Fishless Cycling

[Maxta]

I finally started today.

Firstly i added 2 drops which lifted the ammonia levels to roughly 0.25-0.50. Added another two drops, boy is this going to take the mick lol!

Edit 1: I applied another 2 drops (4 in total), and it raised the levels to about 1.0. So iv added an additional 4 drops of ammonia (8 in total now) This is the thing im using:

After dropping ammonia in, im giving it 10 minutes before i check the levels. Is this a good idea, or should i wait longer? Im just allowing time for the ammonia to mix in.

Is the number of drops high because my pipette thing is so small?

Edit 2: What the fudge. I added an additional 4 drops of ammonia (8 in total, from the pipette above) and the reading hasnt gone up that much, just above 1 now. Its going to take alot to get it 5-6 Just added another 4 drops, making that 12 in total and the readings about 2. God damn how much do i need to put in lol! Added another 8 drops (20 in total) and the levels of ammonia are around 3-4. Added another 6 and testing now (26 drops in total)

AM I DOING THIS CORRECTLY? IF IM NOT PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

PS. ATTEMPTING the add and wait method!

 

[scorphonic]

I just started to cycle my tank about 30 minutes ago!! I'm using relatively pure Ammonium Hydroxide as my source of ammonia. I have added about 40 drops from a 3ml pasteur pipette and I'm just about to check the levels. The tank is a Juwel Rio 180.

I have to say that the information on this thread is absolutely invaluable. A big clap on the back for the person who went to the trouble to type all the info at the start!!

So far tonight I've added a dechlorinator to the water, tested its pH and its about 7. (happy days!!). Turned on the pump and heater!! Man the tank looks amazing, looking forward to a fully cycled tank, following the guidelines set out at the start here!!

I'll be talking to you lot again!!

 

[Maxta]

You have a 180L tank, mine is 35L, mine took 40 drops from one of those pipettes to get my ammonia levels between 4-6, so if 40 drops from your pipette does the job...iv either done something wrong or your pipette is bigger. Give me an update scorphonic.

Took me a while but eventually got my levels between 4-6, now i just wait til they drop to 1.

 

[scorphonic]

It could also be a case that my solution of ammonium hydroxide is not as concentrated as yours. I'm using research grade ammonium hydroxide and I think (haven't checked) that its about a 37% concentrated solution.

I do have some ammonium chloride, 99.5% pure, I want to now use this to supply the ammonia to the tank but I'm not sure if its a good think to have hydroxide ions and chloride ions in the tank and what effect this will have on the fish when I do buy them?

Any help would be good coz the ammonium hydroxide solution has highered the pH while a chloride solution wont affect it that much. The pH was 7 but it is now 8!!

 

[rdd1952]

Different droppers will indeed dispense different sized drops and the strength of the 2 bottles of ammonia will likely be different too.

 

[Birdie]

My ammonia is dropping to zero in 10 hours, but my nitrIte is taking 24 hours to do so ( well, it might be less, as I don't get up at 4am to find out but it is more than 12 hours anyway). Should I wait until the nitrites also get to zero in 12 hours before I do the big water change and add fish?

I was soooo excited this morning to see that pale, pale blue colour in the test-tube

 

[rdd1952]

I would. I won't take long, probably in the next day it will happen. Once the majority of the bacteria are there, the time required for them to double is very short.

 

[Birdie]

Thank you - I'll be patient then. The end is in sight

 

[doubledee]

My tank has been cycling now for a month but the nitrites aint budging. I'm seeing a steady rise in the nitrates and the ammonia disappears in less than 24 hours. I have to go away to work tomorrow so won't be able to add ammonia. I don't know anyone that I could trust and as it's nasty stuff, I wouldn't expect anyone to do it either. To this end, I've borrowed an auto feeder and have set it up to drop some flakes each day into the tank. I've put a net under the autofeeder and might fit a powerhead to circulate the water through the net.

However, how many flakes should I add each day? The tank is 180litres.

