Fishless Cycling

[zodiac]

hello to you all


I have a 20g tank i am doing the fishless cycle i got ammonia from boots 9.5%w/w i added it 12 days ago to 5-6ppm the temp in the tank is 86f i have a UGF and an internal fluval 3 i used aqua safe with the water to de-chlorinate it the plants in the tank are all plastic i have also added a couple of cup fulls of gravel from an established tank (not mine) and used shock zyme (didnt think it would do anything) but nothing is happening am i doing something wrong? i did do a 50% water change a week ago but also used de chlorinated water (dont know why just something to do)
could the water change have caused the delay in cycling? just watching this tank is nearly as boring as watching the football, i want to do this the right way am i missing somethin?

thanks in advance

martin

 

[mark.w.jones]

hello to you all


I have a 20g tank i am doing the fishless cycle i got ammonia from boots 9.5%w/w i added it 12 days ago to 5-6ppm the temp in the tank is 86f i have a UGF and an internal fluval 3 i used aqua safe with the water to de-chlorinate it the plants in the tank are all plastic i have also added a couple of cup fulls of gravel from an established tank (not mine) and used shock zyme (didnt think it would do anything) but nothing is happening am i doing something wrong? i did do a 50% water change a week ago but also used de chlorinated water (dont know why just something to do)
could the water change have caused the delay in cycling? just watching this tank is nearly as boring as watching the football, i want to do this the right way am i missing somethin?

thanks in advance

martin

When fishless cycling you shouldnt change water at all until the very end (once your ammonia and nitrite are being cycled in 24 hours.) Add your ammonia hydroxide solution to raise levels to 5ppm. You then need to test your water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate every day. As soon as ammonia drops down near to 0 - 1ppm then add more to raise it up to 5ppm again. You'll probably adding ammonia daily after a week or so. Then it takes a further 2 - 3 weeks for your nitrite to drop. Obviously raise temp. as you have done and keep filter running at all times. I wouldnt worry about adding any other products / boosters / bacterial things as few of them do anything useful IMO. Don't give up.

 

[zodiac]

hello to you all


I have a 20g tank i am doing the fishless cycle i got ammonia from boots 9.5%w/w i added it 12 days ago to 5-6ppm the temp in the tank is 86f i have a UGF and an internal fluval 3 i used aqua safe with the water to de-chlorinate it the plants in the tank are all plastic i have also added a couple of cup fulls of gravel from an established tank (not mine) and used shock zyme (didnt think it would do anything) but nothing is happening am i doing something wrong? i did do a 50% water change a week ago but also used de chlorinated water (dont know why just something to do)
could the water change have caused the delay in cycling? just watching this tank is nearly as boring as watching the football, i want to do this the right way am i missing somethin?

thanks in advance

martin

When fishless cycling you shouldnt change water at all until the very end (once your ammonia and nitrite are being cycled in 24 hours.) Add your ammonia hydroxide solution to raise levels to 5ppm. You then need to test your water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate every day. As soon as ammonia drops down near to 0 - 1ppm then add more to raise it up to 5ppm again. You'll probably adding ammonia daily after a week or so. Then it takes a further 2 - 3 weeks for your nitrite to drop. Obviously raise temp. as you have done and keep filter running at all times. I wouldnt worry about adding any other products / boosters / bacterial things as few of them do anything useful IMO. Don't give up.

Thanks for all your help i will wait it out and see what happens