Hit A Brick Wall With Fishless Cycle?

[Steph2790]

Started my fishless cycle on the 5th of December following lots of reading up about the proper way to set up a fish tank before adding fish. I have a fluval edge 46 litre tank. Added 2.5ml of ammonia on day 1. tested a while afterwards and got a very green reading so probalbly added a little too much. Well it took 3 days for the nitrite to show and the reading was very very purple so according to the api freshwater testing kit it was about 5ppm if not more.

But the ammonia level had not reduced so did a 20% water change on day 6 and tested shortly afterwards the nitrite was still reading a deep purple (5ppm+) got a slight reduction in ammonia (went down to somewhere between 1ppm and 2ppm) so I dosed it back to 4ppm and waited...

Now on day 11 with no significant ammonia drop I'm testing every morning and getting a little disheartened that its going to take forever before I'm cycled. Still getting a very deep purple reading for the nitrite and ammonia still stands at somewhere between 1ppm and 2ppm, haven't redosed the ammonia as I want to see it drop to 1ppm, 0.50ppm or 0.25ppm so that I know the ammonia is defiantly reducing.

I few things I've done since getting the tank -

> added 2x moss balls on day 2
> changed the carbon part of the filter to an additional biomax bag so I've got 1x sponge at the bottom of the filter and 2x biomax bags ontop, also done on day 2

The tank is also unheated but sits around 20-21oC during the day and night. I put the light on for about an hour in the evening and have checked the PH of the water which is somewhere between 7.4 and 7.6

Would be very greatful for any advice anybody can give me

 

[KCB]

Cycling can take weeks, patience is the real key. My fish-less cycle took 90 days! (I changed substrate, added plants, basically messed with the tank a little too much). Just dose the ammonia, test daily and wait until the ammonia drops to zero

. When this happens, dose again. You've already got some nitrite so the cycle is in motion, I'd check for nitrAtes every now and then too.

With regards to temperature, the cycling process will go quicker in warmer conditions. Also, adding some mature media will help too if you can get hold of some.

P.S. Just noticed you have the same tank as me

.

 

[Steph2790]

Cycling can take weeks, patience is the real key. My fish-less cycle took 90 days! (I changed substrate, added plants, basically messed with the tank a little too much). Just dose the ammonia, test daily and wait

. You've already got some nitrite so the cycle is in motion, I'd check for nitrAtes every now and then too.

With regards to temperature, the cycling process will go quicker in warmer conditions. Also, adding some mature media will help too if you can get hold of some.

P.S. Just noticed you have the same tank as me

.

It's a lovely tank isn't it. Well I got the moss balls from pets at home and they got them directly from the tropical tanks with fish inside so thought that might speed things up a little. May have to get a heater if things don't speed up next week, didn't really want to as I only want to put around 10 white and gold cloud minnows in it.

 

[daizeUK]

I wish I'd had nitrites after only 3 days That sounds really fast to me

 

[Steph2790]

I wish I'd had nitrites after only 3 days That sounds really fast to me

That's what I thought when I got the deep purple colour in the test tube. Raced upstairs with the test tube to show the other half. Now that was a week ago and not a lots happened since ill be glad when it does. Other half keeps asking if its ready for fish yet, have to keep saying no and trying to explain why but he just doesn't get it lol

 

[daizeUK]

Haha I know exactly what you mean... I am currently the butt of many jokes in my house along the lines of "Have you forgotten to put something in the tank?" and "Nice tank but I think it's missing something!"
The kids also keep asking if we can get fish yet but they actually seem to understand better than the other half!
Hang in there... so will I!

 

[KCB]

That's what I thought when I got the deep purple colour in the test tube. Raced upstairs with the test tube to show the other half. Now that was a week ago and not a lots happened since

ill be glad when it does. Other half keeps asking if its ready for fish yet, have to keep saying no and trying to explain why but he just doesn't get it lol

The nitrItes will take longer than ammonia to drop. For me, the wait was agony! You'll be so pleased when all of a sudden you'll get a bright blue test tube .

And yes I really like the Fluval Edge, except the small hole at the top, I wish it was much bigger but oh well. Did you see the stand and think 'there's no way that'll take the weight of this tank!'? I certainly did lol, but it does the job perfectly.

