Fishless Cycling

[ebross67]

I'm new to this hobby and bought a 20/g tank. I'm trying to fishless cycle the tank, and having horrible results. I have followed the directions exactly but my ammonia readings don't change. I set the tank to 4ppm of ammonia, and it's been three weeks no change. What is going on? I de-chlorinated the water. The ph is 7.5. The GH 130 ppm and the KH is 80 ppm. I have an underwater heater keeping the tank at 85 degrees. I read somewhere that if you don't have the bacteria seeded it will not cycle, so I bought API zyme, and Cycle - still nothing. Please help. Maybe my tap water has magical properties that kill bacteria - I don't know.

 

[waterdrop]

I'm new to this hobby and bought a 20/g tank. I'm trying to fishless cycle the tank, and having horrible results. I have followed the directions exactly but my ammonia readings don't change. I set the tank to 4ppm of ammonia, and it's been three weeks no change. What is going on? I de-chlorinated the water. The ph is 7.5. The GH 130 ppm and the KH is 80 ppm. I have an underwater heater keeping the tank at 85 degrees. I read somewhere that if you don't have the bacteria seeded it will not cycle, so I bought API zyme, and Cycle - still nothing. Please help. Maybe my tap water has magical properties that kill bacteria - I don't know.

Hi there ebross67,
I wouldn't call your results horrible. Its fairly rare but we do sometimes see cases where the initial ammonia dosing doesn't drop for the first 3 weeks. I agree that most of what you're doing and your parameters sound fine for fishless cycling. The magical properties of your tap water may just be that your municipal system is cleaner than most and so you are starting with relatively fewer of the correct species that we need.

I recommend you start your own thread with all your baseline info: tank size, filter type, filter media, test kit type, tap water parameters, summary of results so far etc. then do a one liner in the first post, edited frequently, and showing the members how its going. There are a fair number of extra little details that the members can sometimes catch that can be different from what the resource center articles delve into sometimes. Plus, having your own thread helps keep the posting shorter on the overall main article.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[busterbrit]

I put to much ammonia in my tank. It was the second time I had to put ammonia in my fishless cycle. I put to much and was geeting readings over 8ppm. I did a 40% water change and got it down to 4ppm but it took about 45 minutes. In the amount of time would it have ruined the bateria or will I be OK?

Also I have a future problem.

I'm on my second part of the cycle but I will be leaving in two weeks for a week. I'm afraid I will be at the end of the cycle right when I'm leaving. What should I do? I can either get my fish but then have to leave them for a week which doesn't seem like a good idea. Or I can see if a friend can come over once or twice and add some ammonia but they won't be checking levels and they will only come twice in a week. Thoughts?

 

[waterdrop]

I put to much ammonia in my tank. It was the second time I had to put ammonia in my fishless cycle. I put to much and was geeting readings over 8ppm. I did a 40% water change and got it down to 4ppm but it took about 45 minutes. In the amount of time would it have ruined the bateria or will I be OK?

Also I have a future problem.

I'm on my second part of the cycle but I will be leaving in two weeks for a week. I'm afraid I will be at the end of the cycle right when I'm leaving. What should I do? I can either get my fish but then have to leave them for a week which doesn't seem like a good idea. Or I can see if a friend can come over once or twice and add some ammonia but they won't be checking levels and they will only come twice in a week. Thoughts?

The over-concentration of ammonia for that short a period of time won't make a bit of difference. You did the right thing.

Having someone come in and squirt in some ammonia (you need to figure out a way to make this easy for the person such that the amount will be reasonable) in will be by far the better way to do. Don't get new fish and leave them. The bacteria will hardly die back at all, even if underfed for that week.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Ryefish]

Sorry if this has already been asked, i got through about 10 pages and then realised there was 36 lol.

Ive read some people using fish food to cycle their tank, and some using fish food and ammonia solution. If you use ammonia solution does that mean you don't need to use fish food?

 

[joshybjoshy]

fish flakes only build enough bacteria to handle the breakdown of food. The ammonia is by far the best and more humain for fish.

i just started mine 5 days ago and it gives you time to get to know your equipment and choose your fish.

