Good Results on first fishless cycle

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Goblin

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I had not tried fishless cycling, my local pet store did not seem to have a ton of faith in it. They stated many people screw it all up etc. They wanted me to buy the 2 fish per week thing. I wanted 20+ tiger barbs etc all at once. They said my 55 gal would not handle it if I did that all at once.

Well I set out to grow a giant bacteria colony. I purchase the elcheapo no name clear ammonia (no additives) and added two cap fulls per day (5-10 ppm), it did not take long for the bacteria to start eating it up. I think I kept it up for 5-7 days. When my NiTRITES started to spike at 5-10ppm I halved the ammonia for 3 days then I stopped all ammonia for 4 days to let the nitrospira Nitrite eating guys have a chance to grow. I also kicked up the temp to 82 so they would grow fasters. It took about 3-4 days of spiked nitrites for them to start comming down.

I added 5ppm ammonia and found the tank cleared it all in less than a day.

When ammonia and Nitrite were zero (1day later) I went out a purchased 25 tiger barbs, 2 large Plecos and a snail.

I have been checking the water for past few days and ZERO Ammonia spike, my tank laughed at the fish load and ate up all the waste the fish could muster.

Fishless is cool and the way to go if you plan on adding a ton of fish all at once.

It only took 2 weeks.
 
Yeah, Fishless was nice for me too. My first tank. 20gallon long. Took 2 weeks to cycle (seemed like FOREVER) added 3 swordtails and 2 glassfish on Wends, Thursday added 4 more glassfish and another sword, and that weekend added another 3 swordtails. 7 Swords and 6 glass fish right now. No problems except for fungus on a couple of swords. I though the white was just a normal color variation when I got them :sad: Put some treatment in about 24 hours ago, and I think its clearing up some.

Might be some ghostshrimp in there too, but I haven't seen them
 
Good job!! Glad it worked out well for you, sounds like you knew what you were doing. The reason it fails is people have no patience and/or don't have a clue what they are doing.
 
I've done several fishless cycles followed by full stocking, including what's in my sig currently. Works like a charm every time, just gotta be patient and follow the procedure. :thumbs: Glad to hear your's worked out well the first try.
 
Yeah!
well done!
Ive just finished mine, and im stocked up. All tests at 0! even nitrates! (ive got lotsa plants)
Fishless is the way to go!
 
I owe to you guys here and the internet fish community. I almost did not do it as my pet store (they are really good with huge selection) frowned on it. Plus I am a newbie to fish as of 3 weeks ago.

I also wanted to note that I started with a fresh tank new filters and no bacteria. I loaded the tank up with rocks from Lake Michigan, they must have had some bacteria on them. I guess that type of bacteria is in every lake and is common.

I did start to get impatient when my nitrites just stagnated at 5-10ppm for 3-4 days. When they did start to lower it was super fast.

I do feel like I got lucky since it was my first try. My previous experience was with my kids 3 gal goldfish tank. I was an idiot, I would throw out the bio wheel and the filter pad thinking brand new was good. I had no idea that bacteria were good for the tank. Ended up killing the goldfish by putting polywogs(prefrogs) in the tank. They grew so fast than in 4 days they doubled in size. Then they were all gasping at the top of the tank, I thought they were playing. Now I know they were gasping for air from Ammonia or nitrite overload. They all died a few hours later. I felt bad about it. I had no test kit, if the water looked dirty I would change it. Total Moron!

I just got back from our cottage in norther Michigan (5days) and was worried I might come home to floating fish. Well I am happy to say that all the barbs and plecos are doing great. The water is still free of Nitrite and Ammonia.

Nothing like the site of 20+ barbs schooling around! They are fast as lighting when they want to be.

I'm using a Jebo 300gph canister, it was only 70.00 vs 350.00 for Enheim. It seems to be doing the job. I took two 12 inch bubble wands and placed them under the large rocks so they would bubble up under my slate shelves. Its a cool effect. I love my tank its like live art.
 

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