My first fishless cycle - input requested

[Ac30fan]

Hello everyone

So yesterday, I added ammonia. Prior to that, I'd only added stress coat & SeaChem Stability to my 29gal tank.

Testing w/ API Master Test Kit. Before adding ammonia, readings were: Ammonia: 0 / Nitrite: 0 / Nitrate: 0. No surprise there, right?

After adding ammonia last nite, todays readings are: Ammonia: 4 / Nitrites: 0 / Nitrates: 0

I added several capfuls of 4% ammonia - prior to discovering a calculator on this site for more precise dosing.

Water temp is steady 85degf (too high?). I raised after seeing it suggested on another thread.

What's the next thing I should anticipate? Is it advisable to add additional SeaChem Stability during the cycle?

I'm presently reading thru the available threads about cycling, but am hoping for a bit of feedback during the process?

Thanks all!

Bobby

 

[shellieca]

Looks like you're doing good. Ammonia should be 4 & can take a week or two to drop. Once it drops to 1 dose it back to 4. Eventually you'll see nitrites & you'll be even closer to cycled. The temp is fine, some may say raise a little more. As for using stability that's hit or miss as far as working. If I'm not mistake it's supposed to be added daily for a week. It won't hurt anything if you want to use it.

 

[Hholly]

For now, just wait. You might give it 4 days and test again. Whenever your ammonia drops, dose it back up to 4ppm. It takes a while before the nitrites and nitrates show up. If your pH starts to drop, do a water change and dose up ammonia. Make sure your heater is going. You can add plants if you want, too.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Hello everyone

So yesterday, I added ammonia. Prior to that, I'd only added stress coat & SeaChem Stability to my 29gal tank.

Testing w/ API Master Test Kit. Before adding ammonia, readings were: Ammonia: 0 / Nitrite: 0 / Nitrate: 0. No surprise there, right?

After adding ammonia last nite, todays readings are: Ammonia: 4 / Nitrites: 0 / Nitrates: 0

I added several capfuls of 4% ammonia - prior to discovering a calculator on this site for more precise dosing.

Water temp is steady 85degf (too high?). I raised after seeing it suggested on another thread.

What's the next thing I should anticipate? Is it advisable to add additional SeaChem Stability during the cycle?

I'm presently reading thru the available threads about cycling, but am hoping for a bit of feedback during the process?

Thanks all!

Bobby

I haven't done a fishless cycle myself, but have read a lot on here about them. From
What I remember reading, you don't want to dose over 4ppm because to much ammonia can stall the cycle I believe, do I would stick with how much you are adding now to get to 4ppm. You should she nitrites soon, then eventually nitrates. The nitrite phase takes the longest. Also keep a good eye on your pH, if it gets to low it will stall the cycle. If it ever gets in he low/mid 6's do a water change to get it back up. I dont know the levels of how high nitrite and nitrate levels to watch out for because I believe that can also stall a cycle. Don't let ammonia get below 1-2ppm during the fishless cycle or the BB will die off. You could add stability if you wanted, I've read products like that are usually a hit or miss, they work for some and others it doesn't nothing for.

 

[Gatewaylabs]

Just finished a fishless cycle with no seeding material. It took almost 4 weeks before the ammonia ever started dropping, so be patient! After the ammonia dropped it only took about 1 more week to complete the Ammonia-nitrite-nitrate cycle. This was in a 55-gallon tank.

 

[Ac30fan]

Looks like you're doing good. Ammonia should be 4 & can take a week or two to drop. Once it drops to 1 dose it back to 4. Eventually you'll see nitrites & you'll be even closer to cycled. The temp is fine, some may say raise a little more. As for using stability that's hit or miss as far as working. If I'm not mistake it's supposed to be added daily for a week. It won't hurt anything if you want to use it.

Activity at last!

So 2 days ago, ammonia was holding steady at 4ppm, with no sign of nitrites/nitrates.

Today, ammonia has dropped to 1ppm and nitrites appear to be > 5 ppm because that's the high end of the color gradient scale. Nitrates appear to be high too, maybe between close to 160 ppm (this is a diff color for my eyes to decipher. I wonder if I'm colour blind?)

The nitrite/nitrate thing happened fast it seems. I thought my ammonia would drop way before buildup off the trites & trates.

So do I do a water change right away? Do I dose more ammonia into the tank after the wc?

After wc how long before I test everything all over again? Please help me avoid a stalled cycle! Thanks!

B

 

[Hholly]

You can keep dosing ammonia up to 4ppm. Change the water if your pH starts to drop or if your nitrites/trates get really high.

 

[shellieca]

Test every 24 hrs, do a water change to keep nitrates from being too high & Ph from dropping too low, redose ammonia to 4.

 

[Ac30fan]

Test every 24 hrs, do a water change to keep nitrates from being too high & Ph from dropping too low, redose ammonia to 4.

Replaced 10gal of 29gal tank today, with Prime

Waited an hour. Took readings, and here are today's results:

pH: steady at 8.4
Ammo: .25
Nitrites: still at 5
Nitrates: 40 - 80

Adding more ammo to bump back to 4ppm.

Am I on track?

 

[Hholly]

Yep, you're doing good.

 

[shellieca]

Yep, I agree with Hholly . . . you're movin' right along.

 

[Ac30fan]

Did I stall? Is it common to have the exact same readings as yesterday?

I dosed back to 4ppm last night. Tonight ammonia is still at 4 & nitrites are unchanged from yesterday too...

Shouldn't ammonia have dropped again if things are proceeding?

 

[Hholly]

That's weird. Are you sure about how much you dosed last night?

 

[Ac30fan]

That's weird. Are you sure about how much you dosed last night?

Pretty sure. I did small, incremental doses and final reading was the desired 4ppm.

I may test again in a little while. Other than that, I guess I'll just wait & see what tomorrow brings. Any need for a water change or anything else to jump-start things, or should I just be patient?

 

[Hholly]

If your pH is out of whack, a water change might not be a bad idea.

 

[Ac30fan]

If your pH is out of whack, a water change might not be a bad idea.

pH is still holding steady at 8.4, has not dipped since initial readings

 

[Hholly]

Let us know how it looks tomorrow.

 

[Ac30fan]

Hopefully back on track

pH = 8.4
Ammo = .5
Nitrites = 5+
Nitrates = 20
--------------------

I think I prob overdosed my tank on Wed, which raises a question since I prob need to add more Ammo today:

I'm using 10% ammo (janitorial strength, found at Ace hardware which is what I saw recommended on the forum), and a dosing calculator posted in another thread. The calculator provides measurements in milliliters, which I then convert to household measurements, tsp etc...

How does everyone administer their correct dosage? Should I invest in an eye dropper that shows units in milliliters? The API kit only has a marking at 5ml

I added approx half the recommended dosage on Wed, waited an hour, tested, and added the remaining dose. Did I maybe not wait long enough between doses?

Sorry if this is a dumb question, and as always thanks for sharing your advice

B

 

[librarygirl]

An syringe is probably a good idea. When i did my fishless cycle I used a turkey baster and just counted the drops it took to get it to 4 (it took some adding, waiting, testing, adding more and counting to get the right dose), then I just added the same amount of drops when needing to dose to 4 again; I added half the drops to get it to 2, etc.

 

[Ac30fan]

When i did my fishless cycle I used a turkey baster and just counted the drops it took to get it to 4 (it took some adding, waiting, testing, adding more and counting to get the right dose), then I just added the same amount of drops when needing to dose to 4 again; I added half the drops to get it to 2, etc.

Sounds like a methodical way to calibrate the right dose. How soon after dosing is it appropriate to take another reading, and dose again?