Am I nearly there ?

[papajoe]

Hi, perhaps you could give me your views on whether I am getting near the end of the fishless cycle. This is my first tank so I am a little cautious. I had readings this morning of 0ppm ammonia, 2ppm nitrites and 80ppm nitrates. I added ammonia to get to 4ppm and did a 50 percent water change. Anybodys views on whether I am doing it right would be appreciated. Thanks Dave.

 

[sinibotia]

Yes, you should be ready for fish in the next week in all likelihood!

 

[lunch]

I though the only 2 ways you get no3 in your tank is if it's cycled and having 80ppm after a 50% wc, I'd say you've definitely got a lot of no3, the other is if your tap water contains no3..
Still having 2ppm no2 is curious.
I'm no expert but personally, I'd just run a test on your tap water and if it comes back 0 then your filter is producing no3 and you must be very close to done..
I'd be doin another 50% wc soon though, try to get that no3 down around 40ppm

 

[papajoe]

Thanks for the quick response. I have been down to our lfs. I fancy starting with Tetras. I love the Congo Tetras but the fella in the shop said my tank, 120 litre cube was not big enough. Looks like plan B. Black widow Tetras (10) and maybe Glowlights or silvertips. Does that sound okay ?

 

[papajoe]

The 80ppm nitrate was before the water change. After the w/c it was 10ppm, Ammonia was 1ppm and nitrite 2ppm.

 

[sinibotia]

If this is your first tank, and you like the look of glowlight tetras, I highly recommend them. They are very fun and nearly indestructible. From power outages to heater failures and my busy life leading to some neglect, my glowlight tetras have survive temperatures from 60 to 90 and nitrate up to 60 ppm- as well as moving tanks several times. Black widow and silvetip tetras also sound good to me although I have no personal experience with them.

 

[FishFlow]

I may be misinterpreting, if you must do a water change, you would wish to do it before adding ammonia. You're intentionally dosing to get 4ppm, doing a wc after dosing to 4ppm seems counter productive.

If there are no fish in the tank, I'm not clear why you're doing any waterchanges.

The fishless article here only recommends wc to bring levels low enough to be measurable by test kits.

The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice

I do agree, once you see Nitrites, you're on the home stretch! be sure to keep ammonia high enough to not starve(stall) out the cycle!

 

[papajoe]

Okay thanks, I will take a look at the almost complete guide again.