Fishless Cycling

[waterdrop]

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

Totally normal. It sometimes takes as much as 2 weeks, even 3 before the very first drop to zero ppm ammonia. Ammonia is only ever added at 24 hour intervals and only when ammonia has dropped all the way to zero ppm or very near zero ppm sometime in the previous 24 hours. Set your "add-hour" as a particular time of the evening or morning and stick with it (of course, you won't need an "add-hour" until your first drop to zero, just preparing you.)

Why not start your very own fishless cycling thread. Even if you don't post anything on it very often its useful to the members who have lots of cases to keep track of and then its easy to ask a question whenever you have one.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Rorie]

Ok, i started reading all the items to see if my question had been asked already - until i noticed there was already 30+ pages! So sorry if it has been asked

I am cycling my new hospital tank using the add and wait method. I am a week in and just waiting for the ammonia to drop. When i initially called the fish shop to ask for ammonia, she told me i was stupid to do it that way, it was a very out-dated way to do it, and i should just add bacteria and wait a week.

My main tank was started using the bacteria method, and then by adding 2 fish a week. I did this with the hospital tank, and the first fish i put in died! So i am now running it this way and see how i get on.

My question is here: I understand exactly what is happening with the cycling and chemical set up, but my question relates to the difference between this and the bacteria method. With bacteria method you can only add a couple fish a week to cope with the ammonia etc of the fish without crashing the tank. Well, with the ammonia method, how many fish can i add seen as the tank is cycled and ready to deal with the ammonia? OR is it the same 2 fish a week kinda theory?!

Many thanks!

 

[frogmarch1987]

the fishless cycle was originally designed to allow you to fully stock your tank as soon as the cycle was finished. A fully stocked tank will produce nowhere near the 5ppm ammonia that you have grown your bacteria up to cope with, so THEORETICALLY you would just be needlessly killing off your bacteria if you only add a couple at a time.

However, many people like to add their fish steadily, to ensure the filter is stable. You wouldn't need to add 2 a week, maybe half the tank initially and then add the remaining fish over the next month or something

 

[Rorie]

the fishless cycle was originally designed to allow you to fully stock your tank as soon as the cycle was finished. A fully stocked tank will produce nowhere near the 5ppm ammonia that you have grown your bacteria up to cope with, so THEORETICALLY you would just be needlessly killing off your bacteria if you only add a couple at a time.

However, many people like to add their fish steadily, to ensure the filter is stable. You wouldn't need to add 2 a week, maybe half the tank initially and then add the remaining fish over the next month or something

Great, thats what i thought, and wanted to hear! Thank you for the reply!

 

[Rorie]

hmm, some help please? I am now 14 days in and my ammonia is still sitting at 4! It has not dropped at all. I did measure it for the size of my tank when i added it. Do you think it will just be taking a little longer to drop?

Also, after i am totally finished my cycle, i need to add ammonia every day to keep is preped for adding a full (well, almost full) stock of fish. 1. What happens if i miss a day? Or i miss a day before i add fish (as will have to happen in my case). 2. If i don't add the ammonia after it is cycled, i assume i can only really add a couple fish at a time as my tank will then be running in the same way as if i cycled it with bacteria?

Thanks

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Rorie, If you end up completing a full fishless cycle with advice and help from the beginners group here then that will mean your filter will have passed a "qualification week" at the very end. If it passes, that means the biofilter portion of your filter will more than handle a full tank stocking following the "inch guideline" method of stocking. Very few people actually fully stock on their initial stocking but the reason is not the readiness of the biofilter, it is the practical problem of actually -finding- all the exact fish they want from the various LFS's in their geographical area or the fact that some of their fish (neons or German Blue Rams or such) may not be the types that would tolerate an initial stocking well. Usually in the stocking plan, the subset of fish that are considered nice and hardy for initial stockings are the ones that go in right after the cycling. Additions that are made later on after that must be back to the normal 2 or 3 fish only, with a couple of weeks in between for the bacteria to re-build up after the addition.

You very much need to start your own fishless cycling thread with a daily test results log in the first post along with all your baseline data (tank size etc.) so that the members can give you maximum help with the process. We have various helps and refinements that may not be evident when only reading the articles and also the article you are adding on to is basically a reference article.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[AngelKeeper]

Im so glad I found this forum and this post before I started my tank! I had ideas but very easy to understand instructions! Thank you!

 

[Mogs26]

Thank you for a very clear article and discussion. I now feel that I am a little closer to being ready to start cycling my tank!

 

[toc]

Firstly thanks rdd1952 for a great article Ive never fish-less cycled before, read enough about it but this has been the best explained with great clarity for the first timer I could find on the net, especially the ammonia calc and % per bottle just to say I gave it a whirl and the calculations given work very well as I proven to myself by following the recipe and im sure countless others that have followed it with great success, I wanted to post to help people that are starting the process or in the middle loosing faith! its boring no question but it works like a charm!

anyway heres a little log of this tank cycle,

24 Oct 27ltr tank fresh tap water with conditioner (chlorine in tap water was

0.56 before treating), All new heater, air pump, filter, large shell, gravel. water

temp started at 17C temp (12:30) room temp 18C set heater to ~30C

Ammonia used from Boots, 9.5% solution

tap water Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite 0ppm

(13:00) 1.5ml added
(13:30) ammonia >4ppm
(18:00) temp 23C
(20:20) temp 25C
(11:00) temp 27C

25 Oct (17:00) Ammonia >4ppm

27 Oct (11:00) Ammonia 4ppm

28 Oct (11:00) Ammonia ~2ppm

29 Oct Seeding material added
(11:00) Ammonia 2ppm

31 Oct (11:00) Ammonia 2ppm

1 Nov (9:00) Ammonia 0.4ppm
0.75ml Ammonia added
Ammonia >4ppm
Nitrite >4ppm
Nitrate >100ppm ( to check Nitrobacter bacteria are present and started )

2 Nov (8:55) Ammonia 0.1ppm
1.25 Ammonia added (to check can process in 24 hours)
Ammonia >4ppm

3 Nov (8:00) Ammonia 0ppm (processed in 24 hours)
Nitrite >4ppm
0.75ml Ammonia added (half of the initial 1.5 just to keep bacteria fed

without creating excess nitrite)

(20:00) Ammonia 0ppm (processed in 12 hours)
no Ammonia added until morning (after 24hrs since last) as I want nitrite

eating bacteria to catch up instead of creating even more nitrite!

