Am I almost cycled?

[smallfry53]

Hi everyone,

I got my first aquarium a couple weeks ago. It's a 29 gallon tank. I have been reading nonstop trying to figure it all out.

It seems like the standard while doing a fishless cycle is having a big nitrite spike (4ppm+) then a big nitrate spike, but that's not exactly what has been happening. I added ammonia when I first got the tank (and yes it is pure ammonia) and nothing was happening so I got impatient and bought a piece of driftwood and a plant from my lfs. These must have had a lot of good bacteria, because within a day my nitrite was at about 1ppm. Then a day or two later I had high nitrate levels (40-80ppm). The day after that my nitrite dropped to 0ppm. For the last few days I have had my ammonia at about 2ppm, and nitrate keeps going up, but no nitrite anymore.

Is it possible that I am almost already cycled after only about two weeks? The part that confuses me is that my nitrate keeps going up a ton even after doing a few pwcs, but nitrite is 0ppm and ammonia isn't going down very much.

Sorry for being a bit wordy, but wanted to be fairly detailed. Please let me know if you have any insight, and or need any more info. Thanks.

 

[BBradbury]

Fishless Tank Cycling

Hi everyone,

I got my first aquarium a couple weeks ago. It's a 29 gallon tank. I have been reading nonstop trying to figure it all out.

It seems like the standard while doing a fishless cycle is having a big nitrite spike (4ppm+) then a big nitrate spike, but that's not exactly what has been happening. I added ammonia when I first got the tank (and yes it is pure ammonia) and nothing was happening so I got impatient and bought a piece of driftwood and a plant from my lfs. These must have had a lot of good bacteria, because within a day my nitrite was at about 1ppm. Then a day or two later I had high nitrate levels (40-80ppm). The day after that my nitrite dropped to 0ppm. For the last few days I have had my ammonia at about 2ppm, and nitrate keeps going up, but no nitrite anymore.

Is it possible that I am almost already cycled after only about two weeks? The part that confuses me is that my nitrate keeps going up a ton even after doing a few pwcs, but nitrite is 0ppm and ammonia isn't going down very much.

Sorry for being a bit wordy, but wanted to be fairly detailed. Please let me know if you have any insight, and or need any more info. Thanks.

Hello small...

Cycling a tank takes a month to six weeks. Fishless cycling doesn't require any water changes, nothing is affected by the high levels of ammonia or nitrite.

I would get some fast growing stem plants into your tank. I like Water wisteria, Water sprite and Pennywort. These will speed the process a little.

Monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels a couple of times a week and when you get consistent "0" readings, add a little ammonia. You're doing what is called "maturing a biofilter". Just growing bacteria whose job it is to use waste products like ammonia and nitrite and produce nitrate. A product that's less toxic to your fish.

After a month or so, get a few hardy fish like Platys or Zebra Danios to finish the cycling process. Then check the water daily. When you get traces of ammonia or nitrites, just change out a quarter of the tank water and the fish will be fine. After several "0" readings, add a few more fish and keep testing the water daily. A couple of weeks of this and your tank should be ready to go.

B

 

[librarygirl]

HI and welcome,

I doubt it's cycled in two weeks without any actual seeded media. What probably happened is that the plant and/or DW may have contained some bacteria and maybe some nitrite converting bacteria as well but since your ammonia>nitrite conversion bacteria isn't established yet the nitrites were converted into nitrates (hence the spike) and then disappeared. It typically takes 2-3 weeks for ammonia to drop consistently and then nitrites come afterwards. If you want to speed things up I suggest getting some seeded media or a seeded filter from an established tank. Angels plus sells "active" seeded sponge filters from their fish tanks and have helped many on here, myself included, with their cycles; make sure you get one that says "active" next to it otherwise you're just getting a plain filter. You'll need an air pump and some airline tubing to set it up.

Also it's a good idea to test PH as well to ensure there aren't any crashes (where PH drops signficantly) which can stall the cycle as well. How high is the heater in the tank?

You should also test your tap water for nitrite, nitrate and ammonia, just to see where you're starting from.

There's a link below in my signature: guide to starting a FW aquarium. It has a lot of info on cycling and other things that you might find helpful. Good luck and keep posting your results here if you'd like some help along the way.

 

[smallfry53]

I have also been trying to figure out exactly what fish and how many I want to put in my aquarium once it is cycled. I went on AqAdvisor.com and came up with a list of fish with the info of my tank. I came up with some top water fish, some bottom dwellers and some for the middle. It just seems like the list I came up with would be overstocking, but AqAdvisor did not think so.

I think these fish are compatible, but it seems like a lot for my tank. Also you should know that I am just trying to figure out what I want over time, I wouldn't just throw 20 fish in at once. I was going to start with just the zebras or wcs. If anyone could share their thoughts on the compatibility and/or volume of fish I have on the above list I would appreciate it.

 

[librarygirl]

If you cycle your tank using 4 ppm of ammonia you can add all the fish at once, that's one of the benefits of fishless cycling.

I'd be careful with the TIger Barbs; they can be very aggressive and territorial and a 29 gal may be too small for them to have enough room. The more barbs you have the less propensity for aggression (I've heard) but you'd need a good size of them, 8-12, and your tank wouldn't hold that many. You could try it and see how they do; add them last though, but be prepared to either return them or set up another tank for them if things don't work out. If you aren't set on having them I'd think about replacing them with a more peaceful community fish.

