fishless cycle

[hardparts2]

well I started my fishless cycle on my 55g 10/2/04. I raised the ammonia to 6ppm.Added gravel and filter squezzings from another tank
10/2/04 ammonia 6ppm,nitrites 0,nitrates 20, ph 8.4,gh 300, kh 300
10/3/04 ammonia 6ppm,nitrites 0,nitrates 20, ph 8.4,gh 300, kh 300
added ammonia
10/4/04 ammonia offscale,nitrites 0,nitrates 20, ph 8.4,gh 300, kh 300
added ammonia
It took 7tsp to get to 6ppm ammonia.I was wondering if I am doing it right? Man its so hard to look at a awesome tank and no fish.

 

[TankGirl]

Cut it back a bit on the ammonia - 5ppm would better, because overdosing the ammonia can stall the cycle. If you are doing fishless it is probably better not to test every day, as you will drive yourself crazy. Expect to sit back for 6 weeks, and if it happens sooner than that consider it a bonus. That is enough time for you to plan the inhabitants and change your mind a few times, and get it just right.

Kudos to you for going fishless!

 

[Fishalicious]

I agree, cut back on the ammonia! I seeded my tank and start out with 5ppm of ammonia and its been exactly a week and my ammonia is already getting lower and my nitrite is already at 2ppm. I'm predicting a very short cycle from these results.
Once you start showing some nitrites, cut back on the amount of ammonia you're adding by 1/2.

TG is right, too much ammonia stalls a cycle.

I know how frustrating it can be. It took me about 2 months to cycle my main tank. The problem I had was not enough fish to kick it off so I didnt have enough ammonia. Too much or too little will prevent a cycle from happening.

GOOD LUCK!!!!
-Dan

 

[hardparts2]

Well I gave up on fish less cycle 5 days after I started. Did a 95% water change and bought 7 fish a week ago. Had ammonia spike all ready now the readings are nitrate 20
nitrite 3.0
ammonia 0
Im trying to keep the nitrites down a little. The 3 kenyi a 4 zebras seem to be doing very well so far

 

[Fishalicious]

Shoulda just kept going. You just need patience. It's much more rewarding in the end!

TG, any way to retract those kudos?!

Dan

 

[Menagerie]

nitrite 3.0

That is too high!!! You need to do a 50% PWC ASAP. Nitrites are just as dangerous to fish as ammonia is.

 

[FawnN]

I personally think that even 5ppm is way too high. I have always brought my ammonia levels up to only 4ppm. I won't add anymore until I see it go down to 2ppm and once that happens, I will add just enough to bring it back up to 4ppm.

I personally feel that a fishless cycle is the way to go. I've done it on over 7 tanks and wouldn't do it any other way.

It's so much more work doing a cycle with fish. Besides, you run a risk of killing your fish or having your fish sustain some permanent gill damage from the high ammonia and/or nitrite levels.

 

[TankGirl]

I agree with FawnN, and it is a "set it and forget it" method of cycling. The problem, at least for me, comes in when I am hovering over this empty tank, tapping my foot, testing all the time, and I get impatient. If I just dump the ammonia in every day and walk away, testing maybe once a week, the weeks go by much more quickly. I am not a patient person so I certainly understand how it is to look at that empty tank, but it is a maintenance-free period, and once the cycle is done then your fish can enter a comfortable, safe environment.

That said, the fish you selected, hardparts2, are tough and should be able to tolerate this, but hopefully you have already followed Menagerie's advice and gotten those nitrites down. Increased aeration (lowering the water level) and salt are known to ease nitrite toxicity.

 

[melissa1977]

I ve been fishless cycling for about 2 months and a half now... I know how discouraging it could be.

It's getting really hard, im getting impatient. I had to start all over again one month after initial set up because I taught that I was adding to much ammonia, than later realized that I should have just kept on going with it...

My boyfriend is always picking on me asking when are we going to add some fish in there !! (he paid half of the tank !!)

Hopefully the tank will end up being ready, on day...

 

[hardparts2]

Still going

Well its been almost 3 weeks did the 50% water change on the 13th that Menagerie suggested it dropped the nitrites to 1. I tested this morning they where at 5 again did another 50% water change then they dropped to 1. But about 2 hours later the water got cloudy very white cloudy about 6 hours later its almost clear scared the sht out of me.The fish seem to be doin ok still swimmin and eating good.This is how my water tests
ammonia 0
Nitrites 1
Nittates 20
GH 200
KH 300
PH 8.4
The ? is with all the water changes is it going to slow the nitrite part of the cycle down and take longer. The fish have allready survived a nitrite spike of 10 but now I have it under control.

 

[Mothi]

When I did fishless cycling, I only spiked the ammonia to 2.0 ppm and then waited until it hit 0 ppm. Then respiked it to 2.0 ppm and checked the nitrite levels. When the ammonia went back down to 0 ppm (this time it would be shorter than the first time which was about a week), I would respike the ammonia to 2.0 ppm and again test the nitrites. If I found nitrites (it should peak to 2.0 ppm) I would also start testing nitrate. Basically, you keep respiking the ammonia to 2.0 ppm until it drops down to 0 ppm within 12-24 hours (which took me 3-4 weeks). When that happens, you test the nitrite. If the nitrite is 0 ppm, your cycle is complete. If you still have a nitrite reading, you continue to spike the ammonia to 2.0 ppm down to 0 ppm for at least 2 times and then check nitrite again and continue to do the ammonia spike until the nitrite reads 0 ppm, which indicates your cycle is complete. Do a major...major water change and you should be set to go. It took my marine tank about a month to complete a cycle and I will NEVER again cycle a tank with fish. It is just not needed.

You shouldn't spike your ammonia tooooo high or else it becomes counter productive. The bacteria will instead be stunted in population growth or worse, killed off setting you back to ground 0. Also, since using the ammonia method to cycle a tank, there will be no live fish in the tank, raise the temperature of the tank to about mid 80s to encourage the bacteria to grow quicker. Of course when the cycling is complete, bring the temperatures down to the appropriate level....

 

[hardparts2]

Well I think my cycle is done nitrites have been dropping for a couple of days now they are now 0 ammonia 0 nitrates are at 20. kh and gh at 300, ph 8.4 it only took 23 days and all 12 of my fish are fine and happy the scrappy little buggers