Help Needed With Fishless Cycle (Started It Without Test Kit!)

[daveyjay1]

Hi All
 
I hope you can help me as I am in a bit of a panic! Last weekend I went to the fish shop to buy an aquarium. I ended up buying a 37 litre tank as my flat is quite small. Anyway - when at fish shop I asked for advice on how to set it all up. I was advised that I fill with conditioned water, turn on heater, filter and light - add a sachet of 'bactiria' - wait a few days and then it will be ready to add some fish.
 
I came home and set it all up, adding the bactieria and also put plants and gravel in the tank. (The water went cloudy for a few days - milky coloured so I guess that was a bloom). I then started reading up more about how long I should wait before adding fish - which lead me to read all about the fishless cycle - which I am very keen to do!
 
I have ordered a test kit from Amazon - but to get things going - I have added half a raw fresh prawn (which is now covered in a white fur) - which has been sitting in the tank all week - I also got hold of some Amonia which I have added a couple of drops of (I have done this twice now - yesterday being the last time). My test kit still hasn't arrived - I really hope it arrives today.
 
My question is - when my test kit comes - can I just start testing the water from now on? Or do I need to start from scratch again? I kept fish tanks - years ago - and it has started to smell like they used to, which I hope is a good sign!
 
The test kit I have orederd is the api master test kit for frresh water.
 
I would really appreciate any advice. I plan on getting a single dwarf puffer for the tank when it has fully cycled.
 
Many thanks for you help!
 
Dave
 
 

 

[DreamertK]

Dont add any more ammonia (NH3) until you get the test kit. If you go over 5ppm of NH3, you might start growing the wrong kind of bacteria and end up with a ton of algae. And then hopefully the ammonia you have DOESNT have any fragrances, dyes or other nasty things that will kill the bacteria you want to grow. That prawn is probably growing a fungus that you may not necessarily want in your tank, so if you have the NH3 you don't really need it anymore. You should test the water probably as soon as possible for NH3. If it's over 5ppm, do a water change to get it under that amount. You can also indulge and test for nitrite (NO2), but it shouldn't start showing up until the NH3 starts going down after two or three weeks.

Good luck good sir, and congratulations on not falling prey to the advise of the LFS which many of us had endangered our fish to.

 

[daveyjay1]

Thank you so much for your help. I will take your advice and remove the prawn from the tank and stop adding any more ammonia until the test kit arrives. I hope it is all OK! The Amonia I have bought is from Robert Dyas and is household ammonia. I am pretty sure it doesn't have anything added to it. It is this one http/www.robertdyas.co.uk/P~121803~Homecare-Essentials-Ammonia-500ml
 
I did do the 'bottle shake' test and it didn't foam up so hope this is OK - I read somewhere else that this one was OK to use - so hope that information was correct.
 
Thanks again for your help.
 
Dave

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Everything is fine - stay calm.  

 
You've started the cycle now.  Ammonia from the prawn and the bottle will allow the cycle to begin.  The initial drop in ammonia is fairly slow anyway - can take a week or more sometimes - so be patient and just wait for the test kit to arrive.
 
 
When it does, we can deal with the next phase.   

 

[DreamertK]

Sounds good! Let us know how the test results come out!

 

[daveyjay1]

Thanks for all the replies.
 
Well, the testing kit still hasn't arrived. So this is what I have done:
Yesterday: I took the prawn out of the tank  and didn't add any more ammonia
Today:  I added just a couple of drops of ammonia to (hopefully) keep the cycle going. I hope this is the right thing to do.
 
I will keep this updated to help me keep track - I really appreciate your advice.
 

 
Dave

 

[DreamertK]

The only thing we can do now is wait. Keep calm!

 

[daizeUK]

I wouldn't add any more ammonia until you can test how much you put in there.  Too much ammonia can stall a cycle.  I'd advise you to leave it alone, when you get your test kit tell us what your stats are.

 

[daveyjay1]

Hi - well I got my test kit today and have just tested. Here are the results:
 
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.o
Nitrate 5.0
PH Level: 7.6
 
Not sure what this all means - does it look like the cycle has started? What should I do next? Thanks again for your help!
 
Dave

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yes, it looks like the cycle has started.
 
I'd add 2-3ppm of ammonia and wait for it to drop to zero again.  (Dosing calculator here.)  Keep the ammonia levels low, so that the nitrite oxidizing bacteria can catch up.
 
Have a read through the fishless cycle thread in my sig.    The only thing I'd change is to keep the ammonia levels at around 2-3ppm when dosing, rather than 5ppm.  You can always increase the dose to 4-5ppm later on.  Let the colonies get some robustness with lower doses to start... then you can increase it a bit later.

 

[daveyjay1]

Great! OK - well last night I added ammonia to 2-3ppm. I will test it again this evening and put the results here (to help me keep track) I guess that for the first part of the cycle - I will keep adding ammonia each time the ammonia reading is 0 to get the level back up to 2-3ppm and just keep measuring the Ammonia and Nitrite. From what I understand - it is not worth measure the Nitrate or PH each day at this point?
 
Thanks!

Dave

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Correct.  Measure the nitrate after you see the nitrite start to fall...  And measure the pH weekly.  If the pH crashes, that will stall the cycle, but you don't have to worry about that until the nitrates start to build up.

 

[daveyjay1]

Tested today.
 
Ammonia 0ppm
Nirtite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
 
Will add ammonia to bring the ammonia levels back up
 
Looking good? I hope so!

 

[Gvilleguy]

I think you are on your way!  And pretty quickly, too.  Glance through the 'do and do not' link in my signature as well.  It gives some answers to stuff not listed in the original 2005 fishless cycle thread.

 

[daveyjay1]

Hi
 
Thanks again for all the help. I have been reading lots about the fishless cycle and it is all making much more sense. The links you have suggested I read have been so helpful.
 
So - while I am waiting for the tank to fully cycle - I want to think about what fish to get for my 37lire (about 10g) tank. I was going to get a signle dwarf puffer fish but now I am thinking of some other options as I think it would be nicer to have a few fish rather than just the one.
 
Any suggestions of what would look good in this tank - I was maybe thinking of 6 small tetras and a couple of red honey gouramis? Would that be too much / not enough for this tank? I have a Aqua One maxi 101f Filter in my  aquastart 320-t tank.
 
Thanks again!
 
Dave