New tank help...

If you are going to have live plants in this tank, add them now about 30% of the volume wait ten days or when the plants start to grow then add fish a few at a time. This looks very hard to follow.

Bottled bacteria is supposed to contain the same micro-organisms which grow naturally in our tanks. Once there are enough of them you don't need to keep on adding the product. If it's their comments that it should be added every week to stop "less desirable bacteria dominating the tank", that's just hype to keep you buying it. If you are concerned about Fluval Cycle, try Tetra Safe Start instead.


Or get lots of fast growing live plants and do a silent cycle.

I'm no expert in changing tanks, but I did it about 3 months ago, and it was a disaster - but I'm more expert from the experience. I put a bottle of Fluval stuff in it as I filled the new tank and very soon the water went very cloudy and a horrible scum formed on top. To be fair, I'd allowed the temporary aquarium to get cold and several fish died before they even got into their new home. At that time, I could hardly see the back of the tank. Very soon after the remaining fish got in their final home, all but one died off as well.
My local fish shop said that they would never recommend the Fluval stuff and supplied some Startup nano, from Prodibio. I put that in and overnight the scum disappeared, and the water was crystal clear. Two days later I started introducing new fish successfully. All water tests were good.
At least my one original fish, a gourami called Pearl is thriving?
Good luck.

Morning All, - I have already got some invaluable advice from members on this site and now I'm afriad i need more. - I am about 24 days into a fishless cycle, dosing using Dr timms ammonia. My graph doesn't appear to be following the graph on the fishless cycle page on this site but have had advice so not too concerned. My issue is yesterday i have ammonia at 2ppm, nitrites at 8ppm and nitrates at 80ppm. So i did a 40% (ish) water change and left it to run over night. i have just tested again now and my ammonia is 0ppm, nitrites still 8ppm and nitrates also at 80ppm. Not sure which path to take, leave tank and dose with 2-3ppm ammonia or do another water change. I'm guessing I'm midway through a fishless cycle.? resisting all temptation to cheat and add tetra aquasafe at this stage, but just want to get some fish in..
I'm thinking another water change 50% to bring levels down then re dose with ammonia to 3ppm.? or just dose now and wait.? Do i need to be testing everyday also.? Any advice greatfully appreciated.
Thanks Neil
edit attached graph of my tank tests..

Morning Essjay i'm back for some more of your valuable knowledge if i may.? - I did put a post on yesterday just so as i'm not bothering you all the time, but got no response so unfortunately i need to bug you again as not sure which step to do next. I re dosed my tank back to 3ppm as my test was showing ammonia .50-1.0 ppm, Nitrite 1ppm and Nitrate 20ppm. a few days later my nitrites and nitrates started to climb so did a water change. My tests for the last 2 days have shown ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 8ppm, and nitrate 80ppm. I added a purigen pouch over the weekend to clear some tannins but have checked and this doesn't alter water parameters only Ph in some cases. Im unsure wether to add ammonia , waith 24 hrs then water change 50% to reduce nitrites/nitrates or water change now 50% then add ammonia and wait. I'm guessing i'm at the mddle part of the cycle now ( still ressiting using bottled bacteria now i have come this far ) - i have attached a graph of my levels, which doesn't follow the graph on the fishless cycle page all that well. - i'm assuming all still on course and going well.?

So far things look normal.

You ammonia eaters seem to be growing pretty well, just 3 days to drop 3 ppm to zero. Each 1 ppm ammonia is converted to 2.7 ppm nitrite so nitrite builds up quickly as ammonia begins to be processed, and 3 ppm ammonia is converted to 8.1 ppm nitrite.
Looking at your image, you did a water change 2 days ago and next day ammonia was zero, nitrite was higher than before the water change while nitrate was the same as before the water change.

