Fishless Cycle - Fast Results

[kudos1uk]

So last week I bought a second hand 60l Biorb.

Gave it a good clean out as it was very dirty and have been empty for several weeks and stored in a garage. I cleaned out all the rubbish (small shells etc) but reused the ceramic media, cleaned the sponge and reused without carbon.

On Friday 18th I filled the tank and set the temp to 30c and added 3.2ml ammonia, I knew nothing would happed yet as our water has Chloamines not chlorine so no chance of it going naturally.

Sunday 20th I added the stress coat & kept my fingers crossed my ammonia was right (by calculator) as my test kit had not arrived. As I had no media to add I tipped in a double dose of stress zyme (not expecting anything - but you never know)

Monday 21st the test kit arrived so testing begins.


__________Ammonia____nitrite________nitrate________ph / ph(high)
20/05 set going with stress coat / 3.2ml ammonia / stat on 30c / double dose stress zyme for the hell / no media
21/05______5ppm_______0ppm_______10ppm________7.6/8.2
22/05______5ppm_______0ppm_______not checked____7.6/8.2
23/05______2ppm_______2ppm_______not checked____7.6/8.2
24/05______0ppm_______5ppm_______40ppm________7.6/8.2
24/05 brought ammonia back upto 4ppm

All looks good but so fast, I did not expect results like these so quick?

 

[Prime Ordeal]

It's not unusual for ammonia to start dropping by day 6 or 7 so yours is only a little faster. There are many factors that affect the cycle time and it's quite likely that there were some viable bacteria in the sponge and filter that kick started your cycle.

The next phase where the nitrite-eating bacteria get established is the longer one and should take about two weeks.

It's good but not surprisingly so given that the media already contains some nitrifiers.

 

[kudos1uk]

I'm not complaining

The only thing I should add is I could not get any media so on the off chance it might work I tipped in a double dose of stress zyme, Have no idea if it did actually help though.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Stress Zyme feeds on organics and produces ammonia. It's totally unnecessary.

Your speedy results are entirely due to the pre-used filter, tank etc.

Out of interest, where are you in the world? Are you in a high humidity climate?

 

[kudos1uk]

I'm in the UK, Ringwood in Hampshire.

I did not expect there to be any useful bacteria in the old media/filter as it had been empty and dry for at lest two weeks and I ran it with tap water only for 48hours so thought anything that might have survived would have been killed of by the Chloamine.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

There's dry and there's dry.

What feels dry to us can be a bath for creatures that are about a thousandth of the width of a human hair.

The chloramine should have nuked the poor devils though.

Let's see how the remainder of the cycle goes.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Chloramine does not nuke the bacteria. It does kill some but mostly it "puts them to sleep." Once the chloramine dosing has stopped, it breaks down and one of the components of this is ammonia. Presented with this lovely source of food and without the presence of the chloramine, the bacteria revive and multiply. This is why so many drinking water systems have problems with nitrates. There is ample research that will support what I have just said. Chlorine is much more effective at killing the nitrifyers than chloramines.

Don't think so? Then happy reading http/scholar.googl...=&as_sdt=1%2C33

 

[kudos1uk]

Good news I cleared the ammonia again today and its only day 5 .

____________________Ammonia____nitrite________nitrate________ph / ph(high)
Day 0_____ 20/05 set going with stress coat / 3.2ml ammonia / stat on 30c / double dose stress zyme for the hell / no media
Day 1_____ 21/05______5ppm_______0ppm_______10ppm________7.6/8.2
Day 2_____ 22/05______5ppm_______0ppm_______not checked____7.6/8.2
Day 3_____ 23/05______2ppm_______2ppm_______not checked____7.6/8.2
Day 4_____ 24/05______0ppm_______5ppm_______40ppm________7.6/8.2
__________24/05 brought ammonia back upto 4ppm
Day 5_____ 25/05______0ppm_______5ppm_______80ppm________7.6/8.4
__________25/05 brought ammonia back upto 4ppm

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Yes it looks very good. Your nitrite eaters are working as well because your nitrate is rising nicely.

 

[kudos1uk]

Good news again, I almost cleared the Nitrite today, It looks like I'm almost done and its only day 7 .

____________________Ammonia____nitrite________nitrate________ph / ph(high)
Day 0_____ 20/05 set going with stress coat / 3.2ml ammonia / stat on 30c / double dose stress zyme for the hell / no media
Day 1_____ 21/05______5ppm_______0ppm_______10ppm________7.6/8.2
Day 2_____ 22/05______5ppm_______0ppm_______not checked____7.6/8.2
Day 3_____ 23/05______2ppm_______2ppm_______not checked____7.6/8.2
Day 4_____ 24/05______0ppm_______5ppm_______40ppm________7.6/8.2
__________24/05 brought ammonia back upto 4ppm
Day 5_____ 25/05______0ppm_______5ppm_______80ppm________7.6/8.4
__________25/05 brought ammonia back upto 4ppm
Day 6_____ 26/05______0ppm_______5ppm_______80ppm________7.6/7.8
__________26/05 brought ammonia back upto 4ppm
Day 7_____ 27/05______0ppm_______0.25ppm____80ppm_________7.6/8.2
__________27/05 brought ammonia back upto 4ppm

 

[kudos1uk]

I cleared the Ammonia & Nitrite again today so I'm done .

Now to choose my fish

____________________Ammonia____nitrite________nitrate________ph / ph(high)
Day 0_____ 20/05 set going with stress coat / 3.2ml ammonia / stat on 30c / double dose stress zyme for the hell / no media
Day 1_____ 21/05______5ppm_______0ppm_______10ppm________7.6/8.2
Day 2_____ 22/05______5ppm_______0ppm_______not checked____7.6/8.2
Day 3_____ 23/05______2ppm_______2ppm_______not checked____7.6/8.2
Day 4_____ 24/05______0ppm_______5ppm_______40ppm________7.6/8.2
__________24/05 brought ammonia back upto 4ppm
Day 5_____ 25/05______0ppm_______5ppm_______80ppm________7.6/8.4
__________25/05 brought ammonia back upto 4ppm
Day 6_____ 26/05______0ppm_______5ppm_______80ppm________7.6/7.8
__________26/05 brought ammonia back upto 4ppm
Day 7_____ 27/05______0ppm_______0.25ppm____80ppm_________7.6/8.2
__________27/05 brought ammonia back upto 4ppm
Day 8_____ 28/05______0ppm_______0ppm_______>80ppm________7.6/8.2
__________28/05 brought ammonia back upto 4ppm