Beneficial Bacteria in gravel

[nshockeyplaya]

Well i got some gravel from petco today to help my fishless cyle speed up. I put the gravel in a little net type thing and put it in one of my slots inside my Rena XP3 canister filter. I was wondering if this is the ideal spot for it, or should it be in the tank?

 

[yvez9]

inside the filter is ideal

the filter media will pick them up fastest this way
you should already put 2-3 fish in there or some kind of ammonia source otherwise the bacteria will die off

 

[nshockeyplaya]

Im in the middle of a fishless cycle and have been adding ammonia daily, right now there is 8.0 ammonia levels so i havent been adding.

 

[yvez9]

ok
well ammonia should drop by tomorrow
you should ideally keep it at 4-5 ppm

4-5 is already more than a regularly stocked tank and the cycle won't take as long.

 

[nshockeyplaya]

I know i read this after i added to much, but i havent added any ammonia for 4 days and it still hasnt dropped, but my nitrite is at 2.0. This si day 15 of the cycle. You think the gravel will really have that quick of an affect?

 

[yvez9]

if there is bacteria in it, yes, it will start to work right away
if you had 2ppm nitrtie than you already had nitrifying bacteria.

your tank should cycle in a couple days if all goes well.

when ammonia starts to drop, it drops very fast so make sure to test everyday so you can gauge the amount required to bring it back to 4-5 parts until nitrties are 0

if your tank can handle 5 ppm in one day, you're ready to stock massively

 

[nshockeyplaya]

Okay i hope it goes as smoothly as you make it sound ive heard some people hav it take a long time even with the bacteria, but hopefully mines goes quickly, because i want some fish in ther very soon

 

[yvez9]

it takes longer if you don't seed your filter with bacteria, but since you did it, it's just a metter of waiting for the bacteria to reproduce rather than waiting for them to appear, then reproduce.... you probably shaved 7-10 days off your cycle...

 

[nshockeyplaya]

Thats awesome if i had only had added it earlier i might be done right now. I just added a new filter today along with my XP3, i got a Aqua Clear 500 will that be fine or will it slow down the cycle, or will it not change it?

 

[yvez9]

it won't change a thing
your rena filter will contain all the bacteria at first but within a week or so, it will spread to both filters

 

[canarsie11]

I would not cut ammonia completely, maybe cut the dose in half

 

[yvez9]

i'd cut down for now since he is at over 8ppm
that's too much
when it goes down to 4-5 again then gauge the amount necessary every day to maintain it at that quantity

 

[nshockeyplaya]

Yea thats what i was plannin on doing, ill wait till it drops below 8

 

[nshockeyplaya]

Hey i just checked my ammonia and nitrite today, and i got .5 on my nitrite (why would it be going down, shouldnt it be goin up?), and i got 5.0 for ammonia. This doesnt make sense. ANyone know why the nitrite is goin down?

 

[nshockeyplaya]

Does anyone hav an explanation for this?