New Fishless Cycle

[Kachi]

Ok, this is my first post. I guess I'll fill in a little back story of my little 10gal tank.

A month ago I went to my Dad's house for the weekend and helped him transfer his 55gal saltwater tank from his Rental to his house. It sparked my love of Fish all over again. When I was younger, I had 2 10gal tanks. One had a Goldfish in it (I know, I know) that my sister bought me as a "oh, you have a fish tank? Here, have a cheep fish I bought you for your birthday!" Anyway, he lasted 3 years. Coolest fish ever. In my other 10gal I inadvertently bread Guppies. Oh my lord, I have never seen so may little fish. That tank lasted 4 years till I had to move.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. I went out and bought a 10gal tank with a Hood and the fixings. I was just going to let it sit for a week or so before I put fish in it, I mean shoot, that's what I did when I was younger and everything worked out pretty well, right? Something was telling me to not do that. So I go poking around to find what to do and how to do it right. http/www.fishforums.net/ was the first one I found. Let me say, you guys/gals are great. The info and sticky posts you have are super helpful to someone like me.

So, I read through all the post about new freshwater tanks, how to cycle, that I need to get (API test kit, heater, etc...) I followed everything as closely as possible. Rewind to a week ago. I did everything right, I thought. Turned out I didn't check my Tap for how much Ammonia was in it, nor the pH. I also didn't get a heater, thinking my room was warm enough (I'm always on the computer, so my room is a good 3-5deg f hotter than the rest of my house.) Turns out, again, I was wrong. So before I go out and get a heater, I tested the Ammonia. Thinking, "Hey, it's 7 days in, 7-10 days is when the Ammonia might start going down." It didn't. It was so dark green something was wrong. For giggles, I did a full water changed. Tested the Tap for Ammonia, and acted accordingly with the Calculator on how much Ammonia to add to my tank (I got the ACE hardware 10% Pure Ammonia, good stuff). It was perfectly at 4ppm. After that, I went out and got a heater.

Rewind to 2 days ago (5 days after 100% water change). Water is at a constant 85, stayed super clear, yada yada. I go to test the Ammonia and it's still at 4ppm. The next day I test, 2ppm. Today, 0ppm. I'm super happy because I wanted to have a successful fish tank for once. Done right from the start. I made an Excel.doc with logs and graphs and color coded it, haha (I really get into hobbies when I do them.) I know it's still a long road ahead of me before I get fish in there, but I think it's a great start.

I know I said it would be a short back story, but I really wanted to thank all of you for the guides and help you give to other people that post (I read a lot of other people's posts too see if they might be going through the same thing I was.)

(sorry if that was long and exaggerated >.>)

 

[Kachi]

Odd, I edited the post once, but I didn't let me edit it again.

oh well, here's my log I'll be keeping. Log

I'll update it daily from 11am EST - 1pm EST.

 

[Kachi]

Day 3: Cycle Log

Ammonia went back down to 0ppm from 4ppm - 4:30pm yesterday to 12:15pm today.

Nitrite off the chart as expected (what I gather at least from reading the sticky about fishless cycling) and Nitrate at 10ppm.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

It is time to lower your daily ammonia dose to about 2ppm, in an effort to keep the nitrite from continuing to rise off the chart. If it stays off the chart, do a full water change to clear them and continue to dose at 2ppm daily. When the nitrite falls to zero, finally - raise the dose back up to 4ppm and begin 12 hour testing (but continue to dose at the regular time once a day). You are now clearly in the second phase of the cycle - the nitrite spike. This is generally the longest phase of the cycle process.

 

[Kachi]

Thank you so much for your reply.

I just want to clarify to make sure I know exactly what to do.

1) Reduce Ammonia dosage to 2ppm daily for a few days to see if -
a) Nitrite levels go lower than "Off the chart"
b) If they don't in say, 3? days, do a 100% water change to reset the water.

2) Continue Ammonia dosage once daily (2ppm) until Nitrite drops to 0ppm in 12 Hours.

