My cycle

[ninoman123]

Doing a fishless cycle. I dont have any seed material. Its day 11 now and Im still not seeing any nitrites. Using the 10% ammonia stuff from ACE. I added enough ammonia to bring it up to about 4ppm on Day 1 havent added any ammonia since because the level isnt going down. Should I be adding ammonia or should I just keep waiting for nitrites to show up. Water temp is 82 F. Tank size is 10 gallons. I tried to get some seed material from my LFS but they refused and just gave me a bag of water. I didnt put it in the tank though. Any advice. Thanks

 

[neilanh]

Welcome to AA.

Just have to wait for it. No need to add more ammonia until it starts to go down.
You could raise the temp another 4-5 degrees, and get as much aeration in your tank as you can.

Are there any other LFS around you could try? Friends or family with tanks?

 

[ninoman123]

I figured I should just keep waiting. My heater is maxed and I do have a bubble stick in the tank. There are people I could get seed material from. I figure since its been almost 2 weeks that I would start seeing some nitrite activity. Also. When is a good time to start adding live plants? I think Ive read of people who have added them practically right away even during the cycle. But my LFS says you need to establish some sort of nutrients and you need it cycled and need to have fish in there awhile before you add any sort of live plants. Thanks

 

[Zagz]

I would wait on the plants if it were me. I'd also get seeded media if at all possible.

Welcome to AA!

 

[ninoman123]

Excellent. Thanks guys! Ive confused so many of my friends with my fishless cycle. They are all like why are you doing that theres no need for that. Even my LFS didnt understand why I was doing it. It feels good to do a fishless cycle though!

 

[neilanh]

Good for you for sticking to your guns. Your fish will be thanking you too!

Wait on the plants until your cycle is done, then you can go from there. I'd expect you to start seeing nitrIte anytime now. But if you can get seed material, it'll help things along.

 

[MyCatsDrool]

I totally respect Zags, as an expert even on FW.

But I would personally consider adding plants now. 1.) they will carry some beneficial bacteria on them

2.) they will absorb some of the ammonia and nitrogen compounds.


The upside: They carry bacteria on their surface
The downside: They will lower your ammonia level, causing you to think you are cycled sooner....however, if you wait, even with plants, to get to a nitrate reading, you will be ok. Just know a little about how plants absorb nutrients.


Unless you can get a friend to give you some filter media. THat is the quickest way through.

 

[fish 'n' fries]

You can most certainly add plants at the beginning of a cycle. That's actually my preferred way to start a new tank. However I would not do an "add ammonia, fishless cycle" with live plants. They're completely different ways to cycle a tank and combining them leads to problems. The combination of high ammonia and the light you need for plants will likely cause an algae explosion in the tank. I'd either finish the fishless cycle you've started or change to a "silent cycle" with plants.

 

[7Enigma]

I would get seed material from your other sources ASAP. If you cannot then I would get a bunch of cheap plants. These are coated with bacteria.

What I wouldn't do, however, is keep the lights on. If you can get some large leafed cheap plants I'd put them in the tank and rub all the leaves and stems. You can keep them in the tank for a while without fear of polluting the water too much. Something like java fern or anubias are great plants to get since they have tough leaves and will survive in near darkness without problems (so you could use the plants at the end of the cycle if you wanted).

 

[ninoman123]

Sounds good. Yeah Ive kept the light off in my tank so far during my cycle. I might try to get some cheap plants. Ill also try to get some seed material.

 

[ninoman123]

Is it possible to entirely skip a cycle? I got a really nasty filter from a guy I live with and switched it out with my new filter. Ammonia did nothing for like 6 days and now its converting 2ppm ammonia to 0 ppm in 24 hours (Could be less Im not sure, Im testing for exactly how long today) Cycle went like this

Day 1 - Added used filter
ammonia - 2ppm
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 0

Day 6 - dosed 2 ppm
Ammonia - 0
nitrite/nitrate - 0

Day 7 - dosed 2 ppm
Ammonia - 0
nitrite/nitrate - 0

Day 8 - dosed 2 ppm
Ammonia - 0
nitrite/nitrate - 0

I dose that morning and by my next testing its gone. Im not showing any nitrites at all. Which I feel like I should be showing since its converting ammonia so quickly over the past few days. Did I completely skip the nitrite stage of my cycle?

 

[Marconis]

You should have kept both filters on so that your new one could build up bacteria. If you are converting ammonia in 24 hours, you should see nitrite very soon. I saw mine after about 9 days.

 

[7Enigma]

Make sure you're doing the nitrAte test perfectly. Several people have performed the test improperly and shown 0ppm when in fact they have detectable levels. Sounds like your new filter media worked perfectly. I wouldn't call you cycled until you are detecting nitrAte levels just to make sure.

 

[ninoman123]

Yeah I wasnt fully cycled because a few hours after I posted that I tested again and now Im at around .5 ppm ammonia and about .5 nitrite. Its pretty cool to see some purple instead of blue. Took around...10 hours or so to fully convert my ammonia.

 

[ninoman123]

Im thinking Im complete now. I dosed 2ppm yesterday of ammonia and now Im at 0 ammonia 0 nitrites and 30 nitrates. My nitrites peaked at about 1 ppm a few days ago. I will dose 2ppm again to make sure it is fully converting the ammonia.

How fast should it be converting ammonia fully to nitrates before you consider the cycle complete?

 

[rich311k]

If you are converting 2ppm ammonia to nitrates in 24 hours you are done. Do an 80% water change and go get fish, you are done.

Congrats!!

 

[neilanh]

Exactly what Rich said. Clean it up (PWC), and adjust your temp if you had it raised during the cycle, and go get fish!

Congrats!

 

[ninoman123]

Excellent. I just dosed another 2 ppm so Im going to check tomorrow to see if its fully converted just to make sure. Man now I have to make the tough decision on which fish to buy. Its a 10 gallon. I know Id like some cory cats. I really like these powder blue gouramis my LFS has. How big would those grow? How many would be suitable for a 10 gallon? Id also like one of those african dwarf frogs. Tough choice. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT:
Could I start planting live plants now? What are some really easy starter plants?