First Fishless Cycle

[Dieses Madchen]

So I started cycling on 7/14....seeded with gravel from my already established tank ( I didn't do a fishless cycle on the first tank. I was told that you can't cycle without fish.....dirty pet store liars...)

7/14 dosed to 5ppm ammonia.

7/15 Ammonia 4ppm
pH 7.4
Nitrite 1ppm
Nitrate 20ppm

7/16 Ammonia 4ppm
pH 7.4
Nitrites 2ppm
Nitrates 20ppm

7/17 Ammonia 4ppm
pH 7.4
Nitrites 5ppm
Nitrates 40ppm

7/18 Ammonia 4ppm
pH 7.2
Nitrite 5ppm
Nitrate 80ppm

7/19 Ammonia 2ppm
pH 7.4
Nitrites 5+ppm
Nitrates 160+ppm

It this on the right track to a good cycle?

 

[blesser13]

Oh yea totally, but you will need to add some fishes sooner, you need them to create a good cycle,the only thing it change is that is going to be less cruel for the fishes. You could get some Zebra Danio, they are cheap and really strong, but i will never add for exemple neons or cardinals on a fishless tank. After 2 weeks you could bring them back to the lfs and get the fishes you like. But what size is your tank?

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Oh yea totally, but you will need to add some fishes sooner, you need them to create a good cycle,the only thing it change is that is going to be less cruel for the fishes. You could get some Zebra Danio, they are cheap and really strong, but i will never add for exemple neons or cardinals on a fishless tank

The only thing is, I already have fish, but they are outgrowing their tank. i would like to move them when the tank starts processing ammonia overnight. What i dont want is for them to die when they go in. I have had them since december. When the ammonia is almost to 0 I will redose again to 5ppm and keep doing that until the ammonia will reduce to 0 in 24 hours. Then of course a large water change to get rid of nitrates, and then I will hopefully be able to move my fish over. And the tank that is cycling is a 40gallon. My current tank is a 10 gallon. The amount of fish in the tank will not change. After I move the fish into the 40, I am keeping the 10gallon running and I am going to raise my fry in it. My female is expecting soon

 

[blesser13]

what you could do is add your old water from your 10g, and add your filter to allow your new filter to get colonised with good bacteria. Once is done you can put back your old filter to your 10g and add water from your 40g into it. That what i did for my 55 gallons didn't lose any fish. I believe you got few fishes only. Or you start adding few fishes, then wait few days and if they look fine you add the rest. Since you seem to watch carefully your parameters everything should be fine

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I have 4 swords, 2 mollies, a sword fry, a pleco, a chinese algae eater, and a hi-fin white tetra and hopefully we will be able to save from fry from this next drop

 

[librarygirl]

YOu seem like you're on your way, I would continue with the fishless cycle until it's complete and then move your fish over. Why move them over sooner and risk them? Keep an eye on your nitrites; if they stay at 5+ for a while you could do a water change to get them down to a readable level on the test kit; high nitrites for long periods can stall a cycle. But you've only had them high for a few days, I'd wait it out a bit more and keep dosing ammonia when it gets below 0.5.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

YOu seem like you're on your way, I would continue with the fishless cycle until it's complete and then move your fish over. Why move them over sooner and risk them? Keep an eye on your nitrites; if they stay at 5+ for a while you could do a water change to get them down to a readable level on the test kit; high nitrites for long periods can stall a cycle. But you've only had them high for a few days, I'd wait it out a bit more and keep dosing ammonia when it gets below 0.5.

That's what I was going to do. I found a step by step guide online showing how to do that cycle. But since this is my first time and I know many people on this forum have done it, I wanted to make sure that it is working. I don't want to risk losing the fish that I have. I have had them for a while

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

If you transfer your filter and all the media into the new tank, the tank will be instantly cycled for the fish you are putting in there. There is no need to cycle the new tank

 

[fluttermoth]

Oh yea totally, but you will need to add some fishes sooner, you need them to create a good cycle

I don't know who told you this, blesser, but I can assure you they were wrong! You do not need to add fish for a 'good' cycle; the whole point of doing a fishless cycle is that you don't need to add fish until it's complete.

The bacteria don't care if the ammonia they eat is from fish, or household ammonia; chemically there is no difference whatsover

If you transfer your filter and all the media into the new tank, the tank will be instantly cycled for the fish you are putting in there. There is no need to cycle the new tank

+1
One of the joys of being a fishkeeper and having at least one tank up and running is that you need never cycle; you can just move the media, or part of it.

If you try to think of the media as being paired with the fish rather than the tank or filter, that's a useful way of thinking about it. So, if you move half the fish, half the media goes with them. If you're moving all the fish into a larger tank, then all the media goes too; either in the old filter, or into the new one.

The only thing you need to do it feed sparingly and test often for a few days, just to make sure you don't get a 'mini-cycle'. One of our members had a minicycle when they moved their media into a new filter recently; it lasted about 12 hours, lol and they had to do two (I think) extra w/c, that's all

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Oh yea totally, but you will need to add some fishes sooner, you need them to create a good cycle

I don't know who told you this, blesser, but I can assure you they were wrong! You do not need to add fish for a 'good' cycle; the whole point of doing a fishless cycle is that you don't need to add fish until it's complete.

The bacteria don't care if the ammonia they eat is from fish, or household ammonia; chemically there is no difference whatsover

If you transfer your filter and all the media into the new tank, the tank will be instantly cycled for the fish you are putting in there. There is no need to cycle the new tank

+1
One of the joys of being a fishkeeper and having at least one tank up and running is that you need never cycle; you can just move the media, or part of it.

If you try to think of the media as being paired with the fish rather than the tank or filter, that's a useful way of thinking about it. So, if you move half the fish, half the media goes with them. If you're moving all the fish into a larger tank, then all the media goes too; either in the old filter, or into the new one.

The only thing you need to do it feed sparingly and test often for a few days, just to make sure you don't get a 'mini-cycle'. One of our members had a minicycle when they moved their media into a new filter recently; it lasted about 12 hours, lol and they had to do two (I think) extra w/c, that's all

The only thing about doing it that way (and I wish i would have known the compleet details of moving the media) is that I have already dosed the tank with ammonia. the only other thing if that I want the 10 gallon to stay running the way it is and dont want to mess up the cycle in that tank, because when I move my fish over, all are going, minus the fry that my female is about to have. so i'm not really sure what I am going to do, I just dont want to mess up the cycle on my 10 gallon due to the fact that babies will be living in it.