Im Sick Of This...

[Geoff1991]

Im sick of my fish-in cycle, i thought i was getting somewhere but i keep getting spikes and its not fair on the fish in the tank..

So im going to rehome the fish and shrimp give the aquarium a good hoover and fishless cycle the rest of the way.

If i do the add and wait method, it shouldnt take too long as i already have SOME bacteria on my filter, right?

And would i be able to keep my plants alive while im doing it?

I have

Amazon swords
Cabomba
Vallis
Java moss
Limnophila Aquatica

and a moss ball

Would i be able to keep the above plants alive in a bucket while i fishless cycle?

 

[Goodygumdrops]

Leave the plants in.Where are you?Maybe there might be someone close at hand that could donate some mature filter media to help speed you up,or ask at a local fish shop?

 

[Geoff1991]

Ive already got SOME mature media as ive been fish-in cycling and im processing a fair bit of ammonia and nitrite. But i just cant keep up with the water changes at the moment. And its not fair on the fish.

Would the high levels of ammonia not kill the plants?

 

[Goodygumdrops]

How long have you been cycling now?

 

[Geoff1991]

A fair while (since about april) but im still not done. Id prefer to finish it off fishless as then i could add most of my stock right away and not worry too much.

 

[mark1979]

hey mate

dont give up,i went through some tricky days,and had to do 50% water changes for 5 days running,and that was on a 260L tank!!

i didnt have time realy to do it,as we have a 6 month old,and i work alot,but i somehow managed to fit it in,and now im 99.9% sure im cycled!!

my gf and friends were like is it realy worth the hassle,and to be honest i almost gave up,but i stuck to it and now im hopefully through it.

you must nearly be there,what filter are you using?

 

[lordofthesea]

try nutrafin cycle - lots say its rubbish but i've found its really good

 

[Geoff1991]

Fluval 2+

I dont think ill change my mind anyway. Ive found a home for my fish, taking them tomorrow, and i shall buy some ammonia while im out.

I work 70 hours a week (give or take), i have been off ill up until now, but now im back i cant do it... I feel bad because my fish are swimming around in ammonia up to 1.0ppm and i cant do anything about it because im at work.

What triggered this off is the fact that, i thought i was getting somewhere... Came home from work and tested the water. Ammonia was just over 1.0 and nitrite was about 0.50

I think a fishless cycle would suit me (and the fish ive got now) better

 

[mark1979]

Fluval 2+

I dont think ill change my mind anyway. Ive found a home for my fish, taking them tomorrow, and i shall buy some ammonia while im out.

I work 70 hours a week (give or take), i have been off ill up until now, but now im back i cant do it... I feel bad because my fish are swimming around in ammonia up to 1.0ppm and i cant do anything about it because im at work.

What triggered this off is the fact that, i thought i was getting somewhere... Came home from work and tested the water. Ammonia was just over 1.0 and nitrite was about 0.50

I think a fishless cycle would suit me (and the fish ive got now) better

i reckon that you will take the fish out and rehome them,and within a few days the cycle will be complete.

do you over feed them,i must admit i did overfeed a little and my ammonia did increase, i aqquired some panda corys and they eat up all the stray food now.

are you going to start the tank from scratch? new water,new everythings?

 

[Geoff1991]

Well, my plan is

Go out tomorrow, with the fish (ive found a fish breeder willing to take them off my hands) and buy some ammonia while im out

Drain a bucket full of water out and put my filter in that, along with my plants. Then give the aquarium a good hoover to remove any debris off the gravel.

Then 80-90% water change (dechlorinating the water before it enters the tank) filter/plants back in and dose the ammonia up to 5.0ppm

Sound good?

 

[mark1979]

does sound good,but im clueless on the fishless cycling,lol

i would imagine it wont take to long if the filter has been running since april, i must have some goodness in there

 

[Geoff1991]

Yeah i mean, its processing SOME but not enough. Anyone else got anything to add?

 

[Geoff1991]

Few questions,

Best way of keeping plants alive? I mean, i dont want then getting covered in algae or dying or anything...

Also, i have a couple of questions about the end of the cycle

When the fishless cycle ends, there will be some brown algae apparently, do i need to get rid of this or will it cure itself?

The day before i get my fish, i do a large water change to remove the nitrAtes, right? Do i add ammonia after this or leave it until i get my fish?

Thanks, im off to work now so ill reply to anyone who posts a bit later

Geoff

 

[Amunet]

You really don't have to clean the tank out before starting the fishless cycle. I'd just wait until the cycling is done. No reason to do more work than is needed heh
The sword will be ok w/ the cycling. Had vallis in our 125 but a lot of it died. I don't think it was b/c of the cycling process though. I've never had a problem cycling a tank w/ plants though.
Just did our 125 w/ a bunch of plants, and other than a lot of the vallis dying, the plants were fine and didn't get any algae. BUT our lighting was really bad, so that may have been a factor in why no algae.
You may want to ask in the planted section about cycling w/ some of those.

There may be some brown algae in the tank, happens in pretty much all new tanks. It usually fixes itself after a few weeks. It'll get everywhere though, so just clean it off when you see it.

No, don't add anymore ammonia after you do the large water change.

 

[greenscooby]

IMO if you've been fish-in cycling since april then you are close to completeing, i know you work a lot but i'd stick with it, you'll manage somehow, i used to work 12-13 hour days came home knackered, i found looking after my fish relaxing, like i said thats only my opinion.

Mark.