New 20gal Fishless Cycling

[Brent]

Hey everyone,

I set up my tank last Saturday 10/20/12. Initially I had just the conditioned water, heater, and filter going along with the lighting. 3 days later on Monday, I bought play sand, rinsed about 20-25lbs of it and put it in the tank. Once the cloudyness settled, I set up shale fish caves and put in the lily and aponogeton bulbs. My API master kit came in on Thursday and I've been testing once in the morning and once at night. I added clear ammonia Thursday night. I might've added too much as I'm around 3-4ppm. Its hovered around that level since then. No indication of nitrites yet.

I just tested my tap water and it shows very low levels of ammonia (if any). I'm gonna do a 30% water change to try and get the ammonia levels in my tank down to about .50ppm.

My plant bulbs at showing signs of sprouting soon, hopefully within the week.

I'm excited to finally be posting on this forum and being a part of the community. Hope everyone is doing well.

End of first week test results:
Ph- 7.8
Ammonia- ~3-4ppm
Nitrite- 0ppm
Nitrate- 0ppm

 

[Calypso77]

I wouldn't do a water change just be patient and leave it be it can take a while for trites to show and ammonia to start dropping. I never did a water change until the very end when it cycled

 

[callisto9]

Hello and welcome! Always exciting to see new people getting into the hobby.

 

[Brent]

Wish I would've seen your post before I did the water change. The only reason I did it was because I thought you were only supposed to be around .25-.50 while cycling. I'm gonna take your advice and just leave it now. What do you recommend my ammonia level to hover around while cycling? I guess I'm asking if I should add more to get to an "ideal" level for the rest of the cycling.

 

[Brent]

Just figured I'd post a few pics as well.

 

[Calypso77]

Here is a great fishless guide I always follow when doing fishless and it is very easy.

Fishless Cycling - Article at The Age of Aquariums - Tropical Fish

 

[Brent]

I actually saw you post that on another thread and I've read and bookmarked it since I saw it haha

 

[shellieca]

Wish I would've seen your post before I did the water change. The only reason I did it was because I thought you were only supposed to be around .25-.50 while cycling. I'm gonna take your advice and just leave it now. What do you recommend my ammonia level to hover around while cycling? I guess I'm asking if I should add more to get to an "ideal" level for the rest of the cycling.

You only need to keep the ammonia down if you're doing a fish IN cycle & it sounds like you're going fish LESS so keep the ammo up around 4. Once it drops to 1 then add more ammo. You're watching for the 4 to drop to 0 within 24 hrs. You'll do a big water change before adding fish. Keep an eye on your Ph so it doesn't drop too low because that can stall your cycle. Good luck & keep us posted.

 

[Brent]

Yes I'm doing a fishless cycle. Just did a few tests this morning. The ammonia was down around 1-2ppm I'm guessing because of the water change, so I added 1/4 teaspoon ammonia and I'll check the level later. I'm gonna try to get to 4ppm, then let it drop to 1, add to 4, etc. Until it drops to zero from 4 in 24hours. Here are my tests for this morning:

Ph- 7.6
Ammonia- ~1-2
Nitrite- 0ppm
Nitrate- not tested

Thanks again for all the help guys

 

[Brent]

Just giving an update on the fishless cycling. I got my driftwood in so that's in the tank now. Here are the test results for today:

Ammonia: 3ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm

 

[librarygirl]

Looks ok so far, it's still early. Watch your PH especially with the driftwood in; some woods can lower PH significantly and if it drops too low (mid-low 6's) it can stall the cycle.

 

[Brent]

Thanks for that info. Just tested the pH. Its at 6.8. The driftwood has been in for about 24 hours, so hopefully that's as low as the pH will get from it.

 

[Brent]

Finally started showing some nitrites last night. And my pH is still about the same. There's a good possibility that I'm getting a 55 gallon soon though. So I'll finish cycling this tank and put this water into the 55 when I get it so I at least have a jump start on getting that tank cycled.

Results as of last night:
Ph- 6.7
Ammonia- 3ppm
Nitrites- .50ppm
Nitrates- 0ppm

 

[Brent]

Test results for tonight
Ph- 6.5 pretty low :/
Ammonia- 3ppm
Nitrites- 5ppm
Nitrates- just above 0ppm

 

[Duydawg]

There's a good possibility that I'm getting a 55 gallon soon though. So I'll finish cycling this tank and put this water into the 55 when I get it so I at least have a jump start on getting that tank cycled.

The bacteria will NOT be in the water of your 20 gallon tank. The bacteria will be in or on the
1) Filter
2) Substrate
3) any decorations you've placed ( In your case, those stones stacked against each other)

That is why doing water changes during a fishless cycle does not harm your bacteria. When you do your water changes, you are only removing the nitrates,ammonia,nitrites.

 

[Brent]

Yeah I know that the bacteria aren't in the water column. I'm gonna run the 20 gallons' filter alongside the ones that I get for the 55 until the 55 is cycled just to jump start the bacteria growth in the new filters. Once the 55 is cycled, I'm gonna just use the new filters. I'm also transferring all the substrate, shale, and driftwood to the 55.

 

[Brent]

Tested the water today. My pH is getting real low now. Its about 6.2 what does everyone recommend to raise the pH? Just pH up drops, or is there something natural to counteract the driftwood bringing the pH down? Thanks again for your help.

Test results:
Ph- 6.2
Ammonia- 2ppm
Nitrite- 5ppm
Nitrate- 10ppm

 

[Coco1019]

Have you done a water change yet? I would do one and don't forget to condition the replacement water.

If it still continues to drop and your cycle stalls, you can try adding crushed coral to your filter. It brought my 10 gallon up from 6.0-6.2 to 7.4 in a day.

 

[Brent]

Just figured I'd pop in and give an update. My ammonia is below .25ppm now. My nitrites are still spiked, and I'm at 20ppm nitrates. The pH was almost 6.0 so I did a 50% water change. It went back up to 6.4ish. Now my question is this: my tank is freshwater, can crushed coral be added to a freshwater tank? I'm assuming that its OK as long as there's no salt in it, but I want to make sure. Also, does it need to be rinsed like sand substrate does? I'm guessing not since its going into the filter itself, but again I just want to make sure.

On another note, I should be getting my 55 gallon out of storage tomorrow. I haven't seen it in years, and I'm hoping that the plastic brace at the top is still solid and that the silicone isn't degraded. I might just do a reseal of the tank just to be safe. My roommate and I are in the middle of resealing his 55 gallon because his top brace broke. Its just a pain waiting for the plastic to come in. I'm anxious to get it up and running but I don't want to rush it haha. Hope everyone is doing well, and thanks again for the advice.

 

[Brent]

One more quick question: what type/brand of crushed coral do you recommend? Thanks!