The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

[Ozydego]

Mine increased about .2 to .4 daily until it got to about 6.9, then it slowed down to .1 every other day until it was up to 7.4 from 6.4, but my tap water is about 7.1 normally... I also would shake my bag every other day and let out another haze of coral... Mine has pretty much stopped at 7.4 to 7.5, but with your water being different, it's tough to tell exactly where it might level off at.. Of course after water changes, especially big ones it may take a day or two to re stabilize

 

[Christina717]

ok so i woke up this morning and my water lvl was really LOW I had to add 2 gallons to it idk why it keeps going down? could it be the coral? and will adding more water mess with my ammonia readings im still at around 4ppm but I came home today and another gallon is gone idk wat to do!

 

[eco23]

ok so i woke up this morning and my water lvl was really LOW I had to add 2 gallons to it idk why it keeps going down? could it be the coral? and will adding more water mess with my ammonia readings im still at around 4ppm but I came home today and another gallon is gone idk wat to do!

The coral isn't involved, it's just if you've got the heater cranked up and the air is cooler than the water you get a lot of evaporation. No biggie.

There's nothing wrong with topping it off...just make sure you dechlorinate the new water going in.

 

[Christina717]

I would never forget that stuff have it sitting in my bucket so I wont forget everytime i do a water change but I did turn my heater down to 84F

 

[Ozydego]

Just cause it crossed my mind, there is no wet spot on the floor or anything right?? I would hate for it to be a leaky seal...

 

[Christina717]

yeah I checked that already there was no leakage

 

[Christina717]

Day 7
ph-6.5
ammonia-4ppm
nitrIte-0
nitrAte-0
Im planning on going to the pet store to see if they will give me maybe a small bag of the rocks in their tanks or some filter media I will beg them for some. I want some results! lol

 

[Ozydego]

I did that and they gave me a squeeze from their filter, it may have been coincidence but I started to see things take off 2 days later. I was buying plants and various necessories from them at time so the guy was like yeah... I guess, just some dirty water from the filter sponge? I said yes, pleeease, then he said, well sure thing, no a problem... When I got home I poured the water through the filter sponge itself so the chunks could get lodged in the sponge on the way through

 

[kindafishy]

A little trip mid-cycle...oh no... what do I do???

Uh oh, I am taking an unexpected trip, mid-cycle -- I am leaving in the morning (so in like 12 hrs) and won't be back until Saturday night.

Unfortunately (or fortunately! depending upon how you look at it!), things are just starting to get interesting in my cycle.

So here I am :

Day 6
Ammonia 1 (down quite a bit from yesterday)
Nitrite 2+
Nitrate 50

I am assuming that I need to spike up the ammonia level to 4ppm before I go. But do I need to do anything else??? Water change, pinch of food? Help me please my kind fishy friends -- I don't want to lose any momentum here!!

 

[eco23]

No problem at all. Just dose it up to the 4ppm before you go and let it ride

 

[librarygirl]

Uh oh, I am taking an unexpected trip, mid-cycle -- I am leaving in the morning (so in like 12 hrs) and won't be back until Saturday night.

Unfortunately (or fortunately! depending upon how you look at it!), things are just starting to get interesting in my cycle.

So here I am :

Day 6
Ammonia 1 (down quite a bit from yesterday)
Nitrite 2+
Nitrate 50

I am assuming that I need to spike up the ammonia level to 4ppm before I go. But do I need to do anything else??? Water change, pinch of food? Help me please my kind fishy friends -- I don't want to lose any momentum here!!

I think you'll be OK for a day. Dose ammonia to 4 before you go and that's it. If you wanted to add a small bit of ground of fish-food, that wouldn't hurt either. A water change isn't necessary.

 

[kindafishy]

Thank you x 2 !!!

 

[Christina717]

POO i dont like petsmart anymore they wont give me any seeding material

 

[eco23]

POO i dont like petsmart anymore they wont give me any seeding material

Yeah, the chain stores don't hand it out. Honestly, I wouldn't take it from Petsmart anyway even if they offered me every piece of media in the store. God knows what types of horrific parasites / diseases / infections / illnesses are living in those tanks. Your best bet is a local mom 'n pop establishment.

 

[Christina717]

yeah I know but petsmart is the only one near me the local one is out of business...I wish i would of know one lady came into my work and said she got a 120gallon tank with everything for $100 I was soooo madd.
But I actually think my pH is fine because I was using the test strips that my mom bought but today I went out and bought the Api test kit and I tested both ph and ph High and for ph: 7.5 ad for ph High : 8.4 is there supposed to be 2 different results? idk

 

[eco23]

yeah I know but petsmart is the only one near me the local one is out of business...I wish i would of know one lady came into my work and said she got a 120gallon tank with everything for $100 I was soooo madd.
But I actually think my pH is fine because I was using the test strips that my mom bought but today I went out and bought the Api test kit and I tested both ph and ph High and for ph: 7.5 ad for ph High : 8.4 is there supposed to be 2 different results? idk

You don't need to check the high range pH test unless the regular one is off the charts.

If you really want seeded media, there's a company called AngelsPlus which sells "active" filters containing beneficial bacteria. Some members have good luck using them. If you order one, just make sure it says "active", otherwise you'll just be getting a normal sponge filter.

 

[Christina717]

Day 8
PH: 7.5-8
ammonia: 2-3ppm (a little lighter than 4, could this be because of adding more water?)
NitrIte:0
NitrAte: didnt test but guessing 0

 

[Christina717]

day 9
ammonia: 4ppm redosed to 4ppm
high ph: 8-8.4 (why so high?)
nitrIte: 0
Nitrate: Did not test
Im hopeing im right on track with things I want my goldfish and im also thinking about getting 1 snail to keep it company!

 

[librarygirl]

It's early to tell, but I don't see anything wrong. Have you tested the PH of your tap water (right out of the faucet)? It might just be that your tap water PH is 8-8.4 which means your tank will be too. I'd check the tap water though to be sure (to be thorough, test it out of the tap, then let some tap water sit overnight in a container and check it again, see if the PH shifts).

Here's the filter that Eco suggested: Sponge Filters for aquariums Just get one that says "active." It comes from their fish tanks so it's seeded with bacteria.

 

[Christina717]

I am totally confused when visiting that website..none of them say active next to it. I see slate bottom filter and mag filter