xoedusk
Fishaholic
If I've heard Lucy correctly, her ammonia levels aren't changing. So not only no bacteria, but plants aren't using 'em either.
Get us those tank statistics listed in post 8. If those are okay, take Ms_Wiggles advice.
11 Days Into A Fishless Cycle - Nothing Happening?
- Thread starter Lucylou
- Start date
Get us those tank statistics listed in post 8. If those are okay, take Ms_Wiggles advice.
zoekin8yg
Fish Herder
If shes adding ammonia though the reading may not change if the plants acting in the cycle. Very confusing. I find that adding fish food works better than neat ammonia, it breaks down in the water.
She would need ALOT of plants with co2 and high intensity lighting to suck up 6 ppm of ammonia.
I was thinking about this last night and if i remember rightly it took my tank about 3 weeks before i started to see a real drop in my amonia readings....
I was thinking about this last night and if i remember rightly it took my tank about 3 weeks before i started to see a real drop in my amonia readings....
My first tank finished cycling a few days ago and it took 25 days. The tank is 50 Gal with around 1/3 of the tank planted. I also used pure ammonia. You might want to check your pH because my cycled stalled (i.e. no ammonia processed for a few days). If your pH is 6.0 then the cycling has stalled and you will need to increase the pH up to around 6.4+ to get it moving again.
andyt_uk
Fishaholic
a few pointers which you may or may not have realised yet.
pH is important, if it is too low you wont get a cycle started
if temp is too low the cycle will be very slow - try hotting it up a bit, closer to something like 30C
if you have too much ammonia rather ironically it impedes the growth of that lovely nice bacteria
adding organic ammonia sources do sometimes help, add some fish food, or (and some people will argue here) some frozen fish product - a prawn or something similar
that will actually release some toxins into the water more closely resembling what a live fish will do and help the cycle along
pH is important, if it is too low you wont get a cycle started
if temp is too low the cycle will be very slow - try hotting it up a bit, closer to something like 30C
if you have too much ammonia rather ironically it impedes the growth of that lovely nice bacteria
adding organic ammonia sources do sometimes help, add some fish food, or (and some people will argue here) some frozen fish product - a prawn or something similar
that will actually release some toxins into the water more closely resembling what a live fish will do and help the cycle along
Lucylou
Fish Fanatic
Thanks for the advice, first of all.
Right, I tested my ph of the tap water in the beginning and it was 7.2 ish. I thought there was no use testing my tank ph because I read some where that the ammoina will knock the readings off. I was going to get an accurate reading when its cycled.
I put fish food in the first couple off days until I could found some pure Ammoina. ( got it from Boots, its def' pure)
I will look at my filter to make sure its not removing the ammonia.
Yes I have the temp upto 30 degrees
And today I got some planted wood from an established tank, its got 2 java ferns on it I think? I got it from pets at home, and it took me 14 minutes to get home, it was to big to transport in water, will the bacteria be ok do you think? it cost £14.99, and it does look nice
also I've notice some residence already, tiny little snails, 2 I think
Lets hope the wood will start something happening
Right, I tested my ph of the tap water in the beginning and it was 7.2 ish. I thought there was no use testing my tank ph because I read some where that the ammoina will knock the readings off. I was going to get an accurate reading when its cycled.
I put fish food in the first couple off days until I could found some pure Ammoina. ( got it from Boots, its def' pure)
I will look at my filter to make sure its not removing the ammonia.
Yes I have the temp upto 30 degrees
And today I got some planted wood from an established tank, its got 2 java ferns on it I think? I got it from pets at home, and it took me 14 minutes to get home, it was to big to transport in water, will the bacteria be ok do you think? it cost £14.99, and it does look nice
also I've notice some residence already, tiny little snails, 2 I think
Lets hope the wood will start something happening
Lucylou
Fish Fanatic
Ok, I checked my filter and it says nothing about removing ammoina. its still reading 5-6 ppm after 14 days, and still no Nitrite, heres a pic of my tank with my new planted wood. ( if it works)
http
/i142.photobucket.com/albums/r103/lu...06/DSC00162.jpg
http
/i142.photobucket.com/albums/r103/lu...06/DSC00162.jpgLucylou
Fish Fanatic
Underwurlde
Always look on the bright side of life..
GET THEM OUT. NOW!!!!!!
Horrid little things have hitched a ride into your tank on your plants. These things are not nice and if you don't get rid of them NOW their population will EXPLODE.
This happened to me and I simply cannot get rid of them. (I have easily removed at least 250 of these things since introducting plants to my tank about 3 months ago - I'm not kidding).
Yes, they may be 'cute' now, but honestly, the biggest advice I can give to you is GET THEM OUT. NOW!!!!! (did I say that already?)
Oh, & guess where I got my plants (i.e. bloody snails from)? Pets-At-Bloody-Home (in Christchurch)! Never again!
BTW, your setup look stunning.
Andy
xoedusk
Fishaholic
Nice tank.
Seems like you are doing everything right. Keep on waiting. Test every 3 days so you don't waste ammonia testing solutions.
What kind of filter are you using? I can't see it in that beautiful picture you provided. especially since there isn't any surface agitation. It is operational?
That wood you added might lower the pH, but not sure.
Seems like you are doing everything right. Keep on waiting. Test every 3 days so you don't waste ammonia testing solutions.
What kind of filter are you using? I can't see it in that beautiful picture you provided. especially since there isn't any surface agitation. It is operational?
That wood you added might lower the pH, but not sure.
