Forget this! I'm done

[Bettafanatic]

Ugh this is annoying. I'm sorry I snapped at you; I'm just getting a bit frustrated. You guys say a cycle is unavoidable, but my friend has been avoiding a cycle for a month now and her fish hasn't died, nor has she seen any bacteria besides ammonia. She has the same situation as I do: a 2.5 gallon tank and one beta (oh, and a gold inca snail). She's doing a fine job with her fish. The water is clear and the fish is very healthy and happy. So that's what I'm going to do. Just keep away the ammonia and prevent any other bacteria from growing. Anybody want to assist me with that because I don't want to cycle.

Also, I have five one gallon betta tanks that I've had for two years now, and have never seen any bacteria growth. All my fish are very much alive so what makes this situation any different?

 

[Hobgob]

Ugh this is annoying. I'm sorry I snapped at you; I'm just getting a bit frustrated. You guys say a cycle is unavoidable, but my friend has been avoiding a cycle for a month now and her fish hasn't died, nor has she seen any bacteria besides ammonia. She has the same situation as I do: a 2.5 gallon tank and one beta (oh, and a gold inca snail). She's doing a fine job with her fish. The water is clear and the fish is very healthy and happy. So that's what I'm going to do. Just keep away the ammonia and prevent any other bacteria from growing. Anybody want to assist me with that because I don't want to cycle.

Also, I have five one gallon betta tanks that I've had for two years now, and have never seen any bacteria growth. All my fish are very much alive so what makes this situation any different?

You can't see the bacteria... Well not with your own eyes. And is there a filter system on your 1 gallons and your friends tank. Even if there isn't is their decor in it? Even gravel. All of them have the bacteria on it. No matter what you do your tank is going to cycle! Even if only .1ppm of ammonia is present. The bacteria will slowly start growing. Their is no way to prevent this... Just put him in the tank with the filter and do some water changes.

 

[jmpgop]

You need GOOD bacteria to grow in your filters and other tank media. You don't want Ammonia or nitrites in your tank with fish. I don't know what your other posts were BUT I would bet your tank cycled and you missed it IF you were dosing with pure ammonia - I cycled my 10 gallon in less than two weeks - first time fishless cycle - I paid attention every day. It's not SUPER easy but it isn't hard and I did it... I've been fishless cycling my 72 gallon for 3 days and the cycle is already starting. I just think you don't understand what the fishless cycle is.

Add your fish and ignore everything? Your fish will be taxed - it will live a much shorter life than it possibly could. Believe me, I know from experience. Your tank is going to cycle, the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates are going to go up whether you pay attention or not. Your tank is going to build good bacteria to eat the ammonia and nitrites whether you pay attention or not. Your biofilter is going to build good bacteria that is beneficial to your tank, whether you pay attention or not.

Your fish will be strained and stressed whether you pay attention or not. If your fish survives the cycle, it will have permanent damage whether you pay attention or not.

And no one suffers more than your fish whether you pay attention or not.

I have chosen to fishless cycle now on my 72 gallon also. I am keeping a spreadsheet with daily happenings for my fishless cycle. Everything that I do. How many drops of ammonia I add, how much food I add, what media is in there, testing every day with my API liquid test kit and tracking the results. My tank will cycle and I will see it and I believe it will be ready for fish by Valentine's Day. This process in the morning takes about 10 minutes to test and track. Not simple but very doable.

I choose to pay attention every day. I do this for the health of my future fish!

I suggest you have some patience, read the fishless cycle OR the fish in cycle stickies very closely and pay attention every day. Test, and track. Then you know exactly what is going on.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html

Do what you want really - This is a bit of a "I don't give a hoot but I really do care" rant otherwise you wouldn't have posted... But if you aren't going to take the time to understand what we are trying to explain, we don't need to know what you choose to do as you don't seem to be understanding anyone's advice.

Good luck.

