Fishless Cycling.....

[Irf]

Hi all,

I had a quick trawl for particular keywords but couldn't find anyone else asking this one, so here goes.....

I have just finished fishless cycling my 2nd tank (40gal) using the ammonia method. Ammonia is now disposed of quickly and stats are stable. My problem is that as luck would have it the cycling has finished just before I'm due to go on a 3 week holiday! Now I don't really want to buy my cichlids and have a fish-sitter tending them while I'm away - I want to be there to see them establish their territories, etc.

So I would like the tank to remain cycled until I get back. My options appear to be:

1. Get the fish-sitter to feed the tank ammonia to maintain the cycle (not reliable)

2. Let the cycle die and start again when I return (not attractive)

3. Rig up some sort of auto-feeding system so that the cycle is maintained.

Option 3 is my favourite, but I dunno how to do it.

Has anyone ever come up with some sort of drip-feed system for fishless cycling? It would be good if my cycle could be maintained without entrusting to the fish-sitter!

Thanks,

Irf.

 

[Mr.September15]

Ummm why dont you switch to the "suicide fish method" AKA the put the goldfish in the tank and see if it survives when u come back method. Im not sure if you can switch methods but im not sure how the lvls can become un-stable if nothing is added or taken away...

 

[Irf]

Ummm why dont you switch to the "suicide fish method" AKA the put the goldfish in the tank and see if it survives when u come back method. Im not sure if you can switch methods but im not sure how the lvls can become un-stable if nothing is added or taken away...

I didn't list that as an option cos I didn't want any fish to die or suffer as a result..... hence the fishless cycling. Thanks anyway.

Anyone else any ideas?

Irf.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Ummm why dont you switch to the "suicide fish method" AKA the put the goldfish in the tank and see if it survives when u come back method. Im not sure if you can switch methods but im not sure how the lvls can become un-stable if nothing is added or taken away...

Well, he can't put fish in there now, can he- the tank is full of ammonia! (Or at any rate of nitrites).

I would try to trust the fishsitter. When I go on holiday, I measure out the food in portions before I go- would it be possible to do something similar here, or leave exact instructions as to how much ammonia to add. I wouldn't have thought it would be such a disaster if things went slightly wrong anyway, unless the sitter adds absolutely gross amounts of ammonia and stalls the cycle, and even then, the worstl you'll have to do is start again. It's not as if you had fish in there that would suffer.

 

[scubadoo]

I cant think of a reliable Heath Robinson type set-up which will deliver 4-5ppm ammonia to a tank daily while you're away.

Even if you did come up with something and could pour ammonia into small portions which could be distributed daily, after a week or two quite a bit of the ammonia would have evaporated off thereby meaning that you'd be under dosing the tank.

It may not be the most reliable method, but I think you're going to have to trust the fish sitter. Worst case scenario they get it all wrong and either add too much ammonia or forget to add any and you lose all your bacteria and have to start again.

But even that's better than stocking up and then coming back to find its all gone t!ts up while you're away.

The only other option i can see is to do a deal with your LFS - stock up with danios or something and leave them in the tank while you're away on the understanding that you'll bring them back 3 weeks later and get some credit against your cichlid purchase.

 

[Irf]

Well, he can't put fish in there now, can he- the tank is full of ammonia! (Or at any rate of nitrites).

Well the tank being cycled means that there is actually no (or very little) ammonia/nitrites in there...... that's what happens with fishless cycling. It's essentially ready to add fish, but what I want to do is hold it at that point.

I cant think of a reliable Heath Robinson type set-up which will deliver 4-5ppm ammonia to a tank daily while you're away.

Even if you did come up with something and could pour ammonia into small portions which could be distributed daily, after a week or two quite a bit of the ammonia would have evaporated off thereby meaning that you'd be under dosing the tank.

It may not be the most reliable method, but I think you're going to have to trust the fish sitter. Worst case scenario they get it all wrong and either add too much ammonia or forget to add any and you lose all your bacteria and have to start again.

But even that's better than stocking up and then coming back to find its all gone t!ts up while you're away.

The only other option i can see is to do a deal with your LFS - stock up with danios or something and leave them in the tank while you're away on the understanding that you'll bring them back 3 weeks later and get some credit against your cichlid purchase.

You're right about the difficulty of dosing measured amounts - but I was thinking of something like a medical drip feeder. That might deliver ammonia at a slow enough rate.

Actually I had thought of a worse scenario involving the fish-sitter. They could do the ammonia and then feed the fish in my community tank, with ammonia still on their hands! That would be really bad, wouldn't it?

Anyway I've got a day or two to come up with something, or I'll have to trust the fish-sitter. Maybe I could tell them to feed ammonia in the morning to the empty tank and food in the evening to the fish.....

Irf.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Can't you just move either some fish from your other tank into the 40g, or put the filter in the other tank? Most auto-dosing systems are fiddly and unreliable. Or ask your lfs or a friend if you could borrow some fish for the three weeks- if you 'borrowed' something like livebearers you could pay back with interest

 

[ImperfectFaerie]

Have them feed your community tank FIRST and then dose the ammonia. Bingo- no cross contamination ;-}