Fishless Cycle

[julsifer]

22 Gallon Tank

Day 1
Temp 28 celcius/82 farenheit
Dosage 5ml ammonia
Result 8ppm
Ph 8.4

Day 2
Temp 30 celcius/86 farenheit
Dosage 0ml ammonia
Result 4ppm
Ph 8.1

Day 3
Temp 30 celcius/86 farenheit
Dosage 0ml ammonia
Result 4ppm
Ph 8.3

Day 4
Temp 30 celcius/86 farenheit
Dosage 0ml ammonia
Result 3ppm
Ph not tested

 

[cowboy507]

looks good, but could you start adding nitrite and nitrate?
also did you have mature media to start with?

 

[julsifer]

looks good, but could you start adding nitrite and nitrate?
also did you have mature media to start with?

hi there i havent started testing for nitrite and nitrate yet coz its a bit early yet, and no i didnt have any mature media in my filter and havent been using any chemicals to help to start the process along i'm anticipating this being quite long

 

[cowboy507]

Okay well i was just wondering because i noticed that your ammonia went from 8ppm to 4, then to 3, these have to go somewhere..
what chemicals are you using?

 

[julsifer]

Okay well i was just wondering because i noticed that your ammonia went from 8ppm to 4, then to 3, these have to go somewhere..
what chemicals are you using?

i think the 3 must have been my eye sight and wish full thinking lol coz its 4 today. i have aquasafe as my dechlorinator and just using household ammonia from homebase (doesnt foam) thats it.

Had to take out a bit of sponge from my filter yesterday cos it was blocking the flow quite a bit and it wouldnt clean. it was a different sponge i added a finer one (a really small piece) before the outflow just to clean the water a bit, have put the original piece of fluval sponge back in, water flow is gushing now .

Day 5
Temp 30 celcius/86 farenheit
Dosage 0ml ammonia
Result 4ppm
Ph 8.3

Day 6
Temp 30 celcius/86 farenheit
Dosage 0ml ammonia
Result 4ppm
Ph not tested

 

[julsifer]

Day 7-10
Temp 30 celcius/86 farenheit
Dosage 0ml ammonia
Result 4ppm
Ph not tested

 

[waterdrop]

Let's hope you start seeing some lower ammonia numbers in the next week because its starting to look a little on the long side...

 

[julsifer]

Let's hope you start seeing some lower ammonia numbers in the next week because its starting to look a little on the long side...

I hope so..

Day 11
Temp 30 celcius/86 farenheit
Dosage 0ml ammonia
Result 4ppm
Ph not sure
Nitrite 0ppm

 

[m00se]

I can't see those photos, but if the regular pH test is plain blue then it just means it's over 7.2, so use the high-range to tell you where it is. It's not a problem if it's high, just be sure it doesn't crash low. It's probably a good idea to start testing for nitrites/nitrates pretty soon as those ammonia tests can be hard to tell apart from one another (as you said). At least that would be reassuring that something is happening...

It's also worth going to your LFS and asking if they will sell you some mature media, or at least squeeze some of their filters out into a bag for you - seems to have worked very well to kickstart other people's tanks

 

[julsifer]

I can't see those photos, but if the regular pH test is plain blue then it just means it's over 7.2, so use the high-range to tell you where it is. It's not a problem if it's high, just be sure it doesn't crash low. It's probably a good idea to start testing for nitrites/nitrates pretty soon as those ammonia tests can be hard to tell apart from one another (as you said). At least that would be reassuring that something is happening...

It's also worth going to your LFS and asking if they will sell you some mature media, or at least squeeze some of their filters out into a bag for you - seems to have worked very well to kickstart other people's tanks

thanks moose taken the pics off now dunno how to do it lol, hey 'Hull' you're just accross the river from me i currently have my lil 4 gallon tank running waiting for nitrites to drop would i be able to squeeze some of that into my tank or would that not be good? i know it wouldn't be very much.

 

[m00se]

Probably wouldn't help too much if your other tank is still waiting for nitrites to drop (or have I read that wrong?). What filter are you running? If you can get over the river you're welcome to a mature filter pad from my tank I'm around this evening.

 

[julsifer]

Probably wouldn't help too much if your other tank is still waiting for nitrites to drop (or have I read that wrong?). What filter are you running? If you can get over the river you're welcome to a mature filter pad from my tank I'm around this evening.

yeh it is still waiting for nitrites to drop in my 4 gallon one i'm afraid, this tank has a fluval 3+ , thats very kind of you but i'm not worried so far maybe if it gets longer than 2 weeks and nothing happens, i may freak out lol but i might just ask my lfs then like you suggested (bridge tolls dude!!!)

whats the average time it takes for a drop in ammonia? i thought this was normal, oh and is the wierd smell normal? its just my 4 gallon smells of nothing and this one is a bit smelly smells like the dechlorinator though (aquasafe)

 

[m00se]

I'd have thought by 11 days you should have started to see at least some ammonia being processed. It certainly seems from looking at other fishless cycle threads on here that the initial ammonia drop and resultant nitrite spike should be happening before 10 days, normally by about a week.

I admire your patience, just remember that with the addition of mature media, and with a bit of luck, you should see your times tumble, with the potential for a very fast (few days) cycle completion. It's definitely worth asking your LFS, or making the journey north Good luck, though - I'm impressed by your resolve. Most people are starting to lose the will after a week of nothing happening!

 

[julsifer]

Day 12
Temp 30 celcius/86 farenheit
Dosage 0ml ammonia
Result 3/4ppm (12hrs)
Ph not tested
Nitrite 0.25ppm (woop nitrite that means something is happening haha)

 

[julsifer]

Day 13
Temp 30 celcius/86 farenheit
Dosage 0ml ammonia
Result 3ppm (12hrs)
Ph not tested
Nitrite 0.5ppm