Fishless Cycle FINALLY Done

[Sky042]

well the fishless cycle on my 46 is FINALLY done. and it crept up on me all the sudden too. One day my nitrites were beyond the scale of my test set then one day they registered the next they were stable at zero. Been 3 days now I've been continuing to add ammonia to the tank and every day I check and both nitrite and ammo levels are zero.

Tonight I'm gonna go get some plants I think. Then do my water change. I guess tomorrow is fish shopping day. I haven't completely worked out what I was going to add to that tank I thought I had more time. guess not.

Woohoo. I started the fishless cycle april 23rd with drippings from my 5G filter pad. During the course of the cycle I threw 3 whole filter pads into the tank to help things along. I was brining my ammonia levels to 8ppm each night so I'd have a very heathly stock of bacteria so I could stock the tank pretty fully right from the get go.

Now comes the fun part.

I would have never known about this without this forum and I'd probably have only a few fishes by now instead of the nearly full tank I'll be able to get tomorrow.

 

[tstenback]

congrats! and have fun with the fish buying. be safe and save some room for another day. You have a great base to start from but always be cautious sky as there is a greater chance of disease trouble when large numbers are added at one time. I have lived that nightmare and do not want anyone else to have to go through the experience if they dont have to. I lost all but one fish when stocking a 175 gallon tank. A fishless cycle was used and we decided to go large on the ammonia and get a great base of good bacteria but we forgot to consider the bad bacteria that we might bring from the LFS. It was TB. Dont want to rain on your parade so be careful in your selections and if you can quarantine some of the new guys.

 

[Sky042]

congrats! and have fun with the fish buying. be safe and save some room for another day. You have a great base to start from but always be cautious sky as there is a greater chance of disease trouble when large numbers are added at one time. I have lived that nightmare and do not want anyone else to have to go through the experience if they dont have to. I lost all but one fish when stocking a 175 gallon tank. A fishless cycle was used and we decided to go large on the ammonia and get a great base of good bacteria but we forgot to consider the bad bacteria that we might bring from the LFS. It was TB. Dont want to rain on your parade so be careful in your selections and if you can quarantine some of the new guys.

The place I'm buying from are kinda fanatical about their tanks(as in I never even see dead feeders) I've had goodluck with them in the past. I will likely only stock to 50-60% capacity tomorrow since some of the fish I want need a more matured tank and I want to make sure there is room for my school of cardinals and such.

 

[vantgE]

good luck, sky and thanks for your help

 

[jams.alaskan]

Have fun Sky! I'm really excited for you...

ALASKA

 

[Sky042]

Got the plants in last night

without flash

with flash (excuse the glass I've been working in the tank a lot over the past day

 

[Max]

dont mind me asking, but how much was your frill? were i buy its 4$ and my fish eat it to much... (good for vacation so your fish dont starve)

 

[Sky042]

dont mind me asking, but how much was your frill? were i buy its 4$ and my fish eat it to much... (good for vacation so your fish dont starve)

my what?

 

[G_Sharky]

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's a nice looking tank too... Have fun stocking it...

 

[Sky042]

I did
http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?sh...showtopic=37151

 

[konrad05]

are those rocks there only to hold down the driftwood? If so, when are you going to take them out?

 

[Sky042]

are those rocks there only to hold down the driftwood? If so, when are you going to take them out?

2 of them are to hold down the driftwood. the one on the far right. and the one in the center that's on top of the log. I expect that within the next 3 weeks it'll be completely water logged enough. It's been soaking for a total of 1 month between the bathtub and the tank it just barely floats now so I know it's close to being able to be left there without the rocks to weight it down. Though I'll still have some rocks on the far left as they create a cave and shelter for the fish and my gouramis and pandas seem to really like it in there.