Tommy Gunnz
Fish Crazy
I agree with everyone who is telling you to wait this out. There is absolutely no timeline or guide in which will tell you how long this will take and even if you have two of the exact same tanks, it may take one longer than another to cycle (I have proven this myself with two 55 gallon tanks in my home right now). The trick with the pure ammonia is to simply keep the levels around 5 ppm the best you can at all times. This sounds like you are having no problems doing so, but I am sure you are on the verge of not being able to keep any ammonia in the tank at all.
The reason that using pure ammonia versus fish food or even doing a fishy cycle is that you do not have to wait for the food to decay or for the fish to eat food, process it, and excrete wastes. By using the ammonia, you are only replacing the other sources and so one cannot expect a super huge decrease in the time needed to cycle a tank. In my experience however, once you see the nitrite levels begin to raise, you will see a much faster progression in your tank's status. The only thing you can do it wait however and try your best to remain confident that this IS GOING TO WORK!!!!! You are doing the right thing though and adding material from another established tank will help out as well. Keep in mind though that you want to ensure you have a large enough bacteria colony that can support the number of fish you are thinking of keeping. (This is why many people find that it takes a longer time to fishy cycle when the tank is cycled with only one fish). When you feel your tank should be ready, you can also test the tank by dosing pure ammonia to see how quickly the tank can deal with it. The appropriate amount of ammonia to add is 5 DROPS OF AMMONIA PER 10 GALLONS OF WATER. This will give you a level of 5 ppm in most cases.
The snails can be a problem, it is true that they can multiply VERY quickly depending on what type they are and since it seems like you may not know the exact type, it may be safer to assume that they can multiply faster than rabbits. It may behoove you to remove at least one of the snails unless you are thinking about keeping some loaches or a puffer of some sort since they will love the snails and you could count them as a free food source (most likely). I do not suggest trying to smash them since some snail shells can cut your finger and you will be all but guarenteed to get an infection from the cut! (Trust me)
The reason that using pure ammonia versus fish food or even doing a fishy cycle is that you do not have to wait for the food to decay or for the fish to eat food, process it, and excrete wastes. By using the ammonia, you are only replacing the other sources and so one cannot expect a super huge decrease in the time needed to cycle a tank. In my experience however, once you see the nitrite levels begin to raise, you will see a much faster progression in your tank's status. The only thing you can do it wait however and try your best to remain confident that this IS GOING TO WORK!!!!! You are doing the right thing though and adding material from another established tank will help out as well. Keep in mind though that you want to ensure you have a large enough bacteria colony that can support the number of fish you are thinking of keeping. (This is why many people find that it takes a longer time to fishy cycle when the tank is cycled with only one fish). When you feel your tank should be ready, you can also test the tank by dosing pure ammonia to see how quickly the tank can deal with it. The appropriate amount of ammonia to add is 5 DROPS OF AMMONIA PER 10 GALLONS OF WATER. This will give you a level of 5 ppm in most cases.
The snails can be a problem, it is true that they can multiply VERY quickly depending on what type they are and since it seems like you may not know the exact type, it may be safer to assume that they can multiply faster than rabbits. It may behoove you to remove at least one of the snails unless you are thinking about keeping some loaches or a puffer of some sort since they will love the snails and you could count them as a free food source (most likely). I do not suggest trying to smash them since some snail shells can cut your finger and you will be all but guarenteed to get an infection from the cut! (Trust me)
Lucylou
Fish Fanatic
Thanks, I took out 3 tiny snails, will keep an eye for any more.
My filter is a Tetratec Easycrystal 300, it sits inside the tank, it houses the heater and came with the tank -
http/www.maidenheadaquatics.co.uk/eshop/...roducts_id=2043
it sucks the water in and poors it out over the top of the water, so there is surface water movement, the only problem with it is that is rather large, its only a small tank and it takes up a lot of room.
I've not added any ammonia since day one, and my reading is always 4-5, I will only test every three days, from now on, your right I would probably round out of test solution at this rate.
My filter is a Tetratec Easycrystal 300, it sits inside the tank, it houses the heater and came with the tank -
http
/www.maidenheadaquatics.co.uk/eshop/...roducts_id=2043it sucks the water in and poors it out over the top of the water, so there is surface water movement, the only problem with it is that is rather large, its only a small tank and it takes up a lot of room.
I've not added any ammonia since day one, and my reading is always 4-5, I will only test every three days, from now on, your right I would probably round out of test solution at this rate.
Lucylou
Fish Fanatic
I've also taken out my plastic ornaments, in order to make room for the wood. (looks better now) but when I took them out they smelled really bad? They are hollow inside and the water that came out was stinky. The tank doesn't smell though. I just hope bacteria wasn't developing on them (does this bacteria smell?) and now I've gone and removed it? Hopefully there should be more on the natural wood anyway.
My arguement with my partner, to keep the tank in the kitchen, was that Tanks don't smell, right?
My arguement with my partner, to keep the tank in the kitchen, was that Tanks don't smell, right?
DarkEntity
Eater Of The Fishies!!!
When finding these snails be sure to remove them gently from the tank, dont crush them as sometimes they carry eggs which then lay in your tank causing more probs
Tommy Gunnz
Fish Crazy
Good point DarkEntity!
You could also use a snail trap system but putting a small jar on its side in the tank with some food they will like such as cucumber. Just before you turn the lights on in the morning, remove the jar and discard the snails that are inside of it. This system is sort of slow and you may not see snails in the jar at first, but they will eventually find the food and you can get them out of your tank easily and with little risk to you or your tank.
You could also use a snail trap system but putting a small jar on its side in the tank with some food they will like such as cucumber. Just before you turn the lights on in the morning, remove the jar and discard the snails that are inside of it. This system is sort of slow and you may not see snails in the jar at first, but they will eventually find the food and you can get them out of your tank easily and with little risk to you or your tank.
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