The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Status
Not open for further replies.
Axel said:
Hey guys, I thought my tank had cycled the other day but I was a bit hasty lol. Luckily I never got any fish!

But After checking today it's sure is. I need todo a big pwc but can only really do it literally 24 hours before getting the fish. I'm pretty sure it can last without ammonia for that long without doing to much damage?

just looking for conformation. Thanks
Click to expand...

Yea 24 hours prior to getting fish, do a pwc to get trates down. The bacteria you have reared and are emotionally attached to will be just fine..Great job and feel free to help others! Have you posted pics yet???
 
griffinej5 said:
Nitrites haven't dropped yet, I started on July 23rd. It's gotta happen soon, right?
Click to expand...

Around a month or a bit more is the average. You're almost there...just gotta keep waiting it out unfortunately ;-)
 
Woohoo! I was feeling lucky, so I just checked the nitrites. I added my ammo last night at 11:30. I just got a nitrite reading of .50! It was still up and over the chart yesterday. I was quite excited when it didn't instantly turn to dark purple, and actually took time to develop the purple color. Hopefully till I give it the 24 hours, I'll actually have 0. Unfortunately, due to the heat, the soles of my feet got sunburned yesterday, so I might just have to keep feeding it for a few more days till my feet heal and I can do the necessary water change.
I think this means there will be fish pictures soon, once my feet are healed.
 
griffinej5 said:
Woohoo! I was feeling lucky, so I just checked the nitrites. I added my ammo last night at 11:30. I just got a nitrite reading of .50! It was still up and over the chart yesterday. I was quite excited when it didn't instantly turn to dark purple, and actually took time to develop the purple color. Hopefully till I give it the 24 hours, I'll actually have 0. Unfortunately, due to the heat, the soles of my feet got sunburned yesterday, so I might just have to keep feeding it for a few more days till my feet heal and I can do the necessary water change.
I think this means there will be fish pictures soon, once my feet are healed.
Click to expand...

Awesome :). I told you it happens quickly. Keep a close eye on pH because this is when the pH crashes happen. If it's significantly lower...you're gonna have to convince someone with healthy feet to change out some water. I'm sure it'll be at zero within the 24 hour mark. Test it a couple times, get no3 below 20, lower the heater and add fish!

As you said, pics are a requirement of using the guide :)
 
Never mind, I messed something up and got no nitrates there for a minute. Repeated the test, have nitrates, probably going to commence the water change and go get my fish.
 
fishless cycle summary

I have been doing a fishless cycle as I said for 2 months or so. I have had a tendancy to over spike the ammonia levels and not correct. (oops!) 2X now I have tested and there has been no ammonia. Unfortunatly-It could have been ammonia free for several days:( Just tested 10 min ago. No ammonia. spiked it correctly to 4ppm . now what? Not sure what other info you need from me to give you a summary so please feel free to ask..

how long should i wait to re test water after spiking it?
can i take surface water to test and get accurate results ?
 
missie said:
I have been doing a fishless cycle as I said for 2 months or so. I have had a tendancy to over spike the ammonia levels and not correct. (oops!) 2X now I have tested and there has been no ammonia. Unfortunatly-It could have been ammonia free for several days:( Just tested 10 min ago. No ammonia. spiked it correctly to 4ppm . now what? Not sure what other info you need from me to give you a summary so please feel free to ask..

how long should i wait to re test water after spiking it?
can i take surface water to test and get accurate results ?
Click to expand...

Hi missie :)

Can you test your nitrIte, nitrAte and pH levels for me as well? That will give us a good idea where your cycle is. I assume you're using an API master kit for your testing?

The main thing since you've got things moving is to pick a time of day, and every 24 hours at that time test and dose the ammonia back up as needed.

After 2 months I'm sure you're very close if not already pretty much done unless you've left the tank sitting without ammo for a significant amount of time.

As for when to test...15-20 minutes after adding it is a good idea so it can circulate. It's good to take a sample from the middle of the tank depending on your filter. If you have good filtration it shouldn't really matter...but we want to make sure we get an accurate idea of the level.
 
