Fishless Cycling For Dummies

[maxima423]

alright i did a 80% PWC, and i get a reddish color lol i think its 40ppm, but im not sure, its hard to tell

 

[mommytron]

you are fishless cycling right?? just make sure you keep feeding the tank ammonia to keep the bacteria alive. nitrate level shouldn't matter until it comes to adding the fish. that's why they say to do a large (80-90%) water change the night before or right before getting fish, to bring the nitrate down to a tolerable level (40ppm or less)

 

[maxima423]

yea, my ammonia is at 1ppm, nitrite looks like 2-5ppm ( so hard to tell ) and nitrate reddish color ( using api master kit so any help with do )

so i shouldnt worry about nitrate levels being high at all while im at a fishless cycle basically?

also, how do i lower nitrite levels?

 

[mommytron]

you don't lower nitrite levels. the bacteria will. all you need is some patience lol just keep dosing the ammonia so it doesn't stay at 0, and eventually your nitrites will start to decrease until they hit 0. you know you don't even really need to test the nitrates until the cycle is done and you're ready for fish. i would not do any more water changes until the cycle is complete.

 

[maxima423]

okay, i was reading another thread and he/she had high nitrates, thats the only reason i was asking about high nitrates and if i should do a PWC, but i got it, thnx so much <3

 

[grahamo83]

I've now had my tank set up for 6 weeks and I haven't seen a drop in ammonia since the first week- remains about 3ppm. I have tried the tetra safestart which some forums have recommended having a go with - it made no difference to the ammonia at all.

My tank is now starting to get overrun with several types of algea but no sign of an ammonia drop. It would be nice if it would drop by just a little - some sign that something is happening.

As I have mentioned previously I have not seeded the tank.

I have an Aqua one aquis 750 on a 135l (35 us gal?) tank with some live plants - Anubias, Java fern and Crypt wendtii.

Any suggestions.
Thanks

 

[mommytron]

what are you using for ammonia? are you sure it is pure ammonia and not scented or anything? i made that mistake before, used scented ammonia and saw no change for 3 weeks. i then had to tear down the whole tank and wash everything, and throw away everything else that couldn't be washed (filter media, etc) i think since it's been 6 weeks, something is definitely wrong, your cycle should be close to if not all the way through.

 

[meegosh]

Where did the plants come from? They most likely have some bacteria on them. I would give it some time, it is bound to drop eventually.

 

[grahamo83]

The ammonia I am using is from Homebase (UK). 9.5% - no suffricants - doesn't bubble when shook.
The plants are from pets@home which is pet supermarket chain. All of sudden the rhizome of the 2 of the anubias rotted away (into a white mush). I had to throw what was left of them
The guy from my LFS (aquarium specialist - very reputable) keeps telling me that fishless cycling just doesn't work for some people. I'm supposed to be prooving him wrong...

 

[krap101]

Check your nitrites/nitrates. If those are also 0, then you might have introduced something (antibiotic soap?) or maybe there was some chlorine somewhere, or something else in your ammonia?

Also, I'd want to check your test kit. If you're using strips (sorry if you already posted that somewhere) you'll want to get a liquid kit (18$ at walmart online) and if you have a liquid kit, you'll want to find another liquid kit to recheck yours. Since you have algae, that probably means that something good is happening. If you were using strips, it's possible your tank is cycled, or stalled because you were going by faulty strips, and probably didn't keep up ammonia because you thought there was already enough.

 

[zelilaa]

i would apply it, but my dad WONT LET ME. he says its not neccesary... ARGGHHH

 

[maxima423]

there are other methods of cycling instead of fishless cycling, i have told you a product that works pretty good, you just need to go and get it

its called Product Catalog

 

[mommytron]

that product alone does not cycle a tank. you still need an ammonia source, preferably pure ammonia.

 

[meegosh]

there are other methods of cycling instead of fishless cycling, i have told you a product that works pretty good, you just need to go and get it

its called Product Catalog

I don't think that would speed things up too much. Any product like that being sold on shelves does not contain any live bacteria - like they claim. The live bacteria needs to be refrigerated. I thought the safestart was just their water conditioner, I guess I was wrong. This looks like another one of those products like Cycle.

 

[krap101]

Well, the marineland biospira is now in tetra safestart and instant ocean biospira, and if marineland says that the new biospira is shelf-stable, then I'd tend to believe them.

 

[Stickleback]

This looks like another one of those products like Cycle.

Has anyone had any experience with Nutrafin Cycle?

I am four days into a fishless cycle, with Amm at 4ppm NO2 at 0ppm, and NO3 at 0ppm, and the guy in the local aquarium shop convinced me that I needed to add something like Cycle to the tank to kickstart the bacteria colony.

He said what I was doing was right, but that I was adding amm. to a sterile environment, and it needed the addition of the bacteria (Cycle)

When I told him I thought the bacteria was everywhere, in the air, hands, gravel etc, he convinced me that adding this live culture to the tank would greatly shorten the cycle time.

Was I sucked in? Go on...you can tell me....

When I came home, I tested the tank again...4ppm, then I added the recommended amount of Cycle, thinking it couldn't do any harm...and might just speed things up a little.

Do you think it was money down the drain?

 

[maxima423]

i used Nutrafin Cycle, i added the biggest bottle they had, the whole thing, your readings are correct from what i experienced, took me about 3weeks to cycle

 

[jaylam]

I bought a tank today and plan on setting up my first saltwater tank when it arrives and this is exactly what I needed to know. Thanks.

 

[maxima423]

np, and just to clarify, i didnt do the 1day, 2 day thing, i just added the whole bottle at once and let it run for a day, than start my cycle

 

[mfdrookie516]

I bought a tank today and plan on setting up my first saltwater tank when it arrives and this is exactly what I needed to know. Thanks.

You better check our articles section for advice on cycling a SW tank... Its basically the same concept, but a few things are different