ammonia and nitrites so you can add fish on day 1 and you dont have to do counter productive water changes; you need the ammonia and nitrites in the water column to feed the bacteria.

[@dishsoap3858]

The decorations 😭😭😭

[@Stickman_0420]

yeah they seem kinda sharp

[@subinsubout8952]

Haha , amateur decorations

[@PutSomeTwazOnIt]

It’s her daughters

[@LotusAndGlitch]

It's for her daughter!! She knows about fish and she knows the decor is good, If the decor is colored it doesn't mean it's bad!!

[@toridurall8593]

You keep platy, tetra, and mystery snails! That’s literally the 3 things I have in my tanks too!

[@miyakoching3477]

Nooo artificial plants 😢

[@denvermatlock4809]

Beginning fish tanks hobbyists plz don’t listen to this video there are way better videos out there way more information

[@wattswo]

That's right, she has other videos with live plant set ups, this one was for her daughter and she wanted to ease her into the hobby and focusing the care of the fish. It's explained in the longer video.

[@PutSomeTwazOnIt]

She is very informative in her long form videos

[@freshwatermechanic]

Ring out a sponge in the aquarium then add new sponge instant cycle.

[@rat_dragon]

Exactly! This is called "seeding" and cycles in as little as 12 hours, sometimes up to a week (but that's still better than a month!)

[@matthelm3795]

Why not just add the old sponge like she did? Seems that would have more good bacteria than just rinsing it out. That's the way I've always done it. Just add very few fish and use prime and stability for a week. Never had any problems

[@batkat0]

​@@matthelm3795because people need to find things to criticize. It's way easier and just as effective to plop the whole thing in there and turn it on.

[@pramodchouhan7604]

the poop though 🤣

[@jarekvance8455]

Can you explain more about water changes, ? Doesn’t putting untreated water in your tank make it harmful for the fish?? Do you just have a whole separate tank full of chlorine nitrate free water to refill your tank?

[@Ygblitzz]

So this how springs are made . Wow never knew that

[@FOFaquatics]

An easy tip to start a new tank is use cycled bio rings or bio balls from another tank or friend along with a good bacteria starter. You can place the bio rings into your filter and just like you mentioned a bacteria starter never hurts

[@mauricioyearwood106]

My go-to method is to use plain amonia, one cap full for 50 gal or bigger tank, and do a water change after 3 days.

[@detroid2699]

I have that EXACT treasure chest in my aquarium I got yesterday

[@st8pl8guy]

API liquid test kits are far more accurate than the test strips.

[@bubblerings]

After watching Other vids on 'instant' tank cycling, I made a huge mistake. Put some gravel from my other 55, and a cycled (hang on back) filter cartridge into my new 55 gallon... Added 2 small 2.5 inch Fahaka puffers and 4 smaller tilapia. The ammonia stayed low... The nitrites nearly killed my fish. With water changes and more bacteria, I was able to save them all..😲😊

[@uddinwiththeballz]

Mistry of the spiral poo?

[@mfi-cf7sp]

where do all the mystery snails come from? they only have these odd little freshwater snails at my local store

[@TruthBombzz]

was that fish sitting a spring, I never knew that how springs were made.😂

[@SJ.1988]

Look at that little tubby wubby make a doodly doody

[@BASIL12358]

My mom had fish for 3 years in a 55 gallon tank and never changed the water and never cleaned it and one day she had the water tested after 2 years of having it and it was perfect water

[@StuffieLover69]

That still isnt good

[@BASIL12358]

@@StuffieLover69 yea idk how she did it

[@naysneedle5707]

If you are putting a precycled filter into a new tank, add livestock immediately so that the bacteria on the filter have a supply of ammonia to eat. Without ammonia they will quickly die and the dead filter will be of no help when you do add your livestock.

[@metricula]

😂😂😂 I love the judgy comment piranhas in here angry about the decor a literal child picked out. It’s one tank out of who knows how many she has; it’s sweet she’s helping her daughter set it up

[@catlady9123]

They'd cry seeing my son's tank. I personally have 6 fully planted tanks, all naturalistic with wood, rocks, plants. My son's Molly tank has some plants, but also a pirate ship, a tiki head, some driftwood, and some pink,purple, and blue fake plants. It makes him happy, it's not harmful for the fish, his fish are healthy and breeding (I mean mollies breed in about anything lol). He's agreed to a more natural look once we upgrade the tank, but there's no way I'll be taking away his pirate ship 😂.

[@Kristina43698]

Omg, I have the same kind of fish!!

[@NKanhai20]

Fish got the spring poop

[@gampugv2]

Tank kinda sucks

[@k9spot1]

You’re not the target audience and your comment was mean.

