Advice needed on Cycling.

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Seems like you are making a little progress... Ammonia is higher which is what you needed right now. NitrItes are lower and NitrAtes are higher which means the NitrItes are being processed. Keep trying to raise that ammonia level! What are you using for testing?
 
I wouldnt worry about netting the snails. Snails provide waste which provides ammonia (Even if its a very small amount) Keep feeding the tank so to speak with the flakes and let the snails populate then look at a fish which might eat them when you start to add fish. Good job on doing it the fishless way, hang in there!
 
Nitrate reading is thrown off my nitrite so don't read anything into that test until nitrite = 0. keep adding the flake food, ideally you want ammonia to be a lot higher during fishless cycling.
 
I personally went with the fish in cycling procedure. Used feeders from a local pet shop, they even allowed me to test there water prior to taking the ones I wanted. I kept the fish for about 6 weeks, after which enough ammonia had built up, all the feeders survived and the pet shop was happy to take them back for a refund, knowing well what I needed them for. I have ever since been at a 0 ppm Ammonia, 0 ppm Nitrite, 40 ppm Nitrate. Some say 5 ppm Nitrate is the way to go, I say no to that, as the process is much slower for breaking down the waste, just my two cents, g'luck on the tank, hope your children enjoy for years to come, happy holidays
 
Latest update:

Ammonia: was 0,2 now 0
Nitrite: was 1,0 now 0,2
Nitrate: was 5 now 1
pH: was 8 now 7
(Am using the JBL TestLab Test kit)

By the way. went to the pet store last Thursday and after a few water changes, the nitrite level was still way to high and those at the Petstore told me best to wait a bit longer, I then did a partial water change and as per Pet store people started after refilling tank started using JBL DENITROL after a few days one can see a drastic drop in the Nitrite levels, so something is seemingly starting to work, I have to now drop some in the tank every day...hope things keep on like this, cause I seriously cant wait to fill my aquarium up with fish.
 
PWC's really should have helped lower the NitrItes. Have you ever tested your tap water just to see what readings you get?

I'm not familiar with JBL DENITROL...I'm assuming it's a bacterial additive like SafeStart? Usually those should be used with an ammonia source added shortly thereafter so that the bacteria does not die after being added to your tank.
 
Yes, JBL Denitrol is like Safestart though it does say, that it helps bring down the Ammonia/Nitrites if they are out of control. Since for some reason after 2 water changes the Nitrite spike did not want to drop...since Im using Denitrol...it has dropped and the water in general if giving way better readings than some days ago...doing again a test later and I hope things are well enough to finally pick out the fish later in the week.

Also....do I then still do a big water change before I fill the tank???

By the way just wanted to know (i know it might be a silly question), these bacterial treatments for aquariums, is it "dangerous" is I have my hand in the water with a cut on my hand????:confused:
 
What are your readings? Your tank is not going to cycle even with the Denitrol if there is little/no ammonia being produced in the tank. Those sort of bacterial additives are typically meant to be used when the fish are added. The bacteria feed off the ammonia from the fish food/wastes, so adding it to a bare tank will starve them.
 
Are you still adding the fish food? As long as there are no fish in the tank or another ammonia source, your ammonia and nitrite levels will continue to fall even without the bacteria additive you're using. You need ammonia in your tank to fully cycle it, or else you will have to go through the process all over again if/when you do add fish.
 
Yes Im still adding the fish food, also have been checking....last night the readings were

Ammonia- 0
Nitrites- 0,1
Nitrates-5
pH- 7

Also had to remove quite a bit of snails last night, my tank seemed near over-run with snails, I dont mind a few but at the moment, they seem to have taken over the tank.
 
Those snails have been helping add ammonia to your tank these last few weeks. Now that you're about to add fish, it won't hurt to remove some (and hopefully their reproduction rate will slow down once you stop adding the extra fish food). You might try getting an assassin snail.

Keep an eye on your water parameters the first week or so after adding fish just to make sure you don't experience an ammonia spike or a rise in nitrites. Once you've consistantly experienced 0ppm ammonia and nitrites, you know your tank has fully cycled.
 
In one of my other threads...Ive mentioned that the tank is now stocked with fish....I have now 3 swordtails and 3 corys....Had to make a PWC since Nitrites have gone up from 0,1-0,4. Ammonia has stayed at zero. But the fish seem to be enjoying themselves and it is great watching them. One of the swordtails did have me laughing when I threw one of those sinkable wafers (for the corys) and kind of stands "guard" over it so no one can eat of it but the other swordtails distract her so the other can eat and vice versa.
 
It's great to hear you are finally able to enjoy your tank! A jump in Nitrites or ammonia is almost expected since your ammonia was never before as high as it is now with the fish in it. Keep up your monitoring/pwcs these first few weeks. Hopefully it won't take for the tank to fully cycle now and you will able to add more fish w/o any issues.
 
Jumping in...

I hope it's ok for me to jump into the discussion with a similar question... if not, I apologize.

I knew nothing about cycling when we set up my son's 5gal Christmas present early last week. I knew about treating the water, so at least we did that. We put in 5 neons, 2 guppies, and a beta. We lost the neons later that day. The two guppies died the next day. By then I had found this site and was getting some help.

I've been doing PWCs and following the directions in the New Tank Syndrome article, with slow success. Last night the beta died. So, now that I have a fishless tank should I switch over to doing the steps in "Tips & Tricks for Your Fastest Fishless Cycle!", or continue with the steps in the "New Tank Syndrome" article?

We'd like to get the tank up and running ASAP, as we've already had tears several times this week. Note: We are also preparing to do the fast fishless cycle on two other tanks - 10 gal and 30 gal.
 
I suggest starting a new thread so everyone can see it and chime in with advice. :)

How did you acclimate the fish to your tank water? Losing the neons and guppies so quickly sounds like it could be an acclimation/stress from moving tanks issue while the betta's passing might be more related to poor water conditions. I cycled a 5 gallon from scratch once and honestly it took a lot of water changes- sometimes two or more a day to keep ammonia and nitrIte levels in an acceptable range (under .25ppm). The small water volume in such a small tank can be very unforgiving, especially when the tank was overstocked like yours was. Although many recommend fishless cycling methods, fish-in cycling is doable if you're prepared to do the work. Have you been testing you tank for ammonia and nitrites/nitrates? If you don't have your own test kit, get one as soon as possible.
 
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