Fishless Cycling

[Ian_Brown]

I've had my 28G tank set up and running for 9 days. I have been attempting to cycle my tank without fish in the usual fashion by adding pure ammonia solution, however I cant seem to get any Nitrite readings whatever (minimum detectable reading of 0.3mg/l).

The only reason I can guess for this lack of nitrite is that the water conditioner I'm using could be neutralising the ammonia I'm adding. The product I'm using is Interpet #1 'Fresh Start' and the information leaflet doesn't mention ammonia at all. Does anyone know if this conditioner does affect ammonia or if there is any possible other reason that I cant get any nitrite reading.

Thanks in advance for any replies.
Ian.

 

[modernhamlet]

Nope. Looks like Fresh Start is a standard dechlorinator. Shouldn't be an issue for you.

Can you describe the steps you're taking in the fishless cycle?
How big is the tank?
What filter are you using?
Did you have any "seed" bacteria source?

 

[Ian_Brown]

Can you describe the steps you're taking in the fishless cycle?
How big is the tank?
What filter are you using?
Did you have any "seed" bacteria source?
[/quote]

Each day I test both for ammonia and nitrite, then add enough pure ammonia solution to raise the ammonia level to around 2-3ppm.

The filter is a fluval 3 plus internal power filter (as supplied with the fluval duo 800 deep) .

The tank is a 30"*15"*15" (110L I think)

The closest thing to a seed source is a bottle of nutrafin cycle (I know), and a selection of around twenty live plants from my LFS. About 70% of the plants seem to be doing well.

Water temp = 78F

Nitrite reading <0.3mg/l

 

[sinistral]

It's probably the plants. Cycling can take a long time (longer than 9 days to see nitrites). But, if you have 20 plants, it's likely that they're taking up the ammonia as you're adding it. If you find that your ammonia level is dropping daily and you have no nitrites, the plants are a likely culprit.

What kind of plants are they?

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, prolly the plants. I'd raise the amount of ammonia I were adding if I were you. I've been raising mine by 6ppm daily as you might read in my other cycle thread. Even then I think it took me like 11 days before I saw appreciable nitrite of 1ppm. spiked to max on my scale the next day. I however cant get rid of my ammonia unlike you

We can prolly both learn something from this, heres the link to my thread on the same topic

 

[modernhamlet]

Yup. Nothing wrong with the plant in principle though!

I personally keep the ammonia levels around 4ppm during a fishless cycle. It seems a fairly satisfactory middle ground.

Is the ammonia going all the way down overnight or just part way? I imagine you're pretty close to a nitrite spike, though it may not be as big a spike as with an unplanted tank. The key in the long run is stability and if you're able to add a good amount of ammonia daily and have no ammonia or nitrites the next day, I'd say you're on the right track, even if not in the traditional sense. Plants really do change things, and in a positive way.

 

[Ian_Brown]

The ammonia does drop to around 1ppm each day, so not completely. It's encouraging to hear that everything is in order. I'll start adding more ammonia today.

As for the plants, I'm not sure what type they are. I have a book on aquarium plants and the only plant I could identify in my tank was some twisted Vallis and some cabomba I think.

Thanks for all the replies and I'll check out the other thread as well.