About To Start Fishless Cycle But .........

[1903dandydons]

Hi everyone,

Absolutely brand new to this but have been enjoying reading all the different articles.

Have set up a brand new tank with plastic plants and have had the fluval 3 and heater running for a few days in my 95l tank. Done all the declor etc but I am now going away on holiday for 2 weeks, is it worth .....

1) Chucking in the right amount of ammonia now and deal with all the readings etc when I get back in 2 weeks with my API freshwater master test kit ? or ......
2) Do I need to wait until I get back to start the fishless cycle and if this is the case ?
3) Is it worthwhile leaving the filter and heater running for the 2 weeks that I am away ?

Many thanks.

Bruce

 

[rdd1952]

You can start the process with a some ammonia and then, the day before you leave, put some fish flakes in a stocking or some other type bag and hang it in the tank. It will break down slowly over the time you are gone and should produce enough ammonia to keep the process moving along.

 

[waterdrop]

I agree with RDD, your vacation could be timed perfectly (!) as dropping the first round of ammonia down to zero can take quite a while and needs little oversight. Yes, keep your heater running (about 84F should be good) and definately the filter has to be running as that's what brings the ammonia and oxygen to the bacteria on the filter media.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah absolutely, the first week or so of just waiting for the ammonia to drop the first time requires very little oversight, if possible you should be testing daily to know exactly when to top up ammonia, but if you don't it's not the end of the world.

Way i see it you have nothing to loose, if you don't do anything you can just start the cycle from scratch in two weeks, or you can add 5ppm of ammonia before going away and the worst that will happen is you grow some bacteria and it then dies back and you start over when you come back but you may well find when you come back and top up the ammonia that it just zips it down to 0 in no time and you've kick started the cycle.

 

[1903dandydons]

Thanks very much everyone, will take your advice and looking forward to my first vacaction in the US of A. What fish can you suggest I can smuggle through immigration on my way back from Florida !?

 

[waterdrop]

Aaaaah, our north carolina Outer Banks are nicer than Florida beaches! Or you could cross the line into Georgia and go to the Okeefenokee swamp and try to take some blackwater fish away from all the alligators!!

I guess you could try to smuggle out some Florida Crushed Coral in case your water is too soft but maybe you should just satisfy yourself with finding some good fresh Florida Pompano fish to feast on for dinner, one of the most wonderful types of seafood you'd ever taste (I guess this is ok to say since they're way too big for aquariums!)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

have a great holiday look forward to hearing about your cycle when you come back.

 

[1903dandydons]

Well, have returned from our first visit to the US of A, didn't manage to smuggle any fish out or eat any of your suggestions but did eat a blackened Mahi Mahi, very enjoyable and very spicy. We were in Orlando for the first time and for all our marine/fish enthusiasts I must recommend a visit to Downtown Disney to the Marketplace area for a couple of themed (you don't need to have kids) restaurants called The Rainforest Cafe and T Rex. Both have absolutely huge tanks full of marine fish and very well presented etc, the Americans do do everything bigger and better. Although the T Rex restaurant had only been opened for 10 days or so the tank that we were sitting next to had SIX Nemos (sorry still in disney mode - clown fish) lying at the bottom. You can imagine this newbie jumping up and down, somebody else complained and I kept my mouth shut.

Anyway, back to my original thread and back to my tank, couldn't believe the amount of evaporation over the 2 weeks I had been away. Took some results as below and completed a partial water change, let me know what you think.

Normal tap water PH: 7.2, ammonia added on 8/10/08(didn't add fish food in a stocking as recommended), results on 29/10: PH 7.6, Ammonia 0.00, Nitrate 5.00 and Nitrite 5.00 or possibly off the scale as I did notice that it did turn purple immediately. 30% water change later on 29/10.
Results today 3/11: PH 7.6, Ammonia 0.00, Nitrate 5.00 and Nitrite round about 3.00, it didn't turn purple as quickly as the first time.

This message has been approved by 1903danydons (my American friends will understand this)

 

[rdd1952]

This message has been approved by 1903danydons (my American friends will understand this)

Do we ever. Thankfully, that will all be over with today. It's all that's on TV, especailly today, and I've been getting on average, 5 or 6 robocalls a day. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip over here and to Florida (other than the political commercials that meant even less to you than to us, if that's possible).

Anyway, it sounds as if you made some headway while you were gone. As the nitrite gets off the chart, you may want to do daily water changes to keep the level as close to on the chart as possible. Ammonia converts to nitrite at a 1 to 2.7 rate so 5 ppm of ammonia produces about 13.5 ppm of nitrite. Obviously, that is the main reason a fishless cycle takes so long. If you can keep the nitrite around, 5, it will process much quicker until the point the bacteria can handle it all in 10 to 12 hours.

 

[1903dandydons]

Have chucked in another 5ml of ammonia on 9/11 and these were the results on 10/11, PH: 7.6, Ammonia: 0.00, Nitrate: shot up to about 40 and Nitrite: still at 3.00 but again turning purple a lot slower. It looks as if I am getting there. I'll chuck another 5ml of ammonia in tonight and do a water change tomorrow evening after more tests.

Anyone? let me know what you think.

Many thanks, starting to get excited about visiting my local LFS and I haven't even thought about species yet!!

Bruce.

 

[waterdrop]

Are you adding ammonia to 3ppm or 5ppm? How many hours after you add it does it take for ammonia to drop to zero. I assume nitrite just stays high, does not drop to zero yet before you add more ammonia, right?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[1903dandydons]

Are you adding ammonia to 3ppm or 5ppm? How many hours after you add it does it take for ammonia to drop to zero. I assume nitrite just stays high, does not drop to zero yet before you add more ammonia, right?

~~waterdrop~~

Following the chart on this site, I am adding ammonia to 5ppm for a 95 litre tank, it tells me to add 5ml, is this right? I am really just getting a chance to read the ammonia after 24 hrs and yes it seems to be dropping to zero, but in saying that I haven't really tested for ammonia right after I have chucked it in or after an hour or so, I know I have read that I should really check the ammonia levels after 12 hrs but time is not allowing it at the moment.

Yes, nitrite seems to be sticking on 3, hasn't dropped to zero yet on my scarce tests.

Thanks 'waterdrop' I appreciate your comments, I'll maybe have time this weekend to concentrate on my results.

 

[OldMan47]

It sounds like you are getting close to the end DandyDons. This is no time to let up or try to rush things. By the sounds of it, another few days to maybe a week and you will have a cycled tank. All you need now is to get the ammonia dropping a bit faster and have the nitrite eaters become a bit more effective and you will have arrived.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes you will eventually need to go to 12 hr testing but it's no biggie that you haven't done it just yet, when ammonia and nitrite are both 0 after 24 hrs then you should start testing after 12 hrs to work out how quickly they are getting there and when they're both down to 0 in 12 hrs then the tank is cycled.

 

[1903dandydons]

Yes, it looks as if I am not there quite yet. 11.00am this morning 30% water change and 5ml of ammonia added. Took readings at noon to read: PH = 7.6, Ammonia = 8.0, Nitrate = 40.0 and Nitrite = 1.0 Next readings 11 hours later are: PH = 7.2, Ammonia = 4.0, Nitrate = 40.0 and Nitrite = 2.0

Never seen my ammonia that colour before as it has always been dropping to zero as I hadn't been doing any 11/12 hour checks, so it's quite good to see that I am going through the processes correctly and for the first time I have seen that I am still not cycled yet but thanks everyone for the reassurances.

Bruce