Cycling.

[Maxkolbe]

Am doing a fishless cycle in my new sixty gallon aquarium with crumbled flake food. I will be posting my results so that I can get your viewpoints on how the cycle is going.

After a week of adding flakes with seeded media my levels were

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5ppm
Hardness (GH and KH) very high
Ph 8.4
The date was December 12

Today on December 14 my levels are
Ammonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrites 0
Nitrates about 6 or 7 ppm
Ph 8.4

 

[jlk]

Just my suggestion, but i would really consider getting yourself some pure ammonia to continue this cycle. The levels of ammonia your getting with the fish flakes are pretty much zero. If you want to continue with this method, you are probably going to need a large amount of fish food to be able to get the amm levels up to 4ppm & its going to be a pretty nasty mess in your tank. There isnt an accurate way to 'dose' fish food to 4ppm daily- ammonia is just easier & cleaner & accurate. Just something to think about!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Just my suggestion, but i would really consider getting yourself some pure ammonia to continue this cycle. The levels of ammonia your getting with the fish flakes are pretty much zero. If you want to continue with this method, you are probably going to need a large amount of fish food to be able to get the amm levels up to 4ppm & its going to be a pretty nasty mess in your tank. There isnt an accurate way to 'dose' fish food to 4ppm daily- ammonia is just easier & cleaner & accurate. Just something to think about!

+1!
even a dead shrimp (from the supermarket) is better than fish food as an ammonia source.
If you have a good amount of seeded media a fish in cycle may even be the way to go.

 

[Maxkolbe]

Thanks for the advice. I'll stop at ace and get some. How much do you add to get 4ppm?

 

[jlk]

I found the best way to dose ammonia is to use a baby med syringe (free at most pharmacies). It measures in mls (.625 to 1.25). Start at .625, dose, wait 15mins & test. Keep doing this until you hit 4ppm. It should be in the 3ml range. To get an idea of how small of an amount this is, 5 mls=1 teaspoon. The Ace stuff is potent (do NOT smell the open bottle!!!) so a little goes a long way!

 

[librarygirl]

Here's a calculator that will tell you how much to dose to get to 4 ppm: Calculator

 

[RedFlame]

Take advantage of the calculator it's for sure the quickest way, it really stinks to add a little, wait add a little, wait, add a little etc, etc. With the formula it's one and done. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

 

[Maxkolbe]

Just added the amount recommended by the calculator. I'll test in fifteen minutes. Should I only test the ammonia or continue to test nitrates, nitrites, and PH as well. Also is this the ideal time to add the seeded filter cartridge from my ten gallon?

 

[jlk]

Yes, this a good time to added the seeded filter though check your amm levels & see where they stand right now. I would then wait until tommorrow & then test for everything & let us know how things look!

 

[Maxkolbe]

My test kit says that my ammonia is at 8ppm. Should I just leave it as it is and put in the seeded media or do something about it. I don't know why it's this high. I measured forty one gallons when I filled and plugged 40 gallons into the formula to compensate for evaporation. The last time I checked my ammonia was at 0.25 percent from the fish food. What should I do?

 

[librarygirl]

My test kit says that my ammonia is at 8ppm. Should I just leave it as it is and put in the seeded media or do something about it. I don't know why it's this high. I measured forty one gallons when I filled and plugged 40 gallons into the formula to compensate for evaporation. The last time I checked my ammonia was at 0.25 percent from the fish food. What should I do?

Do you have ammonia in your tap water? What % of ammonia does the bottle say and did you plug the correct % into the calculator? At any rate I'd do a large water change if you can, you want ammonia at about 4; if it's too high it can keep the bacteria from forming and 8 is too high from what I've read. Sorry about that.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Do a 50% water change. Wait and then test again. That should bring it down to 4ppm.

 

[Maxkolbe]

Do you have ammonia in your tap water? What % of ammonia does the bottle say and did you plug the correct % into the calculator? At any rate I'd do a large water change if you can, you want ammonia at about 4; if it's too high it can keep the bacteria from forming and 8 is too high from what I've read. Sorry about that.

I'm using the Ace hardware janitorial strength and the bottle said that it was 10% ammonia so I plugged that into the formula. Anyways I'll do another test to make sure that I didn't make a mistake and if it says the same I'll change a large amount of the water. I'll also test our tap water.

 

[jlk]

My test kit says that my ammonia is at 8ppm. Should I just leave it as it is and put in the seeded media or do something about it. I don't know why it's this high. I measured forty one gallons when I filled and plugged 40 gallons into the formula to compensate for evaporation. The last time I checked my ammonia was at 0.25 percent from the fish food. What should I do?

As a big of a pain in the butt it is, thats why i recommend the 'add & wait' method with a baby med dropper. The dose using the ace stuff for a 60gal should be in the 3-4ml range (less than a teaspoon)-not the 7 or 8ml suggested by the calculator. Im sure its already been suggested, but a big water change to get your amm down to 4ppm is necessary. 50% will probably be sufficient but the amm test only tests to 8ppm (your tank may in fact be above 8ppm) so, i would suggest a larger one (75%) and then retest your amm after 1/2hr. Depending on your result, you may or may not have to add more ammonia to reach 4ppm.

 

[Maxkolbe]

Sorry about the scare, I just realized that I used the same dropper for the water test as adding the ammonia! (stupid, stupid, stupid) Did two more tests and the level is actually at 4ppm, tap water is 0. Sorry again. How should I proceed from here?

 

[jlk]

Ok! If the amm is at 4ppm, you are good to go! Add the seeded filter & lets see how things look tommorrow!

 

[Maxkolbe]

Put the cartridge in, hopefully I didn't hurt the cycle in my ten too badly. I'll test again tomorrow and tell you what the water looks like. I've heard that a lot of people use PH buffers when cycling. Is 8.4 alkaline enough or should I still buffer it?

 

[jlk]

No need to buffer right now. You have high alkaline water (high ph) which usually indicates hard water (lots of dissolved solids to buffer). Just keep an eye on your small tank (if there are fish) since you removed the old filter. You will need to monitor your cycling tank daily for any changes as well. Keep us posted!

 

[librarygirl]

Yep as Jlk said it's really just waiting and testing for now. Hopefully the seeded media from the 10 gal will help speed things along. Just test the water in the new tank daily and see what happens. Post the results here if you need help interpreting what they mean. I'd also test the 10 gal daily for at least a few days to ensure there aren't any toxin spikes from removing the media (if there are just do water changes to keep the toxins down until the bacteria can multiply a bit more).

 

[Maxkolbe]

Tested again
Ammonia 2ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm (possibly a little bit over)

Looks like that seeded filter cartridge has jumpstarted my cycle!
The nitrites may actually be a little bit higher or lower in these tests because the kit only measures in increments of five.
Should I bring the ammonia back up to 4ppm or leave it as it is?