 

[OldMan47]

The ammonia is easier to control so it is the method we usually favor Ryefish. Please start your own cycle thread rather than turn this into a 37 or 38 page thread.

 

[Ebony951]

Thanx you've saved my tank

 

[waterdrop]

Thanx you've saved my tank

Hi Ebony and welcome to the beginners section. Don't hesitate to start up your own thread in the "Your New Freshwater Tank" subforum as its a great way to verify what you're doing with the members and see if anything is a bit off. Plus they just enjoy knowing that a member is out there trying! ~~waterdrop~~

 

[geoff19780]

Hi,

I'm currently in the process of a fishless cycle following the info in the add and wait method. It's going well so far but I have a few questions if someone can help.

Is the cycle process only complete once nitrites are processed back to zero within a 12 hour period? Currently ammonia is going back to zero within 12 hours but nitrites are taking about 24 hours.

I've been doing the cycle for about 5 weeks now.

Thanks,

Geoff

 

[PDSimon]

Hi geoff, it sounds like you're doing well. How much do you plan on stocking?

The cycle is complete when 5ppm of both ammonia and nitrite are processed in 12 hours. Depending on your stocking depends on exactly when the cycle is complete though.

 

[Josiee]

Hi - sorry to be annoying and post on this thread when it is already 36 pages long! I just have a couple of questions for now and didn't want to clog up the main forum.

1. Is the equipitment needed to cycle the tank expensive? (Ammonia, nitrate tester, filter media, PH tester etc)

2. If I plan on using bottled water, do I need to worry about PH levels?

3. How long does the 'add and wait' method usually take before the tank is fully cycled and ready to add fish?

4. If the tank is all brown and algae-ey(!) doesn't cleaning it remove all the 'good bacteria' you have built up with the cycle, or is the cycle more to do with the filter?

Thank you very very much for your time and help

 

[PDSimon]

Hi - sorry to be annoying and post on this thread when it is already 36 pages long! I just have a couple of questions for now and didn't want to clog up the main forum.

1. Is the equipitment needed to cycle the tank expensive? (Ammonia, nitrate tester, filter media, PH tester etc)

2. If I plan on using bottled water, do I need to worry about PH levels?

3. How long does the 'add and wait' method usually take before the tank is fully cycled and ready to add fish?

4. If the tank is all brown and algae-ey(!) doesn't cleaning it remove all the 'good bacteria' you have built up with the cycle, or is the cycle more to do with the filter?

Thank you very very much for your time and help

1. ammonia is about 1-2 pound, the test kit (very important!) is approximately 20 pound for a good test kit that will last a long time. filter media ? if you're referring to mature media it all depends on how nice the person you're getting it from is!

2. You don't even need to think about pH at the moment, your pH will probably be neutral and will suit certain fish, but unless you know your pH and water hardness already I wouldn't even think about bottled water.

3. add and wait method has no average time really, take a look at the few logs in the forum

4. why are you worrying about algae, have you had experience with fish tanks before? bacteria don't live on algae and algae doesn't live on bacteria. Almost all the bacteria are situated in the filter, thats why getting 'mature media' is a good idea. the best thing you can do is get a third of someone elses sponge and put it in your filter. If sucessful it brings over the bacteria and they'll spread into your filter media.

You have to be very patient with fishless cycling but it is an excellent way of building a strong colony of bacteria that allow the fish to thrive. I cycled my tank a couple of months ago and have had no problems with it at all. With a fish-in cycle you would still be worrying about adding fish, you have to still slowly add them over a long period, probably just as long as a fishless cycle and to keep your fish healthy a lot of water changes are in order!

 

[Josiee]

Okay, thank you for your help I asked about algae because in the OP it states something along the lines of the tank being all brown after it's finished cycling, and I was just curious about whether bacteria and algae were related

 

[kporteo]

Im currently doing a fishless cycle with my 50gal tank, added ammonia on 19th aug, tested on 20th and got 4ppm, just tested today and im still on 4ppm, is this alright? Anyone got an idea when i will start to see a drop in levels?

Kxx