The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

[eco23]

Yes mine started crashing sometime between 9am EST and 1pm. I even tried to update it and it still refuses to load!! I am so addicted to my app this has made for a bad day Anyway back on topic......has anyone heard from pigeon today on how his cycle is going? I love following this thread just wish things were progressing for him a little better.

Pigeonfood is doing good. He's been on this thread all day with me. His cycle is coming along...he's just built like me though, impatient, lol.

 

[Irish.OG87]

Yes mine started crashing sometime between 9am EST and 1pm. I even tried to update it and it still refuses to load!! I am so addicted to my app this has made for a bad day Anyway back on topic......has anyone heard from pigeon today on how his cycle is going? I love following this thread just wish things were progressing for him a little better.

hahaha my cycle...em...its a joke. and a crock lol. my cycle is playin mind games with me lol help me im running out of beer my friend, its the only thing thats actually making me mello about the whole situation. my gf is on the verge of sleepin on the couch cos all i talk about is my tank lol

 

[Irish.OG87]

Pigeonfood is doing good. He's been on this thread all day with me. His cycle is coming along...he's just built like me though, impatient, lol.

whats worse about me being impatient is I have a brand spankin new canister filter i want to install, but i want to get my cycle done before hand, so with that added onto the impatiences i have towards my cycle im becoming an alcoholic overnight lol

 

[eco23]

hahaha my cycle...em...its a joke. and a crock lol. my cycle is playin mind games with me lol help me im running out of beer my friend, its the only thing thats actually making me mello about the whole situation. my gf is on the verge of sleepin on the couch cos all i talk about is my tank lol

Hahahahaha! Oh my God there's tears coming out my eyes. My wife said the same thing to me! It was literally all I talked about the entire time. She would be like "Stop talking about your stupid fish tank!!!" lol. Now a days she's like "Get off your stupid fish forum!!!". In fact she just said it!!!!!!!!!! Lol

 

[Irish.OG87]

Hahahahaha! Oh my God there's tears coming out my eyes. My wife said the same thing to me! It was literally all I talked about the entire time. She would be like "Stop talking about your stupid fish tank!!!" lol. Now a days she's like "Get off your stupid fish forum!!!". In fact she just said it!!!!!!!!!! Lol

hahaha thats funny. i got home from work last night and the first thing i do is go over to my fishless tank lol and just gawk at it for a few mins. my gf is always moaning about me doin tat "pay attention to me for once" she says lol.....they just dont understand, do they lol

 

[eco23]

hahaha thats funny. i got home from work last night and the first thing i do is go over to my fishless tank lol and just gawk at it for a few mins. my gf is always moaning about me doin tat "pay attention to me for once" she says lol.....they just dont understand, do they lol

We might be related, lol. I never knew an empty fish tank could be so entertaining / stressful / joyous / depressing / exciting until I did a fishless cycle. Honestly, I almost forgot I was going to add fish to the thing once it was done, lol. I seriously didn't even start researching fish until the last minute cause I was like...oh crap! I've gotta put fish in this thing, haha.

 

[Irish.OG87]

I mean i had 1-2 small 1g fish tanks when i was a young bhoyo back in the day..goldfish, and then it wasnt a big deal to me. What has really got me involved is the whole biological part of it all, like having to create bacteria to break down ammonia and other nasties, never knew it was this bigga deal. And then the whole maintenance then. and then to top it all off choosing each a fish/personality to introduce to ur tank for the perfect community....its so interestin and fun. Ive never been a hugh reader, but ive read more about fish and other fish related stuff than ive ever read since ive been able to read...no joke lol, ok i probably exaggerated the last part a bit but u know where i was goin with it lol......ITSA BIG DEAL PPL!!!! dont stand in the way of man and his fish tank....hahaha tat wud be a cool bumper sticker, i shud get that made at work.

 

[eco23]

I was kind of the same way. I've always had fish tanks, but I never really understood the importance of all the behind the scenes stuff like cycling, changing media, weekly, pwc's, etc... When I got older, I decided that if I got more fish that I would learn how to take care of them the way they deserved.

