Fishless Cycling In Progress

[DebraAustin]

Boy, I have to say it is really hard to wait to get my fish, but I'm hanging in there. Started to get a bit dismayed because I wasn't seeing any changes and then day before yesterday my ammonia dropped a tiny bit. Yesterday it was down to .5 and this morning I added my next set of ammonia (I'm doing the add and wait method). My nitrites are now at 8 and this morning I had my first nitrates at 5 ppm. I now feel like I can start to look more seriously into fish, although I know I've still got a bit of a wait. Added a couple more plants to the tank yesterday. I hope that will help the cycling to go more quickly. The fish I really wanted grow too big, so now I'm back looking for different ones. I'll keep you posted on the cycling.

Debra

 

[Ami]

Hi Debra,

Sounds like you're cycling is going really well. Mine took about a week and a half, following the same method, and although not long as I was champing at the bit when it came to fish!

Choosing them is all part of the fun though and at least you know that you're doing everything possible to make sure they have a good start in their new home.

Ami

 

[piper]

I know what you mean Debra. I’m 12 days into my cycle now, hopefully it will be finished by the weekend. It’s going to kill me to watch it empty for another week if its not done by Sunday. Its crazy how exciting getting your ammonia, nitrate and nitrite spikes are. Bit sad really; but it did but a smile on my face when I started to get all 3 of them. Until that point I wasn’t sure I was doing it right. I found planting out the tank makes the wait far easier as you have something in the tank to look at.

 

[DebraAustin]

Good news, my ammonia cycled in 24 hours. Nitrites are still high. Didn't test for nitrates since the nitrites are still too high. Now I'm going to have to start checking it on a 12 hours basis. That is really exciting to me. Maybe I'll be able to buy fish sometime this next week! That would be nice since my birthday is this next week. It would be a fun present to myself. Let me know how your cycle goes.

Debra

 

[rdd1952]

Glad to hear that it's going well. I think the big determining factor is when the first seed bacteria finally gets into the tank. There was another thread a couple weeks ago about where the bacteria comes from. General consensus was airborne. I am in the process of doing some cycling experiments and am totally stalled. I added 4 ppm of ammonia to my first test on Friday the 6th and as of 6 PM yesterday afternoon (13 days) there had still been no change in ammonia and no nitrite. This was a straight cycle with the add and wait method but I didn't use any gravel (bare bottom tank) because of the mess of cleaning it up and drying it out before the next test. Maybe the bacteria comes in the gravel/sand.

 

[DebraAustin]

Well I'm getting more excited. My ammonia processed in 12 hours yesterday. Now all I need is for the nitrites to start coming down. I was hoping it would be done today, as it is my birthday and I wanted to add my first fish, but I'll just have to wait. Haven't tested yet this morning, because I just added the next round of ammonia, so will take the reading on everything in about an hour.

One question I have is, once it is cycling in 12 hours, I know I need to do a big water change to get rid of excess nitrites, but how long after that do I add the fish? Do I let it sit for 24 hours to stabilize and if so do I continue to add the ammonia so that the bacteria don't die?

to me!

Debra

 

[Squid]

Your ammonia and nitrites wil be at zero, so am i right in thinking that you mean nitrates. If so, then yes, the big water change will lower the nitrate levels, and you will need to add the fish within 24 hours or the bacteria will start to die off. If you cannot gett he fish within that period, hold off on the water change and continue to add ammonia.

Once you do the big water change, the main thing to remeber is the de-chlorinator (last thing you want after your cycle is to kill off all that nice bateria) and wait until the water is the right temp.. then do the fish bit..

Cheers
Squid

 

[Ginge]

I am thinking of setting up a new 10G tank to cycle it could i just take the water from a large water cahnge from my current 10G and put that in there. Is this know as cloning.
P.S soz for stealin the topic.

 

[Squid]

Ginge,

The water itself unfortunately holds little value when it comes to transfering the helpful bacteria from tank to tank. The bacteria is mainly in the filter. Cloning (if i am correct) is when you take your new filter, run it along side an old established filter for a couple of weeks, then transfer the filter into the new tank. I guess its more the filter is cloned rather than the tank..

Thats my understanding.. however, somebody else may correct me So, if you were still buying a new tank and new filter, then this would be an option, but not as instantaneous as it would be if we could do it with water from water changes.