[@gampugv2]

@@k9spot1 don't care

[@gampugv2]

@@k9spot1 you probably look like this 🤓🤓🤓erm actually it's pronounced you're

[@AquariumSquad]

Most likely I put a filter and some anti-bacteria liquids and change water at like 2 weeks and my water was ultra dirty but I cleaned a lot of times the water it got crystal clear!

[@ryandeluca3761]

Also get the api freshwater master kit way more accurate than strips

[@JasonMatthewCrabtree]

I don't really have a go-to because it's going to depend on the situation. If I was setting up a tank like the one that you're setting up I would throw in that live plant that Sponge Filter and ring out the filter from another tank to get a bunch of bacteria laden detritus circulating, And would probably throw in One or two of those fish that you got on day two. I would feed them lightly for about a week and then and continue to add one or two fish at the time until fully stocked

[@JasonMatthewCrabtree]

One thing to keep in mind is the level of bacteria growing in the tank is related to the bioload, so even taking a well-established tank with an extremely light bioload comment then rapidly increasing the bioload can cause problems

[@littledonut6994]

Glo-fish, fake plants and fake decor. I just hurts my soul.

[@wattswo]

Well, this is a short. In the full video she explains why she used it for this specific tank compared to the others where she has live plants

[@emilymarie9796]

Goldfish eat plants sometimes and they're hard to keep clean because they're such little piggies. I hate artificial aquariums too but it was probably out of necessity

[@AndRelaxOfficialGB]

@@emilymarie9796there’s ways to stop goldfish eating plants. They don’t always do it as well. I’ve got a well planted 600l with goldfish. Absolutely fine. Been like that for a few years now

[@wiggluededgessnatched]

too republican,

[@theamazingtristeon5802]

It's just because this tank was for her child, who wanted this, admittingly gaudy, style.

[@padrick56]

When it comes to cycling the tank you can always create a natural tank with a 1inch mud (from stream or pond) bottom and 2-3inches of sand on top. Heavily plant the tank (70% planted) This will create a natural low maintenance tank based off of how ponds and streams in nature work. You can add fish right away and as long as you feed a tiny amount since the fish will get food from the substrate and plants the aquarium will essentially be maintenance free.

[@julianalomeli6083]

I wish I knew This much about something

[@IghtOkayAlright]

what were then fish towards the end they looked so cool

[@ashmarie5049]

Those are glofish pristella tetras. If you ever in the future want to get them, go with plant lighting or natural wavelength lighting- I’ve heard the glolights marketed specifically for them can damage their eyes

[@Kitty_Adv3ntur3]

What’s the spring looking thing on the fish at the beginning?

[@uufruity]

What kind of fish are these? They’re so colorful!

[@garg4531]

They’re glofish, specifically the pristella tetra If you haven’t heard of glofish before they’re basically fish (specifically hardy species like zebra danios and black skirts) that were modified with biofluorescent genes for jellyfish and coral They’re a bit controversial, as you can probably imagine, but popular with kids

[@uufruity]

@@garg4531 Thank you for your detailed response, how interesting! Thanks for letting me know :)

[@garg4531]

@@uufruity You are most welcome, and glad to be of help!^^

[@BleachMr873]

Spiral fish

[@suzielee2522]

How often do you dose that fritz7?

[@beautyschoolz]

so is it normal for fish to poop springs or do u have special spring producing goldfish?

[@pckilla187]

Use microbe lift special blend and nite out 2. Faster cycling. Living bacteria in a bottle.

[@marsgaming3386]

How often should i add api quickstart and flourish fertilizer?

[@Ryethefryguy]

I stg I have to most hearty fish I bought a 10 gallon tank when I was 17 and I just used quick start chemicals on the water and put them in with a filter and heater I’m 24 now and have a 20 gallon and the same rainbow shark I got with my first aquarium he’s huge and sometimes I’d forget to do water changes bc I didn’t know much about fish I’ve learned since then but I even have fish that are spawning fry so now I got my 10 gallon setup again with the babies

[@pupdigit280]

I have never water changed or cleaned my tank. You need to put in sand instead of gravel it breaks down ammonia

[@drachior]

uh.. i put plants,water, sculpter's soil and bacteria starter kit into my tank with a big filter and strong pump. dropped in a tiny bit of fishfood, monitored water for 2 weeks. then put 15 fish and 5 shrimps in. had a tiny spike, not from the fish but from a compromised in vitro plant. regular small water changes fixed that.

[@abbyhearn6783]

What test strips do you use?

