Having Trouble Fishless Cycling New Tank

[MegTheFish]

So I've been trying to cycle my 55 gallon for the past week. At first I put established filter media from my other tank into the new tank, then added a few of my largest goldfish, and was going to cycle with them. The reason I wasn't going to do a fishless cycle on this tank was because it took me 7 weeks to fishless cycle my 50 gallon a few years ago. But then I thought, if I had added the established filter media it should go along faster. So I took the goldfish out, and started adding ammonia, but didn't follow the "this many drops per gallon" rule. I added 3 capfuls the first day, and here's how it went leading up to today.

June 22~ Ammonia- 5 ppm, nitrite 0 ppm, nitrate 0 ppm
June 23~ same
June 24~ Added one more capful, Ammonia- around 8 ppm, nitrite- 0 ppm, nitrate- 0 ppm
June 25~Ammonia, around 8 ppm, nitrite- 0 ppm, nitrate- 0 ppm

Isn't the ammonia suppost to rise (which it is not without my help) then fall, then the nitrites pick up? Nothing is happening, and if it keeps on going at this rate it WILL take 7 weeks to cycle... I don't understand how some people have down this in as little as 10 days?

At the beggining I thought I was just going to clone the tank, but tested the water and everything was at 0, and I thought it would just have to go through a mini cycle.

 

[Tolak]

With a fishless cycle, the only way the ammonia will rise is by you adding more. Here is a little chart showing a traditional cycle with fish;

As you can see, the ammonia peaks around day 2 with fish, this is where your ammonia starts with a fishless cycle. Don't add any more ammonia until it starts to drop. It will start to drop when you see nitrites. Too much ammonia will extend the cycling process. 8 ppm is a little too much, aim for 4 ppm. I would do a partial water change to bring it down. Increasing the temperature increases the rate at which bacteria multiply, kick it up to 85F, you can bring it back down when the cycle is complete before you add fish.

 

[MegTheFish]

I think I might just cycle with fish. Can I add the fish, and do a water change whenever there is any trace of ammonia? My boss (I work at a petstore) said that is what she did, she was doing water changes pretty often and she didn't loose any fish. The thing I don't understand though, if you do water changes to keep the ammonia down, you won't be letting the ammonia increase, so how is the tank suppost to cycle?

 

[avirex]

i never did any cycle stuff...i started with 3 tiger barbs weekly water changes...and now look at my stock...no problems so far? i had my tank since the beggining of april

the guy at the lfs just told me let the water sit in the tank with the decholrinator for 3 days and it will fine...

i do plan on gettin a test kit soon though

only problem i had was some green tinted water from an algae bloom or over feeeding or the petrified wood..

im testin the wood in a bucket for a week to see if it turns it green...i stopped over feeding

visually theres no problems but in chemistry i believe im doing good...

im not the smartest on this site..nor im not that dumb....but i did add fish by the week....and a little overstocked....

 

[Tolak]

You will be letting the ammonia increase cycling with fish, just at a lesser rate, with a smaller bacterial colony resulting. This is the traditional way of cycling, doing frequent water changes to minimize any damage to the fish. The usual way is 1" of slim bodied fish under 3" of length for every 5 gallons of water. A more hardy fish works best.

By doing a fishless cycle, you are not risking any damage to fish, and once it is cycled, you can start with a full bio load. As you can see, cycling with fish you start with 1/5 the total bio load, and you can add more fish slowly after the cycle is complete. This means that you will have around 1/5 the nitrifying bacteria built up, because you are feeding them around 1/5 the total that you will end up with in a fully stocked tank.

There are advantages & disadvantages to both methods. Cycling with fish means you don't have to look at an empty tank for a few weeks. The downside is you have to start with hardy fish that you may not want to keep long term, you may lose a fish or 2, and the surviving fish may have a shortened life span due to being exposed to ammonia & nitrites. You also have to stock more slowly due to there being less nitrifying bacteria. Frequent water changes are needed to keep ammonia & nitrites down.

Fishless cycling lets you start with a full tank, of fish that may be less hardy, and that you do plan on keeping long term. Since no fish are used, there is less chance of damage or death to fish. You don't have to do any water changes until the end. The downside is having an empty tank, and the usual "where's the fish?" question from family & friends. Either way you are doing daily water tests, and adding something, either ammonia or fish food.

Since you have already done the fishless cycle, by all means try cycling with fish. You may lose a fish or 2, but you will gain some aquatics knowledge. In the future you could help out someone else who is trying to decide on how to cycle their tank.