Justfrozen's Fishless Cycle Log

[JustFrozen]

yeah the thing is that there's so many factors, so many things that CAN go wrong, and it's sometimes hard to see when/what they are, especially for a newbie like me. that's part of why i'm not even that aggravated by how long it's taking. this is a learning experience first and foremost. i haven't been able to afford the rest of the setup lately anyway. finishing qualifying week will just be that much more rewarding when it happens.

anyway, back to my current status: when i was going through the nitrite spike phase the first time, i was totally clueless when it came to understanding when it was off the charts. i think what kept throwing me off is that it wouldnt turn a strange color after the 5 minutes, like it says in the guide. it became obvious though that it was through the roof when the drops would turn deep purple as soon as they hit the bottom of the tube. towards the end of the nitrite spike phase i noticed the behavior changed - the drops took longer to turn purple, and the color wasnt a highly saturated deep purple. it was still a purple, but a lot more mellow. that's what i've been seeing the past few days. the drops take time (like a couple seconds or so) to turn purple, and then i shake the tube as directed and notice the color is a very mild purple, close to the turquoise color we dream of seeing. so based on what i've been through in the past it seems like my filter is getting close to clearing all the nitrite again. it might still be off the chart, but i dont think it's way off like much of my 1st nitrite spike phase was. hopefully that's not just a factor of recent water changes =/

and hopefully that colony is getting that ammonia down to 0 within 12 hours by now. at least it's been consistent with the 24hr mark

 

[waterdrop]

 

[JustFrozen]

after days and days i still got the same behavior. i dont think i'm going to record anything anymore. i dont think i'm even going to try to cycle anymore. either way i'm sure i'll be back, but this just isnt working

 

[waterdrop]

JF, Why don't you just do the big water change and introduce a medium-large shoal of something relatively hardy, hopefully a species you're interested in and that is not too expensive and then just monitor and be prepared to do some water changes if necessary. Your filter seems to be handling ammonia just fine and often a real bioload will result in less nitrite than the fishless cycling dosing. The chemistry of a working tank with fish can be somewhat different from one that is fishless cycling.

WD

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Hi JF. CONGATULATIONS FOR GOING THIS LONG...REALLY....YOU HAVE THE PATIENCE OF A SAINT!(sorry caps)
however, I really feelfor you. Its a pain I know, but think, qualification week might just be 2 days from now, or a week. don't give up a lifestimes pleasure of watching those waited for fish swimming,...in your home!
or do what I did, put a few fish in, keep testing and everytime nitrites and ammonia go above 0.25 do a waterchange. its that simple really. (I unfortunately lost my fish and am cycling the tank again)
Or take bucket of water out, stir up the gravel to release any ammo nia and nitrites, syphon it to as empty as you can, and put everything back ( dechlorinated water, baking soda etc) rinse the tubes from the filter ....not the sponges as you havn't long rinsed them, and start it up again. add the ammonia at 2ppm, if the ammonia is being cleared in 12hours 2ppm will hopefully kickin the nitrite bacs. once nitrites are down in 12 hours then add 4ppm ammonia.
chin up, you'll get there

 

[JustFrozen]

Yeah, I'm the kind of person who dreads giving up on something until I get a minimal result I want (this case being a finished cycle), so believe me it actually took a lot of convincing myself to even give up on it. Rather than empty the tank and throw it in the garage though, I've been already thinking I'll just empty it, refill it and start adding fish. Not the entire full stocking level, maybe half that at the most. Also along the lines of what WD is saying, I think I'm going to avoid tetras for now and stick with bettas. Before you jump to that reply button, please listen that I'm planning to pull off a betta sorority (addressing the aggression problem). I need to head back to the betta forum for a refresher course, but I don't see any reason why this shouldn't be possible. I even have a small backup tank to isolate any girls getting picked on too much.

One thing is for sure, I'm going to make sure there's decorations and plants in the tank to break line of sight before they all get added. Maybe I'll just move my lone betta that I already have for now...

Whatcha all think? Go for it?

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Yeah, I'm the kind of person who dreads giving up on something until I get a minimal result I want (this case being a finished cycle), so believe me it actually took a lot of convincing myself to even give up on it. Rather than empty the tank and throw it in the garage though, I've been already thinking I'll just empty it, refill it and start adding fish. Not the entire full stocking level, maybe half that at the most. Also along the lines of what WD is saying, I think I'm going to avoid tetras for now and stick with bettas. Before you jump to that reply button, please listen that I'm planning to pull off a betta sorority (addressing the aggression problem). I need to head back to the betta forum for a refresher course, but I don't see any reason why this shouldn't be possible. I even have a small backup tank to isolate any girls getting picked on too much.

One thing is for sure, I'm going to make sure there's decorations and plants in the tank to break line of sight before they all get added. Maybe I'll just move my lone betta that I already have for now...

