Trying to stay patient w/ cycle!!

[TheWaterBoy]

Its been 31 days now and I have not had to add any more ammonia yet. I keep checking and checking and I dont think its ever going to drop. I have what I think is a bacteria bloom. I have had it for like two weeks now. I know it can take as many as 8 weeks but I thought something would have happened by now.

I hate looking up there and seeing a empty aquarium

 

[drobbins27]

Use Cycle, or Bio-Spira, available at most LFS

 

[tstenback]

the cycle can take a while but your comment

I have not had to add any more ammonia yet

concerns me. when you fishless cycle you spike the tank with ammonia , which i believe you did, How high was the ammonia level? After you spike the tank usually around 3-5 ppm you add the same amount of ammonia daily until you see nitrites then you cut the dose in half until the ammonia and nitrites are 0 and the nitrates start to climb.
Does this sound like what you have done?
Have you checked the nitrite level at all? if so what is it?
This info will help the people here try to figure what has gone awry with your cycle.
If you have no nitrites at this point. I would suggest a complete water change and then measure the amount of ammonia that will cause a reading of 3-5 ppm. then follow the procedure above and test your levels daily.
and ask more questions as you proceed if you are unsure of the results. HTH

 

[canarsie11]

Its been 31 days now and I have not had to add any more ammonia yet. I keep checking and checking and I dont think its ever going to drop. I have what I think is a bacteria bloom. I have had it for like two weeks now. I know it can take as many as 8 weeks but I thought something would have happened by now.

I hate looking up there and seeing a empty aquarium

I am setting up my tank right now, and I am a newbie. This cycling talk makes me nervous. I think I want to do a fishless cycle. I know about amonia, but do u need a bacteria to be introduced also? If so, where do you get it?

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Its been 31 days now and I have not had to add any more ammonia yet. I keep checking and checking and I dont think its ever going to drop. I have what I think is a bacteria bloom. I have had it for like two weeks now. I know it can take as many as 8 weeks but I thought something would have happened by now.

I hate looking up there and seeing a empty aquarium

I am setting up my tank right now, and I am a newbie. This cycling talk makes me nervous. I think I want to do a fishless cycle. I know about amonia, but do u need a bacteria to be introduced also? If so, where do you get it?

The bacteria forms fro the amonia you put in the tank during the cycle. That's what cycling is, building up the good bacteria that turn amonia to nitrItes and then to nitrAtes.

Hang in there TheWaterBoy! You know it will be worth it in the end and remember to check out what tstenback said.

 

[modernhamlet]

I am setting up my tank right now, and I am a newbie. This cycling talk makes me nervous. I think I want to do a fishless cycle. I know about amonia, but do u need a bacteria to be introduced also? If so, where do you get it?

Yes, adding some form of bacteria starter can dramatically help the process.

In approximate order of usefulness/bacterial content:

1. Bio-Spira
2. Filter floss/media from an established tank
3. Gravel from an established tank
4. Plants
5. Rocks and decoration from an established tank
6. Fish

I'm sure others have more possibilities, but the first three are what you're after. Ask your LFS or another fishkeeper you know and trust. They should be able to set you up.

 

[Erika_4404]

Get This stuff called PRIME it will help over night trust me, it will get rid of your amonia, nitrite , nitrate, and chloine, ect... trust me i use it every time i do a water chang, and i never have any problems with my levels.


-----------------------------------------------
20 gallon salt water
spotted lion fish
flame angle
snow flake eli
clown fish
damsle fish
cleaner shrimp
snails
crab
10 lbs live rock
live sand
STILL WORKING ON IT FISH ONLY TANK

3 1/2 gallon NANO reef tank
mushroom
sponge
ritter anemone
crocea
lettuce nudibranch
marshall island electric blue hermit
glass anemone shrimp
stripped manderin goby
pot belly sea horse ( hard to take care of)
grouper white with black spots
black and white clown fish

150 gallon reef and fish tank
to many living creatues to mention at this time

 

[modernhamlet]

Get This stuff called PRIME it will help over night trust me, it will get rid of your amonia, nitrite , nitrate, and chloine, ect... trust me i use it every time i do a water chang, and i never have any problems with my levels.

