DivaSkyChick
Fish Fanatic
37 Gallon Tall Eclipse with lousy standard lights
I decided to do a fishless cycle because I didn't want to risk hurting any fish. Found something on the net and have basically followed directions. Thought I'd post my experience in case anyone else wants to do this as well.
Day 1, Dec. 23
Filled her up, heated her up to about 78, poured in about one table spoon of ammonia and a bottle of Fritzyme for a starter.
Day two, added one tbs ammonia
Day three, same
Day four, same
Day five, away for the day, no ammonia
Day six, away, no ammonia
Day seven, no ammonia added
Day eight, Ammonia at 8.0 or higher, added quarter tsp, about ten plants and fertilizer. I added plants because I heard that the bacteria in their roots and in the containers they come in will help. Realized later that ammonia might be high for the plants but it was too late. Anyway, I needed to do something in lieu of buying fish!
Day nine, ammonia 8.0, ph 7.8 no added ammonia, borrowed an algae covered plastic plant and a little gravel from a friend's established tank.
Day ten, January 1st - ammonia somewhere between 4.0 and 8.0 (my chart doesn't read between those numbers) no ammonia added. raised the heat to 86, which is as high as my heater will go, because I read the high heat will help the bacteria grow faster.
Day eleven - ammonia 2.0, nitrite .5, ph 7.8, no ammonia added, installed DIY Co2 set up (again, I had to do something productive!) Drank too much wine that evening and ordered bio spira off the internet thinking I could add it to hurry the process.
Day twelve - ammonia 2.0, nitrite 1.0, no ammonia added. Co2 looks like it's hardly working - I get one fat bubble coming out of the diffuser about every five or ten seconds... arggg Still, the ammonia is decreasing and nitrites are rising, so this looks good!
Day thirteen, ammonia 1.0, nitrite 5.0, no ammonia added. Sat on my hands and wallet.
Day 14. Ammonia ZERO! woohoo! Nitrite 5.0 or higher. PH 7.2 which I belive means the Co2 is working! Double Woohoo! added 1/2 tsp ammonia
In the evening my ammonia was back to zero.
Day 15. Ammonia zero, nitrite 5.0, added 1/2 tsp ammonia. By evening the ammonia read zero again. Plants not looking very good, tho... Bio spira arrived, it's still in the fridge. Haven't decided to add it, having doubts that it will do anything. I'd be interested to know what anyone here thinks about that.
Day 16, January 7...
AM - ammonia zero, nitrite 5.0, added one full tsp ammonia
PM - ammonia zero, nitrite 5.0 seems to devouring that ammonia. Adding one full tablespoon of ammonia tonight before I go to bed. Just want to see...
PH is still 7.2 plus I have white crusty (carbon?) buildup on the side of the tank with the diffuser.
Tomorrow is Saturday so I'm going to by a KH tester to determine how well my Co2 is really working. I'm also planning on buying a quarantine tank to give me something to fiddle with because I understand the nitrite process takes longer than the ammonia process and I have become obsessed with all things fishy.
Hope someone finds this interesting! If anyone has comments or advice, love to hear it. Thanks.
I decided to do a fishless cycle because I didn't want to risk hurting any fish. Found something on the net and have basically followed directions. Thought I'd post my experience in case anyone else wants to do this as well.
Day 1, Dec. 23
Filled her up, heated her up to about 78, poured in about one table spoon of ammonia and a bottle of Fritzyme for a starter.
Day two, added one tbs ammonia
Day three, same
Day four, same
Day five, away for the day, no ammonia
Day six, away, no ammonia
Day seven, no ammonia added
Day eight, Ammonia at 8.0 or higher, added quarter tsp, about ten plants and fertilizer. I added plants because I heard that the bacteria in their roots and in the containers they come in will help. Realized later that ammonia might be high for the plants but it was too late. Anyway, I needed to do something in lieu of buying fish!
Day nine, ammonia 8.0, ph 7.8 no added ammonia, borrowed an algae covered plastic plant and a little gravel from a friend's established tank.
Day ten, January 1st - ammonia somewhere between 4.0 and 8.0 (my chart doesn't read between those numbers) no ammonia added. raised the heat to 86, which is as high as my heater will go, because I read the high heat will help the bacteria grow faster.
Day eleven - ammonia 2.0, nitrite .5, ph 7.8, no ammonia added, installed DIY Co2 set up (again, I had to do something productive!) Drank too much wine that evening and ordered bio spira off the internet thinking I could add it to hurry the process.
Day twelve - ammonia 2.0, nitrite 1.0, no ammonia added. Co2 looks like it's hardly working - I get one fat bubble coming out of the diffuser about every five or ten seconds... arggg Still, the ammonia is decreasing and nitrites are rising, so this looks good!
Day thirteen, ammonia 1.0, nitrite 5.0, no ammonia added. Sat on my hands and wallet.
Day 14. Ammonia ZERO! woohoo! Nitrite 5.0 or higher. PH 7.2 which I belive means the Co2 is working! Double Woohoo! added 1/2 tsp ammonia
In the evening my ammonia was back to zero.
Day 15. Ammonia zero, nitrite 5.0, added 1/2 tsp ammonia. By evening the ammonia read zero again. Plants not looking very good, tho... Bio spira arrived, it's still in the fridge. Haven't decided to add it, having doubts that it will do anything. I'd be interested to know what anyone here thinks about that.
Day 16, January 7...
AM - ammonia zero, nitrite 5.0, added one full tsp ammonia
PM - ammonia zero, nitrite 5.0 seems to devouring that ammonia. Adding one full tablespoon of ammonia tonight before I go to bed. Just want to see...
PH is still 7.2 plus I have white crusty (carbon?) buildup on the side of the tank with the diffuser.
Tomorrow is Saturday so I'm going to by a KH tester to determine how well my Co2 is really working. I'm also planning on buying a quarantine tank to give me something to fiddle with because I understand the nitrite process takes longer than the ammonia process and I have become obsessed with all things fishy.
Hope someone finds this interesting! If anyone has comments or advice, love to hear it. Thanks.