[@LesDL69]

Where do I get these sponge filter!!?? Can’t find them

[@SpeedDemonAquatics]

STOP DIPPING TESTSTRIPS IN TANKS

[@xythrial]

I have a 60 gallon tank with several live plants, a pleco, and about 15 small fish and while all the other levels in the tank are low, the ammonia is always absolutely off the charts which is making me think something is off with the testing kit? The fish are healthy and active and eating normally no cuts or irritated skin or anything but every time I test the ammonia the color goes off the charts almost instantly. Has been this way for at least 6 months. I use ammonia lock on occasion and do normal cleaning otherwise the only thing that seems weird is how high the level is reading.

[@carolinesalpeck2567]

Are you using test strips or a liquid test kit? I would be surprised if a 60 gallon with that many fish had ammonia issues, usually you see it more in heavily stocked smaller tanks. How long has the tank been set up for?

[@xythrial]

@@carolinesalpeck2567 I am using the liquid drops in vials. I’ve had it set up since September of last year. Thank you for replying!

[@pckilla187]

Use microbe lift special blend and nite out 2. Faster cycling

[@CurtisLittlechild92]

Please tell me you took the tags off those ornaments before filling the tank.

[@ecksdeedood562]

no need to worry about ammonia if you can get stem plants that dont need substrate and can feed through the water itself, and small fish thrive on bugs every so often, so no need for daily pellets👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@kingtrimmer]

Water changes during a cycle prolongs the cycle. You are supposed to see ammonia and nitrite during a cycle.

[@Frostihaider]

i really hate plastic plants, but your other tanks look good :)

[@Idonthateutoo]

Fish got that gravaity coil

[@melski777]

Have you tried using soil, sand and fresh plants? That way you can avoid the chemicals, water changes and stress. I have a tank set up using the method I mentioned above and it’s been effortless and stress free. Hope this helps 🐠 ❤

[@mcho3121]

Check out the rest of her videos, this is a one-off because it’s for her daughter.

[@rickfromthecape3135]

Love the spring loaded platy LOL!

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

Nice roadmap

[@deliroous]

Hi I just got my first tank a 75 gallon. I know crazy, I jumped the gun and got some Cory catfish after only 3 days of cycling…. One passed away (but seemed stressed from the get go) we are on week 3 now and the ammonia is down to .25 ish nitrites are also pretty low, had an issue with nitrites for about a week… had to do some water changes to get it down. Thought I had messed up the cycle but now the water is reading fine across the board…. Wish me luck… especially the Cory’s D: sorry buddies I will not do that again!!!

[@angieOB2E]

What size tank is that ?

[@7DadJ0kes7]

What kind of fish is that at week four?

[@orangescalefishy1258]

Do the fish like such bright and colorful decorations? It just doesn’t seem natural.

[@homicidalmuffin9063]

Generally they don’t really care about the color. The hard plastic is bad for them though as it can cut up their fins and even potentially leak nasty stuff into the water if they are cheap. So if you want to go with fake plants don’t worry about the color but try to get silk plants 👋 real plants are always the best though

[@orangescalefishy1258]

@@homicidalmuffin9063 👍

[@nievese2929]

Stability and Prime will do you just right😊

[@jackelyngarcia9341]

I had one of those skeleton thing before for my fish like they put flowers in there and a skeleton I had one for my pet

[@EarthshakerOnamazu]

bro has a whole spring as his poop

[@Andreas-gh6is]

You're getting it wrong... The milkiness is actually the bacteria from the "bacteria starter" exploding. Those don't actually colonize a filter but they grow much faster. But the used sponge filter might actually hurt if it is not supposed to stay in there. There is no shortcut except using established filter material. And even then it takes a few weeks for the bacteria to develop.

[@devinbjenkins]

Use soil from another pond or outside as your substrate and the process will take about a week or two

[@airfloe.]

Fish boutta start jumping all over the place

[@philipocarroll]

Priscilla tetras? Are they dyed?

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

Before they sold starter bacteria I learned to use a pinch of septic tank booster powder for the bacteria

[@joegrone9671]

Or u could put dirt and sand with plants in it and be good from day 1......

[@MeghanBrowning-cy3tm]

Day 1: 1" dirt, 2" sand, water, filter, light Day 2: tons of plants Day 3: 6 small fish Day 7: pinch of food Day 8: a few muck leaves from lake Day 10: all muck leaves from lake

[@michaelchissell9541]

I use deep substrate using a mix of soil and gravel topped off with sand. 40% plants and I cycle using a cup of pond water from nature.

[@benicio1967]

I want to have fish so bad but I worry about what will happen if the electricity goes out and what would happen if I had to be away from the house for several days, up to a week.

[@user-ud8cc6dd3x]

this tank is pretty good but personally I feel like it is a bit over stocked but it's your choice

[@rosan6597]

How I recycle? Put new water and add fish 1 seconds later 😂