I have to disagree. PRIME does 2 things:

1. Removes chlorine and chloromine. A standard water conditioner like Hagen AquaPlus will do the same thing for less money.

2. Removes ammonia and nitrites. This is what the bacteria are for. You have to establish this bacterial colony in order to eliminate the ammonia and nitrites. Adding chemicals to maintain safe levels may work in a pinch to save your fish, but isn't a good long term strategy.

 

[Erika_4404]

i have 5 tanks and every time this is what i use and it says it on the bottle what it get rid of, so take it or leave it no reason for sacasim

 

[MadCow]

I started my fishless cycle last Saturday. Had trace nitrites (.25) 2 days ago and cut my ammonia in half. Now my nitrites are are in the .5-1.0 range, and my ammonia had come down a little last night. I read either on this forum or another that raising your water temperature to 84 degrees while you are cycling the tank may help. Also make sure you are using pure/clear ammonia. No perfumes or additives. If you shake the bottle up and it foams, it has additives. If no foam it is ok, as I understand it. These are the steps I have taken so far. With good results thus far.

1) Raised tank temp to 84 degrees
2) Bought a live plant from lfs for bacteria starter.
3) Borrowed a handful of gravel from an established tank. (I bought one of those socks that goes over your filter intake tube to keep junk from being sucked up, it has a drawstring top. Works great hanging in my tank to hold the gravel. And set me back like $1.50)
4) Bought clear ammonia from Walmart.
5) Added ammonia a little at a time to get reading in the 3-5 range. I used a 3ml syringe. Made it easy to add 1/2 to 1ml at a time until I had my reading. (Took 6ml for my 29 gal tank)
6) Have tested for ammonia and nitrites every day, as close to the same time as possible. Then added the same amount of ammonia as the initial treatment. Until my nitrites showed up. Then I started adding 1/2 of the original amount of ammonia each day.

The keys I think for me so far are raising my temp to 84 degrees and having a good bacteria start with the plant and gravel. Of course my cycle is not complete and I could be on here tomorrow crying for help. But so far so good anyways. I hope this helps.

 

[modernhamlet]

i have 5 tanks and every time this is what i use and it says it on the bottle what it get rid of, so take it or leave it no reason for sacasim

I don't understand. There was no sacasim (sarcasm?) in my post. I was stating that I didn't think that PRIME was going to help as much as you think it will. You are certainly entitled to your opinion. I'm simply expressing mine.

 

[CMC]

I agree (my opinion) with modernhamlet on this. The best way to cycle a tank is to let it run it's natural course (we prefer the fishless cycle method) and be patient. If you're water params are good and you have beneficial bacteria when you do a partial water change, you shouldn't need to add anything anyway to adjust the nitrites and ammonia.

 

[Ted's Mom]

I think our tank has just finished cycling. I just want to add that when the nitrites spike, they really spike, and when they come down, they plummet.

 

[DrOizo]

You have to remember if you've just placed conditioned water in a new clean sterile tank and added ammonia then there will be no good bacteria in there, you've in effect created a sterile body of water. You really need to boost it with bio-spira or gravel form establised aquarium. This will vastly increase the speed at which your bacteria will be able to get 'up to speed'

 

[TheWaterBoy]

Sorry about not getting back to my topic sooner.

-I added enough ammonia to get it up to between 4 and 8 ppm
-My temp is set to 82
-I did not add any media cause I didnt think I had a source I could trust not to add bad things to my water as well as good.
-I havent added any ammonia because I planned on waiting for the ammonia to before I added more with the intent on keeping it at around 5ppm at all times.
I couldnt see the point in adding more and more ammonia before there was any bacteria converting it into nirtites. For example: If i had added half of what it took to get it up to 5ppm every day and the bacteria took a week to start breaking it down then by the end of the week I would have a total of 20ppm before the ammonia even began being converted. It just didnt seem logical. why not just wait till it started breaking it down before adding more.