Fishless Cycle- Water Query

[bretty1984]

Hi all,
 
just took the plunge and have bought a 23 litre tank which I set up on Thursday. It is my first tank so I didnt want to go big! When I say set up, I have put the heater and filter in place. Added the solution that gets rid of chlorine etc etc and for the last three days I have been adding a biological enhancer, as per the instructions. The water temperature is up where it should be and the filter looks to be running ok. I have read that it helps to add a pinch of fish food to the empty tank to help the cycle before adding fish.
 
This is all new to me and I am still learning but I have two queries regarding the water.
 
1. The water doesn't look as clean as it did, and I understand this is probably normal but should I change it when doing a fishless cycle or should I leave it until I have introduced the fish?
 
2. I have a water test kit and I have read that for the first 7 days the readings will spike before settling down it is not worth taking a reading until the time comes to add the fish. Is this correct?
 
I am so keen to get going but obviously want to do everything properly and I am going to wait the 7 days before even contemplating adding any fish.
 
Is there anything else that I would need to do to get the tank up and running?
 
I have read a lot of the pinned threads and a lot of it is very helpful, i look forward to using this site more often!
 
Thanks
 
Craig

 

[DrRob]

Morning Craig, welcome to the wonderful world of fishkeeping.
 
You're at a good stage where you still have lots of options. Have a read of this, it'll tell you everything you need to know about cycling and is the sort of thing people often wish they'd read earlier. Should answer your questions far better than I can here, and if you have anything else you want to ask afterwards then ask away.

 

[bretty1984]

hi thanks for the reply.
That is a really good read. So am I right in thinking that I should have added some sort of ammonia into my tank?Bearing in mind I have had it running for 3 days already, or should I just continue doing what I am doing as I have used what came with the tank?
 
The testing confuses me a little? As I am not 100% sure what figures I should be looking for. As I mentioned I read that it is not worth testing the water until the fish are to be added as for the first week the figures will spike before settling down. However, what would be the ideal figures I would be looking for for Ammonia, NitrIte and Nitrate?
 
While the information on here is brilliant, I am getting myself into it a little to deep and really should simplify things or else I know that I will end up making a mistake!!
 
So far, as I mentioned I have added the biological enhancer and the chlorine remover and was hoping that I could introduce some sort of fish after a week.
 
Apologies, if this all seems a little confusing, but I am so keen to get things right!

 

[bretty1984]

If I di have to add ammonia myself, how much should I add to a 23 litre tank?

 

[fluttermoth]

If you get a 9.5% ammonia solution (which is the most common), you'll want about 0.5 ml to give you between 2 and 3 ppm, which would be an ideal level for cycling for a little tank like yours.

 

[bretty1984]

Brilliant thanks very much. If I add that today, when should I look at testing the water for Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate

 

[fluttermoth]

It's not really worth testing the tank for nitrite or nitrate yet, although it would be useful to test your tap water for nitrate to know what level that is at.
 
Test for ammonia every day (you want 2 or 3 ppm to start with) until it starts to drop, then start testing for nitrite as well.

 

[bretty1984]

Thanks very much. I have just put a drop of ammonia in, looked around a fifth of a tea spoon, im not sure how else to measure 1ml! I shall test the water tomorrow and see how it goes although I fear I may have put too much in!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The easiest way to measure more precisely is to head over to the pharmacy/chemist and buy a baby medicine syringe (very affordable) these are great to have on hand long term, as when dosing medications (hope you don't have to worry about that for a while) they are invaluable to get specific amounts.
 
 
For anyone reading this, there is a calculator at the top of the forum, under the 'More' heading, which will allow you to describe the tank's volume, concentration of the ammonia, and desired level of ammonia in the tank, and will tell you exactly how much to add.
 
 
Welcome aboard Craig.
 
 
I'm not sure what came with the tank that you are adding to the tank right now, but its probably not doing much good or harm.  What WILL do a lot is a bit of mature filter media from a friend's tank, the LFS or any other established tank.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

For a start most of the bacterial starters one can buy are not do not contain the strains of bacteria that will end up in a cycled tank. Since you have not said what brand product you used, I have no clue what it might actually do.
 
Because you have added something which may or may not help with the cycle, you need to start testing differently than when nothing is added to help start a cycle. You need the ammonia and nitrite kits and you should pop into your local store with a sample of your water and ask them to test both the KH and the pH for you. These can both affect a cycle if they get too low.
 
Next, test in 24 hours after you have added your first ammonia. I would suggest 6 ml as the proper amount of 9.5% ammonia. When you test start with the ammonia test. If you get a number close to 3.0 ppm on an API kit, your bacterial additive is basically useless because it should work immediately. You know it is working because the ammonia level will clearly be lower than 3.0. If it is, then test nitrite as well.
 
The cycling article does not go into depth on starting tanks with seed bacteria (from a bottle of from other running tanks). That is because one can no longer expect to see predicatble test results, especially for nitrite. If a bacterial addition has the proper bacteria, it will mean nitrites should also be handled to some extent right away. Rather than try to explain it all in long detail. Do the following:
 
-Add to 3 ppm of ammonia. If you don't find 9.5% ammonia, use the ammonia calculator here and input 20 liters not 23 as the volume. Also change the % of ammonia according to what product you do get. Remember the amount of ml you add.
-Test in 24 hours for both ammonia and nitrite and report them back in this thread. Be sure to let us know what brand kits you are using because they do not all measure the same way. It would help if you can report your pH and KH at the same time.
 
Your results will provide us with the information needed to suggest how to proceed from there.

 

[bretty1984]

Hi thanks for that.
I put ammonia in yesterday and I have just tested the water and I have got a reading around 4.0ppm. I have not done any more readings yet?
 
In terms of what I have added to the water I have added Aquacare water conditioner and aquacare biological enhancer.
 
Where should I go form here now?
 
Thanks

 

[eaglesaquarium]

There are two places to go from here...
 
1 - Leave everything as it is, until the ammonia drops down from 4ppm to under 1ppm.
 
2 - Remove about 25% of the water and refill to bring the level to 3ppm and then let it sit until it drops to 1ppm.
 
 
The information I see is that the bacterial additive is actually doing nothing for your cycle, as it shouldn't sit static, if there are bacteria that are actively working...  So, while its nice that companies give you these little gifts, they are about as useful as a night light to a blind person.

 

[bretty1984]

Excellent,  I will leave everything for the time being and test again tomorrow.
Once the ammonia reading drops to less than 1 should I add more ammonia to the tank to bring it back up to 4ppm?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'd add half that amount and bump it back up by 2ppm, you really don't want it quite that high.  The higher it is, the longer the cycle will take.

 

[bretty1984]

Again, thanks very much for the help. 
 
When should I start testing for nitrites and nitrates?