cichlid tank setup

[richierich40]

i started a fishless tank about 4 weeks now, and i haven't seen any spikes in nitrites or nitrates. there is a very high spike in ammonia and the PH. in the second week i started to pour in caps full of clear ammonia everyday until the 4th week. i began to think that the ammonia is affecting the PH levels and is preventing nitrite levels from rising. so i stopped with the clear ammonia and dropped in one frozen shrimp and some flake food. now I'm going on the right path and does the temperature affect the nitrites from rising?

 

[bud29]

to AA!

If you kept adding ammonia every day, without it dropping, all the ammonia has probably overloaded the growing bacteria. Here is a great article about cycling: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html

 

[richierich40]

thanks for the info bud29.

 

[richierich40]

this morning i had check the ammonia and PH levels. i've found that the ammonia has remained high, and the PH has leveled of @ 7 (the ideal). the nitrites and nitrates has not move from 0. every day i would drop a pinch of pellets and since the first time i have posted i drop in a piece of raw a tilapia fish in the tank this morning. i guess in a couple of days it will begin to decay and attract bacteria. i hope i'm still on the right path.

 

[richierich40]

Can anyone tell me does the temperature affect the nitrites from rising? The tank right now is 74F/23C degrees.

 

[jlk]

When you say your ammonia is very high, exactly how high is it? It acts as a disinfectant when its very high and has likely killed off any good bacteria you may have had and is preventing it from growing. This is the likely reason why you are not seeing any nitrites. Let us know what it reads & we can better advise!

In respect to temp, your tank will cycle at 74f but bumping it up to to 84-85f will provide the ideal temp for growth and multiplication of bacteria.

 

[richierich40]

thanks JLK. The ammonia is reading at 4ppm, 4 times higher than the ideal of 0ppm. now for the temp, i don't have a heater. Is it recommended that i do.

 

[jlk]

For a fishless cycle, 4ppm is fine as long as you are positive its just 4 and not 6 or 8. Have you done any water changes yet? What does your ph read right now?

 

[richierich40]

This morning the PH was still @ 7. i did water changes several times already. this morning i add water because the level had dropped. the temp went up from 74F degrees to 76F degrees. i should probably get a heater to boost the temp.

 

[richierich40]

now my nitrite and nitrate seems to be moving. the PH is now 6.5, ammonia is 0, nitrite is 1.0, and nitrate is 40. is this considered a full cycle?

 

[jlk]

now my nitrite and nitrate seems to be moving. the PH is now 6.5, ammonia is 0, nitrite is 1.0, and nitrate is 40. is this considered a full cycle?

Your is not fully cycled until ammonia and nitrite zero out completely from 4ppm of ammonia in 24hrs. Your close but not quite there yet!

 

[richierich40]

thanks jlkhttp://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/members/crawdaddy-59660.html. I just did a test and the results reads PH 7.0, ammonia is 0, nitrite1.0, and nitrate is 10. Of lately i have been using pellets and flake food to supply the ammonia source. I removed the decayed piece of fish on Saturday. should i put another piece of fish flesh to bring up the ammonia in the tank. also the temp is 86F degrees.

 

[richierich40]

also jlk, i did a 50% water change over the weekend.

 

[jlk]

Yes, you will need to add something to bring the ammonia back up some. As long as your ph is staying stable, everything seems to be progressing well!

 

[DavidAl]

All good advice...

For a more controlled environment, I would disregard the food as an ammonia source and go back to using the liquid ammonia. Decaying food will also cause mold spores to multiply. Continue adding 4ppm of ammonia daily. You'll be done with the cycling soon.

David

 

[richierich40]

good news now. my tank is cycled.....I did a test and the results reads PH 7.0, ammonia is 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate is 20. I should be getting the baby cichlids this from my friend @ work. i will see it will work out. thanks for all input.