Fishless Cycling

[StarOrbs]

Okay I finally found some ammonia that doesn't have perfume and other crap in it.. but this one has Ammonia and Deionized Water. Will that work? Also I didn't realize that you weren't suppose to dechlorinate the water but I did is there anything I can do so I don't have to empty it?

 

[Def]

You *are* supposed to dechlorinate the water. And DI water is fine, if that's the only additive to the ammonia - it just dilutes it a bit.

 

[StarOrbs]

Thats great! Thanks.

 

[StarOrbs]

Okay last question about this heh, how much water should I remove and how often should I do it during fishless cycling. I know at the end you should remove 50% of it but how about up to that point?

 

[yvez9]

You don't have to remove any until it has cycled, unless you find there is too much ammonia in your water (over 5ppm) because cycling will take forever if there is too muhc ammonia

 

[StarOrbs]

Alright, thanks.

 

[StarOrbs]

When doing this what should the ammonia reading be. When doing this method: (4-5 drops NH3 / 10 gal / day until nitrite peaks, then reduce to 2-3 drops / 10 gal / day)

 

[Bignose]

The drops method was calibrated for lab grade ammonia - usually about 38% or so. Store bought ammonia is usually 4-10%, so the drops method is not as accurate. Since it is not easily to know exactly the concentration (you could call the manufacturer) most people add until they get a reading from 2 to 5 ppm of ammonia. Then, they write down how much total it took to get to that reading. Add that much until you get your nitrite spike, then add half each day. At the end, it is not strickly a 50% water change, but do as large a one as possible, to reduce the nitrates that have built up.

Some tips from my own fishless cycling experiences:

1) turn the heater up.. way up, to like 85 or 88 ish. Higher T help the bacteria grow a lot faster, and lets face it, we're all impatient to add fish as soon as possible, right? Just remember to turn is down well before you add fish.

and 2) I usually start with a low amount of ammonia (like aiming for the 2 ppm) then when the daily dose of ammonia can be processed in one day (no ammonia or nitrite after one day) Then I increase the dose. The reason is, a large established population can grow to accomodate much faster than if you dose high immediately -- less chance of overdosing (and thereby inhibiting the bacteria growth).

and 3) Once the ammonia can be processed totally in one day, start spreading out the dose over the day... 1/3 in the morning, 1/3 when you get home from school/work, 1/3 before bed. This more closely simulates the constant supply the bacteria will be getting in the tank. And, of course, constant food = constant growth by the bacteria.

 

[isu_guy]

one thing that I think people are overlooking in this post is... declorinated water is key.

If the water you put in has cholrine in it that cholrine will prevent beneficial bacteria from growing. Add dechlorinate to the water as is, it will circulate and do its thing just fine. To the best of my knowledge if you don't do this you will not see any progress. I could be wrong though.

good luck

 

[Def]

I said that

BTW, expect to do more like a 100% water change when the cycle is finished, not a 50%. Fishless cycling creates huge amounts of nitrates is a short space of time.