6 gal fishless cycle help!

[miylee]

decided to go fishless cycle on my 6 gal.
i started last wed 2/22 dosing to 4 ppm ammo.
stayed at 4ppm until i tested this tuesday 2/28 and read 3 ppm for ammo.

today thur mar 1 ammo was 1ppm so i dosed back up to 4ppm.
i checked my nitrites and it was a purply pink, im guessing it was a 2.0? ppm it was kindof hard to tell..
i also tested for nitrates and i got what looked like 20ppm but when i was pouring it out into my white sink it looked darker about 40ppm.

it seems im having trouble distinguishing the color of my test readings for nitrite and nitrate. is there a tip for reading accurately? i normally read mine by holding it up to a room where i face sunlight and it usually reads lighter than when the sun is shining from behind me and i have the testtube held with a white wall directly behind it as well as it being dark when i pour it out into a white sink. please help me on the best way to figure out my readings for nitrite and nitrate..

also are my water perimeters thus far correct? what should i be looking for/ doing next. I know i am suppose to redose my ammonia but what am i looking for to dose back up to 4ppm?

also my tank is rimless and water has evaporated, only 3/5 of the tank (from surface of substrate) is filled. should i add more water with prime?
is everything going smoothly?

 

[ejaramillo01]

decided to go fishless cycle on my 6 gal.
i started last wed 2/22 dosing to 4 ppm ammo.
stayed at 4ppm until i tested this tuesday 2/28 and read 3 ppm for ammo.

today thur mar 1 ammo was 1ppm so i dosed back up to 4ppm.
i checked my nitrites and it was a purply pink, im guessing it was a 2.0? ppm it was kindof hard to tell..
i also tested for nitrates and i got what looked like 20ppm but when i was pouring it out into my white sink it looked darker about 40ppm.

it seems im having trouble distinguishing the color of my test readings for nitrite and nitrate. is there a tip for reading accurately? i normally read mine by holding it up to a room where i face sunlight and it usually reads lighter than when the sun is shining from behind me and i have the testtube held with a white wall directly behind it as well as it being dark when i pour it out into a white sink. please help me on the best way to figure out my readings for nitrite and nitrate..

also are my water perimeters thus far correct? what should i be looking for/ doing next. I know i am suppose to redose my ammonia but what am i looking for to dose back up to 4ppm?

also my tank is rimless and water has evaporated, only 3/5 of the tank (from surface of substrate) is filled. should i add more water with prime?
is everything going smoothly?

I think that your process is going great. There are all kind of opinions regarding the best way to read the colors for the tests. IME, hold the tube against the color chart and try to see which of the different shades match better your tube. But the important part is to do it every time the same, if you fill better against the light, or the sink, it is ok, just stick with that method every time that you read your levels.

At this point, the levels of Nitrites are not important, you will keep seeing pink or even purple colors, which is ok, keep adding ammonia up to 4ppm every time that you see a drop to 1 ppm or less. Once you notice that the ammonia is dropping to 0 ppm in 24 hours, you keep adding the ammonia up to 4 ppm but now the nitrites will be the next to hopefully drop to 0 ppm in the same 24 hours.

Will take you maybe another week or two, don't get desperate, you are in the right track. Keep posting here and the community will help you.
Good luck

 

[mozcheez]

What ejaramillo01 said above is awesome advice.

Even when holding the vial against the card, I noticed that I have a hard time matching the colors when I'm in the room with my tank, so I usually go outside to compare (when it's light out, of course! ) So you could try different rooms in your house and see if the light works out better.

So, no need to worry about the nitrites/nitrates at all yet, just keep dosing the ammonia back up as it reaches 1ppm like you've done already. Also, be sure to occasionally test your pH level. pH crashes are fairly typical and can stall/stop your cycling process. If you test your pH and you notice it's down around 6.5 or lower, do a water change! With only a 6 gallon tank, you can just change nearly all the water out to restore the buffers and the pH level. Then just dose the ammonia back up again.

You'll keep dosing the ammonia back up to 4ppm until you see the nitrites at 0ppm (should be pretty easy to tell no matter what light your in... pure blue - no purples at all - assuming you're using the API tests).

Just in case you haven't seen this yet: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html

Regarding the water level, as long as the water is still high enough to reach the fill-line on the heater and high enough for the filter to work properly, no need to put more water back in. It won't hurt it, though, as long as you remember to dechlorinate.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

[jlk]

All great advice! Have some patience & continue to test daily- your ph is very important to test as well. Ph crashes can stall your cycle. If your water level has dropped quite a bit, your fine to add some conditioned water- just make sure you are leaving enough room for some splashing from your filter (aeration is important for your bacterial growth). Good luck & keep us posted!

 

[miylee]

thanks for all the great advice ejaramillo01, moz cheez, and jlk~ i have followed them and will continue to test my perimeters daily. i went ahead and tested my ph and it looked to be a 7.6ppm on ph and a 7.4ppm on high ph (Although it was less opaque but the color was spot on. yay

i also checked my ammonia again and it looks like its at 1ppm again.. is this normal to see it drop that quick? so if im correct in getting this all down, all that im looking for during this whole process is ammonia in terms of dosing back to 4ppm? and that when ammonia is dropping so quickly to 0ppm, keep dosing while starting to look at nitrtites to drop within the same 24 hours of ammo dropping to 0?

