Fishless Cycling

[rdd1952]

scubadoo, it sounds like your tank has cycled. The ammonia may have been too much but hard to tell. I would suggest doing a large water change, maybe 75 to 90 percent, just as you would when the cycle is finished. Then add enough ammonia to raise the level to about 4 ppm and see how long it takes for the ammonia and nitrite to drop back to 0. If it happens in about 10 to 12 hours, you're ready for fish.

 

[nogsnellin]

If scubadoo's tank has cycled how about mine? These were my readings,
12/8 Am 1.5 Nitrite 1.0 Nitrate 10
13/8 Am 1.0+ Nitrite 0
14/8 Am 1.0 so 1 drop Am added
15/8 Am 4.0 1 drop Am added Nitrite 0.50
17/8 Am 3.0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 40

I too am starting to get frustrated. but today i found someone with a goldfish tank with a filter stuffed full of crap hopefully including the magic bacteria. So I am planning to do a half media exchange tomorrow. Is this a good idea or do you think i am anywhere near close to cycling?

 

[rdd1952]

noqshellin, if your filter can process 4 or 5 ppm of ammonia back to 0 ammonia AND 0 nitrite in 10 to 12 hours, you are cycled. If it's taking a day or 2, then you may have a little ways to go. Adding media (I would add to what you have rather than replacing your's) will help (or at least won't hurt) but be sure the other tank is safe and free of diseases. Otherwise, you could transfer something that will cause lots of problems later down the line.

 

[nogsnellin]

Thanks rdd, but how do i know if the tank is free from diseases?

 

[rdd1952]

but how do i know if the tank is free from diseases?

It's hard to say. Talk to the person that owns the tank. Ask if he's had any problems with diseases. Ich is the biggie. If there has been a problem with Ich or White Spot, stay away from it. It would end up causing more problems than it's worth.

 

[scubadoo]

Many thanks for the response rdd.

I did a 50% water change last night, and the ammonia level was down to about 1ppm.
I have added a bit more to get me up to 5ppm and will test tonight to see how we're getting on.

I do find the unreliability of nitrate tests a real pain in the derriere - the test which gave a reading of 5ppm the night before last gave me a reading of over 120ppm last night (Hagen test), and the one which previously gave a very high reading gave a reading of only 5ppm last night (API).

Anyhow, lets hope all is ok tonight and following another big water change, I can get some fish at the weekend!

If not, then i'll just have to keep on adding the ammonia !

Thanks for the help again rdd

Hopefully can post good news next week !

 

[scubadoo]

Never mind next week.

Got home from work tonight and tested the ammonia and nitrite - both down to 0.

Time to go out and celebrate I'm CYCLED !

Off to the LFS tomorrow its time !



thats music to my ears

thanks once again for the input rdd

 

[Cheffi]

Brilliant news scubadoo....have fun choosing your fish

 

[nogsnellin]

Thats great scubadoo!! I am dead jealous! I have put a nice old filter pad into my tank today, so am hoping it has the desired effect. I was assured no disease was present in the donor tank. but as the foam pad is from a fluval 3+ and mines a fluval 2+ i have just squeezed it out in the water and left the pad to float in the tank. Is this ok?
btw on the nitrate test it may be crucial to follow the directions exactly to get an accurate reading.

 

[fishdawg]

nice dude

 

[Lord Zogat]

Never mind next week.

Got home from work tonight and tested the ammonia and nitrite - both down to 0.

How long from start to finish did it take your tank to cycle. I am still at about 2ppm from the inital load of 6 and its been 2 weeks for my bridged tanks, temp is 90 degrees. When I top up the water I add a touch of ammonia to account for the new water. But it is slowly going down. BUT SLOWLY!

Oh yah I have to yank all the slate out of the tank due to the fact that its rusting, I hope this doesn't throw the levels out of wack. I think my best replacement is plastic moulded yard trim, shaped to look like stone. I'll cut it up and make the shape more natural looking. Its grey not brown like the slate, but I hope it will work. It will allow me to keep the cave structures thin and with lots of holes.

 

[scubadoo]

Its taken three weeks exactly - but to be honest I'm sure it was done last weekend (so 2 weeks), its just that I then overdosed the ammonia, so it took a couple of days to sort this out and then keep adding ammonia for a couple of days more just to be sure all was ready.

I'm really surprised at how little time its taken, especially since I didn't have any mature filter media or anything, but I did add 3 live plants (their root systems contain some of the nitryfying bacteria) and chucked in a bit of 'Cycle' - I'd already bought it and figured ah what the hell it might help.

I left the light on 24/7 for the first 10 days or so - it apparently helps the bacteria, and I've had the temp. set at a constant 30degC.

 

[chris1974]

i filled my 90liter tropical tanks..i used the start-up kit "NTLABS START-OK" from romsey world of water ,Aquasure to get rid of chlorine and add aloe vera (10ml per 50liters) !? then measured dose of Nitrocycle (20 drops per 10 liters) !? ditto measure dose of filterbugs (2 drops per 10 liters)!?

i have to add filter bugs (2 drops per 10 liters)!? everyday untill the little bottle runs out (EVEN once fish added) and was told i could add a couple of platys after 7 days of this!

sound right to you guys??

cheers all from a total newb

ive just tested the nitrite's and still showing 0ppm (guy in shop said it will go up then come back down? )

 

[rdd1952]

I'm not familiar with any of those products but unless you have added ammonia or an ammonia source (such as fish flakes to decay and create ammonia), you won't get a nitrite reading as there isn't anything to create it. Basically, what you would be doing is cycling with fish. The tank won't ever start cycling until there is an ammonia source.

 

[scubadoo]

Hey rdd - thanks for the help given above.

I've been having some problems since I got my fish yesterday - got a post in the emergency section.

For some reason I have very high nitrite readings after addeing my fish.
I'd be grateful if you could shed any light on the subject.