cycling

[cbster]

alright i have been fishless cycling for about two weeks. and i added bio spira four days ago . my ammonia is 1.0 nitrite is 0.50 and nitrate is 10 is this going like it is suppose to. i have a 55 gal tank with live plants. it seems like it is taking a long time after reading some post that only took 6-8 days to go through this. thanks

 

[Sinuhe]

We don't have Bio Spira in Finland, but this is what I learned from other people using it: With Bio Spira, there is no need for a fishless cycle. On the contrary, you should add fish within 24 hours (or something) after adding Bio Spira, or the bacteria provided by the product will die. However, if you have positive readings of ammonia and nitrites, there must have been some other source of ammonia than fish?

 

[thecichlidaddict]

cbster

I Have some patience, some people cycle the tank in as little as two weeks, others as long as six. If your ammonia is still higher then nitrites then you are not there yet. Keep doing what you are doing and wait until Ammonia and Nitrites are at 0 before adding fish, and let it take as long as it takes.

 

[sever]

throw in 2 hardy starter fish

 

[Sinuhe]

I wouldn't recommend throwing in fish when you have that kind of ammonia and nitrite readings. If you're doing a fishless cycle, then just keep doing what you do, but like I said before, the idea of Bio Spira is to "instantly cycle" the tank, while in a regular fishless cycle you just keep adding an ammonia source and monitoring the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels until ammonia and nitrites go down. 2 weeks is a short time for a cycle to finish. But you already have nitrates, which is a good sign

 

[krazitrain]

I have a 37 gal tank and it took 6 weeks to cycle. My nitrites spiked and stayed there a while then suddenly dropped. Amoonia is now 0 and nitrites 0..

With any levels above 0 re: ammonia and nitrites you are stressing your fish. Good luck. be patient.

 

[Moe]

I cycled 2 different 10 gallon tanks both took 8 days, I am currently cycling a 6 gallon and it has been 13 days and I'm still reading off the chart nitrites. I did everything pretty much the same, can't say why it's taking longer this time. I guess I was just luck the 1st times. Also when I cycled the two 10G tanks on one I used bio spira and the other I did not and it took exactly the same amount of time - as far as I can see the bio spira did nothing and it cost me $15.00. All three times I've done a fishless cycle I used a bag of gravel from an established tank to seed the tank. I also read somewhere not to use biospira during a fishless cycle, but I can't find the link. The article said you could use the produce Cycle but not bio spira I can't remember why though. If I find the link I will post it. Good luck and be patient.