Finally? Could it be that I cycled??

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MyameeGirl

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
May 18, 2011
Messages
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Location
Miami, Florida
Hi All,

I have been fishless cycling my 6.6 gallon tank for over a month! :confused:

My ammonia spiked, followed by my NitrItes, and then my ammonia went to 0, but my NitrItes stayed at 5ppm for over a week with no change.

I was advised to do a PWC, which I did, about 70% and that was on this past Sunday. I checked the levels everyday and I had NitrItes at a low concentration, and as of today, my readings are: Ammonia: 0, NitrItes: 0, and NitrAtes: Btwen 5-10ppm.

Am I cycled?

Do I need to do anything else before I get my lil' :fish2:in there?

Not sure if I should a pinch of food to see if it stays at those levels, put some SafeStart in there to make sure it goes back to the same levels?
People have been giving me all kinds of advice and I'm very confused. :banghead:

Anyway, any help you guys could give me is much appreciated.
I'm ordering a Betta off Aquabid and the seller ships out on the 13th of the month, so I'm trying to hit that date.

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY INPUT!! :thanks:
 
From what I understand, yes you could be cycled! COngrats! You do want to keep testing this though at least for a few days, better for a week, to make sure it keeps converting the ammonia. So you want to keep dosing with the pure ammonia every 24 hours if it's at zero. Check every 12 hours. So, if you dose ammonia at 8 PM at night and then check at 8 AM the next morning and see if it's at zero, but don't dose ammonia again until 8 PM that night. And keep doing this to make sure the ammonia is converting to zero and nitrItes stay at 0. The day before you get your fish, do a large pwc to get your nitrAtes down <20 ppm and bring your temperature down to where you want it for the fish, then you can add fish the next day.

But let someone else on here either corroborate or refute what I've said...I'm still working on my fishless cycle so I haven't gotten to the end.

Congrats! Enjoy your fish!
 
From what I understand, yes you could be cycled! COngrats! You do want to keep testing this though at least for a few days, better for a week, to make sure it keeps converting the ammonia. So you want to keep dosing with the pure ammonia every 24 hours if it's at zero. Check every 12 hours. So, if you dose ammonia at 8 PM at night and then check at 8 AM the next morning and see if it's at zero, but don't dose ammonia again until 8 PM that night. And keep doing this to make sure the ammonia is converting to zero and nitrItes stay at 0. The day before you get your fish, do a large pwc to get your nitrAtes down <20 ppm and bring your temperature down to where you want it for the fish, then you can add fish the next day.

But let someone else on here either corroborate or refute what I've said...I'm still working on my fishless cycle so I haven't gotten to the end.

Congrats! Enjoy your fish!


Thanks for such a quick reply! :)

I can't get my hands on pure ammonia, so I've been using flake fish food as my ammonia source. After I saw the levels today, I put a small pinch of food to make sure it cycles through and stays at 0-0. Is that what I should be doing? Should I add more food? I know it might take a bit longer for the food=ammonia conversion, so I'm unsure on that.

Thanks again, and GOOD LUCK with YOUR cycle!! (y)
 
Thanks for such a quick reply! :)

I can't get my hands on pure ammonia, so I've been using flake fish food as my ammonia source. After I saw the levels today, I put a small pinch of food to make sure it cycles through and stays at 0-0. Is that what I should be doing? Should I add more food? I know it might take a bit longer for the food=ammonia conversion, so I'm unsure on that.

Thanks again, and GOOD LUCK with YOUR cycle!! (y)

Again I'm not an expert by any means, hopefully someone will back me up (or not), but yes I think just add the same amount you've been adding to get it to breakdown into ammonia and to keep the bacteria fed. Then check the levels to see how fast it's being eaten by the bacteria. If after a few days ammonia and nitrites stay at 0 then I'd say you are good.
 
libraygirl said:
Again I'm not an expert by any means, hopefully someone will back me up (or not), but yes I think just add the same amount you've been adding to get it to breakdown into ammonia and to keep the bacteria fed. Then check the levels to see how fast it's being eaten by the bacteria. If after a few days ammonia and nitrites stay at 0 then I'd say you are good.

Libraygirl's got it :). Try to get your ammonia level up to around 3-4ppm, and if within 24 hours the ammonia and nitrItes have dropped to 0...you're cycled! At that point you just need to make sure your no3 is below 20 and add fish.

The link in my signature will give you some info, but it's mostly based on using pure ammonia.
 
Again I'm not an expert by any means, hopefully someone will back me up (or not), but yes I think just add the same amount you've been adding to get it to breakdown into ammonia and to keep the bacteria fed. Then check the levels to see how fast it's being eaten by the bacteria. If after a few days ammonia and nitrites stay at 0 then I'd say you are good.

Thanks a lot Libraygirl!
Very apprecatied!!
:thanks:
 
Libraygirl's got it :). Try to get your ammonia level up to around 3-4ppm, and if within 24 hours the ammonia and nitrItes have dropped to 0...you're cycled! At that point you just need to make sure your no3 is below 20 and add fish.

The link in my signature will give you some info, but it's mostly based on using pure ammonia.

Thanks Eco, that's what I'll do then!

I can't believe I could almost be done!!!
I'm soooooooooooooo excited!!! :dance:

Thanks again!
Cheers!
 
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