Hello All! I have a 29gallon and I started my fish less cycle on 1-15-12 I dosed my ammonia up then and today it is at 2ppm. I know its only been two days so should I let it sit or dose it back u to 4? Thanks for your help 
Started my fishless cycle!
- Thread starter Justme68
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RedFlame
Aquarium Advice Activist
Dose it back up. I would say for the first week check the ammonia every two days and then dose back up to 4ppm. The second week you can start checking it daily if you like and by the end of the second keep an eye out for trites. No need to test nitrates that soon as they typically won't even register unless you adding some seeding material from another established tank. hang in there you may have about a month or more to go, just keep posting your test results and have patience.
P.S. prepare to be frustrated with the time, delay in trites showing up and the delay in trates showing up but once they do it's exciting. Good luck.
P.S. prepare to be frustrated with the time, delay in trites showing up and the delay in trates showing up but once they do it's exciting. Good luck.
RedFlame
Aquarium Advice Activist
I hear you, just hang in there and it will be exciting once you can stock your tank and not have to worry about daily water changes and ammonia/nitrate spikes.
Hi again I hope I haven't done any real damage! On Saturday the 21st my water tested 2ppm so I dosed backed up to 4ppm and tested today and it was .25 so I dosed back to 4. Any big problems there with it dropping so low? Also, my Ph tested slightly darker than 7.6 so I did a high range test and it didn't compare to anything there.....it was a light plum color, def lighter than the 8.4 but not brownish like the 8.2 any comments? Thanks everyone
I hope I haven't done any real damage! On Saturday the 21st my water tested 2ppm so I dosed backed up to 4ppm and tested today and it was .25 so I dosed back to 4. Any big problems there with it dropping so low? Also, my Ph tested slightly darker than 7.6 so I did a high range test and it didn't compare to anything there.....it was a light plum color, def lighter than the 8.4 but not brownish like the 8.2 any comments? Thanks everyone 
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
No problems! Your amm dropping is a good sign that your progressing through the first stage of developing your bacteria. Just continue with your daily tests & dose the amm back up to 4ppm when you see it drop. Have you checked for nitrites yet? If your amm is dropping, you should be seeing some nitrites show up on your tests. Dont worry about your ph- as long as it stays stable, you will be fine!
Thanks for the reply jlk. I just tested for nitrites....did 2 tests! My plain tap water is 0 and the tank water I'm not sure about. It looks like a hoy pink with a touch of purple. I'll try to attach a photo. Is this possible already?
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yes, its possible! You have nitrites which is a good sign of progression! Keep up the good work!
Good morning! I tested again this morning (24hrs later) and my ammonia is back down to. 25, the trites are the same as yesterday, a hot purple pink (not matching anything on the chart) and the trates are 5.0 my tap water is 5.0 also so that means there is none showing up for those, correct? I dosed ammonia back to 4ppm. Is there anything I should be doing? Thanks
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Your doing good! The nitrite>nitrate phase is the longest & takes the most patience. Just make sure your monitoring your ph for possible drops or jumps.
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
If its only a few gallons your adding, i would just condition the water your using before adding it. If your doing a big water change, i would then dose to the size of your tank.
RedFlame
Aquarium Advice Activist
Nope, nothing else to do but stay the course you are well on your way and pretty quickly actually. Just keep dosing back up to 4ppm in a dew days your ammo will be 0 in 24 hrs your nitrites will disappear and then your nitrate should shoot up to 20+ppms. Once the ammo and nitrites are 0's do a 50-90% pwc and dose back up to 4ppm one last time and make sure its all gone again the next day.
After that you can start stocking gradually or at full capacity as it would take a whole heck of a lot of fish poo to equate to 4ppms ammonia. (It is not necessary to add all at once as the beneficial bacteria will adjust to the tanks bio-load).
On a side note awesome job sticking with it, a lot of people get tired or frustrated mid-way and just give up or switch to fishin cycling.
After that you can start stocking gradually or at full capacity as it would take a whole heck of a lot of fish poo to equate to 4ppms ammonia. (It is not necessary to add all at once as the beneficial bacteria will adjust to the tanks bio-load).
On a side note awesome job sticking with it, a lot of people get tired or frustrated mid-way and just give up or switch to fishin cycling.
Thanks Red! I'm hoping the nitrite stage goes as quickly as this has but I'm not expecting it....lol. I'm gonna stick this out cuz ive gotten this far and not willing to call it quits and I don't want to risk hurting any fish! Thanks for checking in and I'll keep posting my results and let ya know how I'm getting along
Hello! So i started my fish less cycle 2 weeks ago yesterday. This morning this is where I'm at: Ammo .25 (dosed back up) nitrites very light purple (was hot pink) and nitrates very close to 10ppm. Temp is 82.....is there anything I need to do or not do? I haven't done any water changes yet....my patience is doing well thanks!
thanks!
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Sounds like your doing a good job! You can add a pinch or 2 of finely crushed fish food, too. Just make sure you are keeping an eye on your ph as well. Keep us posted!
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