4 Nov Nitrite >4ppm
Ammonia 0pmm
Added 0.5ml Ammonia lowering amount of ammonia to lower nitrite level needed to be converted (Im confident 0.5ml of ammonia will be more than the load from fish when stocked.)

5 Nov Nitrite >4ppm
Ammonia 0ppm
Added 0.5ml

6 Nov Nitrite >4ppm
Ammonia 0ppm
Added 0.5ml

7 Nov Nitrite >4ppm
Ammonia 0ppm
Added 1ml

8 Nov (18:00) Nitrite >4ppm
Ammonia 0ppm
Added 1ml

9 Nov (8:00) Nitrite 0pm
Ammonia 0ppm
80% water change
Nitrates < 6ppm
little over 2 weeks to cycle tank.

10 Nov added 3 drops ~0.1ml ammonia to feed bacteria for next 36 hours until
fish arrive

endlers fish and cherry shrimp are all in look like they are doing very well!


OK as this may look odd - about me.
I have a history of need to know! I love knowledge and always have it top of my Christmas list - If its not an exact science all the better to experiment and find stuff out (red rag to a bull) and thus im used to documenting stuff... from breeding reptiles to replicating microchip behavior.. sad huh - sorry

Im considering setting up a few tanks and doing some experiments on the cycling see if we can polish the process some more to help speed along for people, without a doubt good seed material is a great start but not essential as you can see by my results both before and after seeding.

thanks again, was a great start.

 

[FirstTimeFishie]

Thank you so much for writing this guide. I have just started the Add Daily process and have a question. I just added in 4 ml of Ammonia to my 20 gal tank and waitied about 30 mins and then tested the water for ammonia using an API Liquid test kit. It is showing ammonia at 0ppm. Is it possible I did not add ennough ammonia. Though I would check before adding more.

Details.
20 Gal Tank
water dechlorinated
added 4ml ammonia at 4:30pm
Tested at 5:00pm Ammonia at 0ppm....

Hmmm.

 

[toc]

Thank you so much for writing this guide. I have just started the Add Daily process and have a question. I just added in 4 ml of Ammonia to my 20 gal tank and waitied about 30 mins and then tested the water for ammonia using an API Liquid test kit. It is showing ammonia at 0ppm. Is it possible I did not add ennough ammonia. Though I would check before adding more.

Details.
20 Gal Tank
water dechlorinated
added 4ml ammonia at 4:30pm
Tested at 5:00pm Ammonia at 0ppm....

Hmmm.

depends on the strength of the ammonia solution you used 9.5% ?

did you use the calc to find the recommended dosage?
Ammonia Calculations

check your tests aren't out of date or Ammonia you used isnt too old
make sure you shake your test bottles beforehand and check your test kit by adding Ammonia to some water and performing a test, if it works if so the amount is either too diluted or you have something taking the Ammonia out

 

[FirstTimeFishie]

Turns out I was so excited to test the water that I did not do the test correctly. Forgot to add the drops from bottle 2. Now I have another issue going on, I tyhink there may ba a bloom in the tank as it turned milky/cloudy. I have read up on this a bit and it seems the best solution may be to just wait.

Any idea on how long (ballpark) it should take for me to start seeing the first reduction in ammonia?

Thank you so much for writing this guide. I have just started the Add Daily process and have a question. I just added in 4 ml of Ammonia to my 20 gal tank and waitied about 30 mins and then tested the water for ammonia using an API Liquid test kit. It is showing ammonia at 0ppm. Is it possible I did not add ennough ammonia. Though I would check before adding more.

Details.
20 Gal Tank
water dechlorinated
added 4ml ammonia at 4:30pm
Tested at 5:00pm Ammonia at 0ppm....

Hmmm.

depends on the strength of the ammonia solution you used 9.5% ?

did you use the calc to find the recommended dosage?
Ammonia Calculations

check your tests aren't out of date or Ammonia you used isnt too old
make sure you shake your test bottles beforehand and check your test kit by adding Ammonia to some water and performing a test, if it works if so the amount is either too diluted or you have something taking the Ammonia out

 

[waterdrop]

Bacterial blooms are harmless, normal and go away with time. Each of the 3 stages of fishless cycling is quite unpredictable in length, although I sometimes tell people to think it might be perhaps 20 days in each of the 3, though you can hope it will be quicker. Some fishless cycles take only 35 days or so but many take about 70 days. Good luck with yours. You might want to start your own cycling thread as this is the reference article.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[nattetra]

Well - obviously well written. But not well understood for someone who is clueless in the fish world and obviously not well directed by the pet store. My water was never cloudy. I already have the fish in the tank - so what should I do now. The water is holding a good 78 temp - goes down to 76 with the lights and the fish seem fine - especially the betta. Some advice on some hardy fish that will live with the betta? Thanks.

yeah
how about some corys or tetras.
how ever dont get gupys which will be killed

 

[annaw123]

this is brilliant! i am new to fish keeping, and so confused about cycling tanks! you've cleared up the problems for me so thankyou very much!