Fishless Fish Cycle Advice

[tlotfield]

I purchase a new fish tank 4 days ago, the only thing I have done to my tank is set it up and I just added fish flakes to it. I need advice on this process and how to maintain a clean tank.

 

[threnjen]

Here you go: The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice

Ask questions as needed

Welcome!

 

[mrvincent]

If you owned some product that contains BB in bottle I would add it now, if you got a product like "Nutrafin Waste Control" I would add it as it will turn the flakes food into ammonia and start the cycling.

You can add a drop of ammonia to prime the cycle, in my case I used my GF betta to cycle my 29g, and some old filter media from my previous tank.

 

[Jeremy Z]

You're going to need a consistent ammonia source through the cycle. Fish food works but it makes the process a lot slower and you will start to collect food on the floor of the tank. I would recommend the Janatorial strength ammonia from ACE Hardware. I think you can order it from their website if you don't have one around you.

Get a heater if you don't have one and crank up the heat to 80-86 degrees F. This is the ideal temp range that the bacteria likes. Go ahead and dose your ammonia to 4ppm. Test the ammonia every few days and once you see it start to drop start testing for nitrites. It's common for nitrites to take several days to appear once ammonia starts to drop.

Keep dosing ammonia to 4ppm daily. Your nitrites will start to increase rapidly. This is normal. Just be patient and you will eventually start to see Nitrates. Keep dosing the ammonia to 4ppm.

When your nitrites and nitrates are through the roof and unreadable, do a pwc to bring the numbers down to a readable range. Keep dosing ammonia to 4ppm and once you can convert 4ppm of ammonia to nitrates in 24 hours, the cycle is complete.

 

[mrvincent]

4ppm is a bit high IMO...

 

[Fishperson]

Yes, 4 ppm is excessive. 2 ppm is enough.