Ann7667
Aquarium Advice Activist
I have two questions (1) re fishless cycling and (2) how many fish to add at a time to the new fishless cycled tank. So here are the details, and I would appreciate advice from anyone who has done this!
I have a new 120 gallon freshwater tank . I read Enigma7's article on doing fishless cycles and this is my Fish Bible on how to do it. But I need a little tweaking here to make sure I'm doing this correctly and that I do not stress my fish when I move them from their 75 gallon tank to the 120 gallon setup. I could not use any media from my present tank because I have that awful black hair algae in there which I do not want to move into my new aquarium!
April 27 - I started the fishless cycle process.
Filled the tank with water.
Waited a while to add the water conditioner giving the tap water chemicals time to kill any bugs that might be in the tank.
Cranked the heat up to 87 degrees.
Added ammonia to 4ppm
Put in a bottle of bacteria (which did nothing)
Tested the water daily with ammonia staying high; no nitrites or nitrates
May 7 - Put in a few raw prawns in a stocking (new)
May 10 - Added a sponge from my LFS heavily laden with bacteria! Great Stuff!
May 13 - Ammonia 5ppm; Nitrites .25; Nitrates 5.0
May 14 - Ammonia 5ppm; Nitrites .50; Nitrates 10
May 15 - Ammonia 4ppm; Nitrites 1.0; Nitrates 20
May 16 - Ammonia 2ppm; Nitrites 1.0; Nitrates 40
May 17 - Ammonia 0; Nitrites .50; Nitrates 80
After May 17 when there was no ammonia in the tank, I kept raising it up to 4ppm again (so the bacteria had something to eat) and continued taking readings, ammonia would disappear, but Nitrites and Nitrates were still present.
Finally . . .
May 25 - Ammonia 0; Nitrates 0; Nitrates 5.0
That was looking good! So, to be sure the tank was fully cycled, I put the ammonia in again to 5ppm to see if the tank could clear all ammonia and nitrites in 24 hours.
May 26 - Ammonia .25; Nitrites .10; Nitrates 5.0
ugh! I'll take another reading later today to see if I can get to zero ammonia and nitrites.
So, someone out there . . .. Am I on the right track? I understand from Enigma7's article that I need to (1) have a 24-hour period in which I get a reading of Ammonia 0 and Nitrites 0, (2) then I need to repeat that one more time to be sure that it is cycled, (3) then I reduce the temperature to 78 degrees (from 86 degrees) and do a big water change to reduce the nitrates. Then I can add my fish (or if I can't add them right, to feed the bacteria with 1ppm ammonia until I can).
These are the fish I have in my 75 gallon tank who are waiting to move into their new home:
1 Juru Pari (Angelina - about 7 inches long.)
1 Rio Tapajo Rednose (5 inches long)
1 Ancistrus - (4 inches)
6 Clown Loaches - (3 inches)
6 Rio Tapajo Rednoses (3 inches)
3 Cory Dora Julies
This is really too many inches of fish for the 75 gallon so to keep them comfortable, I'm doing two 10 gallon water changes a week.
My other question is: Once the big tank is fully cycled and move-in ready, can I add all my fish at once or a few at a time? The bacteria in the new tank is converting 5ppm ammonia into almost zero in 24 hours, but I do not know what that means in terms of fish ammonia and how much ammonia my fish will be pushing out.
Also, I thought I might buy a few new fish to let them try out the new tank before I add Angelina and the others. Any thoughts on that?
I would appreciate any feedback you all have!
Thanks so much!!!
I have a new 120 gallon freshwater tank . I read Enigma7's article on doing fishless cycles and this is my Fish Bible on how to do it. But I need a little tweaking here to make sure I'm doing this correctly and that I do not stress my fish when I move them from their 75 gallon tank to the 120 gallon setup. I could not use any media from my present tank because I have that awful black hair algae in there which I do not want to move into my new aquarium!
April 27 - I started the fishless cycle process.
Filled the tank with water.
Waited a while to add the water conditioner giving the tap water chemicals time to kill any bugs that might be in the tank.
Cranked the heat up to 87 degrees.
Added ammonia to 4ppm
Put in a bottle of bacteria (which did nothing)
Tested the water daily with ammonia staying high; no nitrites or nitrates
May 7 - Put in a few raw prawns in a stocking (new)
May 10 - Added a sponge from my LFS heavily laden with bacteria! Great Stuff!
May 13 - Ammonia 5ppm; Nitrites .25; Nitrates 5.0
May 14 - Ammonia 5ppm; Nitrites .50; Nitrates 10
May 15 - Ammonia 4ppm; Nitrites 1.0; Nitrates 20
May 16 - Ammonia 2ppm; Nitrites 1.0; Nitrates 40
May 17 - Ammonia 0; Nitrites .50; Nitrates 80
After May 17 when there was no ammonia in the tank, I kept raising it up to 4ppm again (so the bacteria had something to eat) and continued taking readings, ammonia would disappear, but Nitrites and Nitrates were still present.
Finally . . .
May 25 - Ammonia 0; Nitrates 0; Nitrates 5.0
That was looking good! So, to be sure the tank was fully cycled, I put the ammonia in again to 5ppm to see if the tank could clear all ammonia and nitrites in 24 hours.
May 26 - Ammonia .25; Nitrites .10; Nitrates 5.0
ugh! I'll take another reading later today to see if I can get to zero ammonia and nitrites.
So, someone out there . . .. Am I on the right track? I understand from Enigma7's article that I need to (1) have a 24-hour period in which I get a reading of Ammonia 0 and Nitrites 0, (2) then I need to repeat that one more time to be sure that it is cycled, (3) then I reduce the temperature to 78 degrees (from 86 degrees) and do a big water change to reduce the nitrates. Then I can add my fish (or if I can't add them right, to feed the bacteria with 1ppm ammonia until I can).
These are the fish I have in my 75 gallon tank who are waiting to move into their new home:
1 Juru Pari (Angelina - about 7 inches long.)
1 Rio Tapajo Rednose (5 inches long)
1 Ancistrus - (4 inches)
6 Clown Loaches - (3 inches)
6 Rio Tapajo Rednoses (3 inches)
3 Cory Dora Julies
This is really too many inches of fish for the 75 gallon so to keep them comfortable, I'm doing two 10 gallon water changes a week.
My other question is: Once the big tank is fully cycled and move-in ready, can I add all my fish at once or a few at a time? The bacteria in the new tank is converting 5ppm ammonia into almost zero in 24 hours, but I do not know what that means in terms of fish ammonia and how much ammonia my fish will be pushing out.
Also, I thought I might buy a few new fish to let them try out the new tank before I add Angelina and the others. Any thoughts on that?
I would appreciate any feedback you all have!
Thanks so much!!!