Fish less cycle

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jdf

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jan 7, 2016
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32
Location
VA
I have been under fishless cycle since 6 Jan

I have been maintaining 4 ppm of ammonia (ace hardware 10%). However the NH3 has never dropped from for except on 10 Jan when it read 2 (could have been from adding water every now and then for evaporation). I dosed back to 4 at this time and it has not dropped since. I have tested for nitrites a few times and nothing.

I don't have seeding bacteria and I don't want to use bottled bacteria from the lfs.

Am I doing something wrong or do I need to be more patient.? Can you cycle w/o seeding or bottle bacteria? Everything I have read says 4-7 days to see significant NH3 drops and nitrite starting to appear.
 
I have been under fishless cycle since 6 Jan



I have been maintaining 4 ppm of ammonia (ace hardware 10%). However the NH3 has never dropped from for except on 10 Jan when it read 2 (could have been from adding water every now and then for evaporation). I dosed back to 4 at this time and it has not dropped since. I have tested for nitrites a few times and nothing.



I don't have seeding bacteria and I don't want to use bottled bacteria from the lfs.



Am I doing something wrong or do I need to be more patient.? Can you cycle w/o seeding or bottle bacteria? Everything I have read says 4-7 days to see significant NH3 drops and nitrite starting to appear.


It's more like 9-14 without seeded media. You are doing nothing wrong. You just need to be very patient. The nitrite stage can take a long time. After 3 weeks you should stop dosing ammonia until nitrites come to zero (and they will, patience) when they do start dosing ammonia again until the ammonia becomes nitrite and nitrite becomes nitrate all in 24 hours. Please keep updating days progressed when you see changes.


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ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1452898550.366011.jpg

Anyone know what this is coming out of my return, it started today


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It could be bacteria or fungus. Either way, just remove the return, scrub it clean and refit it. If it keeps returning then you could bleach it but rinse really well and use Prime as an added precaution.
New tank when cycling often suffer from bacteria outbreaks. They normally go of their own accord when the tank is in balance.


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So I am still waiting on the ammonia to go down. It may have finally dropped to 3 (it's hard to tell on the chart). However this may be to the top off water I have been putting in, around 10-12 gallons since I dosed to 4ppm ammonia.

since I know more about my home water chemistry, I have a new question. When I first filled the tank I used water from what I have now determined to be treated from my water softener.

Can this type of water cause issues in doing a fishless cycle?

I observed a pH of 7.6 and TDS of 160.

The last 9 gallons I have used to top off have been from a faucet before my home water softener.
Measurements from this water jade been consistent around:
ph 6.7, kH 4 deg, gH 5 deg


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Thanks, I have read that one and several others a few times over. I will review it again, but am a little over concerned about details sometimes especially thing like this that have a large amount of variables that can make all kinds of differences large and small.


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update site

I created the following page to help provide updates for those that want to follow and provide advice or high fives. Thanks for the help so far. Just click on the link below to view.

my fishless cycle
 
update, I have some new questions:

Fishless Cycle – Fish

I am keeping a record of my cycle at the link above. It has been very slow going. Started in beginning of Jan and still have not seen any nitrites. The ammonia does go down very slowly.

Any thoughts to why kH is larger than gH (6 to 4 respectively). I think its b/c the drop tester for gH only for the two main minerals.

Any thoughts to why I put very low pH (6.0) water in to top off and the pH in the tank stays high (7.8).

Also, the water I have been using has consistent kH of 4 and gH of 5. Will this help in changing the issue with lower gH than kH in the tank.

I think I am going to do a water change of 25%-50% tomorrow to get rid of some brown hair algae that has become a problem in the bottom of the tank. I also want to clean out the filter. Does anyone want to talk me out of doing this? If yes, why?
 
update site

update, I have some new questions:

Fishless Cycle – Fish

go to the link to see the update and if you have any suggestions please let me know. It seems that my cycle has started this week, now need the nitrates to go up (i have 0-5 ppm naturally in my well water).
 
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