The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

[eco23]

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!!

No problem! Thanks to this handy little app, it seems like I'm on here 24/7, lol.

 

[shammond15731]

My ammonia dropped to 1ppm today so I dosed it back up to 4ppm I also checked my nitrites which turned up 0ppm I sure was hoping to see at least a trace of nitrites lol! I am being way too impatient since I just started this tank on Saturday lol. Should the nitrites start showing up soon since the ammonia started to go down? Also should I keep the ammonia at 4ppm daily or should I let it drop to 1ppm again before I dose it up again?

 

[Irish.OG87]

My ammonia dropped to 1ppm today so I dosed it back up to 4ppm I also checked my nitrites which turned up 0ppm I sure was hoping to see at least a trace of nitrites lol! I am being way too impatient since I just started this tank on Saturday lol. Should the nitrites start showing up soon since the ammonia started to go down? Also should I keep the ammonia at 4ppm daily or should I let it drop to 1ppm again before I dose it up again?

it sometimes can take awhile for nitrites to start showing up.
Everytime it drops just top it back up to 4ppm, then one morning u go to test since the night before u topped ammo up u will go back and its zero ammo and zero nitrites and a ungodly amount of nitrates, which means ur almost done. Thats when u need to do ur 90% pwc to bring the nitrates down to a readbale lvl, top ammo up once more and after 24hrs if it comes up zero ammo and nitrites, then start adding fishies.

 

[shammond15731]

Will do! I just didn't want to do anything to stall things since I have a 13 year old here who is very eagerly waiting to get the "perfect betta" to put in the tank.

 

[eco23]

My ammonia dropped to 1ppm today so I dosed it back up to 4ppm I also checked my nitrites which turned up 0ppm I sure was hoping to see at least a trace of nitrites lol! I am being way too impatient since I just started this tank on Saturday lol. Should the nitrites start showing up soon since the ammonia started to go down? Also should I keep the ammonia at 4ppm daily or should I let it drop to 1ppm again before I dose it up again?

That's awesome! A 3ppm drop in 3 days?! You must have some great seeding material. Pigeonfood is right on, just dose it back up to 4ppm every 24 hours. You'll start seeing nitrItes real soon.

 

[eco23]

Pigeonfood! Give me good news! I'm afraid you would have already PM'd me if you were excited about something.

 

[Irish.OG87]

Pigeonfood! Give me good news! I'm afraid you would have already PM'd me if you were excited about something.

exactly, i wish i did have good news bro..but unfortunely i dont, not rigth now i dont . Tis morning i checked all my lvls. pH: 7.4ish, ammo: 0, no2: sigh...5, no3: 20. Im starting to really dislike the color lavender/purple lol. I know there is something there Im either missing or have done to prolong this cycle, its startin to annoy me a little.

 

[Irish.OG87]

exactly, i wish i did have good news bro..but unfortunely i dont, not rigth now i dont . Tis morning i checked all my lvls. pH: 7.4ish, ammo: 0, no2: sigh...5, no3: 20. Im starting to really dislike the color lavender/purple lol. I know there is something there Im either missing or have done to prolong this cycle, its startin to annoy me a little.

Im on the verge of doing a 90% pwc and seeing if this will correct anything, cos its been 4 days and nothing has changed. im gonna cry

 

[eco23]

Im on the verge of doing a 90% pwc and seeing if this will correct anything, cos its been 4 days and nothing has changed. im gonna cry

It won't hurt. Just add the dechlorinator as always. Make sure you add the ammo every day in the mean time.

 

[eco23]

Something went wrong for it to have reverted after the cycle finished. My $ is on a pH crash.

 

[Irish.OG87]

It won't hurt. Just add the dechlorinator as always. Make sure you add the ammo every day in the mean time.

ok im doing it when i get off work, ye ive been adding 2ppm of ammo everyday since. Idk if this matters probably not but im using tetra aquasafe water conditioner in my pwc, tats ok right? I mean not using the wrong stuff am i? stupid question but im still lost on how my cycle went from fishies friday to fishies when?

 

[Irish.OG87]

Something went wrong for it to have reverted after the cycle finished. My $ is on a pH crash.

if it really was a pH crash, wud there of been anythin I cud of done??

 

[eco23]

if it really was a pH crash, wud there of been anythin I cud of done??

The conditioner is fine. The mid-cycle pwc was supposed to prevent it...you did that right? That's what makes my guide a bit different because the pwc is not normally included in others and it happens quite often without it.

 

[eco23]

Hang on... Was it AquaSafe plus or just regular?

 

[eco23]

Hang on... Was it AquaSafe plus or just regular?

Never mind, I think they discontinued the regular one that didn't dechlorinate.

 

[Irish.OG87]

Hang on... Was it AquaSafe plus or just regular?

Its AquaSafe w/bio-extracts, didnt know if it mattered. Cos i know eveyone else used Prime and they didnt have a problem, was just curious.

 

[Irish.OG87]

The conditioner is fine. The mid-cycle pwc was supposed to prevent it...you did that right? That's what makes my guide a bit different because the pwc is not normally included in others and it happens quite often without it.

I did my 50 pwc last thursday and the next day I did my 90% pwc.

 

[eco23]

Its AquaSafe w/bio-extracts, didnt know if it mattered. Cos i know eveyone else used Prime and they didnt have a problem, was just curious.

Should be fine, when I googled it I saw it as more of a bacteria booster...but further review showed they updated it to also remove chlorine...hopefully you didn't get one that'd been on the shelf for years, lol.

 

[eco23]

I did my 50 pwc last thursday and the next day I did my 90% pwc.

So.....the "mid-cycle" pwc was the day before your cycle supposedly finished? Had you done one before that? In other words, the levels were all screaming high, so you did the 50% pwc, dosed it back up to 4ppm and the next day the cycle finished?

 

[Irish.OG87]

So.....the "mid-cycle" pwc was the day before your cycle supposedly finished? Had you done one before that? In other words, the levels were all screaming high, so you did the 50% pwc, dosed it back up to 4ppm and the next day the cycle finished?

Reason i did my 50% pwc was becuase my nitrates were through the roof and wanted to bring them down to a radbale lvl, topped it back to 4ppm and the next day voila zero ammo and no2 and still high no3.......o my lord what have i done!!!!!!