The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

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Soooo I may have used ammonia with surfactant... Do I have to drain the WHOLE tank wash everything and start over?! :(

What kind of ammonia? What does it say on the bottle? I think some have used ammonia to cycle with surfectants and it was fine but I''m not sure as I've never done it. How long have you been trying to cycle? Has it progressed at all?
 
It's been about a week and it's stop and shop brand clear ammonia... It has surfactants and foams wildly when shaken... I don't know where else to go to get ammonia though... There aren't many ace hardwares around that I can take a bus to... Idk I guess we'll see
 
It's been about a week and it's stop and shop brand clear ammonia... It has surfactants and foams wildly when shaken... I don't know where else to go to get ammonia though... There aren't many ace hardwares around that I can take a bus to... Idk I guess we'll see

Hm, I think if it foams you shouldn't use it. I just did a quick search and people are saying not to use it if it has surfectants and it foams (apparently there are some with surfectants that don't foam that might be ok to use). Do you have a walmart or dollar store near you? Sometimes they have pure ammonia. If not you can always use frozen shrimp from the grocery store, just put it in a media bag or clean nylon stocking so it'll be easy to take out when it decomposes (it's going to smell nasty though from what I've heard).
 
Ive looked every where but I talked to my lfs about it and they gave me a product they use at the store and at home called ammonium-chloride (must use a de-chlorinater with it) 1 drop per gallon supplies 1ppm ammonia... I'm going to try it but if I used the ammonia with surfactant do I have to completely drain the tank and wash everything or can I drain it 75% and go from there?
 
Ive looked every where but I talked to my lfs about it and they gave me a product they use at the store and at home called ammonium-chloride (must use a de-chlorinater with it) 1 drop per gallon supplies 1ppm ammonia... I'm going to try it but if I used the ammonia with surfactant do I have to completely drain the tank and wash everything or can I drain it 75% and go from there?

Ammonium chloride is the right stuff, that's a great LFS! Most of them won't even acknowledge (or know about) fishless cycling. To be safe I'd drain the tank and rinse everything, just in case. It'll be worse in the long-run if your tank doesn't cycle and it turns out it's because of the surfectants that were left in there.
 
They are a little bit pricey in comparison but they're great people... Just taken over by new ownership so they're trying to get the tanks back to a decent state bc they were terrible a month ago.. I see the improvement and I trust them whioe heartedly
 
I found some at a Ace/ Tru Value Hardware Store. A few days later I spotted the same bottle at my local Dollar Store. Ain't that a kick in the head?
 
Hi and welcome. It can take a bit of time for the ammonia to start dropping but it usually does drop in 2-3 weeks. Let's just check a few things:
1. what temperature is the tank? the warmer the temp, the more inviting for bacteria. The recommended temp is about 86 if you can get it there
2. Does the ammonia bottle foam when you shake it? If it foams, it may have surfectants or other things that may inhibit the bacteria from forming
3. Is there surface agitation in the water created by the water from the filter splashing the surface or an air stone? Bacteria like oxygen
4. What test kit are you using? if you're using strips, they aren't very accurate and it's possible they are giving false readings.
5. Also be sure you only dosed to about 4, no more than 5, otherwise it can keep the cycle from happening
6. Did you use dechlorinator when filling the tank? What brand? Be sure on the bottle it says it dexotifies heavy metals, chlorine and chloramines
7. You might want to get some seeded filter material. This site sells "active" seeded sponge filters from their fish tanks which can help greatly. Just be sure it says "active" next to it otherwise you're just buying a plain filter.

Good luck and let us know if we can help further.


Hey Guys. Sorry it's been awhile, had a really busy week. Thanks for the awesome advice Library Girl.

1. I have the temp at 30 degrees Celsius (86 F).

2. It bubbles for about 2 seconds. I'm using Goldex House Hold Ammonia. I've read on several sites that this household ammonia works well for cycling.

3. I don't see any surface agitation. There is lots of oxygen from the filter.

4. I'm using the Nutrafin Mini Master Test kit.

5. I slowly added more and more ammonia until it reached 4.9 ppm

6. I used the Stress Zyme decholinator when I filled the tank.

Current Results are:

Ammonia: 2.4 ppm

Nitrites: 0.1

pH: 7.5

Nitrates: 5

So now should I test water daily until ammonia reaches 1 ppm? would I put in the same amount of ammonia as the first time to get to ammonia reading to 4-5 ppm? I really hope I am doing this right.

Your advice is greatly appreciated.
 
