Fishless Cycling

[rdd1952]

You can do either. Obviously, when the ammonia drops to 0 there isn't anything to feed the bacteria but you won't experience enough of a lose in bacteria from just 10 to 12 hours of no ammonia to make a noticable difference.

 

[aaronc]

Cool

Thanks for the feedback

Aaron

 

[djceri_g]

HI guys. Ive set up my Juwel 96L aquarium for approx 5 months not. To be honest I hardly do water changes as really haven't got that many fish at the moment. Everything seems to be working fine with the cycle! Even thought I hardly do water changes, I always check the water for Ammonia and Nitrate and they are always at zero. Does this sound ok? Should I do more water changes? I put some Tetra water conditioner in every two weeks. Does this do any difference? Thanks

 

[Squid]

HI guys. Ive set up my Juwel 96L aquarium for approx 5 months not. To be honest I hardly do water changes as really haven't got that many fish at the moment. Everything seems to be working fine with the cycle! Even thought I hardly do water changes, I always check the water for Ammonia and Nitrate and they are always at zero. Does this sound ok? Should I do more water changes? I put some Tetra water conditioner in every two weeks. Does this do any difference? Thanks

Do you mean your nitrite is at 0? Thats the one that should be..

Water changes help to keep the nitrates down, but also provide minerals that may be lost as the water gets older.

Squid

 

[djceri_g]

Yes, Nitrite I mean. I just dont understand because I hardly do a water change the nitrite and annomia stays at zero. I'm getting a bit worried that my testing kit doesn't work or either I don't give my fish enough food!

 

[Squid]

if the tank is cycled, then nitrite and ammonia will be at 0. the bacteria colonies in the tank build up to take break it down. Ammonia is broken down to nitrite, and nitrite is broken down to nitrate..

What are your nitrate levels.... the only way to reduce the nitrates are loads of plants, or good old water changes..

Squid

 

[djceri_g]

Its confusing isnt it! Ive got 3 water test here, one Ph, nitrite and ammonia. Everytime i test the water the ph is always on 7.0, nitrite and ammonia at zero. I think maybe I need to buy the 5 in 1 test strips before getting other fish. Just to make sure, even though the ones I have now look really healthy! I have a juwel 96l, Do you know if I need a Air pump in this tank? I recently had one but It seemd to cause problems with water coming out of the back of the tank and on the cabinet, in result the cabinet has swollen! I think the air pump was too powerfull! Does the filters in juwel tanks give out oxygen for the fish/ I also have a couple of live plants

 

[Dave Spencer]

To be honest, it is quite simple. Zero Ammonia and nitrite is good, a stable pH is good. You either believe the test kit you have, or you don`t and buy another, but look at what your fish are telling you. Are they happy? If they are, then your test kits are generally accurate.

When you continue stocking only add small numbers of fish a week or two apart.

It sounds to me as things OK in your tank.

 

[djceri_g]

 

[rdd1952]

It sounds like your tank is fine. I would invest in a nitrAte kit though. If you aren't doint water changes very often, your nitrates could get high. You really want those to stay at 40 ppm or below. I would stay away from the strips though. They aren't very accurate and are actually mor expensive than the liquid kits.

As for the air pump, I only run one on my tanks because my water will tend to develop a film on it. the air bubles keep it broken up. It's not manditory, especially if you have live plants. Oxygenization occurs on the surface. Anything that causes a surface disturbance will create oxygen (you can do it by simply dipping water with a cup and pouring it back in). I'm not familiar with the filter on that tank so I can't say if it is creating oxygen or not.

 

[BigTallV]

It will probably depend on your stocking level (how dirty the filters get - over-filter and understock is the best rule). Sponges don't wear our very fast (may get clogged if you are heavily stocked and done clean them enough) and the media will last for a long, long time. You probably won't ever have to change the rings and marbles (what ever those are). I'm not certain about the charcoal sponge. As I mentioned, charcoal and carbon generally absorb about all then can in a couple weeks. The main use of charcoal or carbon by most people is to remove medications from the tank after treatment for a disease, not as a media for the bacteria.

Well my colleague gave me his well seasoned filter sponge... however it was hanging on my mailbox in a ziplock bag with some tank water when I came home yesterday afternoon. Did I forget to mention it was 2 degrees below freezing? I didn't know how long it was out there either. Amazed, I scrambled to hang it in my tank whilst I unhooked the cannister filter and inserted the used sponge. One can only hope some bacteria survived the outing. Today I measured, Ammonia ~4-5ppm, Nitr"I"te = 0.

As this is a well seasoned filter sponge that I aquired for placement into my new external cannister filter, should I expect to see any immediate readings (i.e. after 24 hours) on NitrItes? Granted I can't discern if ammonia reading has moved any since yesterday.

 

[rdd1952]

I'm not sure what effect the cold temperature would have had on the filter. You most likely wouldn't see immediate results but I would think that you would see a change in 24 to 48 hours unless none of the bacteria survived.

 

[aaronc]

Bit worried now, seem to be taking a step backwards.

I added my 3ml of ammonia as usual yesterday, which would usually be reduced to 0 in less than 12 hours. Still 24 hours later it is still at 1ppm and I have no idea why.

I haven't touched the filter or changed anything in the tank.

Nitrites and nitrates are still off the chart.

Can anyone explain this?

 

[Squid]

Bit worried now, seem to be taking a step backwards.

I added my 3ml of ammonia as usual yesterday, which would usually be reduced to 0 in less than 12 hours. Still 24 hours later it is still at 1ppm and I have no idea why.

I haven't touched the filter or changed anything in the tank.

Nitrites and nitrates are still off the chart.

Can anyone explain this?

Aaronc,

When I did my fishless cycle, mine seemed to halt. Very frustrating. I have been offered a number of reasons for this to do with very high nitrates causing either KH problems then PH problems. Either way, i tested the PH (didn't have KH kit) and the PH had indeed crashed. A v v low PH causes cycling problems.

The solution was to do a 75-80% (well just biiiig) water change. This puts the PH and nitrates back to a workable state. Then add the ammonia as you normally would. This won't have any extra negative effects, as the bacteria are in the filter and not really the water, and it's no different from doing the big 80% water change at the end of a fishless cycle anyway.

Hope that works for you. Your cycle will be back under way very shortly after...

Good Luck
Squid

 

[djceri_g]

It sounds like your tank is fine. I would invest in a nitrAte kit though. If you aren't doint water changes very often, your nitrates could get high. You really want those to stay at 40 ppm or below. I would stay away from the strips though. They aren't very accurate and are actually mor expensive than the liquid kits.

As for the air pump, I only run one on my tanks because my water will tend to develop a film on it. the air bubles keep it broken up. It's not manditory, especially if you have live plants. Oxygenization occurs on the surface. Anything that causes a surface disturbance will create oxygen (you can do it by simply dipping water with a cup and pouring it back in). I'm not familiar with the filter on that tank so I can't say if it is creating oxygen or not.

Thats a good idea with the cup, would i have to do this every day? How may time a day? I will take your advice and buy a liquid NitrAte test kit. I need a more accurate PH test as the liquid one doesn't seem to be accurate. On the measure Its got 5.0, 6.0, 7.0 . Doesn't show if the level is e.g 6.7!