FishKeeper99
New Member
Hi,
I’m currently doing a fishless cycle in my 20 gallon freshwater. I am new to the hobby and this is my first time doing this.
Basically, I’ve been cycling for 2.5 weeks, and cannot detect any nitrites or nitrates in my water. I originally dosed my tank to about 4ppm of ammonia (Dr. Tim’s). The water was dechlorinated prior to this. My tap water has a pH between 8 and 9. My tank is heated to 80.5 degrees F. I added an air stone a few days ago to hopefully get more oxygen/gas exchange. My water now reads about 2ppm of ammonia, but no nitrites or nitrates (I test with API master test kit). I do not have any live plants in the tank. I do have a piece of mopani wood that leaches tannins and currently has a white growth over it (I read that it’s a harmless white fungus common to new aquarium wood and will eventually go away?).
I just finished the 7 day dosing period with seachem stability, but haven’t noticed any results with it. My filter media is stained reddish which I contributed to the tannins since there hasn’t been any water changes. I know cycling can take 6-8 weeks for some tanks, so I’m just wondering if I just need to keep waiting and testing, or if something jumps out that is incorrect and causing no results in my cycling. I want to do this right and am not exactly in a hurry to add fish, but I do have a fear that I’m going to wait 2 months and still get no results with this cycle. Any suggestions from more experienced aquarium keepers is very much appreciated. Thanks!
I’m currently doing a fishless cycle in my 20 gallon freshwater. I am new to the hobby and this is my first time doing this.
Basically, I’ve been cycling for 2.5 weeks, and cannot detect any nitrites or nitrates in my water. I originally dosed my tank to about 4ppm of ammonia (Dr. Tim’s). The water was dechlorinated prior to this. My tap water has a pH between 8 and 9. My tank is heated to 80.5 degrees F. I added an air stone a few days ago to hopefully get more oxygen/gas exchange. My water now reads about 2ppm of ammonia, but no nitrites or nitrates (I test with API master test kit). I do not have any live plants in the tank. I do have a piece of mopani wood that leaches tannins and currently has a white growth over it (I read that it’s a harmless white fungus common to new aquarium wood and will eventually go away?).
I just finished the 7 day dosing period with seachem stability, but haven’t noticed any results with it. My filter media is stained reddish which I contributed to the tannins since there hasn’t been any water changes. I know cycling can take 6-8 weeks for some tanks, so I’m just wondering if I just need to keep waiting and testing, or if something jumps out that is incorrect and causing no results in my cycling. I want to do this right and am not exactly in a hurry to add fish, but I do have a fear that I’m going to wait 2 months and still get no results with this cycle. Any suggestions from more experienced aquarium keepers is very much appreciated. Thanks!
you're still in the first half. When you see nitrite you will be about halfway there.
