Fishlesss Cycle - the real one

[guppy grandma]

I have been fishless cycling since 20/09/11 and am wondering what I’ve done wrong. There have been a couple of times I have been unable to take readings, but they are as follows:-

Date....... Amm...... Nitrite........ Nitrate
20/09 ........4
21/09........ < 1
22/09 .........4 .........>0 < .25
23/09 .........0 ...........1 ..............80
24/09 ....... .50 ..........0 .............> 40 < 80
25/09 ..........0............0 ..............80
28/09 ..........4 .........> .25 .........> 80
01/10 ....... .25 ...........0 ............< 80
03/10........ >0 < .25 ....0 ............> 40 < 80
04/10 ....... .50........... 0 ...............80
　
Have been adding ammonia and the odd pinch of food now and then. Cant understand why the nitrite and nitrate are not moving and WHY have I suddenly got lots of snails, I would have thought the conditions would have been almost primordial at times Help!

 

[eco23]

*Not sure if you saw my response on the other thread...so I'll post it here too-*

Seems like you might already be cycled. It's normal to not see no2 if cycling with lots of seeded media.

Tonight add 4ppm of ammonia...at this same time tomorrow test...if you have zero ammonia and zero nitrItes with some degree of nitrAtes...you're cycled

Seeded media is awesome

 

[librarygirl]

I agree with Eco. Test one more time and see what happens. It's common not to have nitrites with a lot of good seeded media. Did you add live plants to your tank? If so the snails probably hitchhiked their way in; I had a baby snail in my tank when I was fishless cycling and it seemed to do fine (until I accidentally crushed it when moving some decor ).

 

[roundar]

I wouldn't worry about the snails. Some people have snail phobia, but I don't mind them. They aren't hurting anything imo.

 

[guppy grandma]

Thanks librarygirl. I was dreading getting one of your famous stalls, I'm happy now!

roundar, thank you too, I'm not bothered by the snails either as long as they dont get too many. If they do can I take some down to the local canal, lots of plants and fresh water for them.

 

[guppy grandma]

Added ammonia to 4ppm last night and tested again this evening, bizarre!

ammo 2, nitrite 0 nitrate 80 PH 0

so, did BIG water change. Do I have to add anything? or just wait and test later?

 

[roundar]

roundar, thank you too, I'm not bothered by the snails either as long as they dont get too many. If they do can I take some down to the local canal, lots of plants and fresh water for them.

That's well intended I know, but a bad idea. Never release anything from your aquarium into the wild. I'm sure if someone familiar with the topic reads this they'll second it. Snail populations can boom, but they're usually fairly self regulating in my experience and others have attested to the same thing. GL with your cycle!

 

[guppy grandma]

*Not sure if you saw my response on the other thread...so I'll post it here too-*

Seems like you might already be cycled. It's normal to not see no2 if cycling with lots of seeded media.

Tonight add 4ppm of ammonia...at this same time tomorrow test...if you have zero ammonia and zero nitrItes with some degree of nitrAtes...you're cycled

Seeded media is awesome

After last nights bizarre readings and bigs water change, my readings are now amm 0 nitrite 0 nitrate >10 <20 PH 7.6, guess I'm done! Do I keep adding a little ammonia each day until fish go in? May be having my neigbours fish as lodgers for a while, she having major tank problems. Thank you so much for your help, much appreciated

 

[eco23]

After last nights bizarre readings and bigs water change, my readings are now amm 0 nitrite 0 nitrate >10 <20 PH 7.6, guess I'm done! Do I keep adding a little ammonia each day until fish go in? May be having my neigbours fish as lodgers for a while, she having major tank problems. Thank you so much for your help, much appreciated

Good job . Yep, you want to keep feeding it ammonia every day until it's stocked. If it's only gonna be a couple days before fish, dosing up to only 1ppm is fine. If it's gonna be a while...keep adding the 4ppm. Make sure the no3 hasn't climbed above 20 again before stocking, and if you've got the heater cranked up you can turn it down.

Out of curiosity, what type of problems is your neighbor having? If it's toxin issues you can help with some filter media...but if it's an illness you may not want to introduce it into your tank.

 

[guppy grandma]

Good job . Yep, you want to keep feeding it ammonia every day until it's stocked. If it's only gonna be a couple days before fish, dosing up to only 1ppm is fine. If it's gonna be a while...keep adding the 4ppm. Make sure the no3 hasn't climbed above 20 again before stocking, and if you've got the heater cranked up you can turn it down.

Out of curiosity, what type of problems is your neighbor having? If it's toxin issues you can help with some filter media...but if it's an illness you may not want to introduce it into your tank.

My neighbour has a bad tank, poor water quality, about 1/4" gravel, ammonia and nitrate all over the place and manky plants. What ever she does, the fish die! I cant stand it, it very upsetting, so have offered to temp home whats left of her fish while the tank is cleared, and see if a fishless cycle can put it right. Already given her stuff from my tank, but its not sorting it. She fell foul of the lfs "its cycled after a week story" and cant seem to get it right. I was fortunate enough to get my 1st tank ready established and stocked, so haven't had the heartache of loosing all those fish.

Given her the link to AA forum, hope she reads and learns.

 

[guppy grandma]

BTW eco23, went into my lfs today, know them well so was telling them, (proudly) that I had completed my 1st fishless cycle today. Only one of the staff had heard of it, so am taking them your link on how to do it!

 

[librarygirl]

My neighbour has a bad tank, poor water quality, about 1/4" gravel, ammonia and nitrate all over the place and manky plants. What ever she does, the fish die! I cant stand it, it very upsetting, so have offered to temp home whats left of her fish while the tank is cleared, and see if a fishless cycle can put it right. Already given her stuff from my tank, but its not sorting it. She fell foul of the lfs "its cycled after a week story" and cant seem to get it right. I was fortunate enough to get my 1st tank ready established and stocked, so haven't had the heartache of loosing all those fish.

Given her the link to AA forum, hope she reads and learns.

That's awesome of you to rescue her fish! If she has a lot of problems seeded media alone may not be enough but it should help, especially once the fish are out (one thing to look at too is if she's overstocked for her tank size). Congrats on your cycle!

 

[eco23]

That's too bad. It seems like what your neighbor really needs is commitment. Fish-in cycles are doable...but they take dedication to do the testing and water changes it takes for the fish to not suffer. You'd be surprised how far pwc's will go. There are very few problems in this hobby which can't be solved with fresh, conditioned water...and a dedicated fish-keeper.

Since your tank is cycled, if you're going to remove the fish from their bad situation I'd say it's okay to do it now. Just make sure to acclimate them to their new (cycled) home

Thanks for recommending the article. If the guy starts recommending fishes cycling...he'll be the first LFS employee on the planet to do it.