The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

[cichlidpaul]

Well thank you Eric im honored that you are watch the Villa lets hope you bring them good luck lol and sure if i can get Barca on tv i will watch them for sure and be cheering for you my friend

 

[BldrArch]

You definitely helped me with my fishless cycling questions and now my cycle is complete! I've added your FAQ to my siggie. Which will only be beneficial if I actually start posting! LOL.

 

[eco23]

You definitely helped me with my fishless cycling questions and now my cycle is complete! I've added your FAQ to my siggie. Which will only be beneficial if I actually start posting! LOL.

That means a lot, thank you and congratulations! Enjoy moving your fish into their new healthy home! You should post some pics here once they move in. Thanks and congratulations again.

 

[shammond15731]

Hey Eco,
I am starting to cycle a small 10 gallon for my daughter and I planned on putting one of my dirty filters from my 30 gallon in to help with it but it is too big to put into her filter, will it be ok to just sit in the tank?

 

[eco23]

The filter area is the ideal location for it. Is there a chance you can take some scissors to it to make it fit in there? It doesn't actually need to serve as a filter. You just want to introduce the bacteria from it to your tank. I would try to squeeze it in right next to a new piece of filter media to seed it.

 

[shammond15731]

Ok I can do that, duh I didn't even think to cut the hard plastic part off lol.

 

[cichlidpaul]

nitrite instructions

done test of ammo and nitrite on tap water ammo 0, nitrite 0.1 if that, here are the instructions on how to do the test from the booklet enclosed - its really easy, you cant really go wrong.

 

[eco23]

Good deal, that one seems a lot more simple than the API test kits. I guess we can rule human error out of the equation.

 

[cichlidpaul]

i would say so mate lol

 

[librarygirl]

This is absolutely awesome, step-by-step and detailed instructions for newbies. Thanks so much!

 

[eco23]

This is absolutely awesome, step-by-step and detailed instructions for newbies. Thanks so much!

Thanks! If you're starting a fishless cycle I'm sure it will go well. Feel free to ask any questions you have.

 

[royta]

I just thought I'd list by water parameter results so others can let me know all is well. I am using the API Freshwater Master Test Kit.

4/27 - 8 PM
Ammo: 4.0
Nitrite: 0

4/30 - 8 AM
Ammo: 4.0
Nitrite: 0.25 - 0.50
Nitrate: 0 - 5.0 (not bright yellow but not the 5.0 orange)

5/1 - 8 AM
Ammo: 4.0
Nitrite: 1.0
Nitrate: same as above

5/1 - 9 PM
Ammo: 2.0 - 4.0 (looks 3.5-ish I guess)
Nitrite: 2.0 - 5.0 (hard to differentiate between the two colors on the card)


I just wanted to make sure my rate of ammo decrease was correct with the rate of nitrite increase. I have only used the Ace Hardware ammonia that is recommended on this site. No fish flakes or Ph down phosphates yet.

I'm at 85 degrees and have absolutely nothing in the tank other than PFS. I think I had better get some deco in there soon. I've got a lot of 2" to 3" diameter river rocks I plan on putting in. Will experimenting with rock placement slow down the cycle? The kids also want a sunken ship ornament too. I will also get live plants once I'm fully cycled. Low light plants at first as I only have a 15w T8 for light, but plan on getting a 2x24w T5HO fixture later on. My tank is a 28g bow front that is 24" wide and 18" tall.

Does everything seem ok?

 

[eco23]

I just thought I'd list by water parameter results so others can let me know all is well. I am using the API Freshwater Master Test Kit.

4/27 - 8 PM
Ammo: 4.0
Nitrate: 0

4/30 - 8 AM
Ammo: 4.0
Nitrite: 0.25 - 0.50
Nitrate: 0 - 5.0 (not bright yellow but not the 5.0 orange)

5/1 - 8 AM
Ammo: 4.0
Nitrite: 1.0
Nitrate: same as above

5/1 - 9 PM
Ammo: 2.0 - 4.0 (looks 3.5-ish I guess)
Nitrite: 2.0 - 5.0 (hard to differentiate between the two colors on the card)

I just wanted to make sure my rate of ammo decrease was correct with the rate of nitrite increase. I have only used the Ace Hardware ammonia that is recommended on this site. No fish flakes or Ph down phosphates yet.

