210 gallon tank how long to cycle

AnthonyFish20

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Hello; Heat is a dependent issue. If in a heated room in a house then not so much heater power is needed. In an unheated garage or basement then more heater power is needed. You are in NJ so will have some cold winter weather.

If in a house where the air temp is 70 F and you want the tank at 75F then you will need enough heaters to make up the five degrees. In an unheated garage where the air temp can be much lower the heaters may have to make up 50 degrees or more.

Say you somehow determine you need 300 watts (I am not suggesting 300, this is only an example). I would suggest you use two 150 watt heaters and not a single 300 watt. There are good reasons for this.
I think I am gonna run 2 300 watt heaters want my tank to be 80
 

Hendre

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are you 12? conjunction function? learn to use periods?
Not everyone on this forum has English as their first language or has the time to type out fully comprehensive sentences (particularly mobile users). Pointless insults are not allowed.
 

punman

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When I had a 180 gallon tank, I ran a 250W heater and it was on only 30% of the time. I find large tanks retain heat better. Not sure if it is the thicker glass or the larger volume of water. I am thinking perhaps the larger volume of water. I am not sure glass is the greatest insulator.

I have heard the argument of the two-heater theory. I'm still up in the air about it. Two heaters are good so that if one quits you still get some heat. On the other hand, aren't you doubling the chance that one heater malfunctions to the on position and you fry your fish?
 
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skjl47

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When I had a 180 gallon tank, I ran a 250W heater and it was on only 30% of the time. I find large tanks retain heat better. Not sure if it is the thicker glass or the larger volume of water. I am thinking perhaps the larger volume of water. I am not sure glass is the greatest insulator.

I have heard the argument of the two-heater theory. I'm still up in the air about it. Two heaters are good so that if one quits you still get some heat. On the other hand, aren't you doubling the chance that one heater malfunctions to the on position and you fry your fish?
Hello; First the larger body holds heat better idea. In biology I sometimes referred to the inverse square rule. Roughly when the outside surface area of an object doubles then the internal volume increases by about four times. It is one reason why animals in cold climates tend to be larger of body.
Of course an aquarium is not alive so is not generating it's own heat from cellular combustion (oxidation). I do think the greater mass is the key. Water also is good at holding heat. Have you ever swam in a lake in the fall when the air temp is cold but the lake water is still warm?

On the two heater thing. I have had heaters fail both ways; stuck on and stuck off. With a single heater of sufficient wattage to maintain the tank temp that sticks on it can overheat a tank. So if 200 watts is just right to maintain the water temp and you have two 100 watt heaters then it reduces the chances of cooking a tank if one sticks on.
Same sort of idea if one fails. The other may keep the temp from getting too low in the meantime. I guess your notion of the chances being doubled for failure with two heaters is in some ways correct but not the risk to a tank. Anyway I use two or more heaters on larger tanks.
 

AnthonyFish20

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Heres an update tank is cycling quick after adding an already cycled hob filter.
Ammonia was reading around .5ppm and has been going down.
Nitrates 5.0ppm
Nitrites 0 ppm
Any ideas on wen i could start adding fish the ammonia is high but are Other parameters correct.

image.jpg

image.jpg
 

deeda

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Did you add a bottled bacteria supplement or just the cycled filter?

I would say you are not near ready to add fish yet based on the color results from the test kit.
 
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DRC

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I assume you’re adding an ammonia source to feed the bacteria (unless I just missed you actually saying it in another post). I kept my ammonia at 5 ppm until it could take it from 5 to 0 in 24 hours and of course 0 nitrites.
 
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DRC

Exodon
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Oh and on the subject of bottled bacteria, it seemed like Fitz might have helped speed things up some, and that’s the only live bacteria in a bottle I know of. I’ve had absolutely no results using anything else. I’m pretty much of the opinion that it’s a waste of money and in some cases may slow down the growth of the bacteria that you want. Throwing in some substrate from a previously cycled tank is the most effective aquarium starter I have used. Has anyone else ever had any significant speed up to their cycle with something from a bottle?
 
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