Hey everyone question about cycling

[Gordons]

It’s been two weeks I used drsTim’s ammonia chloride solution used the corect
Amount bringing my ammonia levels to 2.0 ppm. Also used aquarium aquarium kick start. Water temp is around 80 good circulation. My ammonia levels haven’t really changed and my nitrite hsve been consistent 0oppm. I know it can take along time being it’s a fishless cycle. Anything else I can do or just being patient

 

[Colin_T]

If there are no fish in the tank (I'm assuming there isn't) just increase the water temperature to 86F to help the bacteria grow faster. Increase aeration/ surface turbulence too to keep oxygen levels high.

If you have a light above the tank and don't have live plants, then turn the light off. The filter bacteria prefer darker conditions.

You can add some beneficial filter bacteria to inoculate the tank. I recommend adding a double dose every day for a week and then add the remaining contents of the bottle. Try to add the filter bacteria near the filter intake so they get sucked into the filter where they will live.

Apart from that it's just a waiting period. It normally takes around 2-3 weeks for the first lot of beneficial bacteria to convert the ammonia into nitrite. Then it takes another 2-3 weeks for the next colony of good bacteria to convert nitrite into nitrate. Once that is done the tank is cycled and you do a 90-100% water change using dechlorinated water, wait 24 hours and add some fish.

 

[Gordons]

If there are no fish in the tank (I'm assuming there isn't) just increase the water temperature to 86F to help the bacteria grow faster. Increase aeration/ surface turbulence too to keep oxygen levels high.

If you have a light above the tank and don't have live plants, then turn the light off. The filter bacteria prefer darker conditions.

You can add some beneficial filter bacteria to inoculate the tank. I recommend adding a double dose every day for a week and then add the remaining contents of the bottle. Try to add the filter bacteria near the filter intake so they get sucked into the filter where they will live.

Apart from that it's just a waiting period. It normally takes around 2-3 weeks for the first lot of beneficial bacteria to convert the ammonia into nitrite. Then it takes another 2-3 weeks for the next colony of good bacteria to convert nitrite into nitrate. Once that is done the tank is cycled and you do a 90-100% water change using dechlorinated water, wait 24 hours and add some

 

[Gordons]

Thanks cycle tanks before with no issues. Have a 40 breeder and 29 gallon as well.
Thanks have nice holiday

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I know nothing about the Aquarian bacteria in a bottle except if they will not tell you the names of the bacteria in the bottles, the odds are they are not the proper ones. These would be nitrosomas for ammonia and nitrospiras, some of which can convert ammonia directly to nitrate and some which only convert nitrite to nitrate. The nitrospira are patented and can only be included in the Dr. Tim's One and Only or the the Tetra Safe start whose parent company shares in the patent.

I have cycled more tanks than I can count over the years. Most recently I set up and cycled a pair of Q tanks for new fish. I did this in 4-5 days. I make my own ammonia chloride using the dry Fritz Ammonium Chloride. I did this using DrTim's One and Only for FW tanks, rinsing out a cycled sponge of two into the tank and adding live plants.

Also, there are two different scales used for testing the nitrogen complex. The Nitrogen Scale, which is preferred by the scientific community only measures N (nitrogen) in ammonia which means the NH3/NH4 (total ammonia), Nitrite (NO2) and Nitrate (NO3). The Total Ion Scale measures the total ions involved which means they include the H (hydrogen) or O (oxygen) components. But just like cm. and in. or miles and kilometers can be converted into each other, so can the two scales above.

If you test using both scales the numbers are always lower using the Nitrogen scale than for the Total Ion Scale. Most, but not the majority of hobby test kits measure using the Total Ion scale. Dr. Tim uses the Nitrogen scale. I ppm of is ammonia givers a reading of 1.28 ppm on the total Ion scale. So if you are using the ever popular API test kits and have added 2 ppm of the Dr. Tims ammonium chloride you should get a reading of 2.56 ppm. Here is a brief explanation as well as conversion numbers https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/NitrogenIonConversion.php

While science would say 1 ppm of ammonia = 1 ppm of ammonia - 1 ppm of nitrite = 1 ppm of nitrate on most of our kits which use the total ion scale then of ammonia1ppm on the N scale becomes 1.28 on the TI scale and 1 ppm of nitrite becomes 3.28 ppm on the TI and 1 ppm of nitrate becomes 4.43ppm on the TI scale.