3) Once Nitrite drops to 0ppm in 12 hours at a 2ppm Ammonia dosage, up to 4ppm Ammonia and test every 12 hours

4) Continue to dose once daily 4ppm Ammonia until Ammonia AND Nitrite drop to 0ppm in 12 hours.

5) Make sure it's not a fluke, do for 1-2 more days
a) If fluke, keep Cycling
b) If Cycled, full water changed to Zero out everything (Nitrate)

6) Fish friends?


Sorry if that's annoying. That's how my brain works. Lists, haha. And I also want to be 100% sure to do it right. I hate having anything die because of something I skimped out on.

Again, thank you so much for your help.

 

[Kachi]

Day 4: Cycle Log

Seems like Nitrite went down a ton. It had a green tint if I let the test go the whole 5 min yesterday and the day before that. Today, it just stayed Purple, very close to 5ppm.

Started testing pH. To me it seems just a little high, but I've only read so far that if it's LOW (6pH) it will stall the Cycle process.

 

[Kachi]

Day 5: Cycle Log

Nitrite seemed to have gone down.

Redossing to 2ppm as directed untill Nitrite hit 0 ppm then will dose Ammonia to 4 ppm again.

 

[Halo2928]

Im liking how you're cycle is going = ) , did you seed with mature media as youre ammonia is going down real fast unlike me where im on day 4 and ammonia is at 2ppm (i think lol) . Good luck ; )

 

[XeroTolerance]

It is always nice to see a new hobbyist doing it right.

Good luck!

 

[Kachi]

Im liking how you're cycle is going = ) , did you seed with mature media as youre ammonia is going down real fast unlike me where im on day 4 and ammonia is at 2ppm (i think lol) . Good luck ; )

Actually I didn't seed with mature media. I only started keeping a log when I saw the first Ammonia drop (was still testing every day tho).. I actually had some issues with my Tap water when I first started my Cycle. I had WAY over 8 ppm somehow (Tap has 1ppm). After a week it was still above 8ppm Ammonia. So I did a 100% water change, used the Calculator to compensate for my Tap and in 2 days it was down to 2ppm then next day 0ppm

Like everyone else has said, it just happens over night. I was supper happy when it did.

If this is your first time doing this like it is mine, I wish you the best. You'll be so happy when you see that first drop. I'm 20 and I jumped for joy and told my Dad (he started my love for fish.)

It is always nice to see a new hobbyist doing it right.

Good luck!

Thank you very much!

Everything I've learned so far has been from you guys/gals.

 

[Halo2928]

Thank you, this is my first time = P , I need to do a water change as my nitrates have spiked massively eventhough i still have 2ppm of ammonia but i cannot find the siphon

 

[Kachi]

Day 6: Cycle Log

Looks like the Nitrite got a LITTLE bit lighter in the purple color department.

Might just be my eyes or that the seal that leaked everywhere when I was shaking the Nitrate tube that made it look a little lighter. We'll see tomorrow.

 

[Kachi]

Day 7: Cycle Log

Ammonia - .25ppm.
I tested last night for giggles before I went to bed and it was at 0 ppm. Tested at my normal time at was .25 ppm, but just barely. Will test in 2 hours to see if 0ppm.

Nitrite - Definitely went down.


Nitrate - Solid 20ppm


Still curious about the Ammonia. Wondering if it's a fluke or my new way of getting water in the tubes. Before I would just dip them into my tank and pour some out to get it to the level. This would sometimes take many tries because water hates me and won't just drip one drop. So I went out and got a Medicine Syringe (Medicine Syringe Pic) to easily get it to the line for all of them really quickly. Wondering if that had an effect somehow.

Oh well, will test Ammonia again in 2 Hours.

 

[Kachi]

Tested Ammonia again. Back at 0 ppm.

Re dosed to 2-3ppm.

As observed in todays Cycle log, Nitrite is starting to go down. It was a much different color than yesterday. Much lighter.

I assume (I'll see from the log) that I can start upping to 4ppm again in a few days.

 

[Kachi]

Day 8: Cycle Log

Seems like the Nitrite is dropping fast. Down to .25 ppm.

Once Nitrite hits 0ppm, I'll start testing every 12 hours and up the Ammonia dosage to 4ppm again.


yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy