Another Boring Cycling Question

[m1lky12]

Basically been reading around different sources which explain the fishless cycle using ammonia, they all follow the same general guideline of add ammonia, top up ammonia, wait till ammonia reaches 0, continue to top up ammonia, test for nitrites, continue to do so until nitrites reach 0, water change, add fish... well thats the gist of it anyway we all know it's a little more complicated then that unfortunately!

So far I'm 2 1/2 weeks into the cycle, topping up ammonia to around 3ppm in my 100l tank, 3ppm of ammonia was being completely processed after around day 3 or 4, so I've spent the last 2 weeks staring at a results sheet telling me ammonia - 0, nitrites - 3.3, nitrates 110 (nitrites and nitrates off the scale) preformed 2 water changes to try get this down to a readable level (50% & 75%) but no longterm luck. Heaters on 30 degrees C, air pump giving more surface movement so good oxygen levels in water, unfortunatly no seeding as I don't have any used filter material.

My question is basically, like I said, the gist of the different sources all say the same... except what to do with ammonia dosage once it hits the magic 0. Some say reduce it in half, others say only dose it every other day while other say to maintain the same dosage everyday. So what's the way that you guys have been doing it?

 

[ShinySideUp]

Basically been reading around different sources which explain the fishless cycle using ammonia, they all follow the same general guideline of add ammonia, top up ammonia, wait till ammonia reaches 0, continue to top up ammonia, test for nitrites, continue to do so until nitrites reach 0, water change, add fish... well thats the gist of it anyway we all know it's a little more complicated then that unfortunately!

So far I'm 2 1/2 weeks into the cycle, topping up ammonia to around 3ppm in my 100l tank, 3ppm of ammonia was being completely processed after around day 3 or 4, so I've spent the last 2 weeks staring at a results sheet telling me ammonia - 0, nitrites - 3.3, nitrates 110 (nitrites and nitrates off the scale) preformed 2 water changes to try get this down to a readable level (50% & 75%) but no longterm luck. Heaters on 30 degrees C, air pump giving more surface movement so good oxygen levels in water, unfortunatly no seeding as I don't have any used filter material.

My question is basically, like I said, the gist of the different sources all say the same... except what to do with ammonia dosage once it hits the magic 0. Some say reduce it in half, others say only dose it every other day while other say to maintain the same dosage everyday. So what's the way that you guys have been doing it?

I have just cycled a 120 litre tank, similar to yours, I dosed it every time it dropped to zero at 2.5ppm and continued to do this until the nitrites also dropped to zero in about the same time (actually the nitrites were taking 24 hours when the ammonia was taking 12 hours but I didn't wait any longer). I carried out a water change down to the substrate, refilled, waited 24 hours with no dosing and then fully stocked it with 18 black phantom tetra's and six zebra loaches. That was six weeks ago, to date I have lost no fish, my plants are thriving and all is well with the world.

So I'd say keep dosing as you are until you feel comfortable that the cycle is as complete as you think necessary; I don't believe in setting things in stone, I prefer to do things when they 'feel right'. Worked for me.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Yep, I would just keep dosing ammo to 3ppm once a day until both ammo and nitrite are dropping to 0 in 12 hours. Even when that happens keep adding ammo for a few days, to play it safe.

It takes longer for nitrite to drop than it does for ammo so be patient you'll be done in no time

 

[m1lky12]

I have just cycled a 120 litre tank, similar to yours, I dosed it every time it dropped to zero at 2.5ppm and continued to do this until the nitrites also dropped to zero in about the same time (actually the nitrites were taking 24 hours when the ammonia was taking 12 hours but I didn't wait any longer). I carried out a water change down to the substrate, refilled, waited 24 hours with no dosing and then fully stocked it with 18 black phantom tetra's and six zebra loaches. That was six weeks ago, to date I have lost no fish, my plants are thriving and all is well with the world.

So I'd say keep dosing as you are until you feel comfortable that the cycle is as complete as you think necessary; I don't believe in setting things in stone, I prefer to do things when they 'feel right'. Worked for me.

Hey thanks for the quick reply! Yeah that's what I think I'll keep doing, though I may decrease the dose of ammonia a little just to help the nitrites to nitrate bacteria catch up, probably down to 2/2.5. This is my first cycle so I'm just double checking everything when I'm not sure really, you guys on here have helped out a lot!

Just a couple of questions out of interest how long did your cycle take before you felt it was complete enough to stock your fish? And what's your experience with the zebra loaches? I have one in my much smaller tank and since deciding to upgrade and read up on my fish only just discovered they do best in groups, so buying a few more and integrating them all into a group is the first thing I'm looking to do after my cycles complete.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

My cycle took about 6 weeks

 

[m1lky12]

My cycle took about 6 weeks

Ahh cheers, hoping mine can be done a little quicker than that... hoping Aha I had high hopes after the ammonia stage was finished in the first few days but like everyone says, the second stage drags a bit. Just need to convince my parents to stay patient, they're getting pretty miffed about not being able to get rid of my current tank and chucking the fish into my new one

 

[ShinySideUp]

My cycle took about 6 weeks

Ahh cheers, hoping mine can be done a little quicker than that... hoping Aha I had high hopes after the ammonia stage was finished in the first few days but like everyone says, the second stage drags a bit. Just need to convince my parents to stay patient, they're getting pretty miffed about not being able to get rid of my current tank and chucking the fish into my new one

You do realise that if you have an established tank and the bio-load is going to be the same, you can just move your filter media and water to the new tank and transfer the fish immediately? The is no need to cycle a new tank if you are just moving from an old tank.

 

[m1lky12]

You do realise that if you have an established tank and the bio-load is going to be the same, you can just move your filter media and water to the new tank and transfer the fish immediately? The is no need to cycle a new tank if you are just moving from an old tank.

Yeah I have thought about and thought about this. But the filter from my old tank is an internal £10 sort of filter so the media in it isn't big enough to be able to cut down and put into my new filter (Aqua One UFO 550 fitted into the hood)on a long term basis. I also wanted to run the two tanks overlapping for a couple of weeks so I can integrate my existing zebra loach with 4/5 new ones. I've been advised to quarantine to newbies first and once all is clear add my current loach to the group, so was hoping once the tank is cycled to put the new loaches in the new tank as a QT period before adding my existing fish.

I did place half of my filter media awkwardly into my new tanks filter, but put it back after my current tank water wasn't as clean as it usually was, so put that back. Though have had a brainwave that I could swap the ceramic nodes over if you think that would help? Obviously this would seed my new tank as well as maintain the cleaning of my current one.

However if I am forced to put the fish in before the cycling's completed I'll have to run the two filters together until the built in ones up to speed and think of a new way to integrate the loaches.

Thanks for the thought though, much appreciated.