Fishless Cycle Mistake?

[Jayann]

I was browsing the forums earlier and saw a picture of a really nice bubble wall in someones aquarium. They posted the brand of the airstone strip and I went right out and purchased one to replace the crappy PetSmart tube bubble wall I was using that was barely putting out anything. I was not using the crappy one as my sole source of oxygen, I have a small circular airstone that is putting out a decent amount of oxygen near the filter for the bacteria. I really just wanted to add the strip to get that nice bubble wall effect for looks. Anyhow... it was not quite as simple to replace as I had hoped since I was trying to get it buried. In the meantime, I caused quite a stir in the water. I had moved some seed material over from an active tank which included some gravel and plastic plants. Installing the new bubble wall caused all the crap and debris that came with the seed material to stir up in the water and float around. Very similar to what it looked like when I swished the sponge from the active tank around in the water before placing it in the filter for seed. Now I am worried that this may cause some type of delay or problem with my progress thus far. I will do my daily testing this evening but in the meantime I just wanted to get some advice on the potential damage I may have done to the cycle. Obviously I will not be continuing to mess around in the tank but I started to wonder if this will be a problem again when the cycle is complete and I start to move out the seed material.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and advice.

 

[Rivercats]

This won't affect cycling at all so don't worry.

 

[shellieca]

I don't think you have anything to worry about. Are you dosing ammonia to feed the BB?

 

[Jayann]

I don't think you have anything to worry about. Are you dosing ammonia to feed the BB?

Thanks guys thats a huge relief! I have been following the "almost complete guide to fishless cycling" so I am dosing the ammonia up to 4ppm letting it get down to 1ppm then dosing again.

 

[shellieca]

Then you're doing right! With seeded material hopefully it'll cycle quickly.

 

[Mebbid]

Hey! a fellow michigander! What city do you live in?

Generally, when it comes to a fishless cycle the dirtier the better

 

[Jayann]

Hey! a fellow michigander! What city do you live in?

Generally, when it comes to a fishless cycle the dirtier the better

Hi Mebbid! I am in Lansing. Where are you located?

 

[Mebbid]

Sorry off topic
Ahh very nice! I'm up in mount pleasant.
How do you like preuss pets?

How is your cycle progressing?

 

[Jayann]

I frequent Mount Pleasant quite a bit for Soaring Eagle. Do you go there often living close by or does it become not as big of deal when its so easily accessible?

For as long as Preuss has been around, I shamefully had never been until just a few weeks ago when I took on this project. I had been using PetSmart and thankfully they did not have the crushed coral I needed which led me to Preuss. The place is just amazing and I will gladly take the 15 min drive to go there over driving a block to PetSmart lol

The cycle I think is going quite well. I am using seed material from a well established 5 gallon and I am hopeful *fingers crossed* it will be a fast cycle because of it. I am having to re-dose the ammonia every 2 days so somethings eating it up, but no nitrites yet. Tomorrow will be day 7.

 

[Mebbid]

I frequent Mount Pleasant quite a bit for Soaring Eagle. Do you go there often living close by or does it become not as big of deal when its so easily accessible?

For as long as Preuss has been around, I shamefully had never been until just a few weeks ago when I took on this project. I had been using PetSmart and thankfully they did not have the crushed coral I needed which led me to Preuss. The place is just amazing and I will gladly take the 15 min drive to go there over driving a block to PetSmart lol

The cycle I think is going quite well. I am using seed material from a well established 5 gallon and I am hopeful *fingers crossed* it will be a fast cycle because of it. I am having to re-dose the ammonia every 2 days so somethings eating it up, but no nitrites yet. Tomorrow will be day 7.

I've been there once or twice.. and by once or twice I mean I've been working there for the past 6 years as a cook.

Heck, I gladly take the 1.5 hour drive to go to preuss. I would go bankrupt if it was 15 minutes away

no nitrites? That's surprising. They must be getting converted to nitrates as fast as they are produced.

 

[Jayann]

no nitrites? That's surprising. They must be getting converted to nitrates as fast as they are produced.

To be honest I have not even tested for them yet because I just assumed I had to see some nitrites before I got them. I'll run a test in the morning and check it out. It's certainly possible though with the amount of seed material I used. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Mebbid]

If that's the case then your cycle is probably just about finished

 

[Jayann]

I just couldn't wait any longer to test because the thought of almost being done was too great. I indeed have nitrates! It's not quite 5.0 but pretty darn close. It's definitely no where near the 0 end of the scale. Amazing!! I am so glad you suggested it because who knows how long I would have waited to test.