Fishless Cycling

[KkAaNnEe]

Hi,

I am pretty new to all of this, so any advice would be great...

Basically, I began a fishless cycle around 7 days ago, I couldn't get hold of any ammonia and was obviously eager to begin so started with fish food (flake).

Eight month old (bought second hand)
Juwel Rio 180, standard internal filter (used for eight months im guessing) heater... etc
Lights are on, a few plants...


The trouble im having is that I have had readings of 0 ammonia 0 Nitrites and High Nitrates, Nitrite and Nitrate readings were only taken around 3 days ago due to not having tests available. I have been adding flake food everyday so its seems a mystery to me to not be getting any readings of Ammonia?

Do you have any ideas why this is? Could it be due to the Filter having been used already?

Cheers guys

 

[drobbyb]

You have to give the fish food time to decompose. Usually, you will see fungal growths on the flake food before you will get a reading.

As far as the filter being used before, if it sat without any ammonia source, such as fish, the bacteria will die off.

If you are seeing nitrates, you may have them present in your tap water.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with Robby's comments. WD