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

[the_lock_man]

Too much, IMHO.
 
Suggestions
 
A shoal of 6 of Chill Rasbora, Lambchop Rasbora, Celestial Pearl Danio, or similar small
+
A pair of either Peacock Goby, or Scarlet Badis, or a 4-5 group of male Endlers.
 
OR
 
4/5 male Guppies

 

[daveyjay1]

Tested again today. (I rasied the Ammonia to 4 yesterday as was a little heavy handed!)
 
Todays results:
 
Ammonia 0ppm
Nirtite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
 
Will add more Ammonia to get back to around 3.
 
It is great that the Ammonia seems to be going - just want the Nitrites to start to go down now!

 

[daveyjay1]

Tested again today - same as yesterday
 
Todays results:
 
Ammonia 0ppm
Nirtite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
 
Will add more Ammonia to get back to around 3.
 
Come on Nitrites - start going down!!

 

[Gvilleguy]

I did not look back through all the posts - have the nitrites ever spiked off the chart yet? The nitrite phase normally takes longer to start progressing to zero than the ammonia phase.

 

[AlbertShipman]

getting ready to, for the first time, start my own (for my young daughter) tropical freshwater fish tank.
have found this thread very helpful.
thanks to all.

 

[daveyjay1]

Hi - once again, thanks for all the help and advice. Also, welcome AlbertShipman - when you start your own cycle, I would recommend starting a new thread on this forum - it is really helping me keep track of what is happening and also I have been given some fantastic advice and words of encouragement.
 
To anwer Qvilleguy's question - I am not sure if I have ever had the Nitrite spike as I didn't have my testing kit at the start of my cycle (stupid I know!). The Nitrite has prettly much stayed the same since I have been testing it - between 2.0 and 5.0. I find it hard to read this - but it appears to be between these 2 colours on the chart.
 
Do you think I should do anything else or just carry on as I have been doing - my aim has been to raise the Ammonia back to around 3 each day (as everytime I measure it the following day, it is back to 0).
 
I really hope to see my Nitrites falling soon - when do you think I should see this happening?
 
I am still undecided about what to stock my tank with - either Dwarf Puffers or a misture similar to what the_lock_man suggested. At least this cycling gives me time to think about all of this!
 
Thanks for reading!

Dave
 
 
Just for a recap - this is what I have done so far:
 
21st Jan - Set tank up  (adding bacteria)
22nd Jan - Added raw prawn to tank
23rd Jan - Bought Ammonia and starting adding a few drops each day
25th Jan - Took prawn out of tank  and didn't add any ammonia
26th Jan - Added a couple of drops of Ammonia
27th Jan - Got my Test Kit and started testing / adding ammonia daily.

27th Jan Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.0, Nitrate 5.0 ,PH Level: 7.6
28th Jan Ammonia 0ppm, Nirtite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
29th Jan Ammonia 0ppm, Nirtite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
30th Jan Ammonia 0ppm, Nirtite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm

 

[Gvilleguy]

Hey Dave,
 
Stay the course.  For the fishless cycles I have done (I think I've done four now), the first drop of nitrite to zero takes approximately twice as long as the ammonia drop to zero.  So if Ammonia dropped to zero in 7 days, the nitrite would spike and drop to zero in about 14 days.  But that's not a hard and fast rule.  Your mileage can vary.

 

[daveyjay1]

27th Jan Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.0, Nitrate 5.0 ,PH Level: 7.6
28th Jan Ammonia 0ppm, Nirtite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
29th Jan Ammonia 0ppm, Nirtite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
30th Jan Ammonia 0ppm, Nirtite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
 
Throught I would test everything again today - here are the results:
 
31st Jan Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.0 (it look bright pink), Nitrate 5.0 ,PH Level: bewteen 7.8 and 8.0
 
Is this looking OK - the Nitrite leves don't seem to be going down at all.
 
Thanks, Dave

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yup.  The fact that the nitrite isn't spiking off the chart is a good sign, which means that its processing some of it.
 
Keep the ammonia dose low for a little while, keep a watch on the pH that it doesn't suddenly drop and the nitrites will drop eventually... 

 

[daveyjay1]

27th Jan Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.0, Nitrate 5.0 ,PH Level: 7.6
28th Jan Ammonia 0ppm, Nirtite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
29th Jan Ammonia 0ppm, Nirtite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
30th Jan Ammonia 0ppm, Nirtite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
31st Jan Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.0 (it look bright pink), Nitrate 5.0 ,PH Level: bewteen 7.8 and 8.0
 
Todays Results
1st Feb Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.0
 
I was really hoping to see a change today!! Oh well - I guess I must be patient.

 

[Gvilleguy]

The nitrite phase can really try one's patience. Hang in there!

 

[daveyjay1]

27th Jan Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.0, Nitrate 5.0 ,PH Level: 7.6
28th Jan Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
29th Jan Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
30th Jan Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
31st Jan Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.0 (it look bright pink), Nitrate 5.0 ,PH Level: bewteen 7.8 and 8.0
1st Feb Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.0
 
Todays Results
2nd Feb Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.0
 
No change - again!

 

[daveyjay1]

Same as yesterday - booooo!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

A fishless cycle will test your patience, but it won't strain your back.  
 
 
You could do a 50%-75% water change to bring the nitrite down to a more "trace" level...  This wil ultimately, promote the bacteria you are trying to cultivate as they really flourish at much lower levels of nitrite than the test kit can properly measure.

 

[daveyjay1]

27th Jan Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.0, Nitrate 5.0 ,PH Level: 7.6
28th Jan Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
29th Jan Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
30th Jan Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite between 2.0pmm and 5.00ppm
31st Jan Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.0 (it look bright pink), Nitrate 5.0 ,PH Level: bewteen 7.8 and 8.0
1st Feb Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.0
2nd Feb Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.0
3rd Feb Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.0
 
Todays Results
4th Feb Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: between, 2.0 and 5.0 (I think it was a slightly less bright pink than before - but this may be wishful thinking!)