Has My Fishless Cycle Finally Finished?

[Sc0tt8]

Hi all,

Bit of your expertise required please!

I think my fishless cycle has now finished. Could you please provide some guidence if i'm correct/incorrect?

Today is day 73 in my cycly (Although i did restart the process on day 10 due to wrong ammonia used, so i suppose i'm on day 63!)

I've been processing 5ppm ammonia in 12 hours for the past 10 days now & nitrites are now at 0 and have been for 4 days now! Does this mean i've finished?

The only thing i'm worried about, is that nitrites didn't exactly seem to spike, that peaked at >5 for only 2-3 days and as mentioned above, dropped to 0 on 17.09.09.

Todays (21.09.09) 24hr reading's are as follows:

PH = 7.4
Temp: 28
NH3 = 0
N02 = 0
No3 = between 40-80

added 5ppm ammonia

Am i finished yet?

Regards,

Sc0tt8

going to keep it updated here to save adding new posts:

22.09.09-26.09.09
A.M.
NH3 = 0
N02 = 5

P.M.
N02 = 0
PH = 7.4 ... added 5ppm ammonia.

23.09.09
A.M.
NH3 = 0
N02 = 5

27.09.09

A.M.
NH3 = 0
N02 = 1 -- Getting there!

P.M.
N02 = 0 .... added 5ppm ammonia.

28.09.09

A.M.
NH3 = 0
N02 = 1

P.M.
N02 = 0 ... added 5ppm ammonia.

Today (29.09.09)

A.M.
NH3 = 0
N02 = 1

P.M.
N02 = 0
NH3 = 0
N03 = between 80 - 160
PH = 6.2!!! ... added 5ppm ammonia.

 

[fatheadminnow]

Looking good!

You are most likely done!

What you should do right now is, continue doing what you are doing, adding 5 ppm of ammonia and what not, for one more week, or at least for another 3 days.

It is very common to have a mini nitrite spike during the final week and it is best to catch it now, then when fish are in the tank.

After that, if everything is where is should be, then go ahead and do a 90% water change! Then you will be ready for fish!

-FHM

 

[Sc0tt8]

Thanks FHM!

Results this morning after adding 5ppm Ammonia last night:

22.09.09
A.M.
NH3 = 0
N02 = 5

P.M.
N02 = 0
PH = 7.4 ... added 5ppm ammonia.

Will keep this up to date now for the next few days following 12/24 hour test, will appreciate any comments.

 

[Harlequins]

looking good

Like FHM said has long has the ammonia/nitrite process 0 in 12 hours for 7 days,then you're there!

 

[fatheadminnow]

Thanks FHM!

Results this morning after adding 5ppm Ammonia last night:

NH3 = 0
N02 = 5

Will keep this up to date now for the next few days following 12/24 hour test, will appreciate any comments.

Yup, just keep it up for a couple days.

It seems like you might have a little nitrite spike, hopefully that goes away.

So, ammonia and nitrite should be zero at 12 hours after dosing ammonia up to 5 ppm. After that for a steady week, you will be ready for fish!

-FHM

 

[Sc0tt8]

Thanks for the replies!

I have a few questions..

What happens after the water change, do I have to keep testing/adding NH3?

How long after water change + temp drop do I have to wait before stocking my first fish?

Sorry for this one.. but when I water change, do I need to dechlorinate new water before it goes in the tank? Or can I dechlorinate once all the water is in?

Also out of this little lot, what would be the best order & required interval to stock?

Kribensis/ram -- haven't decideded yet!
gourami
bristlenose plec
corys

help is always appreciated!

Thanks,

Sc0tt8

 

[fatheadminnow]

Thanks for the replies!

I have a few questions..

