How do i start over & do fishless cycle?

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So I filled up my tank with dechlorinated water yesterday....now my water looks very cloudy today??? What am I doing wrong now? I havent added any ammonia cuz wasnt sure how much I was supposed to. My tank is 33 gallons by the way. So why would the water be cloudy? I rinsed everything really well until there was no more bleach smell like I was told and noe I have cloudy water. Should I add ammonia anyways? should I change the water? UGH!!! Please help!
 
I'd go ahead and add the ammonia. I'm not sure why the water would be cloudy though. That's odd.
 
I added some ammonia and tested the levels yesterday and my ammonia levels were at 1 so do you think that I should just keep adding until it is at 2 then? How often should I test the water? Oh and the cloudiness went away!! YAY something actually worked. I wanted to ask you about a frog...I want to get an albino frog...what should the water conditions be like for him? What other fish can I put him with?
 
Since this is a fishless tank, try to get your ammonia levels higher than 1. Preferably around 4. And keep it at 4. I'd test the water every day for Ammonia. After about a week, start testing for Nitrites and Ammonia every day.
 
I added some ammonia and tested the levels yesterday and my ammonia levels were at 1 so do you think that I should just keep adding until it is at 2 then? How often should I test the water? Oh and the cloudiness went away!! YAY something actually worked. I wanted to ask you about a frog...I want to get an albino frog...what should the water conditions be like for him? What other fish can I put him with?
Click to expand...

Ok for one, you should test the water every day until you are done cycling.
Also, your water will get VERY cloudy soon when you have a bacterial bloom and this may take up to two weeks to dissapear! Don't worry about the cloudiness.

I think you should add the same amount of ammonia every day until you are done cycling. Soon you will start getting nitrite and then nitrate readings. Even though the ammonia reads zero, you will still add the same amount so the bacteria can use that as food to stay alive. Once nitrites and ammonia are at zero. you can go buy fish!
HTH, good luck
 
After following advice from this forum, I am in my second week of fishless cycling. Numbers are ammonia 1 ppm, nitrites 4 ppm, and nitrates 1 ppm. Do I need to keep adding ammonia or let this cycle take it's course? Also on the ornamental castle, I got a white fuzz that was slimy. Is this anything to worry about? I think it was because when I changed the filter from the 29 gal I dumped it in the 15 gal to help add bacteria.
 
Keep adding the ammonia. If you don't, the bacteria will die off because it feeds off of ammonia. I'd add more ammonia to your tank and try to bump up the Ammonia level to 4. Slowly though, not all at once.

I would just take out the castle and rinse it off, scrubbing off the white fuzz. Not using any soap though.
 
i'm doing my fishless cycle with a dead shrimp, rather than dosing the ammonia directly. This is my first time doing a fishless cycle tho, so I cant really tell you which method is better/quicker.
 
I will keep adding the ammonia, when should I stop adding it? LOL, I did take the castle out and ran it under water, I only scrubbed it with a rubber glove on. Wasn't going to touch it when I didn't know what it was.
 
Here's another question. When I do a pwc on my cycled 29 gal tank, would it be beneficial to also do a pwc on my uncycled tank and use the water from the cycled tank to fill the uncycled tank? Or is this just a waste of time?
 
There is very little beneficial bacteria in the water column of a cycled tank. If you took some filter media from your cycled tank and put in in the filter of the uncycled tank, that would speed things up.
 
Stop adding the ammonia when the tank has cycled. Then do a 50% water change and add fish. :D Be sure not to gravel vac or touch the filter though. Sorry if this repeats what was said before, I just don't remember what I wrote previously.
 
Hello, So I think that Ia m almost there with the fishless cycle!!! I added the ammonia as everyone told me.....today i tested water and there is 0 ammonia in the water YAY!!! I also tested nitrates they are at 7 and nitrite seems to be peaking...it is at 5 or off the charts as to my test...so my next question is...is this ok? Does it sound like all is well? When can I add fish and how long do u think that this should take? I have a 33 gallon tank just to refresh your memory. Please help.
Thanks scarlett
 
scarlett said:
Hello, So I think that Ia m almost there with the fishless cycle!!! I added the ammonia as everyone told me.....today i tested water and there is 0 ammonia in the water YAY!!! I also tested nitrates they are at 7 and nitrite seems to be peaking...it is at 5 or off the charts as to my test...so my next question is...is this ok? Does it sound like all is well? When can I add fish and how long do u think that this should take? I have a 33 gallon tank just to refresh your memory. Please help.
Thanks scarlett
Click to expand...

Your tank is going through the nitrite phase of the cycle.. It would be safe to add fish once the nitrite is converted into nitrate..
 
Don't add anything until the Nitrites are 0. And even then, only add a few at a time. For a 44 gal tank, I wouldn't add more than 4 or 5 every two weeks. This way you don't go through a mini-cycle from the excess bio-load. Give your filter time to catch up with the fish being added.
 
I have a successful cycle myself and have just transfered some of my fish for now. They have been in there for 3 days and my levels are ammonia 0ppm, nitritres 0ppm, nitrates 20 ppm, ph 7.2. All is good and I am very happy! :multi:
 
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