Cheers
Squid

 

[Ginge]

Well the filter spounges r the same so i could put them in the new filter.

 

[Squid]

hmm.. will have to call in the back-up for an answer to that one.. may depend on how many sponges you have, and what the impact of replacing one in the old filter and using it in the new filter...

Sorry, im not sure, and dont want to lead you up the garden path so to speak..

Squid

 

[wheelyfeet]

Well I'm getting more excited. My ammonia processed in 12 hours yesterday. Now all I need is for the nitrites to start coming down. I was hoping it would be done today, as it is my birthday and I wanted to add my first fish, but I'll just have to wait. Haven't tested yet this morning, because I just added the next round of ammonia, so will take the reading on everything in about an hour.

One question I have is, once it is cycling in 12 hours, I know I need to do a big water change to get rid of excess nitrites, but how long after that do I add the fish? Do I let it sit for 24 hours to stabilize and if so do I continue to add the ammonia so that the bacteria don't die?

to me!

Debra

Happy Birthday to you!

I've read that you should do a large dechlorinated water change to not only rid the tank of excess nitrates but to also restore the pH buffering capacity of the tank to closer to the level of your water source. I've also read that you should put fresh carbon in the filter to rid the water of any additives that may have been in the household ammonia. However, if your filter doesn't have a separate biofilter, this could be a problem.

You will be doing water changes as part of your regular maintanance after you add fish, so I don't see why you'd need to wait 24 hours to add fish. I think the 24 hours "to stabilize" is for when a brand new tank is set up. Of course, none of us would dream of doing THAT now that we know about fishless cycling.

(another Debra)

 

[wheelyfeet]

Ginge,
I don't think that there is any way to "clone" a tank unless you are able to fill your new tank completely with water, gravel, and filter media from the established tank. This would be possible if your established tank is large enough to donate this much to the new tank. (Say from a 55 to a 10 gallon).

However, if you take some filter media out of an established tank, take water out of the established tank, and take gravel from the established tank, you will introduce a lot of the bacteria the new tank will need for the nitrogen cycle. This may be sufficient to set up a hospital or quarentine tank where you will only house one fish. I would not fill the tank to capacity right off the bat, though. You will still need time for the new tank to build up the bacteria to capacity. If you do this, make sure to check for ammonia and nitrite spikes and be prepared to do water changes. Better yet, use this method with a fishless cycle. I've read that it is possible to get a complete cycle in a week when seeding a tank from an established tank. Just add a couple of ammonia drops everyday until nitrite and ammonia levels drop to zero within 12 hours.

Also, if you do choose to use this method, make sure to leave 1/2 to 2/3 of the filtering media in your old tank. Check your old tank for ammonia and nitrite spikes for a few days, and be prepared to do water changes on it as well. Anytime any change is made in a tank, even if it is merely changing one set of filter material, it is wise to do checks.

I am a firm believer in the adage "if something seems to good to be true, it usually is." I honestly don't think there is any way to get out of doing some work when establishing a good cycle. Even the new Biospira product isn't as instant as it claims to be. (Although we never saw ammonia readings, we did see low nitrite readings after seeding a tank with it.) It simply takes time for the bacteria to get fully established.

 

[Ginge]

I would be adding all the water from the old tank which will fill then new one and all of the spounges from the old one as i wont have any fish in the old one. As soon as everything is out of the old tank it is being sold the new tank i will set up is in my kitchin.

 

[dgwebster]

nice to read on your fishless cycle debra.

Mines just completed fully last week, taking nearly 7 weeks in total (extremely long, but it is to do with a severe lack of "start-up" bacteria.) I was at the fish store on sunday, explained to them this and they recommended spacing adding the fish over 10 days, to allow the different fish being added to acclimitise. There was no use arguing, as the owner is a marine biologist and they would have refused to sell the fish (something that improved my opinion of the fish store, along with not one dirty tank, not one sick or dead fish)

So my six zebra danios were added yesterday, the 6 neons are being purchased wednesday and the 3 dwarf gouramis on sat or sunday.

but anyway, enough of my wandering, my point was, haivng a tank with zero ammonia and zero nitrite after adding those guys has been a god send. im still going to continue to check my levels daily for the next two weeks though.