How to cycle a fishless tank- step by step

[KrazyFish13]

Hello all,

Yes, i am making a new topic for this. i have seen people had posted about this but i want more different than others. i have questions to ask.

a bit about me- i used to have 10 gal tank when i was in teenage. now i am 20. i currently have 20 gal tank. i want to start the cycle next month or april. you see, i bought it near a year ago and i had some fish. unfortunately, all of fish are dead. i already have some plants. i have gravels. 2 fliters. air pump. heat temperature. some decorates for fish tank.
i had test water for ammonia- it seems it is out of the range. the color was blue. normally it should be yellowish to dark green. at 8ppm- dark green but it is blue! is this normal? is water very extreme toxic? do i should change the whole water? (i was thinking to change water for 75%) then add new water 75%. is that good to start? i already bought prue ammonia for clean household but there is no soap or anything, i have shaken it and no bubbles but very very tiny, i mean way small. almost like when u are shaking water. it is Weis Ammonia. is it good to use for fishless cycle? or should i change it??

as i notice that plants are start to dying. the leaves turn into clear transparent. is it ammonia's doing?? also, the algae start to developing as well.

so, please help me with the step by step. i really want to make it right and have fish already! lol. thank you.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I'm not sure I'm following. You say you want to start the cycle next month, or april... but in your last sentence, you say you have fish already. there's a link in my signature on fishless cycle, read up on that. If you have questions after that, ask them and we can answer them (kind of pointless to post what's in there).

BTW, Welcome to AA

 

[KrazyFish13]

ahh, yes i meant i want to make it right and i wanna have fish already but i cant because water is toxic. actually, my tank is empty espeically plants and decorates/gravels. sorry for the misunderstanding. thank you, i joined because i need help with cycle. it is pretty frustrating.

 

[ChelseaLake]

There's a great article on here, but if you want it rephrased, I found this website: Fishless Cycling of the Aquarium - Algone.com.

Just be really patient with it. I have a 55g cycling right now, and I want to put fish in there so bad! However, it will be WAY better for the fish in the long run if you wait

Good luck!

 

[KrazyFish13]

thanks for the link.

yes i am patient with it. i see, 55 gal is much better than the smaller ones because they are unforgiving for mistakes. the large, the more better to make mistakes. i suppose, having 20 gal is much changelle than 100 gal or so. i wouldnt want to make fish suffer with toxic water at all.

 

[nmikmik]

I am pretty much in the same or similar situation. I started the fishless - ammonia primes cycle almost 4 weeks ago. I suspect i've added too much ammonia to begin with, so my levels where off the chart for all 3-3.... weeks, only now I see the levels have dropped to maybe 4.0 ppm.
I also assume that i made a mistake (patience is the virtue) by adding small snails from a functioning tank from a friend of mine, he said they will be ok and it will speed up the process. It looks like it did not.
Now i am reading the link from above and questioning my procedure. First of all I added close to 5ml of ammonia to the 8 galon tank, don't ask where I read it but I sure am convinced that I read it somewhere
I am also noticing that water level has decreased almost to the top of my filter and as I understand it should be fully submerged. Can/should I add enough water from my RO system to bring it to the beginning level?
Now I am testing my nitrites and see it at least at 5ppm
What should be my next move? other then just wait
I know now that with both ammonia and nitrite levels as they are, i can't even think of adding any fish to the tank.

 

[KrazyFish13]

i see, my ppm is out of the range i suppose because i tested my water with drops and it turned out to blue. i wonder is it over 9ppm or so...
i have read that normally people should do 5 drops of ammonia per 10 gallons then when the nitrite start to spike then reduce to 2-3 drops of ammonia. i dont even know what is right and wrong. i prefer if they provide more exact on how much amount of drop? small or large? it would amaze me if 5 drops is enough powerful to create high ppm...
i would add more water to fill it up to the top of the tank. RO is good for fish acid lover such as discus/angelfish fish. RO removes salt and make it pure water.

i have already decide what i want to get fish. well, this may sounds too much for 20 gal. i think it wouldnt hurt if i have 2 fliters.

a female and a male honey gouramis- i hope they wouldnt breed lol but i dont think they will because it is hard to breed them and they require plant floating to lay eggs on them.
2 or 3- otocinclus
3- panda cory or 4- pygmy cory
6- neon tetras
4- ghost shrimps (i hope cory wouldnt eat them haha)

 

[ejaramillo01]

Answering to both of you:

Yes 5ml of ammonia (even 10% diluted) for a 8G tank is too much, both of you sounds like overdosed the Ammonia, my suggestion is to do water changes as needed to go back to maximum 4 ppm, if not your cycle could stall.