I've always been kind of a softy. Unless it's a spider...I don't like killing anything. I don't go hunting, fishing...I don't even squish bugs, I pick them up in a paper towel and put them back outside. The older I get, the more I appreciate that since we're the highest form of life on the planet...it's our responsibility to take care of the things we share the world with. Some people might think it's wrong to keep fish at all, but the way I see it...if we're gonna have them...it's our duty to provide the best quality of life for them we can.

Sorry to get all theological on you, lol.

 

[Irish.OG87]

I was kind of the same way. I've always had fish tanks, but I never really understood the importance of all the behind the scenes stuff like cycling, changing media, weekly, pwc's, etc... When I got older, I decided that if I got more fish that I would learn how to take care of them the way they deserved.

I've always been kind of a softy. Unless it's a spider...I don't like killing anything. I don't go hunting, fishing...I don't even squish bugs, I pick them up in a paper towel and put them back outside. The older I get, the more I appreciate that since we're the highest form of life on the planet...it's our responsibility to take care of the things we share the world with. Some people might think it's wrong to keep fish at all, but the way I see it...if we're gonna have them...it's our duty to provide the best quality of life for them we can.

Sorry to get all theological on you, lol.

That was beautiful, i think im gonna cry lol.

 

[eco23]

That was beautiful, i think im gonna cry lol.

My girl makes fun of me because when a moth gets in the house and she's like "kill it! kill it!". And I just scoop him up and throw him out the door. It's funny, I lift weights, shoot guns, love MMA, cheered like crazy when they killed Bin Laden...but I won't kill a moth, lol.

Seriously though, that's why this guide and others like it are important. Once you know about cycling and the permanent damage it does to fish during the process...it takes a person who is not right in the head to put an animal through that situation. As silly as it seems, hopefully with everybody's help that checks out these guides, we can help a few fish from being tortured unnecessarily.

 

[Cloudrider]

150 gal cycle

I just wanted to say thanks for this forum. I have been reading and watching and learning how to take care of my new to me 150 gal fresh water tank. I have been doing the fishless cycle for 3 weeks now. Wife and kids getting impatient. lol. But its coming along. Ammo is gone over nite, nitrites seem to be droping slowly. Nitrates at 5. Ph is like 6.3 to 5. I have completed the 50% pwc. Keeping it dosed to 4ppm ammo. Yes I have the API test kit. Not just to wait. Again, thanks for a great forum.

CR

 

[eco23]

I just wanted to say thanks for this forum. I have been reading and watching and learning how to take care of my new to me 150 gal fresh water tank. I have been doing the fishless cycle for 3 weeks now. Wife and kids getting impatient. lol. But its coming along. Ammo is gone over nite, nitrites seem to be droping slowly. Nitrates at 5. Ph is like 6.3 to 5. I have completed the 50% pwc. Keeping it dosed to 4ppm ammo. Yes I have the API test kit. Not just to wait. Again, thanks for a great forum.

CR

Welcome to AA! I'm glad the guide and the forum were able to help you. It seems you are only days away from finishing. Once you see nitrItes starting to drop it's over in a flash. You'll wake up in the next few mornings and when you test, the no2 will be gone overnight...cycle complete! It's good of you for doing a fishless cycle. It's a great lesson you're teaching your kids about patience and caring for animals. Thanks and good luck!

 

[eco23]

Keep a close watch on pH as you get to the end...with values that low you can be susceptible to a pH crash at the end of the cycle which can set you back a ways. Monitor it daily, and if it drops at all do a 50% pwc to restore the buffers and keep the pH stable.

 

[Cloudrider]

Keep a close watch on pH as you get to the end...with values that low you can be susceptible to a pH crash at the end of the cycle which can set you back a ways. Monitor it daily, and if it drops at all do a 50% pwc to restore the buffers and keep the pH stable.

Will do and thanks for the welcome. Now I need to start thinking about what fish I want. lol. Since I dont need to fully stock the tank 1st, do I need to do anything special for the bacteria when I do add some fish since its a huge tank? BTW more specs... Tank 150H, undergravel filter as well as two Fluval 404. Have some plants already. Seems to be doing well.