What is the highest level on the nitrite tester? At nitrite around 15 to 16 it is high enough to stall the cycle. But out test kits don't measure that high, they show the highest number even when it's a lot higher. Since you record a nitrite of 8 ppm, I assume that's the highest on your tester? In this case, if you mix your tank water and some tap water half and half then test that it will show if your nitrite has reached stall point - still 8ppm means it is over 16; anything less than 8 means it's still under 16 ppm.


If the dilution test shows nitrite is only slightly over 8, then you need to move to this stage in the method on here

TwoTankAmin said:

ammonia is under .75 ppm and nitrite is clearly over 2 ppm, it is time to add more ammonia (Dose #2). Add the same full amount as you did the first time. Now, begin to test the ammonia and nitrite levels every other day. (You should be seeing nitrate soon if you have the kit.)

Click to expand...

But if the dilution test shows nitrite is well over 16 ppm, either wait until it falls, or do another water change - a large water change to remove most of the nitrite - then add another 3 ppm dose of ammonia.

Hi Essjay, thanks for coming back to me. i have done a dillution test on nitrite and it is showing 4ppm, so I assume I now need to dose with ammonia again. - But to what amount 3ppm or the snack dose amount as it says for dose #3 which tecnically this will be.?
Can i assume then the Nitrate at 80ppm is ok for now as no fish and the final big water change with help with reducing that.?

Essjay said:

Bottled bacteria is supposed to contain the same micro-organisms which grow naturally in our tanks. Once there are enough of them you don't need to keep on adding the product. If it's their comments that it should be added every week to stop "less desirable bacteria dominating the tank", that's just hype to keep you buying it. If you are concerned about Fluval Cycle, try Tetra Safe Start instead.


Or get lots of fast growing live plants and do a silent cycle.

Click to expand...

"that's just hype to keep you buying it"

IMO, and IME, "bottled bacteria" itself is hype, and not needed...the bacteria we need to cycle our tanks exist naturally in our environment, free of charge

Ziawhit said:

But to what amount 3ppm or the snack dose amount as it says for dose #3 which tecnically this will be.?

Click to expand...

Because your nitrite is currently at 8 ppm (since the 50:50 dilution test shows 4 ppm) I would add enough for 1 ppm ammonia. Any more and you run the risk of pushing nitrite over stall point.

Ok I'll do a snack dose as per fishless cycle and see where that takes me. - thanks again..

No you don't have to test every day.

Don't bother testing for nitrates until the tank has cycled. Nitrate test kits read nitrite as nitrate and give you a false reading.

You can add some liquid bacteria to help speed things up. I recommend adding a double dose every day for a week, then pour the remaining contents into the tank. Try to add the bacteria supplement near the filter intake so it gets drawn into the filter where it belongs.

I would do a 90% water change using dechlorinated water. Then add some ammonia and see what the results are 24 hours later. Then add some liquid bacteria.

So i'm currently on week 6 of a fishless cycle. About 10 days ago (9/2/21) I did a snack dose of ammonia whilst waiting for Nitrites to drop. I dosed with 1.8ml when I tested the follwoing morning all the ammonia had gone. On the 13th feb I added some easy care plants and on the 16th my ammonia and Nitrites had dropped to levels where i needed to dose back to 3ppm. The calculator suggested 5.37ml of ammonia to give me 3ppm which is what i did - well 5ml to err on the side of caution. However when i tested later that day i only had 1ppm ammonia, 0.5 Nitrites and my Nitrates had dropped from 80ppm to 20ppm - I have just tested again now and my readings are ammonia 0ppm,Nitrites 0ppm and nitrates 5ppm - double checked results and they are correct Is my tank cycled.? or am I best to dose again to 3ppm if so how much as 5ml only gave me 1ppm, don't want to stall cycle by overdosing - These aren't the results I was expecting yet but never done a fishless cycle so not sure what to expect. I beleive plants use Nitrates but i only have a few would they use all that.? Any help appreciated. Don't want the kids to help choose fish to see them floating the next day.