 

[Steph2790]

That's what I thought when I got the deep purple colour in the test tube. Raced upstairs with the test tube to show the other half. Now that was a week ago and not a lots happened since

ill be glad when it does. Other half keeps asking if its ready for fish yet, have to keep saying no and trying to explain why but he just doesn't get it lol

The nitrItes will take longer than ammonia to drop. For me, the wait was agony! You'll be so pleased when all of a sudden you'll get a bright blue test tube .

And yes I really like the Fluval Edge, except the small hole at the top, I wish it was much bigger but oh well. Did you see the stand and think 'there's no way that'll take the weight of this tank!'? I certainly did lol, but it does the job perfectly.

Yes I did think exactly the same, when I took it out of the box I though 'oh is that the base' then expected the tank to just lift of the box quite easily but I was quite hard to pick up and so heavy even without 46 litres of water and 2 bags of gravel inside it. And I know what you mean about the opening, brought a lovely ornament thinking 'yeah that will just fit' turns out it was way too big but I picture the hole to be a lot bigger than it actually is. Worse thing for me is I have to get on a chair to get my arm in it to reach the bottom and the water comes to just under my armpit. 21oC sounds warm but its really not lol

Wanted the white tank to start with but grew impatient and went and got the black as pets at home didn't have any white in stock but I'm glad I got the black instead now. Looks lovely with the lights on

 

[KCB]

I did the exact same thing with an ornament! Luckily I managed to get my money back. And I have the same trouble with the height, I need to use a small stepladder if I rearrange some plants .

 

[-Craig-]

I've only ever successfully fishless cycled 1 tank, all my others failed, and that was after 3 months, so I decided to drain the water, refill and get 15 tiger barbs, 5 tetras and a few guppies to cycle it, it only took about two weeks and my tank was pretty established (keep in mind I had huge plants, moss balls (Moss covered most of the rocks, it grew so quickly during those 2 weeks) so yeah fishless cycle bores me haha ) and I kept all of those 23 fish in my 150 gallon until I sold it on to get piranhas which have also now gone and I'm considering getting started a 100 gallon tank as a community tank and maybe a 300 gallon for cichlids (I have a 300 gallon, just not the filter to filter it haha )

 

[fluttermoth]

I would get a heater and bump the temperature up, OP. That'll make your cycle run faster, and give you a better choice of fish, when you come to stock. Most coldwater/temperate fish need a much bigger tank than a 46l anyway.

 

[KCB]

I've only ever successfully fishless cycled 1 tank, all my others failed, and that was after 3 months

Fish-less cycling doesn't fail, it only stalls and there are always ways to break the stall .

Keep going with the cycle steph, if you get into any trouble this forum is always here to help!

 

[Steph2790]

I would get a heater and bump the temperature up, OP. That'll make your cycle run faster, and give you a better choice of fish, when you come to stock. Most coldwater/temperate fish need a much bigger tank than a 46l anyway.

Thanks for the advice may have to look into a heater then. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good heater for my tank?

I'm a total newbie when it comes to keeping fish, the fishless cycle was almost mind boggling. I'm just looking forward to getting a few fish when I'm cycled and getting to know the inns and outs of it all. I was told I could keep a fair few cloud mountain minnows in my 46 litre - was told around 12-14. Obviously goldfish are a no no as they need a lot more space.

Do you know of any small tropical fish that would be suitable for stocking my tank?

 

[snazy]

I've never tried them, but if I buy a heater again it would be one of the digital ones that measures the actual temperature in the tank too, saves you on thermometer as well.
Also, I wouldn't dose the ammonia before it has actually gone down to 0. If the nitrItes are off the charts, the API test normally turns purple at the bottom immediately, then to avoid a stalled cycle I'd do a 90% water change to bring that back to measurable on the test and redose ammonia again. The cycle gets faster this way. Don't clean the filter for a good while after the cycle or during. I leave it off for 2-3 months in a new tank. A filter needs time to establish bacteria and 99% of the times cleaning it too early will cause a spike.

 

[fluttermoth]

Size wise, white clouds would fit, but they're a very active fish that like to swim far and fast, so aren't really recommended for tanks of less than two feet long.

There are loads of lovely tropical fish that would be very happy in there (and tropicals are not harder to keep, or more delicate). You could look at ember tetras, harlequin rasboras, green neons, sparkling gouramis, featherfin rainbows or chilli rasboras.