My Fishless Cycle

[LilyRose Tank]

Well done scotty just looked atyour first page and you are cycled? fishy fish fish....here they come this weekend... i think thats the fastest cycle i've seen. well done

 

[waterdrop]

Getting close! This weekend wouldn't be a fish adding one here in north carolina.. we're getting ready for a snowstorm and when that happens, all the cars slide into each other, leaving the road blocked with wrecked cars and towtrucks.

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Oh Gosh Waterdrop, Pretty snow...I imagine you manage that weather better than us. our govt wont buy the maintenance machinery required to keep us running normally. good luck

 

[waterdrop]

Well, I'm headed off to my son's swim meet several hours away, so I'll probably be one of those stuck in the snow, just hoping if it happens that its near a motel! Yes, most of america (except the southeast, lol) has tons of road equipment and they go berserk to instantly clean the roads when it snows, since being businesslike is more important than enjoying its beauty. When we have a big snow the Moms stand in the neighborhood entrance and block the snowplow from coming in so the kids will still have the street with the hill for sledding. If I get a wireless signal I'll keep writing to ya'll this weekend!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[scotty]

was planning on putting my fish in this weekend,but it's all got pete tong,for the last 3 days,really haven't got a clue what has went wrong,nitrite is going 0 in 12hrs,but for some reason the ammonia is sticking around 0.50,anyone any idea whats went wrong? anyone got any recommendations what i should? complete waterchange?

 

[LilyRose Tank]

have you given your testing tubes a really good clean, soak in washing up water, wash with a baby bottle brush if you have one, and rinse thoroughly. It may be residue from previous tests/ give that a go. hope it sorts it soon, you've been double zeros for a good week or more, most people would have put their fish in by now, so maybe its something really simple....algae? or tap water levels altered. do some checks and see x good luck

 

[scotty]

tried cleaning the test tubes out,still no change!!!! wonder if i should do a full waterchange??

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Are you on Day 32 pm? your results don't show any bad results? If its just the one set of results thats off, maybe a 90% change would sort it out, but don't take my word I'm a newbie too. wait for someone else to advise (as I recently fouled up my first tank and looks like Its has to cycle from the beginning again)

 

[scotty]

haven't put results in fo past few days,couldn't be bothered as i am so fed up with whats happenining
going to post a new topic and ask people

 

[waterdrop]

Well, 32 days would be a pretty quick fishless cycle so it may be that the qualifying week has done its job and protected you from putting fish in and then getting a minicycle to deal with. I know it feels awful when you've had so many double-zeros but its much better to find this out when you are still just dosing ammonia than if you had fish and had to start changing out 75% water each day. Lots and lots of our fishless cycles take between 60 and 70 days. Yours is unlikely to take anywhere near that long as you have already demonstrated being very close to it ending.

Its your choice if you want to be a big gravel-clean-water-change and recharge ammonia. It can't hurt and sometimes gives it the kick it needs. On the other hand its good to be aware that a big water change will give you a bunch of zero readings often for a couple days that do not reflect what's really going on, so you have to give it time to settle after those.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[scotty]

done the waterchange,recharged with ammonia,now taking 24hrs to clear ammonia,so fed up now,patience wearing thin!!

 

[waterdrop]

Sorry Scotty, I know its tough. Did you feel our articles were deceiving about the overall time involved? I thought most of them made it clear it can often take 2 months. We do have a few cases of fishless cycles completing in 3 weeks or so and this can tend to be the optimistic end of that people latch on to when they first get going. I still feel you are at the stage now where everything could come together any day - it often "bounces around" like this right before becoming fully cycled.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[scotty]

the articles were clear enough,i just thought i was getting close,but obviously wasn't,i just wasn't born with patients,but i know i will get there in the end.

 

[OldMan47]

It can be a strain waiting patiently for your bacterial colonies to build Scotty. Please try to hang in there and put off getting your fish as it will be easier than the frequent water changes needed with a fish-in cycle.

 

[waterdrop]

How's your nitrate(NO3) doing scotty? Any chance that's getting above 80? Sometimes you have to do the test a couple times and see what you get.

~~waterdrop~~