New Tank Set Up - Preparing For Fishless Cycling

Ok have tried to upload using firefox and things seem to be working now (fingers crossed). Here is my log for the first week or so.



How are things going? From what i understand the next thing is to keep testing until the tank is processing the ammonia in 24 hours then to start testing every 12 hours but only adding ammonia once every 24 hours. What about water changes? Do i need to do a weekly water change or what about changing filter media?

OK, your nice chart is showing up in all the posts now. And...! You're fishless cycle is looking great! You're clearly into the 2nd stage now, the "nitrite spike" and you're ammonia is dropping on a regular basis quite nicely. No, you don't need water changes yet, I'd say. I'd keep testing ammonia and nitrite like you're doing and I'd test and log pH a little more often - that's the main thing you want to keep an eye on right now, just to make sure it doesn't drop down too low on you (towards the low 6's for instance.) Maybe another nitrate(NO3) test at some point but they certainly don't need to be frequent at this point.

~~waterdrop~~

Thanks.... and sorry for all the posts while I was trying upload an attachment. After posting in the board suggestions forum it turned out it was a small glitch with the forum. Done a full suite of tests and all seems to be ok. Nitrate is very high too now. Will keep a closer eye on pH to make sure it doesnt crash.

Things seem to be moving along nicely with my fishless cycle. I am just over two weeks in and ammonia is droppping from 3-4ppm to 0ppm in 24 hours. This has happenned two days in a row, I thought I would wait to double check it wasnt a fluke. So I am now going to start testing ammonia levels every 12 hours from now on. Here is my log so far.



The pH has dropped quite a bit now so do I need to add bicarb? Have read another post which mentions 2 teaspoons for 50 litres. Is this the right amount?

Yes, 2 teasoons per 50L (make sure its baking soda, not baking powder) but think of this dose level as a trial and watch what it does to your pH over several days, you might ultimately want a little more or a little less (the optimal pH for the bacteria is 8.0 to 8.4) Your pH of 6.0 will mean that the fishless cycle progress will have stopped temporarily.

Also, note that you can play it by ear with the frequency of testing. You are not clearly into the 3rd phase yet as your nitrite(NO2) is not dropping all the way to zero by 24 hours yet. Once both ammonia and nitrite are both getting to zero within 24 hours it naturally becomes more interesting to start seeing what's happening at 12 hours, where your next goal lies.

~~waterdrop~~

Added the baking soda and 'may have' overdosed it slightly.... it has brought the pH up to 8.5-9.0...ooops... hopefully it wont cause too much of an issue. The weirdest thing is happening with the nitrite test. I put the correct amount of drops into the test tube with the tank water, give it a shake and wait the required 2 mins and it changes colour to something that doesnt match the colours on the chart. Does this mean that it is off the chart?

Also this morning the ammonia had dropped to zero in 12 hours but nitrite doesnt seem to be budging at all, is this normal?

the nitrite often takes a while to budge, just be patient and stick with it.

Agree with MW, and also, don't worry about the odd color with the nitrite test, it is just another result that happens sometimes when the nitrite spike is so large that the test can't handle it. WD

Ok thats reassuring to hear... how long does it generally take for nitrite to start dropping? Nitrate is now off the chart too

Each of the three phases of fishless cycling is highly unpredictable in length. We all tend to kind of know that but we promptly put estimates on it anyway and in truth when anybody gives you one, its just a guess. Often the nitrite spike (the second phase) is considerably longer than the first phase when you are waiting for nitrite to appear and for ammonia to drop to zero within 24 hours.

One way to think of the very generalized time estimates would be to say that an entire fishless cycle might average 6 weeks, with a lucky faster one going closer to a month and a slower one going for 2 months. Very few fishless cycles would divide the 3 phases between 2, 2 and 2 weeks, instead each would vary from the other two and just about every individual fishless cycle is different.

~~waterdrop~~

i usually work on the nitrite taking twice as long to shift as the ammonia did, so if ammonia took 2 weeks to drop in the required 12 hrs then it will be around 4 weeks more for your nitrite to go. as WD say's though it's pure speculation and basically it'll take as short or long a time as it wants too.

The saga continues... Time is going by but things dont seem to be progressing much. Ammonia has being dropping quite nicely within 12 hours for the last week i have reverted to just testing every evening again as there was no sign of nitrite dropping so there didnt seem to be any point in testing morning and evening. Nitrite and nitrate are both off the scale, the tests turn a rusty orange colour so I am not getting any meaningful results from them. pH has crashed again so I am going to add baking soda again to bring it up. Is it ok to add it again?

In your case David, I would suggest not just adding bicarb again. Instead it is high time that you did a "kickstart" water change. You need to change out 100% of your water (well, until you lose siphon) while working through the gravel. Partially refill the tank with tap water (condition it if its going to get in an internal filter or something) and then siphon it back out again (this is just to get even more of the nitrate washed out of the gravel.) Finally, refill the tank with tap water that's been treated with conditioner (at 1.5x to 2x the instructed rate) and temperature matched roughly (just to help the bacteria get going again more quickly) and then recharge the ammonia and cautiously add some bicarb to try and take it to 8.0 but not to 9.0 on the pH chart (you can use several days to get this right.)

Let's see if this helps you move closer to the end of the nitrite spike!

~~waterdrop~~

Sounds like good advice as always.... thanks for that.... I will to do as you suggest, probably on saturday morning when I have some time. Hopefully this will get things progressing again and closer to that elusive 'third phase.