 

[rdd1952]

I've never used flakes so I'm not sure. As long as you're adding some, it will feed the bacteria you have. The main thing you are looking for is to sustain the bacteria you have. Adding too much could have a reverse effect as the bacteria needed to break down the flakes (from what I have read, a different bacteria from the nitrifying bacteria) could consume too much oxygen and slow the cycle. I would just try to add a little more than what you would normally feed the tank if it were fully stocked. That, however, is only a guess.

 

[doubledee]

Guesswork it is then! I suspected it would be, so I've just loaded up the autofeeder and fingers crossed I won't come back to an algae ridden mess. I've started to get some brown algae which has taken a month to appear. I'm putting that down to the climbing nitrates. Unfortunately I don't have time to get more plants to try and outcompete with the algae for nutrients. So, I'm going to adjust the timer on the lights so they're on for 6 hours (3on, 2off, 3 on) instead of 10. Again, my fingers are crossed!

 

[rdd1952]

More plants won't help prevent the brown algae. It's normal in a new, cycling tank. Everything I've ever read also said that the way to get rid of brown algae was with more light but I've always been afraid I would get rid of it and get a worse strain of algae from the extra lighting.

 

[Birdie]

Garrrrgghhhhhh . Having spent the past few days avidly waiting for my nitrites to be able to fall to 0 in 12 hours rather than 24, what do I find this morning? An ammonia of 0.5 and a nitrite of 0 By the time I read the tests I'd already added the day's ammonia ( as I knew that whatever happened today wasn't going to be Fish Day) . So it seemed pointless to test the pH.

Spent the day hoping that it was just an aberration. Nope. Ten hours later, ammonia was 2 ( so must have fallen some since I added enough ammonia to make it 4). Nitrite not 0 ( but not too bad. Unfortunately I have lost my test card Fortunately, I know what 0 looks like.) . pH reading off the chart low :tears out clumps of own hair:

I did something like an 80% water change - which only brought it up to pH 6.8 - 7 ( my tapwater is 7.4) . So I hate to imagine what the pH actually was (if I had paid more attention in maths I would be able to work it out ) . Did another water change of 50% to get it to pH7.2 and added yet more ammonia :sigh:

Just when I thought the end was in sight.

So some time after 07.30 on the 31st, the tank stopped being able to process ammonia to 0 in 12 hours - presumbably because of a pH crash. pH not properly corrected until 36 hours later. I am hoping against hope that the bacteria didn't all drop off their perches ( I understand that different bacteria funtion at a lower pH, which is presumably why *some* ammonia was clearly being processed).

Pah! I'm going on holiday on Saturday ( ie in 6 days) so if this thing has taken a serious backwards step all my work of the past 24 days will have been for absolutely zilch and I will have to take up knitting instead.

rant rant ramble ramble mutter mutter

 

[scorphonic]

I would't worry too much Birdie...I'm sure things will settle out soon enough. I was finding that I was getting weird results over the past week as the nitrites were going up and coming down. Your best bet to kinda help things along would be go get some mature filter medium from someone...your tank is so close to being cycled that this will almost instantly sort things out for you. I got hold of some mature filter medium (about 10L of the stuff) and the tank has cycled in one week since its addition. If any of the bacteria did indeed get a shock and die when you did a water change (I'm sure its possible) then the extra mature filter medium will help.

Sorry I dont have any other information other than that...still only a noob myself!

 

[Mr-Xoc]

Hey guys, I am going to be starting up a tank and will be giving fishless cycling a go but have a question that needs answering.

Once the fishless cycle has come to an end and you are at the point where you add the fish, what do you do if you cannot add any fish until 3 or 4 days later. Do you need to keep adding the amonia to keep the bacteria going or can you leave the tank alone without undoing all your hard work. I ask because I can only get down to my local fish store at weekends and knowing my luck the cycle would end on a monday or tueday

Even if I start the cycle tomorrow I dont think it will be ending for a while, so at least I dont need an urgent answer

Mr-Xoc