Fishless Cycling

[rdd1952]

I would do a 30 to 50 percent change. The main thing is that you want the ammonia to be measurable so you can see as it begins to drop. you may end up haviing to add a little back but at leat you will know the reading.

 

[DJC1]

Hi, am starting my fishless cycle, and have a question about dechlorinator.

I have just used Aqua One Water Conditioner, but it says it is a 'Chlorine Neutraliser', not a Chlorine remover.

I read earlier on in this thread that thread starter advised against using a Chlorine neutraliser, and a Chlorine remover should be used instead (I'm not sure if this is still the case).

I've just realised that I also have some Nutrafin Water Conditioner, which says it 'Removes Chlorine and Chloramine'.

My question is, is it ok if I just add this other Chlorine Remover to the tank even though it already has Chlorine Neutraliser in, or should what I originally used be ok?

Also, should I leave the lights on during the cycle?

 

[Marlin&Nemo&Mac]

UPDATE:
My Hex tank was found leaking on Wednesday. What a disappoinment, anyone point me in the right direction for repairs?

Ugh....

Mac

 

[Jonno]

Continue to add ammonia daily as you must feed the bacteria that have formed or they will begin to die off.

can i just confirm this part (at this stage at the moment)...

when adding the ammonia it's gone in < 12 hours - do i only add 4ppm once every 24 hours, or carry on adding ammonia whenever it reaches 0ppm (hence about twice every 24 hours)?

thanks for the great thread

 

[Kevinator]

I have a 29 gallon tank and set it up 2 days ago. I started adding ammonia today it took me 24 drops to get the ammonia level up to 6ppm. I am going to have heavy stock of fish to put in there. I am going to use the "add daily" method am I not correct? I am going to use the same amount of ammonia everyday til it goes drops to 0 then cut the amount in half and test for nitrates and nitrites. I am usin ornaments and a plant from my other tank to establish a seed. After everything reaches 0 I am going to do a 50% water change. Am I doing this correctly?

 

[rdd1952]

Continue to add ammonia daily as you must feed the bacteria that have formed or they will begin to die off.

can i just confirm this part (at this stage at the moment)...

when adding the ammonia it's gone in < 12 hours - do i only add 4ppm once every 24 hours, or carry on adding ammonia whenever it reaches 0ppm (hence about twice every 24 hours)?

thanks for the great thread

I think you will be fine just adding ammonia every 24 hours. I have been experimenting with another method and only adding once a day. it has gone fine so far. The bacteria die-off in 10 to 12 hours without ammonia will be very minimal so once a day should be fine.

I have a 29 gallon tank and set it up 2 days ago. I started adding ammonia today it took me 24 drops to get the ammonia level up to 6ppm. I am going to have heavy stock of fish to put in there. I am going to use the "add daily" method am I not correct? I am going to use the same amount of ammonia everyday til it goes drops to 0 then cut the amount in half and test for nitrates and nitrites. I am usin ornaments and a plant from my other tank to establish a seed. After everything reaches 0 I am going to do a 50% water change. Am I doing this correctly?

Personally, I don't like the add daily method as it takes way too long. The add and wait method will still give you plenty of bacteria for a heavy stock. There is no way that even a double stock of fish will produce 4 to 5 ppm of ammonia in 10 to 12 hours unless they are extremely messy fish and I'm not even sure if that is possible. If you do use the add daily method, you will most likely have to do nearly a 100% water change. Just the add and wait method will put your nitrates easily in the 200 ppm range which would still leave you with 100 ppm after a 50% change.

 

[Kevinator]

I checked it this morning at it was at 4 PPM is that too fast of a drop?

 

[mr_t]

Instead of guessing how much ammonia you need, here's a simple formula for working out the exact quantity:

volume = (ppm * litres * 0.1) / percent

Where:
ppm is the concentration of ammonia you want (as reported by a test kit);
litres is the capacity of the tank;
percent is the percentage ammonia, as reported on the bottle.
volume is the amount in milliliters of your ammonia solution to add to the water.

For tanks in U.S. gallons, use this:

volume = (ppm * gallons * 3.8 * 0.1) / percent

So for example, using 9.5% ammonia and aiming for 5ppm in a 25 gal tank:

volume = (5 * 25 * 3.8 * 0.1) / 9.5
volume = 5 ml

If you want to be really accurate then you can calibrate your dropper and find out how many drops of ammonia you need. 1 ml will probably be between 16 and 25 drops.

 

[Bungy]

I have read with great interest all the issues over the last few months covered in this section of the forum. Im very new to the hobby and id like to share with you my experiences to date....
I set up a 70 gal tank (377 litre) about a month ago, put a large bag of plant fertalizer pellets in first then topped off with sand bought from my local aquarium shop. (Maidenhead aquatics in Havant). I filled out with various fast growing plants and topped up with tap water from my hose pipe. I added the Chlorine/Chloride neutralizer together with some liquid culture to speed up the cycling process. Sadly I didnt fully read or understand the Cycling process and after a week when the tank water reached the right temp (78) and looked nice and clear I hastily added 2 Platys. A week later and 25 fry appeared, naturally I assumed everything was going well so I went out and bought 20 more fish!!! All seemed to be ok until my Cardinals started to die, a couple of Guppys suffered the same fate and after losing a swordtail I took a water sample to my dealer. All looked ok so I just put it down to bad luck. During week 3 a Cardinal had a cotton-wool like fluff growing over it (Mold) and later died. White spot appeared on several other fish - so after buying the necessary treatments and turning my tank a wicked Green colour I was hoping to resolve the sickness that had ravished most of my remaining fish. The 3 day treatment over I decided to buy a test kit...!!! No Amonia at all but a massive spike in Nitrite and Nitrate - I had been doing regular weekly 10per cent water changes but I upped this to twice weekly in an attempt to spare the remaining fish any further distress. I have tested every 2 days during the following week (now into week 4) and im getting the same high spike in N02 and N03. (Tap water showing no signs of either). 2 days ago I did a 25 percent water change and have just tested again but result is the same.

