The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

[sanchezkk]

Yep you don't want to dose more than once in 24 hours roughly (doesn't have to be the exact same time, but roughly). How high are nitrites and how long have they been high? Is your PH stable? I'm wondering if overfeeding the ammonia caused a very high spike in nitrite and causing a stall,. Have you done any water changes? Try to do a 100% water change when you can (use dehchlorinator and try to match the temp of the water roughly to that in the tank, feeling both with your hand is good) and wait 30 minutes then test nitrite. If it's still too high, do another water change. Repeat until nitrite is readable on the chart (the lower the better). Then only dose ammonia to 2 for a few days (once per day! ) to let the nitrite bacteria catch up, then go back to dosing to 4 and let us know what happens.

The Nitrites have been off the charts for 10 days or so.
pH is at 8.0
I did a 90% water change yesterday and no they are down to measurable parameters. They were at between 2 and 5.
I have been dousing as of last night to 2-3 ppm of ammonia.
I'll keep this updated if there are any changes.

Thanks

 

[Kharrnn]

I have a 20g that I've been cycling for 26 days and it finished today. I had to retest to make sure I didn't mess up the first time lol. I was using seed material from my other tank.

I've been dosing it back up to 4ppm ammonia everyday, if needed, until last week when I dosed 4ppm every other day. I'm running a couple days of dosing ammonia to double check. If it's good then I'll start "hunting" for my fish. I know my centerpiece fish is going to be an all white betta. I decided they are the coolest looking fish ever. And I'm getting a school of 6 kuhli loaches. The rest of my stock is still up for grabs

 

[librarygirl]

I have a 20g that I've been cycling for 26 days and it finished today. I had to retest to make sure I didn't mess up the first time lol. I was using seed material from my other tank.

I've been dosing it back up to 4ppm ammonia everyday, if needed, until last week when I dosed 4ppm every other day. I'm running a couple days of dosing ammonia to double check. If it's good then I'll start "hunting" for my fish. I know my centerpiece fish is going to be an all white betta. I decided they are the coolest looking fish ever. And I'm getting a school of 6 kuhli loaches. The rest of my stock is still up for grabs

Sounds great, congrats on your cycle! You could do a school of something, like maybe 8 harlequin rasbora? There are a lot of options, have you found anything you like? Be careful with the betta in a community tank; it may or may not work depending on the fish so just be prepared to move the betta into its own tank if it doesn't work out. I'd add the Betta last.

 

[bigtoad78]

Finally cycled!
It took a whole lot of patience, but I finally managed to fishless cycle my 56 gallon tank.

Started cycle on March 30 with ACE hardware ammonia (did not use any seeding material)

Took about ten days for ammonia to start dropping. Nitrite spiked shortly after, and was stuck there until about a week ago when I did a 100% water change. After the water change, the tank started converting the nitrite, and has been converting to zero within 24 hours for the last 3 days.

Just did a 95% water change this morning to bring the nitrates down to around 10ppm, and will be off to get fish when the store opens in a couple hours!

Just wanted to thank eco23 and librarygirl for all the knowledge. I didn't actually ask for help, but I've read through a ton of your posts on these forums. Thanks again!

 

[librarygirl]

Finally cycled!
It took a whole lot of patience, but I finally managed to fishless cycle my 56 gallon tank.

Started cycle on March 30 with ACE hardware ammonia (did not use any seeding material)

Took about ten days for ammonia to start dropping. Nitrite spiked shortly after, and was stuck there until about a week ago when I did a 100% water change. After the water change, the tank started converting the nitrite, and has been converting to zero within 24 hours for the last 3 days.

Just did a 95% water change this morning to bring the nitrates down to around 10ppm, and will be off to get fish when the store opens in a couple hours!

Just wanted to thank eco23 and librarygirl for all the knowledge. I didn't actually ask for help, but I've read through a ton of your posts on these forums. Thanks again!

You're welcome, congrats on the cycle! Do a YouTube search for "drip acclimation;" it's the best way to acclimate fish to a new tank. Alternatively you can float the bag with fish in your tank and slowly dribble a small amount (maybe 1/4 cup) of your tank water to the bag every 15-20 minutes. Do this until the volume of water in the bag doubles, then empty half the water (not into your tank) and do it again. Then net the fish into the tank (dont' add any of the bag water to your tank water). Post pics of your new fish when you get them! Congrats and good luck.

 

[bigtoad78]

You're welcome, congrats on the cycle! Do a YouTube search for "drip acclimation;" it's the best way to acclimate fish to a new tank. Alternatively you can float the bag with fish in your tank and slowly dribble a small amount (maybe 1/4 cup) of your tank water to the bag every 15-20 minutes. Do this until the volume of water in the bag doubles, then empty half the water (not into your tank) and do it again. Then net the fish into the tank (dont' add any of the bag water to your tank water). Post pics of your new fish when you get them! Congrats and good luck.

Thanks!
I did the floating bag acclimation method and slowly added tank water like your instructions.
Ended up getting 4 Rainbow Cichlids (hoping to get a pair), 9 Serpae Tetras and an Apple Snail. They have been in for a few hours now, and all seem to be doing great!
Serpae's immediately began to establish ranks when they were introduced, and school very well together... very interesting to watch! The Rainbows are still fairly small and all hang out together too.
I will try to get some pics posted... so excited to finally have some fish in my tank

 

[Skeeter4158098]

Jlk. I have thread that I started and now i can't find it I am using the phone app. Can you look at my posted threads and give me some advise? Sounds like you know your stuff. Or any one else out there could use some help. Have pictures posted as well.

 

[jlk]

Jlk. I have thread that I started and now i can't find it I am using the phone app. Can you look at my posted threads and give me some advise? Sounds like you know your stuff. Or any one else out there could use some help. Have pictures posted as well.

Ill gladly help when I find it! Do you know what section you posted it in? If you are a new member, posts have to be reviewed before they are listed- this may be the case but it should be up soon!

 

[Skeeter4158098]

Maybe that's it i just posted it yesterday. I followed the link in the welcome email. I tried posting pictures as well. I can look at my own. Lol. I just don't know were it is lol. I figured this would be the easiest way to get help. Lol. I would retype all of it lol. But its a lot of info lol.

 

[jlk]

Ok, I havent found it yet but let me know if you do! Maybe it got posted in a different section of the forum?

 

[Skeeter4158098]

Ok, I havent found it yet but let me know if you do! Maybe it got posted in a different section of the forum?

Well. I know that it is "staiting a 55 gallon tank from the ground up" lol. And yes it should be starting not staiting lol. Like i said i am using the phone app for the forum's so I didn't realize it was spelt wrong before it was to late. And I know on the phone app if you click a user's picture it brings up there threads and post they have done. Well thats how it works for me.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

This thread is now closed.
Recent posts have been moved to their own threads. If you have a question about fishless cycling please start a new thread in the freshwater getting started forum found here.