Cycling ?

[Sberk]

I started a fishless cycle 2 weeks ago (13 days) by using pure ammonia. Here's the problem, my ammonia has not dropped at all and i still have 0 nitrites! What could be causing my cycle not to happen?

 

[mfdrookie516]

Just be patient. Im 2 weeks in to a fishless cycle on one of my tanks and im just now getting nitrites, but i seeded my tank with a sponge from one of my other tanks. Do you have the heat cranked up? How much ammonia did you dose?

 

[IslandHopper]

yep... no need to be worried yet... it'll probably happen soon, but i'd give it at least 3 weeks.

Be aware, the nitrite phase will probably take at least as long.

 

[ErnieB]

took me 6 weeks to see nitrites ( fish cycle )

 

[Chriznat20]

What temperature is recommended?

Ive been doing cycling with fish - pretty sure Ive had 2 bacteria blooms (cloudy water), the next day it is clear again. I used the "cycle" product by nutrafin, dont know if that matters or not....

Ammonia has been holding steady between 0-.25, but as far as Ive tested - nothing higher than that. I do 30% water changes every 3 days. No nitrItes, and of course, no nitrAtes yet. There are 4 zebra danios, 1 neon tetra, 2 cory's, and one small pleco in the tank so I thought for sure I'd be registering some serious ammonia.

 

[Jgeezer1986]

No Fish

 

[mfdrookie516]

no fish? cycling with fish takes alot longer than fishless cycling!

 

[Mark Hewitt]

Ammonia has been holding steady between 0-.25, but as far as Ive tested - nothing higher than that. I do 30% water changes every 3 days. No nitrItes, and of course, no nitrAtes yet. There are 4 zebra danios, 1 neon tetra, 2 cory's, and one small pleco in the tank so I thought for sure I'd be registering some serious ammonia.

Sounds like your water changes are keeping the ammonia down to sensible levels. Keeping the ammonia low does slow down the cycle but doesn't harm the fish as much.

I guess you have a choice, start changing the water less, have a higher level of ammonia and your cycle will be over more quickly, but you risk the fish not surviving. Or do what you are doing but expose the fish to a longer term dose.

 

[Chriznat20]

Sounds like your water changes are keeping the ammonia down to sensible levels. Keeping the ammonia low does slow down the cycle but doesn't harm the fish as much.

I guess you have a choice, start changing the water less, have a higher level of ammonia and your cycle will be over more quickly, but you risk the fish not surviving. Or do what you are doing but expose the fish to a longer term dose.

Thanks. I have tested positive for nitrItes for 2 days now. They are very low (the lowest color bar on the API master kit card), so Ive been keeping up on 20% water changes to keep the nitrItes down too.

Btw, what temperature do you recommend the tank be at while cycling? Currently I have it at 77f. Thats on the high end for the fish I have in there now, but I didnt want to keep it too low and screw up the cycle process...

 

[Mark Hewitt]

I don't think the temperature matters too much, have it at whatever is comfortable for your fish.

 

[IslandHopper]

I don't think the temperature matters too much, have it at whatever is comfortable for your fish.

It doesn't matter for the cycle... but the higher the temp, the more toxic the ammonia is to any fish... perhaps not enough to matter at moderate temps... but... maybe keep it at the cool end of their preferred temp range till the ammonia drops to zero?

 

[mfdrookie516]

actually, the colder a tank, the longer it takes to cycle... bumping up the temp to 85 or so will speed up the cycle quite a bit... cycling a coldwater goldfish tank can take twice as long as a tropical tank