Hello New Here I Am 3/4's Into My Fishless Cycle

[waterdrop]

When you can get fish should be determined by when your fishless cycle test results show that you have a good working filter, not by when you have money. (but maybe both will happen at the same time )

The members will help you determine that your fishless cycle as successfully finished and then you'll plan a special day (people usually do it on the weekend) when you do a large water change to get all the leftover nitrate(NO3) and ammonia out of the tank and then refill it with conditioned tap water and put your plastic bags of new fish in the top to start getting the water temperatures to match between the bags and tank...

WD

 

[scouse_george]

When you can get fish should be determined by when your fishless cycle test results show that you have a good working filter, not by when you have money. (but maybe both will happen at the same time )

The members will help you determine that your fishless cycle as successfully finished and then you'll plan a special day (people usually do it on the weekend) when you do a large water change to get all the leftover nitrate(NO3) and ammonia out of the tank and then refill it with conditioned tap water and put your plastic bags of new fish in the top to start getting the water temperatures to match between the bags and tank...

WD

i have fluval 405 which i bought a few months ago so i will/have got a good working filter mate, i will post my results in a sec

 

[scouse_george]

amm - 1.0
nrite - 0 ppm
nrate - 40

 

[waterdrop]

When you can get fish should be determined by when your fishless cycle test results show that you have a good working filter, not by when you have money. (but maybe both will happen at the same time )

The members will help you determine that your fishless cycle as successfully finished and then you'll plan a special day (people usually do it on the weekend) when you do a large water change to get all the leftover nitrate(NO3) and ammonia out of the tank and then refill it with conditioned tap water and put your plastic bags of new fish in the top to start getting the water temperatures to match between the bags and tank...

WD

i have fluval 405 which i bought a few months ago so i will/have got a good working filter mate, i will post my results in a sec

Hi, sorry! , I should have made myself more clear. By a "good working filter" I didn't mean one that is functional and working correctly mechanically. Instead I meant that the filter has "qualified" biologically, ie. "completed the fishless cycling process and shown us that it is performing the nitrogen cycle at a level that can handle a full bioload of fish!"

To know if the filter could handle a full load of fish, you have to "test" it and the way we do that is to have a "qualifying week" where we add 5ppm ammonia each day and then be sure that only 12 hours later each day the ammonia and nitrite(NO2) have both dropped down to zero ppm and are not showing any traces.

Our experience with lots of cases here in the beginners section has shown that this is a better test than if we just got fish as soon as ammonia and nitrite(NO2) reached zero only once. Sometimes they can reach zero but then spike again after that.

Anyway, once the filter has passed its "qualifying week" its ready for the big water change and the first stocking of fish.

Your results are looking pretty good. Are you still performing just 24-hour tests or are you also doing 12-hour tests in addition?

WD

 

[scouse_george]

When you can get fish should be determined by when your fishless cycle test results show that you have a good working filter, not by when you have money. (but maybe both will happen at the same time )

The members will help you determine that your fishless cycle as successfully finished and then you'll plan a special day (people usually do it on the weekend) when you do a large water change to get all the leftover nitrate(NO3) and ammonia out of the tank and then refill it with conditioned tap water and put your plastic bags of new fish in the top to start getting the water temperatures to match between the bags and tank...

WD

i have fluval 405 which i bought a few months ago so i will/have got a good working filter mate, i will post my results in a sec

Hi, sorry! , I should have made myself more clear. By a "good working filter" I didn't mean one that is functional and working correctly mechanically. Instead I meant that the filter has "qualified" biologically, ie. "completed the fishless cycling process and shown us that it is performing the nitrogen cycle at a level that can handle a full bioload of fish!"

To know if the filter could handle a full load of fish, you have to "test" it and the way we do that is to have a "qualifying week" where we add 5ppm ammonia each day and then be sure that only 12 hours later each day the ammonia and nitrite(NO2) have both dropped down to zero ppm and are not showing any traces.

Our experience with lots of cases here in the beginners section has shown that this is a better test than if we just got fish as soon as ammonia and nitrite(NO2) reached zero only once. Sometimes they can reach zero but then spike again after that.

Anyway, once the filter has passed its "qualifying week" its ready for the big water change and the first stocking of fish.

Your results are looking pretty good. Are you still performing just 24-hour tests or are you also doing 12-hour tests in addition?

