My Fishless Cycle

[mike45]

I just purchased my pure ammonia and I added 5 drops to my tank, the ammonia in my tank rose to .50 ml/l. Now I checked for nitrItes (I knew there wouldn't be any but you know...) and there weren't any. I've read that you add the same amount of ammonia until you get a nitrIte spike. But heres my question. When do I start testing for nitrAtes? When will they start to rise?

Oh, by the way, it is a 10 gallon tank, I have added gravel and filter media to it, from my established 29 gallon tank.

Thanks

 

[cutecotton]

i think the nitrate will go up after the nitrite goes down, hwen you see the nitrite spike, cut your ammonia amount in half and keep adding until the nitrite spike goes down, by then all the nitrite probably would have been converted to nitrate, and just do a simple water change to lower that level.

 

[luxum]

There is an alternate recipe which will work a little quicker. Add as much ammonia as needed to get a test result around 5ppm. Then write down how much it took and keep adding that much every day until you detect nitrites. After the nitrites arrive, add half the amount you were using before, every day. (I beleive this is because the nitrite converting colonies are more sensitive and extremely high levels of nitrites will inhibit it's growth.) Start looking for nitrates now. You'll know the tank is ready when ammonia and nitrite both read zero and you have some measureable nitrates. Don't forget the water change to reduce nitrate levels before you go fish shopping, and to make sure you keep feeding the bacteria until you get your fish.

Edit: wait a minute, sorry i just noticed the "ml/l" part of your test results, i have no idea how that translates to parts per million.

 

[mike45]

Thank you, I understand now. I think I'm just going to stay with the method of adding ammonia that I'm using. (5 drops per day until nitrite spike, 1/2 of that per day afterwards) Now I understand where nitrAtes come in.

Just out of curiousity, luxum, how much faster is the alternative recipe? Only a couple of days, I would assume? Because what I am doing will take about two weeks, right?

 

[Sky042]

Thank you, I understand now. I think I'm just going to stay with the method of adding ammonia that I'm using. (5 drops per day until nitrite spike, 1/2 of that per day afterwards) Now I understand where nitrAtes come in.

Just out of curiousity, luxum, how much faster is the alternative recipe? Only a couple of days, I would assume? Because what I am doing will take about two weeks, right?

you're going to want to shoot for a high level of ammonia since the more you add the larger the bacteria base grows(to a limit) I'd say about 1 week in depending on your bacteria culture source you may want to check for nitrates. However make sure you test your tap water first to see if it has any so you can base your test results on that.

 

[luxum]

Well, i'm not sure how the units of your test relate to the units of mine and the recipe in question. Just to give you an idea, your recipe calls for 5 drops as the dose. To fulfill the requirements of mine, (5 parts per million) i have to add 1-1/4 teaspoons to a 20 gallon tank. (I have no idea what concentration my source is, it is generic houehold ammonia.) That's a significantly greater amount of ammonia, which results in much larger colonies of the beneficial bacteria when you are done. As far as how long it takes, you can get to the high ammonia spike sooner by simply adding enough to produce the spike immediately, rather than waiting for the concentration to slowly build by adding a few drops per day.

 

[tstenback]

Just out of curiousity, luxum, how much faster is the alternative recipe? Only a couple of days, I would assume? Because what I am doing will take about two weeks, right?

The recipe will not necessarily be faster it will take about the same time comparitively. The alternate recipe will give you a larger amount of beneficial bacteria with which to start adding fish to. therefore you could add more fish initially after the cycle is complete. HTH

 

[Sky042]

Just out of curiousity, luxum, how much faster is the alternative recipe? Only a couple of days, I would assume? Because what I am doing will take about two weeks, right?

The recipe will not necessarily be faster it will take about the same time comparitively. The alternate recipe will give you a larger amount of beneficial bacteria with which to start adding fish to. therefore you could add more fish initially after the cycle is complete. HTH

exactly. I colonized my filter very densly as I did the cycle going with 8ppm which in my tank was 2Tbsp and stayed at 2Tbsp even after the nitrite readings. Result was a 4 week cycle with nitrates over 300ppm. However I added a large amount of fish and had NO ammonia or nitrite spike at all.

and when I say large amount of fish I'm talking 36 fish.

however in my case my final water change only brought my nitrates to 80ppm which was kinda a problem.

 

[mike45]

Well, now I have been doing the 5 drops a day thing for two days, (my ammonia is at .75 ppm), and it is a 10 gallon tank, and I was thinking of putting 5 neons, 2 gouramis, and an algae eater in the tank. I wasn't really thinking of adding all the fish at once. If I finish cycling the way I am, will I have enough beneficial bacteria to add one species at a time? I was thinking 5 neons the first week, then 2 gouramis and the algae eater the next week. Would my tank be able to handle this without having a mini-cycle or something?

Oh by the way, I am cycling from the first fishless cycle link in Avoiding and Treating New Tank Syndrome.

 

[leanne]

You could always add some plants too to keep the nitrates under control and reduce the amount of water changes you need before adding fish. I have found this decreases the cycle time a bit as when you do water changes you also reduce the amount of nitrites thus decreasing the amount available to support your nitrite-loving bacteria. Adding plants means that you will have larger colonies of bacteria at the end of your cycle.

 

[gixer]

how on earth can adding plants to use up nitrate quicken a cycle?

i'm open to all ideas but that seems like it makes no sense to me whatsover

 

[Sky042]

how on earth can adding plants to use up nitrate quicken a cycle?

i'm open to all ideas but that seems like it makes no sense to me whatsover

plants don't help quicken the cycle itself. it does keep the water oxygenated and they use nitrates as food.

 

[gixer]

exactly

 

[Sky042]

The nitrate part is important. the fishless cycle(since you don't do any water changes) creates HIGH nitrates and plants can help you out with that.

 

[leanne]

What I meant was the nitrates rise and get used by the plants. There is less (slightly) need for water changes. Water changes reduce the nitrites and ammonia as well as the nitrate, thus slowing the bacterial bloom. Maybe it would have been more accurate for me to say adding plants makes it easier to increase the bacterial load. Doing this means you can add more fish than with a smaller bacterial load.