 

[smallfry53]

I have already read a ton on cycling, and all the start up stuff on here, so I have learned quite a bit, I guess I was just a little over hopeful that I will be able to put fish in soon. I have checked my tap before. It was Ammonia 0ppm Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 10ppm.

So Librarygirl, are you saying that there was some nitrite that hitched a ride with my driftwood and plant, along with a little bit of bacteria that has changed the nitrite to nitrate, but not enough bacteria to turn ammonia into nitrite? or something like that? If so that makes sense. I probably have a little bit of bacteria changing ammonia to nitrite, then enough bacteria to change my nitrite to nitrate, but not enough of either one. That's probably why my ammonia isn't going down too much, but my nitrates keep going up?

The only reason I did a couple water changes is try and get my nitrate down below 40ppm, because it is very hard to tell the difference between 40 and 80ppm. I wanted to be sure that it was going up, and I have read that water changes don't affect the cycle?

Thank you guys so much for your help. I really appreciate it.

 

[librarygirl]

I have already read a ton on cycling, and all the start up stuff on here, so I have learned quite a bit, I guess I was just a little over hopeful that I will be able to put fish in soon. I have checked my tap before. It was Ammonia 0ppm Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 10ppm.

So Librarygirl, are you saying that there was some nitrite that hitched a ride with my driftwood and plant, along with a little bit of bacteria that has changed the nitrite to nitrate, but not enough bacteria to turn ammonia into nitrite? or something like that? If so that makes sense. I probably have a little bit of bacteria changing ammonia to nitrite, then enough bacteria to change my nitrite to nitrate, but not enough of either one. That's probably why my ammonia isn't going down too much, but my nitrates keep going up?

The only reason I did a couple water changes is try and get my nitrate down below 40ppm, because it is very hard to tell the difference between 40 and 80ppm. I wanted to be sure that it was going up, and I have read that water changes don't affect the cycle?

Thank you guys so much for your help. I really appreciate it.

Yep, you got it.

Water changes won't hurt anything so no worries there.

Fishless cycle can test your patience some but it's worth it in the end. If you can get some seeded media it'll help immensely. Good luck.

 

[smallfry53]

Ok thanks Librarygirl. I knew that the Tiger Barbs can be a bit aggressive, but from what I have read I thought my aquarium was big enough to keep them from being aggressive as long as I had 6/7. I wish I could have gotten the 40 gallon instead, but too big for the apartment. My girlfriend really likes them, so I guess like you said I will just add them last and keep a close eye on them. If they don't work get something else.

You don't think that my aquarium would be overstocked with the list I had though?

 

[librarygirl]

No, I don't think it would be overstocked. You'd be fully stocked though so if you wanted to add something down the line you probably wouldn't be able to. What kind of filter is on the tank?

 

[smallfry53]

It is a filter that came with the tank. It's a Topfin30 (150 g/hr.). When I figured that all out at AqAdvisor.com. I added an additional filter to what I currently have, because it said I wouldn't have enough filtration with just the one filter, so I was going to buy another one (of the same kind) in the next couple days to get that one cycling too. Does all that sound right?

 

[librarygirl]

It is a filter that came with the tank. It's a Topfin30 (150 g/hr.). When I figured that all out at AqAdvisor.com. I added an additional filter to what I currently have, because it said I wouldn't have enough filtration with just the one filter, so I was going to buy another one (of the same kind) in the next couple days to get that one cycling too. Does all that sound right?

Yes, I was going to suggest adding a second filter or upgrading yours to a larger one (you'd just move all the media over in your current filter to the new one and then fill the rest with new stuff, but running two filters would work too). You generally want double the filtration for your size tank, so for a 29 gal you'd ideally want a filter(s) that can filter at least 60 gals.

 

[whiplash]

new 55g

2 weeks into fishless cycle and no movement in ammonia. Using plain ammonia NO surfactants. put in old filter pad from friends aquarium to try and speed things up and no results. readings from this morning ammonia at 4 approx. 0 nitrires and 0 nitrates. any suggestions thanks

 

[librarygirl]

2 weeks into fishless cycle and no movement in ammonia. Using plain ammonia NO surfactants. put in old filter pad from friends aquarium to try and speed things up and no results. readings from this morning ammonia at 4 approx. 0 nitrires and 0 nitrates. any suggestions thanks

Hi, you should be seeing some drop in ammo by now especially with some seeded media. What size tank is it? How high is the heat? Do you have any oxygen in the tank either from an air stone or from surface agitation from the filter? Did you dechlorinate the water before putting it into the tank? Was the filter media wet when you got it from your friend?

Sorry for the questions, just want to rule things out.

 

[whiplash]

temp at 80, filter was wet and placed behind cartridge in filter, no air stone just agitation from HOB filter small waterfall, water was dechlorinated. From everything i read i should have seen something, but i havent. thanks for responding 55 gallon, maybe water change?

 

[smallfry53]

I have been considering buying one of Angels Plus' active filters, but I was wondering if the bacteria would survive 2-4 days of shipping in cold weather? If anyone has experience or insight on this I would appreciate any info.

 

[whiplash]

ammonia 1-2ppm, nitrites high, nitrates high, does back up to 4ppm ammonia, whats next? am i almost cycled? tested this morning after 24 hrs