Confusion as to when 'cycling' is complete.

[AbbeysDad]

I’ve always wondered, if you’re water is already at the praimaters it needs to be, do u have to cycle?

I've lost track of the number of times we've seen a newer hobbyist post that he started his tank and it's been running for a month, the test parameters were fine, but when he added fish, they all died.
The test results for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate may appear fine but that doesn't mean the tank is cycled. As previously mentioned over and over the fully cycled tank contains sufficient beneficial bacteria to process all of the ammonia and subsequent nitrite generated.
Often a newer hobbyist will add too many fish at once and this may create more ammonia then the beneficial bacteria can handle. Because ammonia is so toxic the oversight may be devastating to any livestock in the tank.
There are many different ways to cycle a new tank. And one method or another must be done before fish are added. For a relatively new tank, only one or two fish should be added a time. This is where many new hobbyists tend to make a serious mistake.

 

[FishHobby99]

I've lost track of the number of times we've seen a newer hobbyist post that he started his tank and it's been running for a month, the test parameters were fine, but when he added fish, they all died.
The test results for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate may appear fine but that doesn't mean the tank is cycled. As previously mentioned over and over the fully cycled tank contains sufficient beneficial bacteria to process all of the ammonia and subsequent nitrite generated.
Often a newer hobbyist will add too many fish at once and this may create more ammonia then the beneficial bacteria can handle. Because ammonia is so toxic the oversight may be devastating to any livestock in the tank.
There are many different ways to cycle a new tank. And one method or another must be done before fish are added. For a relatively new tank, only one or two fish should be added a time. This is where many new hobbyists tend to make a serious mistake.

Great words of wisdom!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Great words of wisdom!

That is usually the case from Abby'sdad.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Just to share some information from Dr Tim's website.

Fishless Cycling | DrTim's Aquatics

The term "fishless cycling" refers to the process of establishing the nitrifying bacteria in a newly set-up aquarium without using fish which are used in the traditional cycling method. The problem associated with using fish in the cycling period is that normally, when establishing the...

www.drtimsaquatics.com

I followed his steps by steps instructions and I also used his Ammonium Chloride.

Solution for Fishless Cycling | Ammonium Chloride | DrTim's Aquatics

DrTim's solutions to add ammonium chloride during fishless cycling in conjunction with using One & Only Live Nitrifying bacteria.

www.drtimsaquatics.com

But I didnt used Dr Tim live bacteria.
I used NT Lab Filter Starter as I couldn't find his product at the lfs near my house.

Aquarium Water Treatment - Filter Starter from NT Labs

Belonging to the best range of 'Water Treatments' awarded by the Pratical Fishkeeping Manufacturers Poll. Filter Starter is a live culture of friendly bacteria for your filter. It contains Bacillus megaterium, B. pumilis, B. licheniformis, Paenbacillius polymyxa, Nitrosomonas spp., Nitrobacter...

www.ntlabs.co.uk

 

[Lajos_Detari]

I emailed your Tim link to myself for later viewing. Thanks.

There is a lot of information on the website such as when to put the ammonium and when to test the ammonia and nitrite.
Recently, I started a new tank and it took me at about 14 days for the beneficial bacteria to grow with the NT Labs Starter filter.

By the way, Dr Tim's advice is to use 2ppm Ammonium during the fishless cycle.

I think as most had mentioned in the past(Colin, Essjay, etc), the recommended ammonium is about 2-3ppm.

But as Abbeysdad mentioned, don't introduce too many fish at the beginning as the beneficial bacteria may not be enough to handle high bio-load.

Also, get some substrate for your tank and add some "other type" of filter medias (other than sponge pad) for the beneficial bacteria to grow. This will increase more "space" for the beneficial bacteria to grow.

 

[Essjay]

We need to be careful about reading Dr Tim's method. He says to use 2 ppm but that's using a different scale from our test kits. His 2 ppm is the same as ~2.5 on the test kit scale. (Dr Tim's method uses the ammonia-N scale while our test kits use the ammonia-NH3 scale)
When the method on here was written, 3 ppm was chosen as being more than a sensibly stocked tank of fish will produce in 24 hours. Using more is a waste of ammonia and time; using less runs the risk of not growing enough bacteria.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

If you are using the Ammonium Chloride from Dr Tim, there is an instruction for the dosage.

If you are following the instructions given, I guess you don't have to worry about the test kit scale.

 

[itiwhetu]

Why not just keep it simple. Full your tank with water put a whole lot of plants in the tank. wait until the plant starts growing ( 10-14 days ) add your first fish a few at a time. Test for nothing.

 

[itiwhetu]

By the way cycling is never complete it is an every evolving part of the aquarium. So don't talk about cycling being completed it never happens.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

By the way cycling is never complete it is an every evolving part of the aquarium. So don't talk about cycling being completed it never happens.

Good point. Cycling is indeed an ongoing process. But it takes too long to say "I have successfully fostered the establishment of a community of microbes that will carry out the nitrogen cycle on an ongoing basis." So we say "My tank is cycled" or "my cycling is complete." It would probably be better to say "my cycle is established." But words mean what we make them mean...

 

[JazzyV]

well all this makes sense why I never see anything when I test a cycle tank ..I do notice over the years some approach to cycling varies like water in and out vs hoover. I hoover to cycle a tank with no problems vs my friend who didn’t hoover and this is what I hear a few weeks in, ”I need some #%^* plants” ..nitrites through the roof..personally I’ve never seen those colors for testers result

 

[FishHobby99]

I have no idea what Hoover means, unless possibly vaccum the substate. I do that & water changes

 

[Essjay]

Hoover is a brand of vacuum cleaner and, in the UK at least, now means a vacuum cleaner of any make, and the verb "to hoover" means to use a vacuum cleaner. By extension, hoovering a fish tank means siphoning the bottom of the tank to clean it.

The English language has a habit of taking proper nouns and turning them into verbs etc as in "to google" meaning to use an internet search engine. However, different parts of the English speaking world have done this with different words so they don't travel well.

 

[JazzyV]

Haha I picked that up somewhere being on forums and talking to ppl keeping fish..after I while I say Hoover too lol sorry vaccum.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Haha I picked that up somewhere being on forums and talking to ppl keeping fish..after I while I say Hoover too lol sorry vaccum.

A great demonstration of how language travels.