Cycling

[hugger88324]

New to this. I'm doing fish less cycling. I'm on week 5 Week 4 & 5 are same. Temp 78. Ph 7.6. Ammonia 2.0. Nitrite .50. Nitrate 20. I did 25% water change week 4. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Yorg]

New to this. I'm doing fish less cycling. I'm on week 5 Week 4 & 5 are same. Temp 78. Ph 7.6. Ammonia 2.0. Nitrite .50. Nitrate 20. I did 25% water change week 4. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

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Hi hugger88324:

Thanks for doing a fishless cycle. It looks to me like you're doing everything right. What was your ammonia source to start cycling? If your tap water has chlorine or chloramine in it, are you pre-treating with a water conditioner? What was your highest ammonia reading during Weeks 1-4? Did you use a bacterial additive or starter?

If you could temporarily bump the water temperature up into the '80s that might help encourage the growth of the bacteria. Also, if you have an air pump on hand then some additional aeration might be helpful, too.

 

[hugger88324]

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Hi hugger88324:



Thanks for doing a fishless cycle. It looks to me like you're doing everything right. What was your ammonia source to start cycling? If your tap water has chlorine or chloramine in it, are you pre-treating with a water conditioner? What was your highest ammonia reading during Weeks 1-4? Did you use a bacterial additive or starter?



If you could temporarily bump the water temperature up into the '80s that might help encourage the growth of the bacteria. Also, if you have an air pump on hand then some additional aeration might be helpful, too.

I did use bacteria starter and water dechlorinator and And I have 2 different air stones, the long one,then a clam that rises up and down one at each end of tank. The first week I added fish food 2 times but I'm thinking maybe not enough Highest ammonia reading is 2. I'll definitely up the temp and go buy air pump thank you so much.

 

[Yorg]

I did use bacteria starter and water dechlorinator and And I have 2 different air stones, the long one,then a clam that rises up and down one at each end of tank. The first week I added fish food 2 times but I'm thinking maybe not enough Highest ammonia reading is 2. I'll definitely up the temp and go buy air pump thank you so much.

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Hi hugger88324:

No need to buy an air pump if you don't have one; it was a just a thought related to things that sometimes can help foster the growth of the bacteria. As I said, it looks like you're doing everything right, so the real challenge is being patient!

 

[hugger88324]

Should I be adding ammonia or flakes to get a spike

 

[Yorg]

Should I be adding ammonia or flakes to get a spike

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No, 2ppm is right about where you want to be at this stage. If you were to raise it you'd risk harming the beneficial bacteria.

When you see it start to drop to around .5ppm that might be the time to add a bit more so that you can keep the bacteria fed until you have fish in and you can gauge how quickly it's coming down.

 

[hugger88324]

Thank you so much