Frustrated & Impatient!

[Amunet]

Dernit! When is my 10gal gonna cycle already! rofl
Been adding those drops of ammonia in every day since I got the stuff (which I can't remember when now... *sigh* bad memory was using flake food for a little while)..... and still NADA on nitrites!
I thought using ammonia was supposed to be quick. Always read about people using ammonia, and BAM.. one week later they have a cycled tank. I'm on week 3 now and still PFFFFTTT nothing! I know I know.. all tanks are different.. I just want my bettas now lol
It sucks so much going into those petstores and seeing them suffering in their tiny cups, knowing that if your tank was just done cycling already, you could've saved one from a miserable death.

And then our big tank.... I dunno what the heck is going on with it, but just when I thought it was done cycling.. up goes the ammonia again!! Grrrr........ I did clean out the filter though in some discarded tank water... not sure if that messed up anything but I don't see how it would since all I did was just rub and shake off some of the grime.....

SIGH *mentally kicks both tanks* Cycle already!!!!

 

[Jozlyn]

Cycle the tank with the Betta! I do that with mine! They're pretty tough fish, I have no idea how the poor things survive in those tiny cups. Water tests and water changes daily for a week or so and tank's cycled, easy

 

[Amunet]

Nope no no no no.
I made the mistake of being too impatient and skimming over info with our 28gallon.
We're cycling it with fish and just.. no. I don't want to do that again.
I'd rather it take forever and have it done fishless than using fish and putting them through the cycling process, specially bettas. They're already living in hell in those cups, I don't want to just transfer them into a larger version of that with a cycling tank. I wanna put them in a nice clean cycled environment where they can be healthy and happy
Plus the daily water changes is just a pain in my butt, although I am building some nice arm muscles lugging around the buckets full of water every day lol

 

[Amunet]

ALRIGHTY! So I read over the fishless cycling thread and now understand why it's taking so long heh.
It's b/c I'm doing the add daily method instead of the add and wait.
I'm gonna do a small water change tomorrow to get some of the ammonia out of my 10gal and leave it be! Since the tank will only be housing 2 bettas (well.. danios for now if it cycles quickly)..... it won't need that large of bacteria
Really hoping it happens quickly... if it does... my danios are going into it and I'll be doing the daily method with the main tank. Hopefully it won't take too long though since some bacteria should already be in that tank.

WHEW! See... knowledge can come from rants & just letting off some steam rofl

 

[dwarfgourami]

The thing about the fishless cycle is it is totally unpredictable timewise. I used the add daily method three times: once the tank cycled in a week, once in 10 days and the third time it took 3 weeks. What it does do is prepare you for the central aspect of fishkeeping: the need for endless patience. But I was happy even with the 3 weeks: I was able to add the fish I wanted and have never had a single health problem with that tank. Well worth the wait! It could be that you've been adding a bit too much ammonia, I did and it did slow things down. You try that change of method and see how it goes. Hope you feel better for your rant- it will be worth it in the end!

 

[Darkehorse]

The thing about the fishless cycle is it is totally unpredictable timewise. I used the add daily method three times: once the tank cycled in a week, once in 10 days and the third time it took 3 weeks. What it does do is prepare you for the central aspect of fishkeeping: the need for endless patience. But I was happy even with the 3 weeks: I was able to add the fish I wanted and have never had a single health problem with that tank. Well worth the wait! It could be that you've been adding a bit too much ammonia, I did and it did slow things down. You try that change of method and see how it goes. Hope you feel better for your rant- it will be worth it in the end!

I'm going through the same thing, although for me it's waiting for the nitrites to drop to 0 PPM (right now its 2 PPM). I swear it's been at 2 PPM for about 2 weeks. Grrr. The difficult thing is the stock for the fish I want at the LFS is slowing dwindling. Last time I checked there were only three left.

-Darke

 

[edgun88]

Plus the daily water changes is just a pain in my butt, although I am building some nice arm muscles lugging around the buckets full of water every day lol

hahaha thats funny. The same thing is happening to me. 5 gallon buckets of water are heavy!

 

[Amunet]

Plus the daily water changes is just a pain in my butt, although I am building some nice arm muscles lugging around the buckets full of water every day lol

hahaha thats funny. The same thing is happening to me. 5 gallon buckets of water are heavy!

I bet! lol... My bucket is only 3 gallons.. can't even imagine having to carry around a 5gallon
It used to be SO heavy though... now.. well it's still heavy but I can carry it a bit easier and poor it into the tank by myself instead of having to get help heh.

Anywho! Did a 30% water change..... let it settle for an hour then did an ammonia test to see where ammonia is at. Looks to be either just above 8ppm. Hope that's alright... course it's probably going to take longer for bacteria to eat at it, but meh... I've waited this long.. not gonna hurt to wait longer...............even though it still sucks rofl