Whatcha all think? Go for it?

well I hardly think a betta is going to put your filter at any disadvantage. i love bettas and have 2 males, in separate tanks of course. what do you need to brush up on....maybe i can help
Here is a reply to a beginner betta fancier, so sorryif theres stuff you already know, as i copy paste it over from the other forum

hi there i shall try answer all thoughts and questions on bettas
1 do not keep more than one male betta in a tank...and dont put a female in with him for company, he'll kill her...most important rule lol
2 feed once a day...mini pellets, fish flake, and once a week..tubiflex/bloodworm/brine shrimp..either frozen, dried, or live...if dried food is given, add a deshelled pea once a week
3 lots of real and/or silk plants..not plastic as they tear fins
4 gravel or sand either its your preference
5 heater, sponge filter, and yes stocking over inlet..great.
6 water change every time a fluid water test kit says ammonia or nitrite about 0.25ppm....with one fish in a tank your size once a week should probably be enough
7 they like hidey holes, caves, coconut caves, rocks to hide behind or shelter in, ( arranged like flintstone house)
8 they don't really like tankmates..i have golden apple snails in with mine, and some have had success with pygmy corydoras or norman lampeye fish, nothing with big colourful tails/fins as he'll see them as a threat.
9 they love your company so spend time talking to him. My Blaze allows me to stroke his belly a tiny bit. and will come up to my finger to feed ( not take off my finger but almost there)
10 Bettas have a number of tail types,... veil tail, crowntail, combtail, spadetail, platkat tail, double tail
11 bettas have a number of different tail fin type...halfmoon, delta, superdelta, there probably are others i cant remember their names
12 bettas have load of colours, single colour, bi-colour, tri - colour, marble, butterfly, dragon,

these are my tanks, the top one is a 64l and the bottom one is a 48L

any other questions, just ask me or the betta forum, we will all help you as much as we can
(And a sorority should be 6 females)

 

[JustFrozen]

i've had a betta for over 3 years before and a new one for the past half a year. thats a big part of why i'd like to just go with them after all. i know i can handle them (other than taking care of a whole group) and i like the way they look (and act for that matter - they often have fun personalities)

as i've mentioned in this thread before i have a crappy heater, which might be partly responsible for how long the cycle is taking. i'd feel better just not having it in there with the bettas. i dont have a heater is my smaller 5gal and she's been fine. in fact i've never used a heater with bettas and they've always been fine. then again the temperature inside my living areas is pretty much always stable and i live in southern california where its fairly moderate year-round so maybe thats why

after reading up some more, i guess the only things i'm wondering is if i should start out with the one i have so that other tank is free if i need it (worried about this though because i've become attached to her and i'd hate for her to be the one picked on) and whether or not the lack of heater is really ok. other than that i think i'm good to go!

 

[LilyRose Tank]

well I am a newbie to fish in general, but I love Bettas, I have 2 boys in separate tanks, and am considering beginning a sorority too but as I said before You should be keeping the temp at 22-26 really, if the temp is that without a heater then it should be fine.

 

[JustFrozen]

I've got everything in now, including fish!

I have 6 female bettas in. I will make a new thread soon in the betta forum with pics!

Thanks again to all especially WD for helping with the cycling even though it never really finished. I learned a ton from the whole process, and it will definitely be an experience I build upon

 

[waterdrop]

OK, You're welcome JF, enjoyed the interaction. Bettas are pretty tough and we're hoping you're fully cycled now anyway so I hope all goes well. We'd be interested in hearing of your stats from time to time over the next weeks - would be interesting to know if ammonia and nitrite just stay solidly at zero or whether you get any mini spikes.

WD

 

[JustFrozen]

2 days in and no sign of anything, but that's to be expected I suppose. It seems like a pretty large amount of water and filtration for 6 little fish. I'll see how it goes though. I've got that thread posted now, head over to see some pics

 

[JustFrozen]

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread. I'm just so excited by my new additions to this tank: 5 harlequin rasboras and an albino rainbow shark. The tank is still completely calm and peaceful, except for the rasboras darting all over and playing in the current. I love watching them run around together. It has brought a lot of life to the tank and I'm excited about the hobby again.

If anyone remembers or can see by the thread, I was one of the people who failed to get the tank to cycle properly after a very long time. I've had a betta sorority for the past year but now it's great to realize most of my original vision.

So right now i've got
- 9 female bettas
- 5 harlequin rasboras
- 1 albino rainbow shark

Soon I'd like to add some cory's and some more schooling fish, maybe neon tetras, xray fish or maybe more rasboras.

And thanks again for all that helped =)

 

[waterdrop]

Wow, that was like a double blast from the past, I've been away a lot too and I saw your thread and thought, "wait a minute..." lol

Congrats on your new additions and your patience! I'm looking at my rasboras right now (love 'em) despite their light already being out for the night.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[JustFrozen]

nice.. waterdrop replied. u stuck with me the longest and were the most helpful. good to see u