 

[jlk]

Perfectly normal to see your amm drop quickly- this is what we want to happen! Only dose your amm once a day- enough to bring it back up to 4ppm. You should be checking nitrites also because your amm is being converted. You should expect to see your ammonia zeroing out in 24hrs in the very near future & your nitrites to be spiking quite high (5+ppm). Then, you can expect to see your nitrites start to fall. Once your amm/nitrite both zero in 24hrs, your cycled! Keep us posted & dont hesitate to ask questions!

 

[miylee]

What ejaramillo01 said above is awesome advice.

Even when holding the vial against the card, I noticed that I have a hard time matching the colors when I'm in the room with my tank, so I usually go outside to compare (when it's light out, of course! ) So you could try different rooms in your house and see if the light works out better.

So, no need to worry about the nitrites/nitrates at all yet, just keep dosing the ammonia back up as it reaches 1ppm like you've done already. Also, be sure to occasionally test your pH level. pH crashes are fairly typical and can stall/stop your cycling process. If you test your pH and you notice it's down around 6.5 or lower, do a water change! With only a 6 gallon tank, you can just change nearly all the water out to restore the buffers and the pH level. Then just dose the ammonia back up again.

You'll keep dosing the ammonia back up to 4ppm until you see the nitrites at 0ppm (should be pretty easy to tell no matter what light your in... pure blue - no purples at all - assuming you're using the API tests).

Just in case you haven't seen this yet: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html

Regarding the water level, as long as the water is still high enough to reach the fill-line on the heater and high enough for the filter to work properly, no need to put more water back in. It won't hurt it, though, as long as you remember to dechlorinate.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

thanks for the tip on going outside in the daylight to read the testtube better. i might just go read them outside since the sun has been coming out consistantly in the morning. although i can already picture some worried faces of my neighbors running in and out ( i live in a condo townhouse complex court and my house is right at the entrance ) like im a mad scientist or something constantly running outside with a diff color testtube. hahahha i guess only then would my neighbors if there was any who are into fish would understand what im dealing with

 

[mozcheez]

My pleasure! Hopefully you'll be able to find some lighting that seems to work better for reading. Good luck with the rest of your cycle. That day where the nitrites drop to 0ppm is like CHRISTMAS!!! (or your choice of holiday )

 

[miylee]

Perfectly normal to see your amm drop quickly- this is what we want to happen! Only dose your amm once a day- enough to bring it back up to 4ppm. You should be checking nitrites also because your amm is being converted. You should expect to see your ammonia zeroing out in 24hrs in the very near future & your nitrites to be spiking quite high (5+ppm). Then, you can expect to see your nitrites start to fall. Once your amm/nitrite both zero in 24hrs, your cycled! Keep us posted & dont hesitate to ask questions!

yay! one of the best things to hear right in the start of my morning the end is near! or should i say the beginning is near?

this whole fishless cycling is really not that difficult at all and i definitely prefer this method to traditional any day i must encounter another cycle in the future of this hobby. and after i get the complete thing down with exp im definitely jumping in with the others to help those who are trying to get fishless down. im just so thankful for the community to help me out. otherwise, dont know what kind of mess of an environment id be creating for my future fishies.

also, once my ammon zeros out is that the end of dosing my ammonia to 4ppm and all i do is test my levels to see when my nitrite zeros out with my ammon within 24hours?

 

[jlk]

Once your amm zeroes, you will need to continue to dose amm daily to keep your bacteria fed. Then you will just need some patience for the nitrite>nitate phase- this typically takes twice as long as the amm>nitrite phase. Once you can dose amm & both your amm & nitrite zero in 24hrs after the dose, you are cycled.

 

[miylee]

My pleasure! Hopefully you'll be able to find some lighting that seems to work better for reading. Good luck with the rest of your cycle. That day where the nitrites drop to 0ppm is like CHRISTMAS!!! (or your choice of holiday )

WWHAHAATTTTTT DID YOU JUST SAY CHRISTMASSSS??!????




it suddenly feels like December...

 

[mozcheez]

No, you'll need to continue dosing ammonia until you add fish. Some people drop the ammonia dosing down to 2ppm as they're waiting for the nitrite to reach 0ppm, but I had success continuing to dose up to 4ppm all the way through.

Think of it as having to continue to feed the bacteria or else they'll starve, die off, and you'll have to start over!

Once the entire cycle is complete and you do the water change to reduce nitrAtes, you can dose up to around 1ppm just to keep the bacteria fed until you can add fish. Try to time it right, though, b/c you'll want the ammonia back down to 0ppm when you add the fish.

Hope that makes sense!

EDIT: (oops I was typing this as jlk responded sorry for repetitiveness!)

 

[miylee]

Once your amm zeroes, you will need to continue to dose amm daily to keep your bacteria fed. Then you will just need some patience for the nitrite>nitate phase- this typically takes twice as long as the amm>nitrite phase. Once you can dose amm & both your amm & nitrite zero in 24hrs after the dose, you are cycled.

thanks jlk!
ill keep on updating with my progress