Fishless cycling

[Tyler777]

I started a fishless cycling 4 or 5 weeks ago n its not doing well. When I added the Dr Tim's ammonia I made a m9stake with the numbers n added way more ammonia that I had to . My tank nis 125 gallons with plastic plants n ornaments 2 75 gallons filters one on each corner 2 big sponges one on each corner temp is around 77° substrate is blck coal sand.
After the mistake with the amount of ammonia I did a 50 % water changer n re started it with the right amount. Ammonia went down to 0.25 ppm but the nitrites got stock on 2.0 ppm n is not coming down . What should I do ? I'm sick of waiting to be cycled I have fish in 2 different tanks waiting to be in that one.

 

[Aiken Drum]

You need to give it time. Redose the ammonia back up to 2ppm. Every time it drops below 1ppm redose it back to 2ppm. When you can dose 2ppm and see zero ammonia and nitrite 24 hours you are cycled sufficiently to stock an aquarium.

It typically takes 2 to 3 months. If that's not for you, do a fish in cycle.

 

[Tyler777]

Ok, thanks man

 

[Tyler777]

What species of fish is good n strongvto do a fish in cycle without dying ?

 

[Andy Sager]

What species of fish is good n strongvto do a fish in cycle without dying ?

No fish is guaranteed against dying during cycling. Some are just better at handling bad water than others but that doesn't mean they will definitely live when the ammonia gets high enough to burn the gills or the nitrites get high enough that they poison the blood of the fish.
What kind of fish do you plan on adding once the tank is cycled?

 

[Tyler777]

Gouramies, Buenos aires tetras, live bearers, corys

 

[Aiken Drum]

Of those I would start with the livebearers. What fish do you have in your other aquariums? Maybe you could temporarily rehome some to start your fish in cycle, and then return them as you build up the stock you want.

Given you have other aquariums, you could swap a little filter media from one of your established filters into your new filter. Or squeeze out an established sponge into the water of your new aquarium to give your cycle a bit of a kick-start. Might speed things up a bit.

 

[Andy Sager]

Gouramies, Buenos aires tetras, live bearers, corys

Aiken and I agree with the livebearers ( Platies, swordtail or Mollies but not Guppies) being a good choice for starters. I'd also be careful with the BA Tetras with them as they can be aggressive while the other fish are more passive. If you are dead set on having them all together, I'd put the Tetras in last.

Using established filter material is one of the fastest ways of cycling an aquarium because the microbes you want are already on the material. If your water parameters are right, they will reproduce much faster than they would naturally appear which is why cycling happens so much faster this way. If you do this, I'd dose your tank with the Dr Tim's to 2 ppm, add the filter material then test for how long it takes for that 2 ppm to go to 0. Once you are at 0, add some fish and just keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite levels for the first week or so. Do water changes if necessary or start your weekly water change schedule. Keep in mind that the microbe bed ( a.k.a. the biological filter bed) grows and shrinks based on the amount of ammonia present so that 2 ppm of ammonia should establish a stronger bed than what the fish you put in will produce so there will be some shrinkage of the bed to coincide with the amount the fish present. After that, you will need to add fish slowly so that the bed has a chance to catch up with any added ammonia being produced.

Hope this helps