Janelle

 

[Bettafanatic]

Honestly, I'm just frustrated. I've been cycling for three months, and seen nothing. All I've seen growing are problems. I just don't know what to do anymore. My fish are all very sad, waiting everyday in half gallon tanks. I can't stand to look at them, they look so upset. And what makes me feel even worse is that there are two beautiful big tanks waiting for them, but they can't have them. All you're telling me is reminding me how to cycle, but that's exactly what I'm doing! I look at every cycling site and article but it just tells me what to do. Well I'm doing that and something always happens. For a little, I had it going good for me. I had nitrites, a tiny bit of nitrates, and ammonia I continued to add. Well, one day it just crashed and it was all gone again, for the third time probably. I'm just sick of that. I'm sick of doing everything expected of me and getting nothing in return. And even the ten gallon tank I'm also cycling is having its own problems! I've been cycling since early December. THat one doesn't even have bacteria crashes. It just doesn't grow. I used to check every day but after two months of disappointment I couldn't bring myself to check it again. It's probably been a week since I last checked, and I bet a million dollars that if I checked it again, it would be the same. So I've run out of options. The only last option I see is to quit cycling and just add the fish to my 2.5 tanks. I only see one path here. I don't understand what other path the rest of you are seeing. I only see the one.

 

[maestromad]

Hello! Sorry maybe I'm being thick? Or not understanding the thread.
Have you got a fish in the tank? If you do you need to have a filter and do water changes etc to keep it healthy.
From my limited understanding a cycle will happen whatever, all we need to do as fish parents is keep them healthy by water changes and watching the ammo etc don't build up.
Good luck

 

[Bettafanatic]

Thats what i'm doing and nothing happens!!!! No, the tanks are empty it's a fish less cycle.

 

[Rhino]

What your missing though is you are still doing a cycle whether you call it that or not is up to you and whether you are doing it intentionally or not it is happening. Since you are just wanting to add fish your going to have to do plenty more water changes on your tank then if you let it cycle in order to keep your fish healthy....fyi fish keeping is like anything else it takes lots of patience and there will always be problems that arise since we are trying to replicate natural enviroments in our homes

 

[Rhino]

Also ph crashes stalled my last cycle like crazy took weeks for it to correct itself.

 

[barterking85]

Ugh this is annoying. I'm sorry I snapped at you; I'm just getting a bit frustrated. You guys say a cycle is unavoidable, but my friend has been avoiding a cycle for a month now and her fish hasn't died, nor has she seen any bacteria besides ammonia. She has the same situation as I do: a 2.5 gallon tank and one beta (oh, and a gold inca snail). She's doing a fine job with her fish. The water is clear and the fish is very healthy and happy. So that's what I'm going to do. Just keep away the ammonia and prevent any other bacteria from growing. Anybody want to assist me with that because I don't want to cycle.

Also, I have five one gallon betta tanks that I've had for two years now, and have never seen any bacteria growth. All my fish are very much alive so what makes this situation any different?

I having a hard time understanding too but all I can say is change all the water everyday but your fish will give off ammonia which will be turned into nitrItes which will eventually turn into nitrAtes which is the nitrogen cycle in a nut shell so as you can see the cycle is unavoidable

Is it a mini cycle in an established tank your trying to avoid cause I can understand that

But what I would do to avoid any further frustration is KEEP YOUR FILTER and do a big water change everyday

Hope this helps cycles can take days or months ask librarygirl how long her cycle took lol

 

[maestromad]

You could try doing it with a fish in the tank, at long as the water changes are kept up and levels monitored things should be fine. Plus you get the added enjoyment of having a fish. Just my thought if your getting frustrated with the empty tank

 

[Bettafanatic]

After discussing the matter with my bird for a while, I decided to buckle down and try again. I changed the water in my tanks and added more ammonia. I'm going to give it one last shot. But I really don't know what I'm doing wrong. And since I don't have the slightest clue, I'm just going to keep doing everything I was before: check bacteria every day and do water changes once a week. Ugh I hate cycling, but I guess it's just the worst part of fish keeping.

 

[blackmolly]

you CAN do a fish in cycle... there's nothing against that at all. it just means water changes daily for a while (and with such a small tank it shouldn't be a problem) and keep an eye on your readings. if all you want is a betta then a fish-in cycle shouldn't be much of a problem.

 

[librarygirl]

It's hard following what's happening when there are multiple threads on the same issue. You had posted this one: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/cyclig-confusion-190256-2.html, got some advice, said you'd update and then didn't.

Ok so how many tanks are you currently trying to cycle fishless and what size? And how many fish and what types are waiting to go into these tanks?

It might just be better to move the fish into the larger tanks now. More water = more displacement for toxins. Fish in small bowls isn't helping them any. The tanks you are trying to cycle should haev some bacteria in them anyway and they might even be able to sustain some small fish (I'd have to know what size tanks and what fish are going where). We say to dose to 4 ppms of ammonia but that's overkill, no fish will put out that much ammonia, so if your tank was converting even some of that I'd say you can add the fish provided you check the water daily and do water changes if you see any ammonia or nitrites show up.

