Another Fishless Cycle

[mwitha]

Hey everyone! My name is Mark and Im from the London. I'm 21 and upgrading my BiUbe tank to a 65 Litre. Am new on this forum. but have read quite a bit and everyone seems very helpful and friendly

Anyway - I was hoping to become one of those pesky people who ask for advice on a fishless cycle - as I have recently set up a new 65 litre tank and im very excited about getting it cycled.

Here's a little info on my setup: 65 Litre, TetraTec Easy Crystal Filter, about 5-6 cheap plants, an airstone/pump, 84 degrees water. ALSO - I have added mature filter media and mature 'ceramic media' from a mature BiUrb tank. Additionally, I added some Tetra SafeStart and Bactozym tablets. water was conditioned with aquasafe (probably overdosed).

Well, I started my cycle 7 days ago. I added ammonia to 6ppm (quite high by accident). This has slowly reduced to about 2ppm.

Current reading:
Day 7: 1am (UK Time) 17th November
Ammonia 2ppm (perhaps slightly more)
Nitrite: 0.25 - 0.50 ppm (I cant tell) (been this way for about 4 days)
Nitrate: 10-20ppm (my tap water is similar).
Ph: 8

I have been following a 'wait and see' method - therefore I haven't yet added any ammonia since day 1.

I guess I had a couple of questions that are specific to me...

1) I have quite a few plants in there - is that slowing things down?
2) My cycle seems to be going quite slow considering the amount of mature media I added? (I didnt wash it). I am on day 7.
3) Should I top the Ammonia up now or wait until it gets closer to 0
4) I havent really seen any big Nitrite spikes - could this be because of my mature media / safe start? Perhaps there is already quite a bit of bacteria to remove the Nitrites?
5) Am I just being impatient and overly hopeful?

Id really appreciate any tips. I have read through so many other forums hoping to get answers to these as I realise people are always posting about fishless cycling. I posted on another forum and got ignored

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Mark

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Mark and to TFF,

Sorry to hear you were ignored on other forums. Some forums are just like that.

I'm glad to hear you are choosing the responsible approach of fishless cycling. Well done!

I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.

1) The plants won't be making any noticeable difference unless you have lots of them.

2) It does seem slow for mature media being added, but this can be for many reasons. I wouldn't worry.

3) I wouldn't advise that you top up the ammonia now, Wait until it reaches 0.

4) You are absolutely correct about the nitrite. It is absolutely possible that you have bacteria already which is processing it. I personally don't rate SafeStart, but the mature media is a definite possibility.

5) I think you are being a little impatient. Cycling will usually take a minimum of 3 weeks and sometimes much longer. Mature media can speed it up but you can necer tell to what extent. Your cycle is moving as your test results prove, so a little bit of patience just now will go a long way.

Everything sounds fine with your cycle at the moment. Just keep an eye on it.

Why not post a log of your test results etc on here so we can follow your cycle and give you help and advice along the way?

Hope to see you around the forums.

BTT

 

[mwitha]

Hi BTT!

Thanks for your very helpful, welcoming and reassuring reply!

I think that I will definatley post a log of my progress. It would be great if I could get some ongoing feedback on anything that I should be doing. I know what you mean about SafeStart.... I had my doubts but then I got carried away by Tetra's fabulous Marketing when I read the packaging. Then somehow Id parted with £8 for some pointless liquid!!

I'm glad you've advised with regard to adding Ammonia, Im hoping tomorrow Ill see ammonia go down slighlty again - then I'll know its def working! I think I may do another squeeze from another filter - cant hurt!

Thanks again BTT! And I'll definatley be around the forums!

Oh, 1 thing - Do I wait until Ammonia reaches pure 0 (yellow on API test kit) or simply near it... like a very light green?

Thank yooou!

 

[backtotropical]

It's not really fundamental to the cycle whether you add ammonia when it's almost gone or totally gone. What is important is not to keep adding it so it builds up to unmeasurable levels. At around 8ppm and higher, the ammonia will actually inhibit the growth of the desireable bacteria.

When you do add more ammonia, aim for 5ppm.

The main thing to watch for which can stall your cycle is if the pH starts to drop. This is quite common, and is easily remedied, but keep an eye on your pH in order to pre-empt any problems.

Cheers

BTT

 

[mwitha]

Update: 17th Nov 11am

Seems to be moving along nicely now!

Ammonia: 0.50ppm
Nitrite: 0.50ppm
Nitrate: 10-20ppm

I put the temp up to 85F overnight. Also I added some 'King British Safe Water' which was lying around on my shelf for a few years!

I'm going to wait until tonight and check the ammonia then - if it has dropped even further then I guess I should add some more and get it up to 4ppm?

 

[mwitha]

Hey: Update for you!

November 17th 2pm UK Time
I added 1 drop of Ammonia to get it to increase to 2ppm earlier.

Now = 11pm UK Time

Ammonia: 0.50 - 1ppm
Nitrite: 1ppm
Nitrate: 20ppm
PH: 8

So the Ammonia is definatley dropping and Nitrites are rising... havent yet seen a spike though. Do you think I should add some more ammonia tonight or wait until tomorrow?

 

[mwitha]

This morning ammonia reached 0, redosed to 2ppm. Seem to be able to lose 1-2ppm per day now. Nitrite isnt rising massively - around 0.50 - 1ppm. Nitrate is 20ppm.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

excellent sounds like it's definately progressing. keep topping up to 2/3ppm ammonia each day, then when you are getting 0 ammonia and nitrite readings 24hrs after adding the ammonia start topping up with a little more ammonia each day until you get to 5ppm, then when it can do 5ppm of ammonia to 0 ammonia and nitrite in 12 hrs you're cycled. we usually advise to 'prove' the filter by keeping on adding daily for a week afterwards. you get a little blip sometimes just after the cycles finished as it's a little unstable at this point, better to have the blip with no fish rather than with fish in.

just a note on the media transfer, trainsferring media only seems to have about an 80% sucess rate, it's still excellent and usually works brilliantly, but we do come across a reasonable amount of cases where it just doesn't work for no apparent reason, so you may have just been one of the unlucky few there!

 

[mwitha]

Wow that's amazing!

This morning was at 2ppm Nitrite... I just did a test and its 0ppm (11pm my time)

That could mean Im cycled!!!!

What should I do now... I guess I just add some ammonia (around 1ppm?) and see if Ammonia and Nitrite are 0 tomorrow correct?

Im so happy!

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Mark,

It seems to be progressing, but i don't think you're cycled yet.

In order for you to be cycled, you need to be processing 5ppm of ammonia in 12 hrs or less.

Try topping up ammonia to 5ppm (i can work out how much you need if you're not sure), and then test 12 hours later. That will give you a better idea of how far on the cycle is.

Let us know your results.

Cheers

BTT

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, BTT and MW are giving you good advice. Your goal is to reach your "qualifying" week where you add ammonia to the 5ppm mark at the beginning of a 24 hour timing and then observe a zero ammonia reading and a zero nitrite reading at the 12 hours or less mark. During the qualifying week, you want this to repeat each day. You add to 5ppm at the 24 hour mark and observe the double zero readings at the 12 hour mark. Its a tough qualification.

When you report 12 or 24 hour readings here it is the most helpful if you state how many hours it was from the time when 5ppm of ammonia was added until the current test time you are reporting.

~~waterdrop~~