My goldie couldn't survive, so move to fishless cycling!

[Juden291]

Hi everyone,

I just get started with my new 38 gallon tank. First I did Fish-In cycling, but my Goldfish couldn't tolerate the toxic (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) during the process; therefore, I move to Fish-less cyling. So I have some questions hope you guys here help me to! Thank you very much!

History:

06/27: Finished setting up the aquarium (Filter on, Air pump + airstone on, Water Conditioner added, 75°F room temp. - No heater installed due to stocking goldfish).
06/28: Introduced (one) red-cap oranda Goldfish to do Fish-in cycling. I also did pwc weekly.
07/09: My goldie died due to Ick... So I performed 60% pwc, added Aqua Salt, and raised temp. to 88°F to kill Ick.

------------Changed to Fish-less cycling method at this time-------------

07/12: Test water w/ API Master Kit:
-Ammo: 0.25 (Due to the lack of Ammonia sources, I kept feeding bacteria by fish food)
-NitrIte: 2.0
-NitrAte: 0
-High Range pH: 8.2

07/17: Got ACE Hardware Ammonia bottle (also performed 50% pwc, adjusted to 84°F, added Bacteria Supplement).
-Ammo: 4.0
-NitrIte: 0.25
-NitrAte:0

07/19:
-Ammo: 4.0
-NtrIte: 0.50
-NitrAte: 0

So my questions are:
1. Am I doing correctly in cycling my tank?
2. Did my cycling process stall? If No, then what stage I'm in?
3. Do you think Ick disease has gone away in my tank yet?
4. Since I have got my Ammonia source, do I still need to feed the bacteria fish food?


My Landscape Aquarium - YouTube
This is my first post on the forum, so I hope you guys help me out. Very much appriciate to your reply!!!

 

[paytertot]

are you sure the goldfish died because of ick? when doing a fish-in cycle, it is normally necessary to do daily water changes to keep ammo and nitrite at .25 max.
anyways, read these articles on fishless cycling. They've got tons of info. I'll be glad to answer any remaining questions and so will anyone else who finds this thread, I'm sure.

The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice

Tips and Tricks For Your Fastest Fishless Cycle! - Aquarium Advice

 

[librarygirl]

1. Yes, everything looks good so far.
2. Probably not stalled. It's hard to say since you just started dosing ammonia and it hasn't dropped yet but there are nitrites rising which is good. You should have some bacteria from the fish so it's just a matter of letting them multiply enough to consume the ammonia you're feeding it now.
3. If it was Ich, it should go away by the time you get fish if not before. Ich needs a fish to survive so without one in the tank it should all die off within a couple of weeks.
4.No, not necessary. Keep an eye on your PH though; PH drops can stall the cycle.

 

[Juden291]

are you sure the goldfish died because of ick? when doing a fish-in cycle, it is normally necessary to do daily water changes to keep ammo and nitrite at .25 max.
anyways, read these articles on fishless cycling. They've got tons of info. I'll be glad to answer any remaining questions and so will anyone else who finds this thread, I'm sure.

The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice

Tips and Tricks For Your Fastest Fishless Cycle! - Aquarium Advice

Thank you so much for providing the very helpful links.
I'm sure that my Goldfish died because of the Ick. I think the reasons why it got Ick cuz the ammonia and nitrites were a little bit high, and the temperature sometimes dropped from 78°F to 66°F in just one night. So my goldfish might be stressed and got Ick.

1. Yes, everything looks good so far.
2. Probably not stalled. It's hard to say since you just started dosing ammonia and it hasn't dropped yet but there are nitrites rising which is good. You should have some bacteria from the fish so it's just a matter of letting them multiply enough to consume the ammonia you're feeding it now.
3. If it was Ich, it should go away by the time you get fish if not before. Ich needs a fish to survive so without one in the tank it should all die off within a couple of weeks.
4.No, not necessary. Keep an eye on your PH though; PH drops can stall the cycle.

Thank you for your feedback.

Here is my latest test (07/21):

Ammonia: 3.0 - 3.5 ppm
NitrItes: 0.50 ppm
NitrAtes: 0
pH: 8.0

With regards to the nitrites, do you know why it was high (@ 2.0 ppm) when the fish in, but dropped down and has been staying (@ 0.25 - 0.50 ppm) after taking the fish out and doing the fishless cycling? Was that because of the amount of Ammonia suddenly changed?
Also, a lot of people have NitrItes spike, but why mine is just staying the same and very low? therefore no NitrAtes?

In addition, I'm using the API pH Down to lower my pH, because 8.2 seemed very high for the bacteria to grow. Is it right?