Yes. have API kit.
Nitrate between 5 and 10
nitrite(not sure..color was showin up a brownish color.) did the test 2x got the same color.
ph stable at 8.4
 
missie said:
Yes. have API kit.
Nitrate between 5 and 10
nitrite(not sure..color was showin up a brownish color.) did the test 2x got the same color.
ph stable at 8.4
Click to expand...

NitrIte is a brown color? Are you adding 5 drops, shaking it and waiting 5 minutes for the color to develop? If it really is coming out brown, I'd guess you've either got a bad bottle of solution or there's some other issue. It might be a good idea to get it tested at the lfs if that result continues.
 
just tried it a 3 rd time and again got that brown color-ive tested with that bottle before and never had issues... so i dont know.. can you buy individual bottles of nitrite testing solution @ target or walmart? local lfs is 30 miles away and i was already there today..? or even at lfs ?
can you tell me your opinon on my cylce thus far or is it too hard to say without nitrite results?
also- got my filter working!! whooo hoooo!
 
Knowing the nitrIte level is absolutely vital to know where you are unfortunately. I've never seen the API kits or solutions at Walmart...but anything is possible.

Since you have no3, that shows you're very far along...it might almost be fishy time if we learn exactly what's happening. :)

Do this, since you just added ammonia...test the ammonia and nitrAte level in 24 hours and tell me what they are. If the ammonia has dropped down to zero and your nitrAte level has increased...that will be a really good sign.

In the mean time before we can get a nitrIte reading, it'll be important to keep testing and dosing the ammo back up to 3-4ppm every day.

I don't think you're very far away...we've just got to stay on top of it and figure out exactly where we are.
 
missie said:
just tried it a 3 rd time and again got that brown color-ive tested with that bottle before and never had issues... so i dont know.. can you buy individual bottles of nitrite testing solution @ target or walmart? local lfs is 30 miles away and i was already there today..? or even at lfs ?
can you tell me your opinon on my cylce thus far or is it too hard to say without nitrite results?
also- got my filter working!! whooo hoooo!
Click to expand...

That is weird. Are the test tubes clean, make sure you rinse them out between tests, perhaps some residue is in there from another test bottle?

Is it brown as soon as it goes into the tube or is it another color before it turns brown?

What's the date of your test kit? If you look on the nitrite bottle it will have some numbers, the last 4 say the date of manufacture (so if its 1109 it would have been manufactured in November 2009).

Just throwing some ideas out there :)
 
I got a nitrate reading on Friday that looked like nothing was going on, but it turned out I messed up with counting the drops, and I actually did it twice. Once I finally counted correctly, I got a proper reading. Maybe that's what you did?
Also, pictures of my tank are in the photo section.
 
nitrite 0. I think. Its a very very pale blue almost clear..so.. (ordered new test kit)
nitrate between 5 and 10.
ammonia .025 (coming down from being spiked)
Its taking a little over 24 hours to cycle out ammonia
ph stable at 8.4
does that mean im cylced finally??
 
missie said:
nitrite 0. I think. Its a very very pale blue almost clear..so.. (ordered new test kit)
nitrate between 5 and 10.
ammonia .025 (coming down from being spiked)
Its taking a little over 24 hours to cycle out ammonia
ph stable at 8.4
does that mean im cylced finally??[/QUOTE
Looks like you are to me
Click to expand...
 
That was weird. Looks like you are if you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and nitrates of 5-10. I would just to be safe dose one more time and make double sure....
 
Deckape said:
That was weird. Looks like you are if you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and nitrates of 5-10. I would just to be safe dose one more time and make double sure....
Click to expand...

I agree. Dose it up one more time...if you see zero ammonia and zero nitrIte after 24 hours...add fish!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Aiken Drum
Fishless Cycle Guide using Ammonia
Replies
2
Views
279
Aiken Drum
Aiken Drum
Aiken Drum
Fish In Cycle Guide.
Replies
5
Views
196
Aiken Drum
Aiken Drum
J
Fishless cycle help
2
Replies
39
Views
2K
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
M
Strange Nitrate problem in fishless cycle
Replies
8
Views
721
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
L
pH unstable at end of fishless cycle
Replies
2
Views
623
Aiken Drum
Aiken Drum

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom