So...um...bacteria? Do I have to send invitations?

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bosk1

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
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Several members here talked me into doing a fishless cycle, which I think will be better in the long run. So I added pure ammonia until my level got to 4-5. Now I'm waiting. Tested to see if I had any nitrites last night. Nuthin' yet, which means there are no bacteria yet eating up the tasty ammonia feast I have set out for them. So when do the bacteria show up? Not impatient--just asking. Unfortunately, this is my first tank, so I don't have another tank to seed from. The article I read on fishless cycling said to add ammonia up to the spike level, and keep doing that for the first few days. But it assumed seeding the tank with bacteria. I don't want to keep adding ammonia right now if I'm already a 4-5 and there are no bacteria to slurp it up. Any thoughts?
 
Just keep the level at 4ppm don't add 4 ppm everyday. The bacteria will start to grow. In a few days your ammonia levels will start to drop. Once you see nitrites then you can just keep your ammonia at 2ppm. The whole think takes a month or so. Just be patient and keep testing.

As for where it comes from, this was discussed once before and I dont know if anyone really came up with that great an answer. I am not even sure if it was discussed here.
 
Okay. Good, so I was right about not adding more ammonia. I'll just keep testing away then. (but if anyone does know where the bacteria come from, I'm still curious)

Oh, and nice bichon, by the way. :)
 
(but if anyone does know where the bacteria come from, I'm still curious)
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If you had a good microscope, you would see thousands of microscopic bacteria..EVERYWHERE! The bacterial forms that are beneficial to our hobby are present on the glass, gravel, etc...but are dormant. Once the proper amount of NH3 is added...it "wakes" them up and they start colonizing. It usually takes up to 5-7 days for them to really get going...and feasting on the ammonia. They will leave behind nitrites...and so on.

HTH
 
rich311k said:
Your welcome. And thank you, he was a good boy.
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Most people in northern California, at least around the Bay Area, now know what bichons are. The reason is unfortunate: some idiot got into a fight with his wife/girlfriend/whatever, and decided to get even by tossing his little bichon out the car window while driving on the freeway. It was all over the news at the time. :(

Jchillin said:
If you had a good microscope, you would see thousands of microscopic bacteria..EVERYWHERE! The bacterial forms that are beneficial to our hobby are present on the glass, gravel, etc...but are dormant. Once the proper amount of NH3 is added...it "wakes" them up and they start colonizing. It usually takes up to 5-7 days for them to really get going...and feasting on the ammonia. They will leave behind nitrites...and so on.

HTH
Click to expand...

Thanks, it does help...at least it helps satisfy my insatiable curiosity. One article I read made a very brief and obscure reference to waiting for random bacteria spores to land in the aquarium water. Seemed weird. Anyway...

Oh, and I love the Top Cat avatar. Haven't seen that cartoon in YEARS!
 
I have read that the bacteria needed to start our tank cycle is in the air, and yes, everywhere! Good thing they are beneficial and not harmful to us! :razz:

Even with a fishless cycle, it may take anywhere from 3-6 weeks to complete. Yes, you have nothing in your tank to look at during this time, but you don't have to worry about doing frantic and frequent water changes to keep the fish healthy. I once cycled with one fish (a pleco) and used Bio-Spira and some "sponge scrunge" from another tank. That pleco tank still took a month to cycle completely. Be patient, and at least you don't have the frustration of daily or even twice a day water changes, since you have no fish!

PS. I remember that bichon incident now...how terrible.
 
I know who top cat is and I'm only 27. Kids who grew up pre-Cartoon Network were exposed to a much broader range of cartoons. I've seen most of the Disney Silly Symphonies, but that doesnt mean I was alive in the 20s and 30s.
 
imahawki said:
I know who top cat is and I'm only 27. Kids who grew up pre-Cartoon Network were exposed to a much broader range of cartoons. I've seen most of the Disney Silly Symphonies, but that doesnt mean I was alive in the 20s and 30s.
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LOL...yes, CN has brought back a lot of "old" cartoons, which is great for allowing the younger gen to see what we were exposed to as kids.

Usually when someone says: "I remember that", it means they were present at the time...hence, "you give away your age". is appropriate.
 
Actually, I was referring to NOT having cartoon network. We had a BUD (big ugly dish) and probably had 200+ channels back in the 80s. I dont recall what channel we used to watch Trixie and Dixie and all the othe Hanna Barbera cartoons on, but Top Cat was one of them. Growing up the mix was definately 60%+ cartoons that were created before I was born. Cartoon Network has actually gotten rid of a lot of the classics in favor of thes (IMO) shoddily animated, fast action crap they have now.

PS sorry for the thread hijack.
 
swanandmokashi said:
Check my water parameters document for comparison
http://www.swanandmokashi.com/HomePage/Aquarium/WaterParameters.htm
Click to expand...

Very cool. I think I'll create something similar. So it looks like you didn't see any nitrites for almost a week, and your tank cycled in just under a month. It's so hard to be patient! :D

Question: since you went fishless, why did you gradually add ammonia in small doses over a week instead of initially dosing right up to spike level? The article I read on fishless cycling said to get right up to about 5 right away, and to keep it there until you started getting significant nitrite output. Also, how much ammonia were you adding when you restarted adding on 5/3?
 
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