CR

 

[eco23]

Will do and thanks for the welcome. Now I need to start thinking about what fish I want. lol. Since I dont need to fully stock the tank 1st, do I need to do anything special for the bacteria when I do add some fish since its a huge tank? BTW more specs... Tank 150H, undergravel filter as well as two Fluval 404. Have some plants already. Seems to be doing well.

CR

First off, thanks for adding the guide to your signature. Simply by doing that you'll help people and their fish through the process.

How much you stock at first really depends on what type of fish you're putting in. Some people don't agree with me, but if they're peaceful community fish I'd recommend stocking about 50-60% full at first. This feeds the bacteria and keeps your bio-filter going. Then after the initial additions add a few every week or two until you are fully stocked. Always watch for any ammo spikes when you add the additional fish.

If you plan on putting more aggressive fish into the tank, it does need to be done more slowly so the fish can establish territory, hierarchy, etc... Since you have a much larger tank it should help with any aggression because the fish have plenty of space away from each other, so it's not as big of a deal as it would be adding semi-aggressive fish into a 30 gallon.

Since writing the guide, I've learned that the water conditions during a cycle are beneficial to the plants, although it may skew a few test results due to them consuming ammo and no3.

I don't know anything about UGF other than the fact almost every member on this site considers them bad news and outdated technology. I'd suggest researching them a bit more and drawing your own conclusion since I'm not familiar with them.

I'm glad things are going so well.

 

[Cloudrider]

If I had known about the fishless cycle 20 yrs ago when I had another tank, it would have gone much better. As for fish, so far what has been talked about are some neons, tetras, zebra danios, otos in few weeks, upside down cat, many more have been looked at. lol. Where can I find a good guide as to how many to stock? Seems I remember 1" of adult fish per gallon. ANd what about salt in freshwater tank? Some say use it, some say dont. Thanks and sorry for so many questions.

CR

 

[eco23]

If I had known about the fishless cycle 20 yrs ago when I had another tank, it would have gone much better. As for fish, so far what has been talked about are some neons, tetras, zebra danios, otos in few weeks, upside down cat, many more have been looked at. lol. Where can I find a good guide as to how many to stock? Seems I remember 1" of adult fish per gallon. ANd what about salt in freshwater tank? Some say use it, some say dont. Thanks and sorry for so many questions.

CR

There's a site called Aqadvisor which is very helpful in giving a broad idea of stocking percentage...but is also considered unreliable with specifics. Use it to give you a good idea of the bioload, just don't follow it as factual information. According to that site, I am only at around 80% stocked in my 48 gallon...but as far as my eyes are concerned...it is fully stocked.

Since you're adding so many peaceful fish, initial stocking is not really an issue. Some will disagree with me and take a more cautious approach, but a tank prepared to handle 4ppm ammo on a daily basis can handle anything you throw at it. As long as all the fish are peaceful and not territorial that you initially stock...I don't see any issue.

In my 48 gallon...on the first day I added 9 neons, 8 danios and 7 red eye tetras. Every single one is happy and 100% healthy.

I believe, as most others do as well that aquarium salt serves no purpose other than for treating sickness. If you have Otos and plan on getting Corydoras or similar fish, salt is not an option. They are scaleless fish and salt can be deadly to them. It's a big no-no.

 

[Irish.OG87]

Well sir....we are almost there....parameters for today are ammo: 0, no3: 5, pH: 7.6. and no3 is gone a bit to 2ppm which is very promising since yesterday it was 5, getting close my friend.

 

[eco23]

Well sir....we are almost there....parameters for today are ammo: 0, no3: 5, pH: 7.6. and no3 is gone a bit to 2ppm which is very promising since yesterday it was 5, getting close my friend.

No2 or no3 went down? If you say no2 we may have a chance to save our livers yet, lol.

 

[Irish.OG87]

No2 or no3 went down? If you say no2 we may have a chance to save our livers yet, lol.

sorry mistyped....nitrates were 5 and nitrites have gone down to 2 from being 5 yesterday