What happens after the water change, do I have to keep testing/adding NH3? The 90% water change is to bring the Nitrates down after they have added up over the course of the cycle. anything under 40 ppm is suitable for fish. So, weekly water changes is what keeps you nitrates under control after the cycle completes. You will need to know how much you nitrates raise over the course of a week, after your cycle is done and you have fish. Then, based on that, you will know how much water to take out to reduce you nitrates. Really they should not get up over 40 ppm. Usually a 10-20% water change is all that is needed each week.

How long after water change + temp drop do I have to wait before stocking my first fish? Since you are processing 5 ppm of ammonia to zero within 12 hours, that means you have colonized enough bacteria in your filter to handle you full stocking of fish for your size tank. After the temp is normal, and you added water conditioner, you can safely add up to your full stocking of fish.

Sorry for this one.. but when I water change, do I need to dechlorinate new water before it goes in the tank? Or can I dechlorinate once all the water is in? If you dechlorinate the water before you put the water in, you just need to add enough dechlor for that much water. If you add the water to the tank first (not recommended) you will need to add dechlor to treat the entire tank.

Also out of this little lot, what would be the best order & required interval to stock?

Kribensis/ram -- haven't decideded yet!
gourami
bristlenose plec
corys

The Kribs, IMO, first.

help is always appreciated!

Thanks,

Sc0tt8

 

[Sc0tt8]

Thanks for the replies!

I have a few questions..

What happens after the water change, do I have to keep testing/adding NH3? The 90% water change is to bring the Nitrates down after they have added up over the course of the cycle. anything under 40 ppm is suitable for fish. So, weekly water changes is what keeps you nitrates under control after the cycle completes. You will need to know how much you nitrates raise over the course of a week, after your cycle is done and you have fish. Then, based on that, you will know how much water to take out to reduce you nitrates. Really they should not get up over 40 ppm. Usually a 10-20% water change is all that is needed each week.

How long after water change + temp drop do I have to wait before stocking my first fish? Since you are processing 5 ppm of ammonia to zero within 12 hours, that means you have colonized enough bacteria in your filter to handle you full stocking of fish for your size tank. After the temp is normal, and you added water conditioner, you can safely add up to your full stocking of fish.

Sorry for this one.. but when I water change, do I need to dechlorinate new water before it goes in the tank? Or can I dechlorinate once all the water is in? If you dechlorinate the water before you put the water in, you just need to add enough dechlor for that much water. If you add the water to the tank first (not recommended) you will need to add dechlor to treat the entire tank.

Also out of this little lot, what would be the best order & required interval to stock?

Kribensis/ram -- haven't decideded yet!
gourami
bristlenose plec
corys

The Kribs, IMO, first.

help is always appreciated!

Thanks,

Sc0tt8

Great stuff FHM! Thank you!

So basically,, in the short interim period between my 90% water change and adding fish, i don't need to worry about adding Ammonia & still testing?

I'm hoping to complete my cycle and to change my water on Friday & stock my first fish on Sunday! Does that sound ok?

 

[fatheadminnow]

Thanks for the replies!

I have a few questions..

What happens after the water change, do I have to keep testing/adding NH3? The 90% water change is to bring the Nitrates down after they have added up over the course of the cycle. anything under 40 ppm is suitable for fish. So, weekly water changes is what keeps you nitrates under control after the cycle completes. You will need to know how much you nitrates raise over the course of a week, after your cycle is done and you have fish. Then, based on that, you will know how much water to take out to reduce you nitrates. Really they should not get up over 40 ppm. Usually a 10-20% water change is all that is needed each week.

How long after water change + temp drop do I have to wait before stocking my first fish? Since you are processing 5 ppm of ammonia to zero within 12 hours, that means you have colonized enough bacteria in your filter to handle you full stocking of fish for your size tank. After the temp is normal, and you added water conditioner, you can safely add up to your full stocking of fish.

Sorry for this one.. but when I water change, do I need to dechlorinate new water before it goes in the tank? Or can I dechlorinate once all the water is in? If you dechlorinate the water before you put the water in, you just need to add enough dechlor for that much water. If you add the water to the tank first (not recommended) you will need to add dechlor to treat the entire tank.

