My First Fishless Cycle

[rebrn]

Hello, well I got the tracking information for my new tank and it will be arriving on October 1st, I can't wait . I have everthing ready for my cycle, I bought the ammonia, confirmed that it is free of surfactants, additives etc, only ammonia and water. I also confrimed that it is a 2-4% concentration (not great but it was all I could find in my town) so I know that I will need to use a little more than most people to obtain the approiate ammonia levels in the tank. I just had a few of things I wanted to verify before I start.

1. I have artificial plants (silk) but I was concerned about putting them in until the cycle is complete. I am worried that the high ammonia levels will burn the silk plants. Does anyone have an experience adding silk plants during an "Add and wait" method of fishless cycling?

2. Should I have the air stone running during the cycle? I was going to go ahead and add it to the tank so that I didn't have to add it later, put should it be running during the cycle.

3. Almost everyone I have talked to from the LFS to friends who have kept fish for years, say to keep freshwater aquarium salt in the tank to help prevent diseases. Should this be added before the cycle or after it is completed?


I have asked my friends these questions but as they have never done a fishless cycle they weren't much help. Also is there anyone in the Upstate South Carolina/Charlotte NC area that would be willing to donate mature filter media? I don't know anyone in my area that keeps fish, everyone is at least 6 hours away. I have also asked the 2 LFS in my area but the store policy is to not do that incase they have disease in thier tanks. The only other option is Walmart, and you couldn't pay me to take thier media the fish at my Walmart always look so sickly

Thanks

 

[waterdrop]

Hi rebrn,

1) The concern for your silk plants will be algae, not damage to the decorations themselves. Ammonia + Light = Algae, so its often hard to prevent algae getting all over everything, although this like many other startup things varies a lot by individual tank and is unpredictable. Only turn the lights on when your family wants to see the tank and try to limit that to 4 hours or less during this high ammonia fishless cycling period. (assuming you want to decorate and look, there is also the "blacked out tank" approach...)

2) Yes, if you've already got an air pump and airstone and don't have a problem with the noise then its a good addition to the fishless cycling process.

3) Despite what all the people are telling you, this is not what many experienced aquarists here would recommend. Definately not for fishless cycling and in all but a few highly specialized cases, not after you have fish either. There are a few legit. medicinal uses and a few species-specific uses, but the retail business preys on that and tries to keep salt moving off its shelves with lots of stories of how its needed.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[rebrn]

Hi rebrn,

1) The concern for your silk plants will be algae, not damage to the decorations themselves. Ammonia + Light = Algae, so its often hard to prevent algae getting all over everything, although this like many other startup things varies a lot by individual tank and is unpredictable. Only turn the lights on when your family wants to see the tank and try to limit that to 4 hours or less during this high ammonia fishless cycling period. (assuming you want to decorate and look, there is also the "blacked out tank" approach...)

2) Yes, if you've already got an air pump and airstone and don't have a problem with the noise then its a good addition to the fishless cycling process.

3) Despite what all the people are telling you, this is not what many experienced aquarists here would recommend. Definately not for fishless cycling and in all but a few highly specialized cases, not after you have fish either. There are a few legit. medicinal uses and a few species-specific uses, but the retail business preys on that and tries to keep salt moving off its shelves with lots of stories of how its needed.

~~waterdrop~~

Thanks for the advice. I thought the salt thing was fishy, pardon the pun. I have it in my 5 gallon (currently doing a fish in cycle - my rookie mistake) with a single zebra danio, and he seems fine with it in, but as I am planning on putting a betta fish in there for the final stock I wasn't sure. That is probably why my fish in cycle has stalled, I have the salt in there. Well I will take it out of my 5 gallon, and not add it to eithor tank unless needed. Thanks

 

[discus_lover]

The Classic Approach
When setting up an aquarium, buy some cheap hardy fish and get the cycle started.
These fish have been given names like "Starter Fish". "Suicide Fish", "Disposables" and so on.

The purpose of these fish is to provide ammonia through respiration, fish waste, and decaying food. The ammonia allows the first set of nitrifying bacteria to colonize and to initiate the cycling of the tank.

During this time of cycling, ammonia and later nitrites will spike up to dangerous levels for the little creatures. Some of them survive the harsh welcome but will not live out their full potential. Of course a few exceptions are tolerated within this rule.

The cycle is complete as soon as ammonia and nitrite levels are nolonger measurable by test kits. This classical form of cycling takes anywhere from 30 to 45 days.

Another Form of Cycling the Aquarium is without Fish
Set up the tank with all the equipment needed (filtration, heater, light, protein skimmer for marine and reef tanks). Start it up, setting the heater to a temperature around 80 F, then simply feed the tank with fish food. The decaying food will release ammonia and the tank starts the cycling process. To further speed up this process the tank can be seeded with gravel from an existing tank, filter cartridges from established filters, filter media of any kind, biowheels, drift wood, rocks, all taken from established tanks.

Bacteria colonize all of the above, so seeding basically means the introduction of existing bacteria colonies into a new tank. The decaying food will provide ammonia for these colonies to settle and expand in the new tank.

The time frame of this method does not vary much with the time needed using the classical form of cycling. The ammonia produced might also be insufficient to create enough bacteria colonies to hold the fish when they are introduced. This will trigger another growth of bacteria with the spikes in ammonia and nitrites.

These renewed spikes however will be much shorter and less intense compared to the initial ones experienced during the primary cycle. Consequences for the fish are minimal, making this at least fish-friendlier.

Both forms of cycling have one thing in common - Ammonia.

Remember that a tank has cycled if ammonia and nitrites are back at 0 ppm. At this time you can stock the tank with fish. If no fish are introduced, the bacteria will need to be fed by continuing with the addition of fish food or pure ammonia as outlined below.

Using Pure Ammonia to Cycle the Aquarium
Instead of using fish food for ammonia production, we can also introduce pure ammonia to the tank.

After the tank has been set up (see above), add 5 drops of ammonia per 10 Gallons into the water on a daily basis.
Ammonia will rise to 5 ppm and higher. As soon as nitrites are measurable, reduce the ammonia input to 3 drops per day. Nitrites will rise to similar levels. Keep adding 2-3 drops until the measurements of ammonia and nitrites come out with 0 ppm. The tank has then completely cycled.

Seeding the tank can significantly enhance this process. 7 days for a complete cycle are not unheard of; otherwise this methods takes 2-3 weeks.

The bacteria colonies, using this method, are certainly large enough to handle a well-stocked aquarium.

Some aspects to consider

The tank has to be well oxygenated as the bacteria require oxygen

The ammonia used should be free of any perfumes and additives

Do not treat the water with conditioners that remove ammonia

Water changes are only necessary if the ammonia and nitrite levels are far off level, which should only occur if more than 5 drops is used per 10 Gallons of water. After the cycle has been completed use activated carbon to remove any possible perfume or additives, which might have been in the ammonia.

After stocking your tank with fish, general maintenance of the aquarium is all that is required. The bacteria will adjust to the fish load and if you plan to add new fish the bacteria will have to adjust again.

Keep in mind to feed your tank with ammonia until you introduce fish. The waste generated by your fish will then provide the tank with all that is needed to balance the environment.

With this method, all aquarium types can be cycled in a very short period of time.

Professionals use the ammonia drop method to keep live sand and rock alive, which they sell in their stores.

We recommend you read about the nitrogen cycle so you have an understanding about what happens during this cycling period. You will also need ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate test kits to perform your daily testing of the water.