WD

just doing tests around the same time i have been posting or will do them earlier i keep forgetting tho so sometimes its later sometimes its earlier, and the fluval 405 which i bought for like £80/90 quid should be good enough coz am not just gona get rid of this for another filter if its not good enough when it will be good enough

 

[scouse_george]

amm 2
nrite 0
nrate 10

 

[Ryefish]

i think you've still got quite a long way to go with your cycle

 

[scouse_george]

why do you say that mate

 

[Ryefish]

because you are still getting ammonia readings every 24 hours

 

[Dan-CR4]

Hi George

Its hard to tell whats going on with your cycle, as if someone wants to see whats happening with your cycle they have to read all the way through this thread and so far thats 5 pages long. As I did say before, it is much better if you put a full history on your first post of this thread like everyone else does on their cycle threads, and update it every day. It really does make it easier for the guys to give advice here.

Also what ammonia are you using is it 9.5% and how much are you dosing for your tank, when you need to? as i have read you are dosing it to 5ml, that does not look enough for the size of tank you got to get it back up to 4ppm. Also what time are you testing each day, is it every 24 hours or every 12 now. If you was to have all this information in the first post it would be good as everyone would know all thats happening all in the first post, and wont need to ask so you many questions all the time.

Have you had your ammonia drop to 0ppm in 12 hours yet?
have you had your nitrite drop to 0 in 12 hours yet?
whats the highest your nitrate has gotton to?

are you also testing your ph, as if it gets low i have heard it can stall your cycle.

As Ryefish has said it does seem like you have quite a way to go still.

 

[scouse_george]

Hi George

Its hard to tell whats going on with your cycle, as if someone wants to see whats happening with your cycle they have to read all the way through this thread and so far thats 5 pages long. As I did say before, it is much better if you put a full history on your first post of this thread like everyone else does on their cycle threads, and update it every day. It really does make it easier for the guys to give advice here.

Also what ammonia are you using is it 9.5% and how much are you dosing for your tank, when you need to? as i have read you are dosing it to 5ml, that does not look enough for the size of tank you got to get it back up to 4ppm. Also what time are you testing each day, is it every 24 hours or every 12 now. If you was to have all this information in the first post it would be good as everyone would know all thats happening all in the first post, and wont need to ask so you many questions all the time.

Have you had your ammonia drop to 0ppm in 12 hours yet?
have you had your nitrite drop to 0 in 12 hours yet?
whats the highest your nitrate has gotton to?

are you also testing your ph, as if it gets low i have heard it can stall your cycle.

As Ryefish has said it does seem like you have quite a way to go still.

the strenght of the ammonia is 9.5%
i have been dosing 5ml (ammonia) when it drops to 2 or less as i have been told to so i guess its right...
i aint let the ammonia drop to 0 yet as i am being told to redose when it goes low
the nrite has always been 0 it has not risen in weeks now
the ph is always the same but aint tested it in the last 2 days as its been the same for months
why would i have a long time to go when i first joined here i was told i didnt have far to go now am getting told i have a long way to go and i have been doing this cycle for months now so how can it be so far away from being complete?
i dont understand when people are saying redose the ammonia again because i need to ammonia to get to 0 dont i ? and the nrite 0? and the nrite is 0 has been for ages... so how am i going to see the ammonia go to 0 if i am redosing all the time this is what i dont get and i dont know why people are now saying they think i am a long way off from the finishing the cycle and also they are now saying its hard to tell what my cycle is doing .... well they are telling me to do this and that then they say they cant see or dont know what is going in the cycle but they are telling me to do all kinds of stuff ?? now from what i understand i need to keep testing every day and if the ammonia drops to 2 or less redose to 5/6ml so is that right? and why do i have to keep dosing ? because i dont know so if someone could explain that would be nice thanks... the nrite has been 0 for weeks now... the nrate keeps going up and dropping and the ph has not been lower than 7.6 in months... am just getting told bits by 1 person and from another and they dont seem the same, so am i doing anything wrong? what else do i need to do ? am i doing anything right? and i dont get when ppl say i need to get to 4ppm whats that? isnt that a colour on the ammonia card 4ppm ? i thought i had to get it to 0 but now i have to get it to 4ppm? people are just telling me these things as if i am supposed to know what they are going on about when this is the first fish tank i have ever had if i knew what to do or knew 100% what people are saying then i wouldnt be here asking for help i would be helping other people out ......

 

[PDSimon]

I agree with dan, I think people confused because all your readings aren't in one post at the start of the thread.

I don't quite understand whats going on in your fishless cycle so...

