starting a fishless cycle

[awilson133]

this the 29 gallon. i have some swords in this tank. ill add more plants later. i also have driftwood but its soaking in buckets right now.

this is the 55 gallon. stocked with 2 marble angelfish (breeding pair), 5 black skirt, 6 pristella tetras, 1 apple snail, 1 dwarf gouramie, 1 orange platie, and 2 mickeymouse platies.
enjoy!

 

[awilson133]

UPDATE. I check my levels this morning and this is what showed up. ammo 3.0
nitrites 0
ph 7.6
this morning im going out to buy a pump and airstones.

 

[jlk]

Sounds good!!

 

[awilson133]

when should I see a drop in ammonia?

 

[jlk]

You need to give your tank a full 24hrs before redosing amm. If your reading at 3ppm amm, you will only need a tiny amount of amm to bring it up to 4 (not the full dose). You actually can even wait another 24hrs before adding anymore amm to see if your amm levels drop further. Do you have access to any cycled media to speed things up? If not, you can consider purchasing an 'active' filter from AngelsPlus. Just make sure you choose a filter labeled 'active' (live, seeded filter).

Sponge Filters for aquariums

 

[awilson133]

okay! Ill check it out thanks!

 

[librarygirl]

when should I see a drop in ammonia?

Without media from an established tank to help the cycle, the average time before ammonia starts dropping significantly is about two weeks; nitrites typically show up after that, around week 3 (these are just averages, every tank is different).

 

[awilson133]

okay since theres no change in the ammo since this morning im going to wait another 24 hrs. is that okay?

 

[librarygirl]

okay since theres no change in the ammo since this morning im going to wait another 24 hrs. is that okay?

Yep, perfectly fine.

 

[awilson133]

im starting to have cloudy water. the gravel isnt new..the only thing ive done is planted a few new plants.. bacterial bloom of some sort?

 

[jlk]

Most likely- nothing to worry about!

 

[awilson133]

i know so that means bacteria is forming?

also i wanna add my driftwood ive let it soak about 3 days and boiled..if it tints my water can i do a water change is that okay?

 

[jlk]

Is the driftwood still leeching out tannins when you soak it? If it is, i would soak it until it stops leeching tannins. Changing your tank water will not affect your cycle at all but the issue with the driftwood is it can cause your ph to drop if its still leeching tannins. Its easier to change a bucket of water the wood is sitting in than to change your tank water. You can give it a try & if it has a negative affect, you can always remove it & resoak/boil it some more. Up to you!

 

[awilson133]

okay its leeching a lil i think ill keep soaking it..i just cant wait to get it in!
tested ammo again and its still 3.0..nitrites 0 ph 7.6

 

[jlk]

Perfectly normal! The ammonia conversion phase can 2 wks (or longer), so patience is the key here.

 

[awilson133]

oh my..thats it im getting seeded material LOL

 

[Eternia]

Me two

 

[awilson133]

so when I get my seeded filter ?cube? thats all I found on the site that sells it. can I put it in the back of my filter to run it? or just set it in the tank?

 

[jlk]

You want the cube labeled 'active' or your just getting a regular, new filter. You can either install it with an airtube & pump or cut it up in pieces & install in your filter.

 

[awilson133]

alright sounds good. I thought about cutting it and installing it. but how does it stay active while shipping? wouldnt the bacteria die off?