When used properly the Dr. Tim's should be working faster thant what you are seeing. Here is a pdf of his directions for cycling using his ammonium chloride and bacteria. Now he is expecting all tanks will be fish ready in 8 days. Some tanks may take a few more days.
https://www.drtimsaquatics.com/wp-c...FishlessCycling_prescription_recipe_Nov23.pdf

 

[Colin_T]

Thanks cycle tanks before with no issues. Have a 40 breeder and 29 gallon as well.
Thanks have nice holiday

If you use power filters on the other tanks, you can take some of the filter media/ material from them and put it in the new tank's filter to speed up the cycling process.

 

[MaloK]

You should do the High PH range test to see if your PH is still under 8.

 

[Gordons]

If there are no fish in the tank (I'm assuming there isn't) just increase the water temperature to 86F to help the bacteria grow faster. Increase aeration/ surface turbulence too to keep oxygen levels high.

If you have a light above the tank and don't have live plants, then turn the light off. The filter bacteria prefer darker conditions.

You can add some beneficial filter bacteria to inoculate the tank. I recommend adding a double dose every day for a week and then add the remaining contents of the bottle. Try to add the filter bacteria near the filter intake so they get sucked into the filter where they will live.

Apart from that it's just a waiting period. It normally takes around 2-3 weeks for the first lot of beneficial bacteria to convert the ammonia into nitrite. Then it takes another 2-3 weeks for the next colony of good bacteria to convert nitrite into nitrate. Once that is done the tank is cycled and you do a 90-100% water change using dechlorinated water, wait 24 hours and add some fish.

Hey started adding the bacteria and looks like my nitrates are increasing ph is at around 7.3

 

[Colin_T]

Don't bother testing for nitrates until the tank has finished cycling. Nitrate test kits read nitrite as nitrate and give you a false reading. Wait until the ammonia and nitrite have both gone up and come back down to 0ppm, then test for nitrates.

 

[Gordons]

Don't bother testing for nitrates until the tank has finished cycling. Nitrate test kits read nitrite as nitrate and give you a false reading. Wait until the ammonia and nitrite have both gone up and come back down to 0ppm, then test for nitrates.

Thanks

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I disagree with some of the advice in this thread.

First there are only two bacterial starter products which contain the proper strains of bacteria: Dr. Tim;s One and only or Tetra's Safe Start.
They both contain Nitrospia bacteria which other products cannot as they are patented.

If you use these properly, a single addition is all that is needed. You can put in more than you need, but that is pretty much a waste of money as they will not all survive. The amount of bacteria in any cycled tank is what is needed to handle the ammonia being produced in that tank. If more ammonia is produced, then the bacteria will multilpy in response and they will catch up to the new loading pretty fast (unless it is a really insane increase).

If the ammonia load in the tank decreases, then the bacteria will stop reproducing for the mast part and the natural death rate will result in the amount of bacteria decreasing until it is again in balance with the ammonia loading.

I prefer not to remove media from a cycled tank. That risks having a spike in that tank depending upon the situation. Instead what I prefer to do is to take some of the media from the established tank's filter and rinse it out in the new tank being cycled. This will add some of the bacteria in the media to the water of the new tank. Some will get into the filter and some will fall tho the substrate. Both are places where the bacteria thrive.

I rarely cycle a new tank or tanks in the traditional fashion. Since I am usually setting up multiple new tanks I prefer to cycle a bunch of filters in a biofarm. Bu this is way more complicated than cycling a single tank. If I need a tank up fast I will also use live plants. Most recently I set up a new tank for some pretty new corys (Hoplisoma cw111) in 4-5 days using some Dr. Tim's, squeezing out some foams from an established filter and taking some plants from a few of my tanks. I do not do many stem plants which are great ammonia users. So I bought a few for the tank to be extra safe.

The fish have been in the tank now for almost 2 weeks and are doing great.

There are basically two main factors which determing the speed with which a tank can be cycled. These are the amount of bacteria at the outset and then the concentration of ammonia for which the tank needs a solution. A tank lightly stocked and with live plants needs less bacteria developed. But, if one wants to fully stock a tank at the outset, then a proper fishless cycle using seed bacteria and live plants is usually the fastest way.

As noted warmer water and a higher pH accellerate a fishless cycle, but then one must change the temp and pH back to norrmal levels before adding fish. It is also important when adding bacteria to turn off the lighs and leave them off for a day as the bacteria are somewhat photophobic.

It might help to read the article here https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/ The parts on what is needed for the bacteria to thrive and how to troubleshoot the potential fishless cycling problemss which may arise and what to do if you have them should be helpful.