 

[KaylNeko]

Ugh this is annoying. I'm sorry I snapped at you; I'm just getting a bit frustrated. You guys say a cycle is unavoidable, but my friend has been avoiding a cycle for a month now and her fish hasn't died, nor has she seen any bacteria besides ammonia.

Ammonia is not bacteria. Ammonia is bacteria food, as are the nitrites. You don't see bacteria--you just know it's there because you stop seeing ammonia and nitrites when you test your water. This is why everyone is saying a cycle is inevitable. If there is a source of ammonia--either pure, or fish poo, the bacteria will begin to colonize and converting ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate.

At one month, your friend is in the process of cycling--she's not avoiding it. Fairly soon, more than likely, she will start getting nitrite readings, and then nitrate readings. Once she stops getting ammonia and nitrite readings, her cycle will be complete, same as yours.

If you're talking about 2.5 gallon tanks, put your fish in and don't worry about adding ammonia. It'll cycle by itself, like folks have said, and just test daily and do water changes if ammonia or nitrites get above .25.

If you want to do a fishless cycle still, don't do water changes until it's finished! And make sure you're not dosing too high--just one betta, I've seen it recommended not to go to 4 ppm, but just to 2 ppm, dropping to 1 ppm when nitrites appear. No water changes! Water changes are for when the fish are in the tank, or if you accidentally dump too much ammonia in there.

 

[alli.knight]

+1 i drew a picture for you because I understand things better if I can see them.



The fish, uneaten food, poop, etc put a toxic chemical ammonia into the water. This ammonia damages fish. However, a certain kind of bacteria lives by eating the ammonia. The bacteria processes the ammonia and turns it into nitrites. Nitrites are also poisonous to fish. Luckily, a different kind of bacteria love to eat nitrites. They break the nitrites down into nitrates. Nitrates are much less harmful. This happens without any help from us. It's just the natural process of things. What you are actually doing when you "cycle" a tank is just monitoring the process. When you test your water, you aren't testing for bacteria. You are testing for the presence of the chemicals in the cycle. When the ammonia disappears, it's actually a good thing. It mean the first colony of bacteria is established. Same thing goes for the disappearance of nitrites. That means the second colony of bacteria is there. Nitrates are controlled by doing partial water changes.

Since you already have the fish, I would suggest removing the all the ammonia water from your larger tanks, refill them with dechlorinated water, acclimate your fish and put them in the bigger tanks. I'm sure the water in the bigger tanks with filters is better quality than the water in the tiny tanks. Then, just monitor the chemicals in the water to make sure they don't get too high before the bacteria take care of it.

Please ask if this is still confusing. We really want to help

 

[alli.knight]

Oh, and I forgot to say the filters don't produce ammonia. They just provide a home for the good bacteria. Filters are great and do nothing but good for a tank.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/fish-in-cycling-step-over-into-the-dark-side-176446.html

If you want to add fish to your tanks you CAN! BUT daily testing will need to be done the same as the fishless cycle.
Fish in cycling is where a fish is added to the tank INSTEAD of the bottled ammoina. The fish then produces to ammonia that feeds the bacteria. Test you water daily and if ammonia or nitrIte is over .25ppm do a water change to bring it down. They tank WILL cycle and your fish will be in their new homes.

 

[Rhino]

After discussing the matter with my bird for a while, I decided to buckle down and try again. I changed the water in my tanks and added more ammonia. I'm going to give it one last shot. But I really don't know what I'm doing wrong. And since I don't have the slightest clue, I'm just going to keep doing everything I was before: check bacteria every day and do water changes once a week. Ugh I hate cycling, but I guess it's just the worst part of fish keeping.

if there are no fish in the tank then there is no need to do weekly water changes that could be what keeps crashing out your cycle every time.

 

[Hobgob]

Yes just leave the water in the tank. As long as there is no fish in it. So you are doing a fishless cycle then correct? Also are you cleaning your filters or anything like that whe you are trying to cycle?

 

[Bettafanatic]

Ok wait a second! The people on this site were the ones who told me that I need to do weekly water changes while cycling, and now you're all telling me the opposite. I'll just do a fishless cycle I love my fish too much to put them at risk. Oh and the people here were the ones who told me that doing a fish cycle would scar my fish for life and now I'm being told it's fine? Make up your minds!