Fishless Cycle, How long will it take?

[platyperson]

I dont know how long it is gonna take for my 21 Gallon to cycle! It is sooo painfull to watch a tank with no fish in it, day after day after day! This is killing me! I need an estimate.

 

[juliethegr8t]

There is no way to estimate, every tank is different. It totally depends on how much ammonia you add, and if you've seeded your tank - how much bacteria you've got already, etc. Don't worry, it'll happen. We've all gone through it.

 

[Discomafia]

You could always get some gravel or filter media from an already established tank and use it to seed yours. Instant cycle!

 

[Slyspy]

Not really an instant cycle. You would still have to add fish slowly so as not to overload the growing bacteria bed. If you stick with the whole fishless cycle you can add all your fish at once without any problem. Do seed the bacteria with mature material though, since it does speed up the cycle. My 30L took just under three weeks. My little 4gal is cycling now and has showed a nitrite spike after five days. Now the longest part of the process begins!

 

[platyperson]

I think I got a nitrite spike now! it was about 1. something yesterday and today it is 0.8, have to wait to be sure though...............

 

[juliethegr8t]

If you've got nitrites showing up at all, that's a good sign, means things are moving right along! 1 or 0.8 isn't a full spike though, it should get much higher.

 

[fourplayfishy]

because i have the active bacteria stuff to add to the tank my 10 gal took like 3 days to spike lol but we had to clean it again as it was getting alge with no fish in it