Once you are back to 4 ppm wait to see until Ammonia starts to decrease, at that point you need to add a little more ammonia to go back to 4 ppm an so on. Later you will see spike on Nitrites, don't worry if the number goes out of the chart, just keep maintaining the ammonia to 4 ppm adding as needed.
Later on you will start to see a decrease in Nitrites also an a increase in Nitrates, then is when your cycle will be moving in the right direction.
Once you get to the point that after adding the ammonia to 4ppm your tank is able to drop the ammonia and nitrites to 0 ppm in 24 hours (don't worry about nitrates) then yor tank is cycled. At that point you will do a 50% water change and you can add your fish.

Keep reading the links providEd by others above, learn the nitrogen cycle, be patience and good luck.

 

[nmikmik]

Thanks a lot!

Oh well just a little more patience I guess
I am assuming the water change of 25% and RO not from tap - rite?
Thanks again,

 

[mfdrookie516]

dont use RO... it causes too many issues in the long run. Unless you're keeping discus, you're wasting your time and money

 

[nmikmik]

Ah, ok - thanks for the headsup!

tap water it is then.

 

[nmikmik]

Ok,
I did the PWC about 25% with tap water, now measuring the Ammonia it is around 4ppm but the Nitrites are still off the chart. I really prefer not to start all process all over again. So what should I do now it says seeding should speed up the process
"Seeding the tank can significantly enhance this process. It is possible for a cycle to complete in seven days with seeding; otherwise this method takes two to three weeks."
Should I try doing it now using my friend's media or just start adding a few drops of ammonia to the tank daily or use the fish food or???

Thanks for your help!

 

[nmikmik]

Still have no idea what I am doing
Any suggestions, please....

 

[nmikmik]

Any help?

Would sure be appreciated.
It's either getting worst or getting better but not knowing what is going on is not helping.
I have a very small tank, unfortunately & I seem to be unable to control the cycle. Since my last update I started adding the fish food to my tank daily but the ammonia levels are still dropping. Now it about between .5 and 1 ppm even I added 3 drops of ammonia into the tank last night. Btw it says it is 10% solution on the container of household ammonia i bought at ACE hardware a long time ago. I assume ammonia does not "spoil"

 

[ejaramillo01]

You are in the right direction.

Questions for you:
1- How are you reading your levels, liquid test (API) or test strips? I recommend liquid, test strips are super not reliable.
2- After you adding the ammonia (remember just some drops) what are your readings? And readings 24 hours after the addition?
3- Remind us how long since you started your fishes cycle? And how long the nitrites have been out of the chart?

The spike of Nitrites that you described, and the reduction of ammonia even with your daily adds is a good thing so far. Now we need to see the answers of the above questions to give you better suggestions.

Don't get desperate, you are doing well,

 

[nmikmik]

Thanks a lot for the quick reply ejaramillo01!

1- I am using the API kit for both ammonia and nitrites testing
2 - After I just add ammonia the reading goes up just tot he next level, and back to the same or lower the next morning (never tested within 24 hrs between mornings - only at night)
3 - I started my cycle 5 weeks ago and the nitrites were off the chart as soon as I started testing for them, but I had my full test kit (got ammonia testing first) with nitrites testing ability arriving late so I don't know what were the readings before I started testing for them.

Thanks again,
& wish me luck

 

[ejaramillo01]

If you have 6 weeks already in the process, here is my suggestion:

1.- Do a 50% to 75% partial water change, be sure that you use PRIME or a de-chlorinator to treat the new water before goes to the tank. And test, let us know the readings after the water change.

2.- Don't touch the filter, filter cartridges, or whatever type of filter you have.

3.- Keep adding ammonia aiming for 3 to 4 ppm maximum (daily if needed). And read 24 hours after the addition. Let us know how much the ammonia drops in 24 hours.

And then wait a little more. I'm almost sure that your cycle will kick up soon to the next level, which will be Nitrites reduction.

I wish you a ton of luck!!!

 

[nmikmik]

Thanks a lot Edgar,

I just did about 25-30% partial water change about 2 weeks ago and I think that what caused the cycle to actually start reducing the ammonia.
I will try per your suggestion and keep you posted if you don't mind

Mike

 

[ejaramillo01]

Fine with me!

 

[nmikmik]

Update

Came back from a small trip. My daughter was taking care of the measuring and adding ammonia. Good girl
Current levels:
Ammonia~ .50 ppm (I am keeping it at 3-4ppm by adding pure ammonia)
in 24hrs it drops to about 1ppm
Nitrite ~ 1-2 ppm
Nitrate ~ 30 ppm

Thanks!