Fishless Cycling

[Nosnibor]

I have been fishless cycling my new 55 gallon tank for the past 4 days, maintaining about 5 ppm of ammonia. As of last night my ammonia is getting consumed at a rate of about 1 ppm/day. Is that too slow?

Wow that sounds fast! Wish I could get mine to do it that fast.

Martin

 

[dirtydog]

after a few days mine ate 4-5ppm of ammonia from first thing in the morning until I went to bed.

 

[tlef316]

hey guys. just started my fishless cycle. Its my first time trying this, so im assuming it will take a while. Im using clear amonia and going with the add and wait method. Apparently my dropper is VERY small, as it took several hundred drops to get it to 5 ppm (used a bucket and multiplied)

Now, when the cycle finishes, is it better to add alot of fish? If i dont, some bacteria will die off and ill mini cycle when i add later...right?

 

[tikka]

Dumb questions but I have to ask. How long is it going to take to cycle a 230 gallon tank? Is there any way to safely speed up the process? I'm using a overflow filtration system, and plan on cichlids for my tank. If I stay away from the really big cichlids how many will a tank this size safely hold? Africian cichlids that is.

 

[rdd1952]

hey guys. just started my fishless cycle. Its my first time trying this, so im assuming it will take a while. Im using clear amonia and going with the add and wait method. Apparently my dropper is VERY small, as it took several hundred drops to get it to 5 ppm (used a bucket and multiplied)

Now, when the cycle finishes, is it better to add alot of fish? If i dont, some bacteria will die off and ill mini cycle when i add later...right?

When you are finished, you can add at least 75% (could add full load if you want) of your fish right away. You will have way more bacteria than would normally be present for a standard stocking load. Also, when adding ammonia, you may want to use one of the test tubes from your test kit. Usually about 1ml will raise the ammonia to around 5 ppm for 5 gallons. The API tubes aren't marked but the fill line is 5ml so you can roughly figure a fifth full. It's a lot easier than counting a lot of drops. You may want to test that in your bucket again before doing it in the tank.

Dumb questions but I have to ask. How long is it going to take to cycle a 230 gallon tank? Is there any way to safely speed up the process? I'm using a overflow filtration system, and plan on cichlids for my tank. If I stay away from the really big cichlids how many will a tank this size safely hold? Africian cichlids that is.

The cycling process generally takes about the same amount of time regardless of tank size. I'm not really sure about cichlids and the waste they produce so I can't really help with stocking levels. You may want to post that in the Cichlids section.

 

[kelnme]

Whoaaaaaaa. I put up a post and left the forum for a day and came back to all these absolutely wonderful posts!! I started reading them, haven't finished yet though. I'd like to thank everyone for posting information on the ammonia issues.

This is all very new to me. I had a Male Betta and had no idea what the nitrogen cycle was and lost him because of bad advice from a local pet shop. The woman could not understand my ammonia levels were going up and kept telling me to do a full water change. It's a little sad to talk about because I loved that fish, Sparky!!

But now I have 2 new boys to start with again, knowing a bit more now than I did a few months ago. I have both males in two separate 2 1/2 gallon bowls. I have 2 tanks waiting to be prepared for the nitrogen cycle. One is a 5 gallon and the other is a 10 gallon. I'm sure the boys, who I call, Thunder and Lighnting, will be very happy in them.

I am thrilled to have read through some of rdd1952's methods on fishless cycling. I have printed all the information out and will read through it more carefully since I think that is the route I want to take, because I am really worried about putting my two new Bettas through the same problems I had with my first Betta.

I was also thinking of purchasing Bio Spira. I have a friend who is using is now and she (and her fish) are going through it with ease. No major spikes or issues.

I'd like to say that I appreciate all the posts that everyone has contributed on this topic, and I welcome any other information anyone has to offer to make this a more enjoyable experience for me and my little Betta boys! It's warming to know that I am surrounded by such a fabulous, well informed group of fish enthusiasts!! Thank you all!! Please keep it coming!

 

[rdd1952]

Bio-Spira is one of the products that is supposed to work as long as it has been kept refrigerated.

 

[Watersprite]

Just finished cycling using the "add and wait" method. Thanks for the brilliant instructions, easy to follow and much better than the fish suffering. New fish at weekend, can't wait.

 

[dirtydog]

Just finished cycling using the "add and wait" method. Thanks for the brilliant instructions, easy to follow and much better than the fish suffering. New fish at weekend, can't wait.

a great feeling isnt it? dont forget to keep the ammonia topped up until you get the fish in.

 

[tlef316]

i am now about 6 days into my cycle. amonia is down to around 3 ppm, water has turned a tea-brown sort of color. Lights have been off for about 3 days, but the hair algae on my fake plants has gotten worse. Any suggestions? Is all this normal.

I have noticed that the tank gets what i guess you could call direct sunlight for about 2 hours around noon. (from the skylight, which is about 25 feet up) Kinda regretting puting the tank there now.

 

[Christine1014]

i am now about 6 days into my cycle. amonia is down to around 3 ppm, water has turned a tea-brown sort of color.

Do you have any wood in your tank? If so, that's probably the source of the water color issue. Wood will leach "tannins" into the water. You can reduce the ammount of tannins by boiling it first, but you'll still probably get a bit of a tea color in the water. It will probably clear a lot on its own but you may be left with a little bit of coloring. It's pretty normal.

If you DON"T have wood, my guess would be some kind of algae bloom in the water.

 

[tlef316]

i do have wood, but it was all soaked for several days before i added it to the tank. It was in the water for 5 or 6 days before i started the cycle, and there was no discoloration.

 

[Nosnibor]

Hi all,

I must be about (hopefully) less than a week until my fishless cycle has completed, I just wanted some advice on the filter system when I do my big water change.

I have a Fluval 305 with the original media that came with it. When the water quality is Ammonia: 0ppm / Nitrite: 0ppm / Nitrate: as low as possible and I perform my 75% to 90% water change, do I need to just leave my filter until the occupants have settled in or should I do anything with the filter media like wash it in the old water? - Obviously watching I don't rid the media of the bacteria.

Thanks

Martin

 

[Miss Wiggle]

unless the flow rate has dropped considerably (which it shouldn't have) then just leave it as it is. do your big water change at a maximum of 12 hrs before getting fish, if it's longer than that you need to add ammonia to keep it alive and may need to do another water change

 

[Nosnibor]

unless the flow rate has dropped considerably (which it shouldn't have) then just leave it as it is. do your big water change at a maximum of 12 hrs before getting fish, if it's longer than that you need to add ammonia to keep it alive and may need to do another water change

I see. My plan was to do the water change, whilst fitting the tank out with my new plant life then go to the fish supplier and get the fish. That will be within 12 hours so I should be okay with that. I'm sure that my local supplier won't have all the fish I want so there will be a break of a couple of weeks before I go to my next nearest one for the rest. I'm assuming that will be okay with the ammonia bacteria handling the extra fish after a couple of weeks of not so much ammonia?

Martin