Fishless Cycle.........nothing Happening?

[Mo1959]

Ammonia still stuck at 4ppm. That is two weeks this morning

Since I have already ordered the U4 I am as well to use it. I will transfer the ceramic media and as much of the sponge as possible. If I still don't see results after another week I may well be tempted to do a total water change and do a careful fish in cycle. Would rather not but an empty tank for several weeks isn't very enjoyable.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Ammonia still stuck at 4ppm. That is two weeks this morning

My ammonia took FOREVER to drop too but it got there eventually.

 

[Gvilleguy]

Hi Mo,

Depending on your specific tap water and tank conditions, a fishless cycle can certainly test your patience. But it DOES work. My tank took 70 (that's right - seventy!) days to cycle. First ammonia drop was at day 26, and then the nitrites did not drop to zero until day 71. I was starting to despair of ever having read about cycling in the first place.

However, now that I see the danios and guppies zipping around my aquarium happily, I think it was worth it. My ammonia and nitrite have remained zero since stocking the tank.

Good luck with the cycling.

 

[Mo1959]

Thanks, I think Keep hearing about others who seem to zip through it in three or four weeks. Bizarre how they are all so different. If I could even see tiny movements in the readings I would be happier but I suppose it will happen eventually.

 

[JoshuaA]

Thanks, I think Keep hearing about others who seem to zip through it in three or four weeks. Bizarre how they are all so different. If I could even see tiny movements in the readings I would be happier but I suppose it will happen eventually.

There will be bacteria already there, they're just taking their sweet time to anchor on your filter media in sufficient numbers to make a large difference in your test results.

If you can get hold of some mature filter media from someone then that will help kick start your tank. Once you have noticed a difference in your test you will probably within 2 or so days be down to 0ppm of Ammonia. Those A-Bacs multiply fast when they gain in numbers!

 

[Mo1959]

Thanks Josh. At least I'm night shift all this week so I don't have so much time to look at the empty tank. lol.

Maureen

 

[Mo1959]

At last. Got around a 5ppm nitrite reading this morning Ammonia still looks between 2 and 4ppm though so I don't think I'll add any more until I am sure it is at least down to 2ppm. No point in overloading the filter and maybe stalling things. If anything, I will probably slightly understock the tank eventually anyway so I don't suppose I need a massive bacteria culture

Maureen

 

[Mo1959]

Ammonia down to just under 1ppm this morning and nitrites still around 5ppm. Got some nitrates too so all starting to look good. Hopefully just a case of small top ups of ammonia now and keep an eye on the readings.

 

[waterdrop]

Rasbora hets are a great first fish to stock, even better than danios I feel. They are beautiful shoaling in live plants and then you can begin to introduce neons at around 6 months to form contrasting shoals. The two species live well together.

Your fishless cycle appears to be proceeding just fine. Sometimes when a cycle proceeds too quickly you are just getting fooled.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Mo1959]

Thanks for the encouragement Waterdrop. One slight problem is that I currently have two neon tetras in a fish in cycle in a biube tank so I was hoping to move them into the bigger tank when it is cycled. I have since found out that they are better in a longer established tank but, as they have survived for two months now I feel they may be little toughies!!!!! I am sure I saw rasboras in my local pet shop so should be able to get some of them so am left in the quandary of just leaving the two neons without further company for a while or risking getting another two or three in the hope that they also prove as tough.

Maureen

 

[waterdrop]

Oh my no, if you've already got them then you will want to go ahead and let them be in the first stocking for sure. They will be better off in the larger volume tank than in the little biube bottle. The delayed introduction time for neons/cards is just a statistical thing, it doesn't mean they're all going to die if introduced sooner.

Recently I noticed a batch of young Ras Hets at my local shop that were quite a bit lighter in coloration than what I'm used to. I like the deeper, darker colors. Of course, they get deeper as the fish mature, but this seemed more pronounced than that. Anyway, just thought I'd mention it.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Mo1959]

OK, thanks again. I love the look of the neons and can't wait to see them with more swimming room and some companions. I will be extra careful though and keep doing the testing once I move them though. Can never understand why some people regard the small cheap fish as expendable. They only cost me 85pence each but I love them to bits. lol.

 

[waterdrop]

Setting up a small 5.5G-10G quarantine tank (yes, a whole 'nother setup, lol) would allow you to quarantine 4 or 5 new neons or 3 or 4 new rasboras at a time for second and beyond stockings after your tank is established. A lot of beginners take their chances and just introduce some additional batches directly to the main tank but of course any time batches come from the LFS they can carry disease. I've got a batch of 5 neons currently that are more than ready for the main tank but I'm just waiting for some rasboras that I like so I can keep the bacteria going continuously for a while in the Qtank.

~~waterdrop~~