Fishless Cycling For Dummies

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mommytron said:
someone needs to help convince me that this actually works. i did everything that this article told me. i have two air pumps going, temp is around 84 F, ammonia was dosed to 4ppm and i have been keeping a steady eye on ammonia and nitrite. THAT WAS 4 WEEKS AGO. NOTHING has happened. ammonia still read 4ppm and nitrites are a BIG FAT ZERO. i keep the light off. about 3 days ago i added a seeded filter cartridge. still nothing. someone please convince me not to just bag it and add some fish!!!

EDIT: just re-read over the STUPID ammonia bottle and it says "regular scent" .... GREAT. :mad: :bawl:
i'm breaking down the tank, cleaning everything, and starting over. oh well, now i can do a planted tank!!!
Click to expand...


What are you using for substrate? I want to plant my tank as well but I have been really thinking about switching my substrate from crappy gravel to PFS.
 
Yea i am going to put PFS in my 10 gal but we paid like 25 bucks for the gravel and we don't want to just get rid of it. i am only doing low light plants which won't need co2 or ferts and will do ok in the gravel (and some that will just attach to rocks or driftwood or float so they don't even need substrate). i also prefer a darker substrate for the types of fish we want to get anyway. we just have generic dark blue gravel we bought at petsmart
 
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Yeah I want to get plants like that as well, I am trying to get the water chemistry thing understood before I try and understand all the co2 and fert stuff. I want some live plants though, so I am going to give it a try anyways. Now I just have to figure out how to switch my substrate without making a mess and messing up my cycle.
 
well when i was cycling (before i realized my mistake) my plan for my 10 gallon was to wait until the cycle finished, then when i did my large PWC (like 80 or 90%) the night before adding fish, that's when i was going to change the substrate....when i took all the water out i would have just scooped up all the pink gravel that was in it with a net, to leave the little bit of water in the tank, then dump in the PFS , let it settle for a few, then add the new water + decorations. this way you could add the plants while the water level was low for easier aquascaping. let me know how it works out for you!
 
I planted and filled a new set up (55gal) a week ago today. 7 groups of stems, two smallish swords, 3pots HC, 2 pots hairgrass. I have 2x54w t5 ho, 82-84 deg F, and an air-stone going. I used power sand and aquasoil as my substrate, and a canister filter. after testing my water parameters this week, today i get 2-4 ppm ammonia, 2ppm nItrite, and 2-4 ppm NitrAte... I did have two 8x8" stump ornaments in a friends live bearer (tons of guppy and fry) tank for a month or better that i added. is it possible to have these readings one week in???

thanks!
 
So I went and got my API Liquid test kit today, my readings are really weird. Ammonia-8
Nitrite-0, maybe .05
Nitrate- 10

I'm a little confused, I asked about this on here somewhere before but I can't find the thread. That is about the same that my test strips read. I am just wondering where the Nitrite is. Since I dont know if Ill be able to get my internet back anytime soon I am just going to keep an eye out and hope they start spiking soon, im in week 3 already.
 
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There it is! I will do a PWC when I get my gravel vaccum tomorrow. Better doig my first one w/o fish in it anyways so that I can get the hang of it. It shouldn't be too complicated. I checked my tap water with the paper strips before, but I will check it tonight when I get home with the liquid. If there is nitrates in my tap do you think it would mess up my cycle? I would be really upset lol. I am about ready to throw fish in there already!
 
ok so like, let me get this straight

- add ammonia and get a reading of 3-5 than wait till it reaches 0, than add a enough ammonia to get a reading of what? cause it skips to the 3rd week before stating anything about adding more ammonia
 
Keep the ammonia up until you get readings for nitrite and nitrate. And then I believe when you add ammonia, and get a reading of 0 after 12 or 24 hours, you are on your way.
 
Add just enough ammonia to keep the bacteria alive. After you get it at 3-4 ppm just keep adding some fish food in to keep it around , probably 1 ppm. Once you see nitrites , add a little bit and test the next day to see if ammonia and nitrites are going to zero within a day. I don't know if I have posted this article to you or not( posted it so many times i forget wher it is lol) but this is what I used for my cycling and my 10 cycled in 4 weeks exactly. Sorry if I am repeating this .

Fishless Cycling - Paw Talk - Pet Forums
 
that helps a lot logansmomma, but to summarize its like:

after the initial dose, wait until ammonia reaches 0, keep adding very little every day until ammonia and NITRITES go down to 0, than it is fully cycled, but no where in-between do i do a PWC, only at the end?

did i get this right?
 
yay, you have no idea how many articles i have read about fishless cycling and no where does it say when to do this and that, i was going crazy!!

i also think i made a mistake with my post:

keep adding a certain amount of ammonia until it starts producing NITRITES and than i add very little every day until it reaches [ ammonia 0 / NITRITES 0 / NITRATES 20 ] correct?
 
yep that is right. I don't think the nitrates neccesarilly have to be 20 but as long as you are seeing them and no ammonia or nitrites then you are good to go!
 
Thanks very much for a great article, RJRofFL.
I am just trying my first fishless cycle tank. It is a 28-gallon community tank waiting for the transfer of 7 tiger barbs from another much smaller tank.

I have added in the pure ammonia, seeded the tank with gravels and a filter from the other tank and even crushed in some flake food. Also added an air stone. Before I added the ammonia, I tested the water and it showed a reading of 2.0 ppm, which I thought was odd but deduced that it was probably from the Java ferns and Crypts I had already planted. I added the ammonia so it has read something like 6.0 for 7 days straight. I have not added any more ammonia since that first dose of 1 teaspoon. It's been about 2 weeks since the tank was set up and 1 week since the ammonia was added. I only discovered fishless cycling a week after the tank was set up.

I am thinking that the ammonia level should have dropped slightly after a week, but it has remained pretty much constant. According to you, we need to exercise patience to have it come down, but I'm just wondering if I should do a partial water change to try to get the level lower, or I should just sit it out still.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks a ton for the great piece.


 
I would do a PWC. 6ppm isn't way out of control high, but it is on the higher side. i would try to get it down to about 4ppm. if it is too high it could stall the cycle, so to be safe keep it around 4ppm. the water may have tested 2ppm before the addition of ammonia because of the seeded material you added. there may have been detrius in the gravel. ammonia would not have come from the plants, in fact the plants help to eat the ammonia and nitrites up. other than that it sounds like you are well on your way. you may not see any nitrites until week 3 so hang in there. just get the ammonia down to about 4ppm and remember to keep feeding your tank a little ammonia after you start to see it drop on its own.
 
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