Hi i just thought i would create a post about my cycle. I started my cycle on Sept 7th. I initially dosed my tank up to 4 PPM of Blue Ribbon Ammomia that i bought at True Value. I have tested daily with the API master test kit. tomorrow I will be into my cycle 14 days and still have not seen any change in my ammonia or nitrite. i have my heater set on 82 degrees, I have a air stone, and my water lowered a inch or so to help with agitation. i have a 50 gallon tank and im using an aquaclear 70 filter. I did not use the carbon that came with it and instead i added more Biomax. I did not have anywhere to get used filter media so its all from scratch. so two weeks and nothing has changed yet except my water had changed from clear to almost tea colored. wish me luck and pray that i can keep having patience lol
My (mort75) Fishless Cycle. **update #2**
- Thread starter Mort75
- Start date
r.d.bid
New Member
I feel your pain. I'm 37 days into a fish-in cycle with no hint of ammonia being processed and 0 nitirtes. It really sucks changing water every day.
Do you have wood in your tank to make your water like tea?
Good luck Mort.
Do you have wood in your tank to make your water like tea?
Good luck Mort.
Well just a quick update. today will be day 17 of my cycle and there as been no apparent change to anything. ammonia is still reading 4ppm and nitrite is reading 0ppm. The tank was extremely brownish that i couldnt even see the heater on the back glass, with brown algae looking stuff growning all over my driftwood so last night i decided to do a water change. i did about a 80% water change. After i filled the tank back up with dechlorinated water i noticed that me Aquaclear HOB filter had some how syphoned it self dry. i dont know how this happed but im afraid that my media was exposed to the air and dried out. So now i think im starting over from scratch. Dang it all to heck!!! im just hoping that by some miracle it didnt kill all the bacteria if i had any at all as my ammonia hasnt dropped any yet after 17 days!!!
It will take ages for the media to dry. Exposing the sponges to air is no problem as long as they are still wettish so I highly doubt it you caused any major issue there. The tannins from the driftwood is good for the fish if you don't mind the colour. I personally love it, give the tank a mystic look. When you are filling back the water, even though there's no fish, make sure the temperature of the water is matched to the one in the tank. The beneficial bacteria doesn't like shocks either.
Two weeks with no ammonia dropping and someone else mentioned 37 days is a bit too long. Do you have a Ph test? Maybe the water is too acidic causing a slower/stalled cycle. If you can test, post the results here.
Two weeks with no ammonia dropping and someone else mentioned 37 days is a bit too long. Do you have a Ph test? Maybe the water is too acidic causing a slower/stalled cycle. If you can test, post the results here.
The Ph is good for a cycle. I know you've got the heater at 82, is the thermometer showing this temperature too? You mentioned there is surface movement from the filter and air stone for oxygen so there isn't much else you can do. Sometimes all you need is a bit of patience
Mine started processing faster but for some people the cycle is slower so it is not a major concern.
What temp do you have the tank at, Mort?
Also, whereabouts are you? Someone here might be able to send you some mature media to seed yours
Also, whereabouts are you? Someone here might be able to send you some mature media to seed yours
the tank seems to be staying right around 82 83 degrees. I live in Utah. If anyone would be willing to ship me some id be more then glad to pay for shipping.
Another day without any change. I decided i would order some Dr. Tim's one and only nitrifying bacteria. I have heard great things about ii so ill give it a try. wont be out much if it doesn't work.. At this point ill try anything
That's strangeAre you sure your tests are right?
I cant say im positive that my tests are right but i have both the api freshwater master kit and the api strips and they both are reading almost the same so i would think that they are right.
Well after 22 days of no change or drop in my ammonia i decided to suppliment my tank with Dr. Tims one and only bacteria. All i have to say is WOW this stuff works. only 9 hrs after adding it to my tank i started to see a drop in my ammonia and i got a Nitrite reading for the first time. I tested again when i woke up this morning. So after about 20 hours of adding Dr. Tims im showing a reading of 3ppm ammonia (down from 4ppm)and im showing 0.25 of Nitrite (up from 0) Im exctatic to say the least. Im finaly showing some progress in my cycle.i dont know what the hell was holding my cycle back to start with but i will never cycle another tank again without using Dr. Tims One and Only.
I used Tetra Safe Start with great results which is based on the same patent as Dr Tims. It would be great if you can keep a record of the tests and post them here for other members as well. The one thing I would advise you is, don't do water changes unless completely necessary like Ph crash.
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