Maybe take a look at my blog on the forum.

Stage one of the add and wait method

Dose your tank with 4-5ppm. When it drops to 0, dose it with 4-5 ppm. Repeat this at the same time whenever you need to.

So for example, you might put 5ppm on day 1. then on day 10 your ammonia has dropped to 0 and you add another 5 at the same time you've added the first dose and so on.

Stage one is over when 5ppm of ammonia has cycled within 24 hours so you have to test every 24 hours.

Stage two is where you test nitrites so that they go within 24 hours. For me, I started dosing my tank with 3ppm rather than the 4-5 that you do in stage one, which you can do everyday at the same time because your tank can easily cycle it. This is where you will experience a nitrite spike as I currently am.

Why 3ppm? Its meant to be more effective.

Stage three is where you dose the tank with 5ppm of ammonia and wait for it to drop. When it starts going completely within 12 hours is when you've finished your cycle.. I think theres a bit more to this stage but I havn't got to it yet!

hope you understand. check around for the other blogs.

Notes: my ammonia is 9.5% too. I just use the calculator on the beginners section to calculate how much I need.

- You don't just want to dose ammonia whenever, it won't make uniform results. You also don't want to dose ammonia so it causes more than 8ppm in the tank. This encourages the wrong type of bacteria.

 

[scouse_george]

I agree with dan, I think people confused because all your readings aren't in one post at the start of the thread.

I don't quite understand whats going on in your fishless cycle so...

Maybe take a look at my blog on the forum.

Stage one of the add and wait method

Dose your tank with 4-5ppm. When it drops to 0, dose it with 4-5 ppm. Repeat this at the same time whenever you need to.

So for example, you might put 5ppm on day 1. then on day 10 your ammonia has dropped to 0 and you add another 5 at the same time you've added the first dose and so on.

Stage one is over when 5ppm of ammonia has cycled within 24 hours so you have to test every 24 hours.

Stage two is where you test nitrites so that they go within 24 hours. For me, I started dosing my tank with 3ppm rather than the 4-5 that you do in stage one, which you can do everyday at the same time because your tank can easily cycle it. This is where you will experience a nitrite spike as I currently am.

Why 3ppm? Its meant to be more effective.

Stage three is where you dose the tank with 5ppm of ammonia and wait for it to drop. When it starts going completely within 12 hours is when you've finished your cycle.. I think theres a bit more to this stage but I havn't got to it yet!

hope you understand. check around for the other blogs.

Notes: my ammonia is 9.5% too. I just use the calculator on the beginners section to calculate how much I need.

- You don't just want to dose ammonia whenever, it won't make uniform results. You also don't want to dose ammonia so it causes more than 8ppm in the tank. This encourages the wrong type of bacteria.

thanks for explaining but i dont have a clue what you mean mate i have posted the results i have done what people have told me so why are people confusing me going on about other/same stuff can someone just tell me what to do its really annoying me am either going to bin the tank or just find another forum that can give me more advice the people on here who have gave me advice has been appreciated but people are telling me this and that can they just read my post before this thats what am up to thats wha am doing and now what do i do ect

 

[PDSimon]

I agree with dan, I think people confused because all your readings aren't in one post at the start of the thread.

I don't quite understand whats going on in your fishless cycle so...

Maybe take a look at my blog on the forum.

Stage one of the add and wait method

Dose your tank with 4-5ppm. When it drops to 0, dose it with 4-5 ppm. Repeat this at the same time whenever you need to.

So for example, you might put 5ppm on day 1. then on day 10 your ammonia has dropped to 0 and you add another 5 at the same time you've added the first dose and so on.

Stage one is over when 5ppm of ammonia has cycled within 24 hours so you have to test every 24 hours.

Stage two is where you test nitrites so that they go within 24 hours. For me, I started dosing my tank with 3ppm rather than the 4-5 that you do in stage one, which you can do everyday at the same time because your tank can easily cycle it. This is where you will experience a nitrite spike as I currently am.

Why 3ppm? Its meant to be more effective.

Stage three is where you dose the tank with 5ppm of ammonia and wait for it to drop. When it starts going completely within 12 hours is when you've finished your cycle.. I think theres a bit more to this stage but I havn't got to it yet!

hope you understand. check around for the other blogs.

Notes: my ammonia is 9.5% too. I just use the calculator on the beginners section to calculate how much I need.

