Just Started My First Fishless Cycle

[fatheadminnow]

Yes, this is what I mean. Right now just try to get through the cycle with whatever means necessary, however; after the cycle is complete joshybyoshy should look for a more permanent way of stabilizing his pH.

-FHM

 

[joshybjoshy]

im really confused mny Nitrite level has just dropped to zero

Im sure this is a good sign has anyone seen this before i know ive added chemicals before that maybe wasnt suggested to do so but it seems as this is moving to quickly which is good really but im not sure if im doing anything wrong. Maybe BIcarb is the secret to lowering Nitrite lol

 

[OldMan47]

Bicarb is often the secret to getting a stalled cycle going again. If I recall your situation correctly, you started with some cycled media that you are try to build on. In that situation, things can move very quickly. I usually clone a new tank and am finished in under a week that way.

 

[joshybjoshy]

so far what i have used and put in there

day 1 when filled with water

Seachrem prime dechlorintaor also removes ammonia and detoxifies nitrite and nitrate
Api stress zyme - Biological filter booster

Then day 6 put some more prime in to see if it worked on the nitrite level

About day 3 i squezzed all the dirt out of my old filter next to the new one but didnt put the media in the filter just squeezed the muck out

day 7 i added some more stress zyme as instructed on bottle and alos added the bicarb to boost the PH and also added another fluval u4 filter

maybe the PH has a very stong chance when it is above 8 it gets rid of nitrite quicker

 

[OldMan47]

Yep, day 3 you added material to clone a filter. Starting then, you have been just trying to grow that colony of bacteria bigger. The bicarb will have released it to grow much more quickly. I often clone a filter by simply cleaning an old one in a new tank. A cycle when I do that rarely takes more than a week.

 

[joshybjoshy]

Thats sounds good but no so good as i need money for fish and dont get paid until 15th of jan i supose when it is starting to be at zero every 12 hours i can just add the same amount of ammonia twice a day until i get paid then do a big water changen say a day before.

Will the bacteria continue to stay alive if im still adding ammonia?

 

[OldMan47]

You can add the ammonia once a day, just like during the cycle itself and it will be fine. There is never a need for dosing twice a day.

 

[joshybjoshy]

ah thats ok then its just deciding what fish to have.

I really like Malawis but i dont know if my tanks big enouogh to just keep labs and some other smaller malawis

 

[joshybjoshy]

Ammonia is going down nicely and im not sure if the Nitrite was at 2ppm or 5ppm hopefully it will be at zero tomorrow

 

[joshybjoshy]

looking good on the tests hopefully it will start speeding up. when you should i start testing twice ad day do you think?

 

[fatheadminnow]

looking good on the tests hopefully it will start speeding up. when you should i start testing twice ad day do you think?

When you are testing for 0 ppm of ammonia and nitrite, at the 24 hour mark.

-FHM

 

[joshybjoshy]

hmm i think this is where my Nitrite spike is going to start im at 0ppm ammonia now and im going to add 3-4ppm and i think its going to hold it above tyhe 5ppm mark of nitrate now for a while never mind see how it goes

 

[joshybjoshy]

Im shocked

I really thought the Nitrite would be well high today as im adding Ammonia every day now! But its gone down.

Im going to reduce the amount of ammonia im putting in to 4ppm now

 

[joshybjoshy]

when i am testing at the 12 hour mark do i and the ammonia is at 0ppm but the nitrite is still high do i still need to be adding 5ppm of ammonia at 12 hours or is it just 5ppm per day?

 

[OldMan47]

If you are in the nitrite spike, just add about 2 ppm of ammonia once a day. It seems to help speed up that stage doing it that way. I have no idea why, but it does.