Confused About Article On Fishless Cycling!

[janragan]

Well the article Written by Chris Cow first says add amonia, then 1/2 amt daily after that. Next article down says add once and not again! Which is the correct way? Thanks!

 

[BigIan]

My tank is nearing the end of its cycle and i`ve been monitoring the stats daily.....

I`ve been adding amonia every time the amonia drops down low, and keeping an eye on the nitrIte and nitrAte levels.

its taken about 3 weeks so far (i`m cheating now as i`ve nicked my mates filter)

i take it this is your first fishless cycle (its scary isnt it)

 

[janragan]

HEAVENS YES!!! I have one lowly Betta in a bowl and am scared to death I will do something wrong! I didn't know you had to cycle a tank and just set it up, brought him home and threw him in there. It's a wonder he survived....but he did get a nasty case of tail rot! I found out about cycling when I was reading up on the cures for that. I have him in a bowl now and have been trying to get the tank to cycle but it never would. Just dumped it today and starting over...... AARGH!!!

 

[BigIan]

cycleing can take anything up to 6 weeks.

i`m no fish keeping exbert but i`ve been reading up on alot...

betas are anabantoids (spelling??) that means they can breathe air from the surface using their labarinth gland.

so should be safe in the bowl just keep changing the water...

What you need to cycle your tank quickly is some media from another healthy tank....

this contains the helpful bacteria to break down all the amonia, it can be done without but that is the fastest way.

I add 5 ml of amonia to my tank as soon as it dropps down to any where less than one ppm. this brings it back up nicely i then see how long it takes to drop back to 0ish, whn i start doseing with amonia every day then i`m going to add fish

 

[janragan]

5ml Wow! The article I read was talking drops...as in 4 or 5 drops amonia to a 10 gallon tank! I sure would like a close estimate.... I have a vial type test kit and it's a 3 step process that has to sit 20 minutes to get an amonia reading...
I did use the same sand, filter pad, plants, etc. from the existing tank. I bought some stuff called "Stress Zyme" that says it is a biological filtration booster. It may not "do" anything but since I have it...what the hey! May as well use it! I use "Stress Coat" as a water conditioner...same company so should be OK there. I also use salt in his bowl and did in the tank before it went to crap so will do that also. Now for the hard part...adding all the "stuff"! Wish me luck!

 

[dwarfgourami]

First of all:

there are two methods of fishless cycling, one where you add ammonia daily, one where you add it once the readings have dropped down to 0. Both work, so it's entirely up to you.

I used the first method on my 15 and 19 (US) gallon tanks. I think I added 12 drops daily to the 15 gals (using a pipette from Boots), bringing the readings up to about 4 ppm. Once the ammonia dropped and the nitrites spiked, I added half the amount (6 drops every day). The cycle took me 14 days n this tank, 10 days on the 19 gals. Once it was completed (nitrites too had dropped to 0) I did a 70% water change to get rid of nitrates, and then added fish within 24 hours. Actually, I went on adding ammonia for a few extra days after the readings had dropped, but before the water change, as my other tank wasn't ready.