My Cycle Log (fishless)

[Leader-Of-The-Fish]

Hello everybody! This is my first fishless cycle log. I'm using the "Add and Wait" method to cycle.

LOG
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GO HERE FOR AN EASY TO READ LOG

Added 4ppm of Ammonia on 7/25 at 10:30 AM.
7/26|-Ammonia 4ppm|
7/27|-Ammonia 4ppm|
7/28|-Ammonia 4ppm|
7/30|-Ammonia 4ppm|
7/31|-Ammonia 3ppm| Nitrites 0-.25ppm
0 8/1|-Ammonia 3ppm| Nitrites 0-.25ppm
0 8/2|-Ammonia 3ppm|
0 8/3|-Ammonia 3ppm| Nitrites 2ppm
0 8/4|-Ammonia 3ppm| Nitrites 5ppm
0 8/5|-Ammonia 2ppm| Nitrites 5+
0 8/6| N/A
0 8/7|-Ammonia .25ppm| Nitrites 5+ *RE-DOSED TO 3ppm*.
0 8/8|-Ammonia .50|Nitrites 5+|Nitrates 5ppm| 22hours = 2ppm of Ammonia processed
0 8/9|-Ammonia 0ppm| Nitrites 5+|Nitrates 10ppm| pH 7.6 *RE-DOSED TO 3ppm*
8/10|-Ammonia 0ppm| Nitrites 5+|Nitrates 5ppm | pH 6.6 * I NEED HELP PLEASE LOOK ON PAGE 2*
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[eco23]

Looks perfect to me . I'll be following.

 

[Leader-Of-The-Fish]

Thanks I'm exited for it to be done! I hope that it will be done in the next week. Do you think that's possible with the readings I have? I'm not that good with this thing because it's my first time.

I also bought and installed two 15 watt bulbs for it. Do you think that okay, or is it overkill?

Thanks for your help. I really enjoy being apart of these forums.

 

[eco23]

It's virtually impossible to guess how long a cycle will take. It's completely different for each tank. Seeded media will definitely help finish things up...but otherwise you're on a perfect time line. The average is about 30 days from start to finish, some much faster, some slower. I thing you're on a good pace to be one of the people who finishes quickly.

As for lighting...you'll need some input from someone else on that...I'm struggling with that issue right now myself.

 

[Leader-Of-The-Fish]

Thanks for your fast reply. I'm happy that it seems to be one of the "faster" tanks that cycle. It felt like forever till the ammonia dropped even though that was only a few days.

 

[Galligak]

Oh I know how that feels! I used a seeded filter and did a fishless cycle and it got done in like 12ish days it wasn't that long but it felt like forever. The one thing that kept me going was looking at the fish in the stores and finding roacls and driftwood in the woods behind my house. Plus extra volunteering defiantly helped keep my mind away from there too

 

[eco23]

The tank looks great by the way...I love that piece of DW. I'd just let it keep doing it's thing...and dose the ammo up every 24 hours when it drops. If in a week from now the nitrIte isn't dropping on it's own it's okay to do a massive pwc to get them down into a readable range. Just don't worry about doing these daily pwc's during a fishless cycle that people have floating around right now...it's not necessary. Just keep a close eye on pH the further along you get, and if it starts dropping, knock out a 50% pwc to restore it.

 

[Leader-Of-The-Fish]

Yeah, thanks for your help! The DW is actually a fake piece from Petsmart.
As for the pwc if the Nitrites don't drop I have been told to do one every 7 days the Nitrites are off the scale. They started 5 days ago, so should I do one on Thursday?

Thanks so much for your help. The advice here is great!

 

[eco23]

Yeah, thanks for your help! The DW is actually a fake piece from Petsmart.
As for the pwc if the Nitrites don't drop I have been told to do one every 7 days the Nitrites are off the scale. They started 5 days ago, so should I do one on Thursday?

Thanks so much for your help. The advice here is great!

Don't tell anyone...mine is from Petsmart too, lol.

Doing pwc's to knock down the no2 is fine, it won't hurt. There's just this trend on the site recently where people feel like every time the no2 goes high they need to do a pwc...it's simply not true. The fact even if you did them daily, they're just gonna be through the roof again the next day.

Fishless cycles used to not even include pwc's...it was just a wait and let it finish type of thing. One of the main differences in the guide I put together was actually with the intent of including a couple to prevent pH crashes and occasional stalls. When I did my first, I only did one 50% pwc halfway through and I finished in 21 days. NitrItes being off the charts is one of the normal parts of a fishless cycle...that's why it's important to not have fish in there.

To put it simply PWC's are not necessary every couple days during a fishless cycle...if they were, you might as well be doing a fish-in cycle.

Not talking to you specifically...just trying to get the info out there. I need to start a thread saying this.

 

[Leader-Of-The-Fish]

Thanks. I am going to do a 50% water change when Nitrites and Nitrates are off the scale if that happens, just like your guide said.

Petsmart does have some good stuff.

 

[ben27]

i'm glad i read this because i have done 7 60% pwc's in the last 3 days trying to keep nitrites readable. ugh

 

[Leader-Of-The-Fish]

That must have been a pain.

 

[ben27]

That must have been a pain.

it definitely was. although honestly it felt good to be doing something other than sitting there staring at an empty tank. patience is hard

 

[Leader-Of-The-Fish]

You can say that again. lol

 

[Leader-Of-The-Fish]

I have a question Eco. In your log it says the tank is cycled when it can handle 4ppm of ammonia in 24 hours. I have read though that the tank is cycled when it can handle 4ppm of ammonia in 12 hours. When you cycled with the 24 hour way did everything turn out okay?

 

[eco23]

I have a question Eco. In your log it says the tank is cycled when it can handle 4ppm of ammonia in 24 hours. I have read though that the tank is cycled when it can handle 4ppm of ammonia in 12 hours. When you cycled with the 24 hour way did everything turn out okay?

Never a complaint . Trust me, 4ppm down to 0 with 0 no2 in 24 hours is a massive beast of a bio-filter. I saw that guy comment on the article...but I left it alone even though I disagree. You'll be fine...you'd basically have to put a Humpback Whale in your tank to require more than the 24 hour mark.

 

[Leader-Of-The-Fish]

Lol I was the "Unknown" guy. Thanks for your reply. Im going to cycle it with 24 hours.

 

[eco23]

Lol I was the "Unknown" guy. Thanks for your reply. Im going to cycle it with 24 hours.

Well, Mr. Unknown was very polite and I appreciated his compliment

 

[Leader-Of-The-Fish]

I'm glad Mr.Unknown was polite. He tries to be when reviewing other people's work. I'm glad that you appreciated the comment instead if thowing it away.

 

[Leader-Of-The-Fish]

August 10

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 5+
Nitrate 5ppm
pH 6.6

Hi everyone. I need some help here. I'm not sure why my Nitrate dropped 5ppm. Do you have any ideas why that would happen? Also my pH is really low. Should I do a water change? How much water should I take out? I also don't have access to baking soda so that is not an option.

Thanks for your help.