Fishless Cycle, How Much Longer ?

[alan3513]

Now on the 24th day of doing the fishless cycle. When the ammonia was dropping to 0 in 24 hours i was advised to only add about 3ppm of ammonia daily until the nitrite dropped to 0 in 24 hours which happened on the 18th day, i was then advised to ease it up to adding 5ppm of ammonia daily so that it would be processing this at the finish. It's now been six days since the ammonia and nitrite have been dropping to 0 in 24 hours, how much longer until both are dropping to 0 in 12 hours and thus fully cycled., thanks in advance for any advice, Alan.

 

[JustKia]

Wow, keep up the good work hun, don't be tempted to rush at the last minute. Sounds like you have almost completed a very successful fishless cycle.
What are your readings at the 12 hour mark? Are they close to zero?
Once they actually reach those magic 0's then you need to keep them up for a week - the qualifying week - then you are ready to fully stock your tank (some recommend just under full stocking), after doing a huge water change to get rid of the nitrAtes.

Hang in there, you've come this far, so well done =)

 

[OldMan47]

It sounds like you are very close Alan. A few more days and you should be ready to start your qualifying week.

 

[toshapetriji]

Well done Alan, not much longer.

 

[alan3513]

Hi, thanks everyone for the imput, didn't realise their was a qualifying week at the end, After 12 hours my Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is about 2. Tank and plants are looking pretty grungy, do i do any sort of water change or just leave it to the end, thanks again, Alan

 

[toshapetriji]

Do the water change at the end.

 

[mic8310]

I did a 50% water change the other day and it hasn't made any difference tbh. Mines been on a cycle for a few weeks now, I've told the tank its got till payday in 4 weeks to get its act together and sort itself so I can start to put fish in but I'm not sure if talking to your tank speeds the process up.

 

[alan3513]

Thanks Toshapetriji, think i will do the water change at the end. mic8310, haven't resorted to talking to the tank yet but the wife is taking the mickey at the time it's taking to add fish, Alan

 

[Miss Wiggle]

well done for getting this far, i think this last little bit where you're just waiting for the nitrite to get down in 12 hrs is the most frustrating part, so close yet so far!!!

sometimes it can take another week or so from this point until both hit 0 in 12 hrs.

just to explain the qualifying week, after you hit 0,0 at the 12 hr mark the bacteria colony is all there, but it's still brand new and not very stable, in the first week or so after the cycle is done there is quite often a little 'wobble' where some of the bacteria die off for whatever reason and have to grow back so you get as blip in your readings for a couple of days. after several weeks of hard work fishless cycling it would be such a shame to have that blip with fish in the tank as it means you'd effectively be cycling with fish for a few days. now this doesn't happen in every case, but it is fairly common. So what we recommend is that once you get the 0,0 and the cycle is done you carry on adding 5ppm every day for a week, if your readings hold steady at 0,0 at the 12 hr mark for the whole week then you can be pretty sure it's all safe to add fish and you shouldn't gtet a blip in your readings. this stuff's not an exact science and sometimes people do come a cropper, but it's abotu risk mitigation so take the extra week just to make sure everything is safe and steady.

 

[alan3513]

Thanks Miss Wiggle, I've waited this long so another week or so won't hurt me and more importantly my fish, (when i eventually get them), it's just so frustrating watching a lovely planted but fishless tank, starting to look increasingly grungy by the day, Cheers, Alan

 

[OldMan47]

Alan, there is no reason not to do a light gravel vac to get rid of the grungy look. Deep cleaning could set you back a day or two but a light cleaning shouldn't hurt anything.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, agree with MW and OM47 on above advice. Often, once ammonia and nitrite are dropping to zero within 24 hours and the "nitrite spike" period is behind you, the process will proceed pretty quickly to the stage of dropping ammonia to zero in 12 hours and dropping nitrite *almost* to zero in 12 hours. There will then be a very frustrating wait for nitrite to truely drop to zero in 12 hours, allowing you to start your qualifying week. Hang in there and follow these strict rules and you will be rewarded with a tough, healthy biofilter and clear, healthy water for your new fish.

I completely agree with OM47 that if you have the patience, there is nothing wrong at all with some weekend gravel-clean-water-changes during this final stage. The down side is they add a one or two day "pause", but the up side is the really help you get some practice with what weekend maintenance will be like and its easier to get this practice before fish are in there and you have to worry about not sucking them down the hose!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[alan3513]

Thanks oldman47 and waterdrop for the extra advice, looks like a light gravel vac and some more patience then, Cheers, Alan

 

[mic8310]

And give it a good talking to when the wifes out

 

[NameUser]

you are talking to your tank? why?

im just gonna buy some cory's to put in mine i think.. or somthing that will get along with my betta. something to get some poo in there to kick start this cycle your all talking about. i just dont want my betta to die.

edit** wait.,. whats a good tough fish to start the cycle, that will also get along with my betta once i drop him in there?