My Fishless Cycle

scotty · Jan 19, 2010

nitrite down to zero,added more ammonia,do i test for nitrites after 12hrs or 24hrs?

waterdrop · Jan 19, 2010

As you get towards the end of the nitrite spike and are entering the 3rd phase of fishless cycling, it can be helpful to begin collecting more data in your log and performing both 12 and 24 (referring to how many hours after the ammonia dosing "add-hour" it is) hour tests. Be aware that if its a hardship to perform this many tests, its not strictly necessary until later in the 3rd phase but if you're willing then it can sometimes help you see better.

Don't forget that no "single day" reading should be taken to make sense until you consider it in the context of a few other "nearby" readings. So if you have a long string of 12 and 24 hour results then you'll have more nearby readings to consider.

~~waterdrop~~

scotty · Jan 19, 2010

what stage of the cycle do you think i am in?

scotty · Jan 19, 2010

nitrite and ammonia back to zero after 12hrs,nitrate up to 80

LilyRose Tank · Jan 19, 2010

Hi Scotty, It sounds like you may well be entering the 4th phase.... as in the nitrites are returning to 0 in 12 hours which is what you want. if this continues for a whole week it can be considered as your qualifying week.... Sorry if I am wrong... and then you can get your fish in. good luck x

waterdrop · Jan 19, 2010

lol, well its always been called the "qualifying week," never a 4th phase but the idea is correct. As soon as you have a day where 5ppm of ammonia has been dropped to "double zeros" (both ammonia and nitrite(NO2) test as zero ppm) in 12 hours or less since the ammonia was added then that marks the beginning of your "qualifying week." This was not necessarily ever meant to be a true week but just the idea that you watch it repeat those solid drops to zero, daily, for the better part of a week such that it gets you down to a weekend where you've planned to do the big water change and have lined up the availability of gettin all the fish in the first introduction of your stocking plan.

I believe its spelled out in RDD's reference fishless cycling article but of course you do a gravel-clean-water-change down to the gravel and refill with conditioned, roughly temperature matched tap water but DO NOT add ammonia or baking soda... and of course this is all done on the same day as introducing all the fish (via acclimation) to their new home. This also starts the clock on your new maintenance routine, which for most beginners is a weekly water-change-gravel-clean and a monthly filter clean, until they use nitrate(NO3) feedback and other signs to adjust their filter clean interval perhaps.

~~waterdrop~~

scotty · Jan 20, 2010

at any point do i add ammonia every 12hrs or is it just every 24hrs like i have been doing?

waterdrop · Jan 20, 2010

Just a note here (as this was answered by PM) that no, you never dose ammonia more frequently than once in 24 hours, no matter what the 12 hour reading is. WD

scotty · Jan 20, 2010

thanks again WD

scotty · Jan 21, 2010

here's hoping my cycle will be finished soon!! :hyper:

waterdrop · Jan 21, 2010

Your log is showing double-zeros in the AM and PM. I forget, did you say you felt you were in your "qualifying week?" (the first doublezero at 12 hours should start you on your qualifying week) WD

scotty · Jan 21, 2010

thanks WD

LilyRose Tank · Jan 21, 2010

Hello there Scotty, well touch Wood, you may be into 3rd day of qualifying week... thats providing the nitrites and ammonia stay at 0ppm withing 12 hours of your 4ppm ammonia dose. well done if so, and if not, it surely won't be long. Keep us updated... I'm on day 22 and waiting for my nitrite levels to drop. I'm also about to begin cycling a 86L tank that I bought today, so the agony of the fishfree cycling, starts again...lol xx