Also out of this little lot, what would be the best order & required interval to stock?

Kribensis/ram -- haven't decideded yet!
gourami
bristlenose plec
corys

The Kribs, IMO, first.

help is always appreciated!

Thanks,

Sc0tt8

Great stuff FHM! Thank you!

So basically,, in the short interim period between my 90% water change and adding fish, i don't need to worry about adding Ammonia & still testing? Nope, unless you change out the water and decide on not getting fish for like a week or something.

I'm hoping to complete my cycle and to change my water on Friday & stock my first fish on Sunday! Does that sound ok? That sounds good to me. I would personally change the water out and then add fish within a day. So maybe do the water change on Saturday?

The bacteria in our filters will die off at a rate of about 3-10% a day if there is no ammonia present. So I would try to add fish within a day of the 90% water change.

-FHM

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Scott,

In post 3 it appears that you showed a 5ppm result for nitrite(NO2) "in the morning after adding ammonia the night before" (which I assume means it was basically a "12 hours later" test, right?).

Unfortunately, if you get a reading for ammonia or nitrite on your 12 hour test then that should "re-set" the beginning of your "qualifying week." Now the week doesn't need to be a full 7 days if you finally get a stretch of "doube-zero readings" but you should still be suspicious if you're still getting a high reading like 5.

We -do- see a lot of fishless cycle cases wrap up between day 60 and day 70, so hopefully that nitrite reading might be your last spike before your biofilter settles in for good!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Sc0tt8]

Hi Scott,

In post 3 it appears that you showed a 5ppm result for nitrite(NO2) "in the morning after adding ammonia the night before" (which I assume means it was basically a "12 hours later" test, right?).

Unfortunately, if you get a reading for ammonia or nitrite on your 12 hour test then that should "re-set" the beginning of your "qualifying week." Now the week doesn't need to be a full 7 days if you finally get a stretch of "doube-zero readings" but you should still be suspicious if you're still getting a high reading like 5.

We -do- see a lot of fishless cycle cases wrap up between day 60 and day 70, so hopefully that nitrite reading might be your last spike before your biofilter settles in for good!

~~waterdrop~~

oh... Ok, so both ammonia & nitrite have to process to 0 in 12 hours after adding 5ppm of ammonia? It seems as though I'm processing ammonia to 0 by the 12 hour test & processing nitrite to 0 in 24 hours.. Is my cycle incomplete then??

please refer to post 1 for up-to-date results.


Ps. Thanks fhm, that's helped a lot!

 

[fatheadminnow]

Yup, Ammonia and Nitrite should both be at zero at the 12 hour mark.

Hang in there, you are doing good!

-FHM

 

[Sc0tt8]

Ok. At least I know now,, thanks for clearing that up! Got my hopes up as well

approx. How long does it take to process nitrite in 12 hours, rather than 24?

 

[waterdrop]

Well, the final phase of fishless cycling where you've clearly finished your "nitrite spike" phase and are waiting for both ammonia and nitrite to process to zero within 12 hours is quite unpredictable, just like the first two phases. What often happens is that the 12 hour ammonia test is already zero but the 12 hour NO2 test fluctuates wildly for a bit then drops to a very low trace amount. Then sometimes, very inexplicably, the ammonia test will start showing some traces (which gets people upset.) Then one or both of the toxins will "stick" at a low trace amount each time you do the 12 hour tests and it will drive you crazy for a bit. But then finally one day they will both just come up zero ppm and you'll be shocked and they will just keep showing "double-zeros" day after day... this is your "qualifying week" and hopefully the way your biofilter will test out forever after (music...)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Sc0tt8]

lol! Thanks Waterdrop..

Still seems like i've got a while to go then..

Either way, i'll make sure i keep my results up-to-date.. As always, i appreciate the comments!

Sc0tt8