Conclusion - Using fish to cycle the tank can in my experience be cruel and I'm feeling pretty foolish for not waiting.

Question - Am I doing anything wrong now or is it a case of simply waiting it out for the Nitrite to drop away?

Ps - My remaining Guppys and Mollies have given birth and I now have approx 70 fry in a separate floating net...!
at least something is going right..!

 

[Bungy]

I have read with great interest all the issues over the last few months covered in this section of the forum. Im very new to the hobby and id like to share with you my experiences to date....
I set up a 70 gal tank (377 litre) about a month ago, put a large bag of plant fertalizer pellets in first then topped off with sand bought from my local aquarium shop. (Maidenhead aquatics in Havant). I filled out with various fast growing plants and topped up with tap water from my hose pipe. I added the Chlorine/Chloride neutralizer together with some liquid culture to speed up the cycling process. Sadly I didnt fully read or understand the Cycling process and after a week when the tank water reached the right temp (78) and looked nice and clear I hastily added 2 Platys. A week later and 25 fry appeared, naturally I assumed everything was going well so I went out and bought 20 more fish!!! All seemed to be ok until my Cardinals started to die, a couple of Guppys suffered the same fate and after losing a swordtail I took a water sample to my dealer. All looked ok so I just put it down to bad luck. During week 3 a Cardinal had a cotton-wool like fluff growing over it (Mold) and later died. White spot appeared on several other fish - so after buying the necessary treatments and turning my tank a wicked Green colour I was hoping to resolve the sickness that had ravished most of my remaining fish. The 3 day treatment over I decided to buy a test kit...!!! No Amonia at all but a massive spike in Nitrite and Nitrate - I had been doing regular weekly 10per cent water changes but I upped this to twice weekly in an attempt to spare the remaining fish any further distress. I have tested every 2 days during the following week (now into week 4) and im getting the same high spike in N02 and N03. (Tap water showing no signs of either). 2 days ago I did a 25 percent water change and have just tested again but result is the same.

Conclusion - Using fish to cycle the tank can in my experience be cruel and I'm feeling pretty foolish for not waiting.

Question - Am I doing anything wrong now or is it a case of simply waiting it out for the Nitrite to drop away?

Ps - My remaining Guppys and Mollies have given birth and I now have approx 70 fry in a separate floating net...!
at least something is going right..!

At last - end of Week 5 - My Nitrite reading last night was down to 0 - dropped overnight....!!! Whitespot and Mold clearing up ok except for my Cardinals, Ive started another whitespot treatment last night. Fry still in the net waiting for spare tank to Cycle and second Sailfin Molly now looking ready to chuck out some more Fry......its all go with this malarky isnt it....???

 

[Bungy]

test for nitrites. Once the nitrite drops back to zero, do your big water change and add your fish.

Simple question folks - I believe my tank has finally finished cycling after nearly 6 weeks (I used fish because I was ignorant about the fishless cycle)...... My Ammonia is 0, my Nitrites are 0 and my Nitrate is a nice acceptable level. Do I need to conduct a LARGE water change now as indicated in the posting above.....given that my readings seem to look good?

 

[backtotropical]

No need. The large water change is required if you have done a fishless cycle as the nitrate will be off the scale.

As you done a fish-in cycle, and your nitrate level is ok because you have been performing many water changes, the big water change at the end is not necessary.

Cheers.

 

[Bungy]

No need. The large water change is required if you have done a fishless cycle as the nitrate will be off the scale.

As you done a fish-in cycle, and your nitrate level is ok because you have been performing many water changes, the big water change at the end is not necessary.

Cheers.

Thanks mate - that brill. I can now spend my day looking at purchasing fish rather than conducting the water change......!
377L tank - how many fish roughly (average size but with say 3 Angels and 5 Clownies).....? I currently have simple Guppys/Plattys and Mollies and 2 Clowies. (oh and 70 fry.....to be moved to new tank soon)

 

[Aussie_Dog]

Do the decorations NEED to be in the tank during cycling, or does it really matter? Would it take longer if you put in a new thing every week or so? Or is it recommended to buy everything first and then get it all set up before cycling so that the bacteria can get on everything?

 

[Bungy]

Do the decorations NEED to be in the tank during cycling, or does it really matter? Would it take longer if you put in a new thing every week or so? Or is it recommended to buy everything first and then get it all set up before cycling so that the bacteria can get on everything?

From what I have understood about this process thus far is that you can set up your tank from square one with everything in. You are attempting to colonise the FILTER media with beneficial Ammonia and Nitrite munching bacteria and not the tank/decor - the level of these bacteria on the tank decor is minimal at best. I recently went through the process and threw everything in before topping up with water (mainly because my tank is 80cm deep and is a "shirt off" job to juggle things round at the bottom of the tank).

Hope this helps.