- You don't just want to dose ammonia whenever, it won't make uniform results. You also don't want to dose ammonia so it causes more than 8ppm in the tank. This encourages the wrong type of bacteria.

thanks for explaining but i dont have a clue what you mean mate i have posted the results i have done what people have told me so why are people confusing me going on about other/same stuff can someone just tell me what to do its really annoying me am either going to bin the tank or just find another forum that can give me more advice the people on here who have gave me advice has been appreciated but people are telling me this and that can they just read my post before this thats what am up to thats wha am doing and now what do i do ect

It doesn't matter what forum you go to, if you don't understand the basics you won't be able to complete the cycle... i'm not the best at explaining things but if you don't know what I mean you're going to have to work it out one way or another.

I take it you've read the beginners section on fishless cycling?

I've read your post, but there is a communcation problem. If you look at most blogs, all the tests are on the first post which makes it easy for the members to understand. If we can't understand and look throughout your results, we can't help.


I assumed you had read about cycling but if you don't understand and have just been following people I shall try and explain it a bit if it helps... fish poo has poisonous ammonia in. Bacteria breaks it down into nitrite(still very poisonous to fish), and then another bacteria breaks it into nitrate, which can be removed by water changes when you finally have fish in your tank after the cycle. So what a fishless cycle is doing, is using ammonia instead of fish to grow bacteria in the filter where the bacteria grow.


Has your tank got mature media in? As in has it got filter media/sponge from a friends or fish store that you've put in your tank? This speeds up the cycling process. Fishless cycling can take a long time so mature media is useful.

 

[scouse_george]

I agree with dan, I think people confused because all your readings aren't in one post at the start of the thread.

I don't quite understand whats going on in your fishless cycle so...

Maybe take a look at my blog on the forum.

Stage one of the add and wait method

Dose your tank with 4-5ppm. When it drops to 0, dose it with 4-5 ppm. Repeat this at the same time whenever you need to.

So for example, you might put 5ppm on day 1. then on day 10 your ammonia has dropped to 0 and you add another 5 at the same time you've added the first dose and so on.

Stage one is over when 5ppm of ammonia has cycled within 24 hours so you have to test every 24 hours.

Stage two is where you test nitrites so that they go within 24 hours. For me, I started dosing my tank with 3ppm rather than the 4-5 that you do in stage one, which you can do everyday at the same time because your tank can easily cycle it. This is where you will experience a nitrite spike as I currently am.

Why 3ppm? Its meant to be more effective.

Stage three is where you dose the tank with 5ppm of ammonia and wait for it to drop. When it starts going completely within 12 hours is when you've finished your cycle.. I think theres a bit more to this stage but I havn't got to it yet!

hope you understand. check around for the other blogs.

Notes: my ammonia is 9.5% too. I just use the calculator on the beginners section to calculate how much I need.

- You don't just want to dose ammonia whenever, it won't make uniform results. You also don't want to dose ammonia so it causes more than 8ppm in the tank. This encourages the wrong type of bacteria.

thanks for explaining but i dont have a clue what you mean mate i have posted the results i have done what people have told me so why are people confusing me going on about other/same stuff can someone just tell me what to do its really annoying me am either going to bin the tank or just find another forum that can give me more advice the people on here who have gave me advice has been appreciated but people are telling me this and that can they just read my post before this thats what am up to thats wha am doing and now what do i do ect

It doesn't matter what forum you go to, if you don't understand the basics you won't be able to complete the cycle... i'm not the best at explaining things but if you don't know what I mean you're going to have to work it out one way or another.

I take it you've read the beginners section on fishless cycling?

I've read your post, but there is a communcation problem. If you look at most blogs, all the tests are on the first post which makes it easy for the members to understand. If we can't understand and look throughout your results, we can't help.


I assumed you had read about cycling but if you don't understand and have just been following people I shall try and explain it a bit if it helps... fish poo has poisonous ammonia in. Bacteria breaks it down into nitrite(still very poisonous to fish), and then another bacteria breaks it into nitrate, which can be removed by water changes when you finally have fish in your tank after the cycle. So what a fishless cycle is doing, is using ammonia instead of fish to grow bacteria in the filter where the bacteria grow.


Has your tank got mature media in? As in has it got filter media/sponge from a friends or fish store that you've put in your tank? This speeds up the cycling process. Fishless cycling can take a long time so mature media is useful.

the filter was bought so its got no mature media and i dont know anyone close who has a tank, your replys are appreciated but your not tellin me what to do... did u read my last post telling people where and what i am up 2 ?