Hey Guys. Sorry it's been awhile, had a really busy week. Thanks for the awesome advice Library Girl.

1. I have the temp at 30 degrees Celsius (86 F).

2. It bubbles for about 2 seconds. I'm using Goldex House Hold Ammonia. I've read on several sites that this household ammonia works well for cycling.

3. I don't see any surface agitation. There is lots of oxygen from the filter.

4. I'm using the Nutrafin Mini Master Test kit.

5. I slowly added more and more ammonia until it reached 4.9 ppm

6. I used the Stress Zyme decholinator when I filled the tank.

Current Results are:

Ammonia: 2.4 ppm

Nitrites: 0.1

pH: 7.5

Nitrates: 5

So now should I test water daily until ammonia reaches 1 ppm? would I put in the same amount of ammonia as the first time to get to ammonia reading to 4-5 ppm? I really hope I am doing this right.

Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Looks like ammonia is dropping and you're starting to see nitrite so it seems like things are progressing. :) Yep, keep testing daily and when ammonia gets to 1 or below, redose it back up to 3-4 (I wouldn't go higher than that). You'll need to add less than inititally since there will be some ammonia in there already. Here's a Calculator (scroll down a bit) that will tell you how much to add (just plug in the size of your tank, the amount of ammonia you want to reach and the % of ammonia you have. Remember if your tank already has ammonia in it you don't want to put 4 for the value; so if your tank has 1 ammonia and you want to reach 4, you'd put in 3 for the value). Or you can add a few drops, wait a half hour, test, and add a few more drops if needed, wait, test, etc until you hit 4.

Also if you haven't already, you should test your tap water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate just to see where you're starting from (e.g. is the nitrate coming from your tap water or conversion in the tank). Does the test kit test for PH? You'll want to keep an eye on that too to make sure it doesn't start falling.
 
I just need clarification. Do I douse my tank once a day preferably at the same time or do I douse ammonia when I see it drop during the day?
Kinda too late in the game to ask but, I figure better now than never.
 
I just need clarification. Do I douse my tank once a day preferably at the same time or do I douse ammonia when I see it drop during the day?
Kinda too late in the game to ask but, I figure better now than never.

From what many people have told me, you don't want the ammonia over 5ppm, even 4. When it starts dropping quickly, and turning into nitrites, you want to keep the dosage at 2ppm. You will have to dose everyday when it starts doing that. I'm in that situation myself.
 
Grape said:
From what many people have told me, you don't want the ammonia over 5ppm, even 4. When it starts dropping quickly, and turning into nitrites, you want to keep the dosage at 2ppm. You will have to dose everyday when it starts doing that. I'm in that situation myself.

you want to dose it to 4ppm. when it drops below .25ppm you need to dose it back up to 4ppm.
 
You dose back up to 4ppm once every 24 hours, no more. If you happen to skip a day there's no permanent harm. Occasionally if you run into problems down the road you can drop to 2ppm daily for a while until things even out.
 
lol no. do it around when you get home from work to check ammo, nitrites, nitrate and ph levels. and redose ammo every 24hrs if necessary
 
Kharrnn said:
You dose back up to 4ppm once every 24 hours, no more. If you happen to skip a day there's no permanent harm. Occasionally if you run into problems down the road you can drop to 2ppm daily for a while until things even out.

+1 agreed
 
The funny thing is that I was on my tank like white on rice. My wife is a very early riser. She gets to bed about 9-10pm and she normally cannot sleep passed 3am. So she gets up, checks the levels and adds ammonia. I stand around the house (I'm home on an injury claim and excused from work since Valentine's Day) dosing the tank every few hours. It's killing me that we are putting in so much time into it and it's not yet completely cycled. Now I'm just waiting for my nitrites to bottom out. My nitrates are at 20. I'm going nuts.
 
The funny thing is that I was on my tank like white on rice. My wife is a very early riser. She gets to bed about 9-10pm and she normally cannot sleep passed 3am. So she gets up, checks the levels and adds ammonia. I stand around the house (I'm home on an injury claim and excused from work since Valentine's Day) dosing the tank every few hours. It's killing me that we are putting in so much time into it and it's not yet completely cycled. Now I'm just waiting for my nitrites to bottom out. My nitrates are at 20. I'm going nuts.
I don't think you should be dosing the tank every few hours. once in 24 hours is what you need to be doing. for now, you need to leave it alone inbetween dosing.
sorry it is driving you crazy. you could always switch to a fish in cycle and then you will have daily water changes to keep you busy ;)
 
Well, since you put it that way.

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.
 
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