Fishless cycle

[Andrew McFadden]

Well I wanna say it was a 4.5 or 5.0 when I left. But I did put food in there as well before hand so it's possible it got higher.

Next time try a little less aim for 4. But it's started and going strong. All you.can do is wait and keep testing it. Let us know what it read tomorrow night

 

[Calvin and Kyle]

Thanks man! And I will!

 

[Calvin and Kyle]

Okay! I didn't get to test last night! Got caught up saying goodbye to a friend who is leaving for china! But I did test this morning! Ammonia is between a 0 and a .5 and nitrites are through the roof! Above a 10.0 nitrates are 20-30.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Okay! I didn't get to test last night! Got caught up saying goodbye to a friend who is leaving for china! But I did test this morning! Ammonia is between a 0 and a .5 and nitrites are through the roof! Above a 10.0 nitrates are 20-30.

Does ammonia back up to 4

 

[Calvin and Kyle]

Okay! I'm gonna do that now! Does it matter that I'm dosing it back up and my nitrites are so high! And yet my nitrates haven't really started? Or is this normal!

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Okay! I'm gonna do that now! Does it matter that I'm dosing it back up and my nitrites are so high! And yet my nitrates haven't really started? Or is this normal!

It's normal it will catch up. You just want to keep dosing it back up till it all turns to nitrate within 24 hours or pretty close to that. Then do a big water change to get nitrate down and dose back up to be sure. Then you should be done.

What's your temp at? Being higher will help the bacteria growth.

 

[Calvin and Kyle]

I set it at 82 after reading somewhere that above 80 degrees helps bacteria. And I did dose it back up to 4 ppm btw.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

I set it at 82 after reading somewhere that above 80 degrees helps bacteria. And I did dose it back up to 4 ppm btw.

So do you think this is easier then the food?

 

[Calvin and Kyle]

Nine bajillion times easier. Lol I'm just lucky we had an ace hardware in the area that sells the ammonia. I live in a kind of spread out area so it can be hard to find specific things like that sometimes.

 

[Calvin and Kyle]

Okay! My ammonia this morning is between zero and .5 almost completely zero. My nitrites are off the chart above a 10.0 and my nitrates are about 80. Do I dose it again?

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Okay! My ammonia this morning is between zero and .5 almost completely zero. My nitrites are off the chart above a 10.0 and my nitrates are about 80. Do I dose it again?

Do a water change to get the nitrates down then dose it back up

 

[Calvin and Kyle]

Alright! And nitrites just keep converting till they can all convert overnight? That's what I'm eventually looking for?

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Alright! And nitrites just keep converting till they can all convert overnight? That's what I'm eventually looking for?

Pretty much it takes longer for nitrite to change than it does for ammonia.

 

[Calvin and Kyle]

Okay! Thanks again! I'll do a pwc dose ammonia and post the result tomorrow.

 

[Calvin and Kyle]

Alright! Today: ammonia: 0, nitrites: way above what the chart reads(greater than 10.0) nitrates just under 80.

 

[Calvin and Kyle]

Do I dose it again? Or just wait for the nitrites to convert?

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Do I dose it again? Or just wait for the nitrites to convert?

Dose to 2 and wait it out it will covert everything to nitrate.

 

[Calvin and Kyle]

Thank you! Once it's all nitrate, then what? And how long do you think it'll take to convert all to nitrate? Thanks for completely walking me through this btw.

I appreciate it!

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Thank you! Once it's all nitrate, then what? And how long do you think it'll take to convert all to nitrate? Thanks for completely walking me through this btw.

I appreciate it!

Once it all converts you'll have t do a really big water change to lower the nitrates down to under 20. Then you can stock away. If it's going to be awhile before getting any fish. Then do the water change to get the trates down like I said above and keep adding a little ammonia to feed the bacteria so you don't lose it.

 

[Calvin and Kyle]

Ah thank you! I'll keep it up!