Finally Started My Fishless Cycle Today. Wish Me Luck.

I put water and conditioner in the tank a few days ago but finally got around to starting the cycle. All parameters were fine (ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 0, pH 7) in my initial water, which is from a water dispenser in town. I live in the country and have very hard well water so we decided to buy water, which is filtered RO water. 
 
I bought Dr Tim's ammonia and added the 1 drop per gallon as instructed on the bottle (which is supposed to come out to 2 ppm or whatever). I also added some tetra safe start plus. So I'll test it in a bit and now the wait starts. 
 
In a few days I'll start it all over again on my daughter's tank. 
 

so the first test which may not have been a full 30 min after adding the ammonia only shows 1 ppm of ammonia. I'm scared to add more. I might wait until tonight and test it again, and then decide. 
 
eta: on the Dr Tim's site it says to add the 1 drop per gallon but don't add more based on the test kit. 

good luck

I am right there with you.  Good luck!

What size is your tank and what are you planning on stocking with once the cycle is successful down the line?
 
Just to let you know, it will take between 4 to 8 weeks usually to fully cycle a tank.
 
Though this does depend on how much ammonia you dose the tank with for your planned stocking.
 
Example, 30 gal tank, 3ppm ammonia, this is good to fully stock your tank with say 20 threadfin rainbowfish, shrimps, snails and maybe a whiptail catfish.
 
OR a 10 gal tank intended just for a Betta splenden, then 2ppm ammonia max is fine.
 
OR a 5 gal tank just for shrimps then 1ppm ammonia max will be fine.
 
It's the resulting bioload of your intended stocking that determines how much ammonia you need, you could use 3ppm ammonia for all three example but unnecessary really.
 
Hopefully you will have already read the fishless cycle article to help give you an idea of what you need to look out for and why a fishless cycle is good to do compared to fish in cycle.
 
Just in case - Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First
 
Dr Tim's ammonium chloride is good to use, so follow the instructions on the bottle rather than following exactly what the fishless cycle article as the two do differ slightly.
 
And you will need a test kit for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate at least, pH level may help here as well as very low or very high pH levels can affect on how the bacterias behave for the fishless cycle, especially since you plan to use RO water for this so more caution may be needed here.
 
 
Lastly, very best of luck and hoep a smooth fishless cycle ensues
 
(if you need any help or advice about the cycling, just post a question, we're happy to help when we can)

It's a 5 gallon and will eventually hold one betta and a snail or two (nerites). Same for my daughter's tank. 

 
 
I live in the country and have very hard well water so we decided to buy water, which is filtered RO water.

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Any animal, plant, or bacteria will need phosphorous in order to build and copy it's DNA.  RO water has essentially none of that.  Additionally micro nutrients are also needed.  Depending on how pure the water is you may not have enough elements in the water for the bacteria to grow.  I would recommend getting a good fertilizer such as Seachem Flourish Comprehensive.  Flourish has evertything bacteria need to grow.  If you don't add these to RO water the growth of the bacteria you need will be very slow or none existent.  Flourish can be added at any time during the cycling without any adverse consequences.

I just looked at the amazon q&a for  flourish and one user says to remove the carbon when using it. If I have to use it all the time do I just not use carbon in my filter at all? 

I'm going to post my readings here so the experts can make sure I'm doing it right. I'm using the instructions on Dr Tim's site since I'm using Dr Tim's ammonia. Here they are:

• Day 1 – dose ammonia to 2 ppm ammonia-nitrogen [NH3-N] using our ammonium chloride (1 drop per gallon) [NOTE: do not expect your test kit to exactly read 2 ppm and it is not critical to get exactly 2 ppm. The key is to not add too much ammonia].  If using DrTim’s Aquatics One & Only Live Nitrifying bacteria add it now (turn skimmer, UV and ozone off and remove filter socks for 48 hours).
• Day 2 – Measure ammonia and nitrite.
• Day 3 – If ammonia and nitrite are below 1 ppm add more ammonia. One drop of our ammonium chloride per gallon.
• Days 4 & 5 – Measure ammonia and nitrite.
• Day 6 – If ammonia and nitrite are below 1 ppm add 2 ppm ammonia. One drop of our ammonium chloride per gallon. [NOTE: since you have added the One & Only your ammonia kit will not read 2 ppm and DO NOT continue adding ammonia trying to get to 2 ppm – just add 2 ppm ammonia (1 drop per gallon of our ammonium chloride) and carry-on.
• Days 7 & 8 – Measure ammonia and nitrite. On the first measurement day (Day 2, 4, 5, 7 or 8) that BOTH ammonia and nitrite are both below 0.5 ppm (NH3-N or NO2-N) your tank is close to being cycled.
• Now start to measure ammonia and nitrite every day.
• When BOTH ammonia and nitrite are below 0.2 ppm (NH3-N or NO2-N), add another 2 ppm ammonia.
• Continue to measure every day. When you can add 2 ppm ammonia and BOTH ammonia and nitrite are below 0.2 ppm (NH3-N or NO2-N) the next day your tank is cycled – congrats! You’re done!
• Do a partial water change and add some fish.

Day 1, pH 7, everything else, zero. Added 1 drop per gallon of Dr Tim's ammonia
Day 2, did nothing (it says to test but doesn't say to do anything so I didn't test). 
Day 3, I think this looks like it's between .5 and 1.0 ammonia, zero nitrites. Should I add the ammonia? I can't tell if it's 1 or .5...
 
eta: I got a 2nd opinion since it looks a bit different in real life. It is definitely .5 so I'll add some ammonia. 

 
 
I just looked at the amazon q&a for  flourish and one user says to remove the carbon when using it. If I have to use it all the time do I just not use carbon in my filter at all? 

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I have been trying different things in my filtter.  I have not seen any difference in plant growth with or without carbon in the filter and no significant changes in my test result.  I do water changes once per week and add fertilizer at that time.   You will be OK if you use it with carbon in the filter.

Day 4: ammonia 1, nitrites 0
Day 5: ammonia about 1.5 (looks between 1 and 2), nitrites 0

also, I ordered the seachem flourish and it should be here tomorrow. 

Day 6, ammonia just over 1 (I think-it's hard to tell and my camera takes pics with brighter green than in real life), nitrites 0. Since ammonia is over 1 I didn't add any ammonia drops (it says to if it's below 1). 
 
The flourish arrived all leaking all over the place so I'm getting a replacement. Will be here Thursday. 

In a case like yours where your tap water is extremely hard and you are using RO you need to do something to "remineralize" the water, at least somewhat. No fish is supposed to live in pure RO water. Seachem Flourish is one way to go, but honestly it's unnecessary. You already have exactly what you need in your tap. Use your tap water to remineralize your RO water. This will be far more economical.

Look up what you tap water details are and we can decide from there the percentages for RO and tap to get you in the right place.


If for example your TDS is 600 ppm, and you want something more in line with 200 ppm, a simple 2 part RO and 1 part tap water mix would work perfectly, and would be far less stressful to your wallet. Buying an additional product like flourish to remineralize is silly quite honestly. It's just an added expense.

In a marine setup you'd be adding marine salt, but since this is freshwater, use what you have access to. It would best to sort this out now as well rather than once you've added the fish. Fish are not very forgiving about messing around with water parameters.

Also ask your LFS for details about what the water parameters are for their tanks. If you can aim for similar water it would be less stressful for the fish when transferring them.

I've already gone around in another thread about my tap water. From the inside tap it goes through the water softener which is apparently a no-no. On the outside (well water) it is so incredibly full of metals that even the conditioners are no match. Within an hour of filling a container, it is bright orange and when we filled our pool, it was bright green from the copper. All of our swimsuits were stained orange from it and were ruined. It took over 2 weeks of filtration to even begin to clear it. RO is my only option. 

Also, there are no LFS around here. All are at least an hour away with most being even further. I live in a very rural area and the closest stores are 30 min away (regular stores, grocery, walmart, etc-no pet stores other than petsense which doesn't sell fish). 

Hmm, tricky.
 
Is there not a tap that is not gone through the water softener?
Like a outside tap or something?
 
Setting RO water system might be something you could consider if you truly have no other suitable water source but you will need to add minerals to the water every time. This would save you trips to LFS and have a ready supply, bear in mind RO systems are not particularly quick, takes a few days to get the amount of water required for your water changes.