I'm at 85 degrees and have absolutely nothing in the tank other than PFS. I think I had better get some deco in there soon. I've got a lot of 2" to 3" diameter river rocks I plan on putting in, and will also get live plants once I'm fully cycled. Low light plants at first as I only have a 15w T8 for light, but plan on getting a 2x24w T5HO fixture later on. My tank is a 28g bow front that is 24" wide and 18" tall.

Does everything seem ok?

Everything looks great! The API kits are really hard to tell detailed levels, so I'm sure the ammo was dropping while the no2 was rising, but it's almost impossible to see minor changes like that with the test kit. Just keep doing what you're doing. Keep the ammo dosed up to the 4ppm and when the no2 and no3 get screaming high, go ahead and do your mid-cycle 50% pwc. Make sure to use your dechlorinator and match water temps.

Everything looks great! Keep us posted

 

[royta]

Everything looks great! The API kits are really hard to tell detailed levels, so I'm sure the ammo was dropping while the no2 was rising, but it's almost impossible to see minor changes like that with the test kit. Just keep doing what you're doing. Keep the ammo dosed up to the 4ppm and when the no2 and no3 get screaming high, go ahead and do your mid-cycle 50% pwc. Make sure to use your dechlorinator and match water temps.

Everything looks great! Keep us posted

I thought nitrite would decrease as nitrate kept increasing to the point a PWC would be required. I had no idea nitrite would not decrease. Is this the mid-cycle PWC or something?

 

[eco23]

I thought nitrite would decrease as nitrate kept increasing to the point a PWC would be required. I had no idea nitrite would not decrease. Is this the mid-cycle PWC or something?

The nitrIte and nitrAte will continue to climb to very high levels during the cycle. When they are so high that you can't measure them with your test kit because they are off the chart, that's when you do your 50% pwc to bring the levels back down to a readable range. It will also help restore nutrients and buffers to the water to prevent a cycle stall or a pH crash.

At the absolute end of your cycle the ammonia and nitrIte will suddenly drop to 0 overnight and that is how you know your cycle is done. At that point check out the end of the guide and follow the steps to test and make sure your tank is fully cycled and ready to add fish to.

 

[BldrArch]

I thought nitrite would decrease as nitrate kept increasing to the point a PWC would be required. I had no idea nitrite would not decrease. Is this the mid-cycle PWC or something?

During the peak of my cycle, my nitrites were always sky high! They never came down even though nitrates were going up (but going up slowly). As Eco suggested, I did PWC to bring it down to a readable level. In fact, at one point I had to do 2 days in a row of doing 75% change 2x a day! But it totally worked as I think at that point my cycle had stalled. Then one day, as if by magic, my ammonia and nitrites were 0!! I dosed ammonia back up and next day: pow! Ammo and nitrites were once again 0. It's a beautiful thing.

 

[royta]

Thanks eco23 and BldrArch. I'll just continue the waiting game. I don't think I'm too far from a required mid-cycle 50% PWC though, so that's encouraging. I'll bet either tonight or tomorrow night, because the nitrite 2.0 and 5.0 colors are so close I couldn't really tell which one I was on last night.

 

[shammond15731]

This question isn't exactly about doing a cycle since my 30 gallon is cycled already but I bought a piece of wood for decoration which has made my water turn orange even after following the direction which said to soak it and change the water daily until it stopped coloring the water then put it in your tank well after being in my tank about a week my water is turning orange so my question is will it hurt if I do a complete water change? Or should I do pwc's daily or every other day until it is clear again? Btw the wood is going in the trash worst $10 mistake I have made so far!

 

[eco23]

This question isn't exactly about doing a cycle since my 30 gallon is cycled already but I bought a piece of wood for decoration which has made my water turn orange even after following the direction which said to soak it and change the water daily until it stopped coloring the water then put it in your tank well after being in my tank about a week my water is turning orange so my question is will it hurt if I do a complete water change? Or should I do pwc's daily or every other day until it is clear again? Btw the wood is going in the trash worst $10 mistake I have made so far!

As long as you dechlorinate the water, match the temperatures the best you can and try to do the emptying / refilling fast you'll be fine. There's virtually no bacteria in the water...it's all in the filter and the surfaces of the tank. I'd try to do it quickly though because if any of those things dry out it can start killing off the bacteria.

 

[shammond15731]

Ok we have well water so no chlorine worries. I wasn't for sure but I didn't think the bacteria was in the water just on the surfaces but I wanted to check before I went all the way and screwed something up. Thank you for such a quick reply btw!!