Urgent Help Needed! Tank Is Waiting For Help!

[paradiddle]

Hey im fairly new to the fish keeping hobby, and i just got a steal of a deal from a friend at work, i bought a fully working Fluval Vicenza 260 with stand for just £100.
The filter is a Fluval 305 Cannister filter (fully working)
The tanks capacity is 248L (which i think is around 64gallon)

The main issue im having is i need advice for fishless cycling!

So ill run you by what i did to set up.

I placed 5.8k of Tetra Complete Plant Substrate as the base
I then placed roughly 40kilo of aquarium sand and sloped it from the back,
i added the hardscape which included the rocks, soaked bogwood and slate (all washed!)
i then added just over a 3rd of the tanks capacity and planted roughly 20 SMALL plants (taken from bunches...)

then i filled the tank up full and i used TETRA BACTOZYME capsules (5 to be exact as it said 2 per 100 litres)

i added the heater (which im upgrading to a new ELITE 300w heater to be sure of its reliability)


NOW THEN ~ THE GUTS OF THE FILTER.

Inside the filter i have 3 slots for media and space for some polishing pad.
Ive used as much polishing pad as possible.

TOP TRAY - roughly 110g of ammonia remover and a good amount of EHEIM MECH biomax rings

MIDDLE TRAY - roughly 100g of activated (and rinsed) carbon, 100g of ammonia remover and again another good amount of the biomax rings

BOTTOM TRAY - roughly 100g activated carbon (and rinsed) and a good amount of the biomax rings.

IN THIS ORDER AND PLACEMENT (below)

(Ammonia remover + biomax rings) (polishing pad)
(carbon + ammonia remover + biomax rings) (polishing pad)
(biomax rings + carbon) (polishing pad)


MY QUESTION IS (AND PLEASE HELP!) HOW CAN I FISHLESS CYCLE THIS TANK?!
I HAVE NO IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO PURE AMMONIA, NOR CAN I FIND ANY IN MY LOCAL FISH SHOP, TESCO, MORRISONS, WILKINSONS ETC....

I have read its good to feed a little flake food to the tank to feed the bacteria but i need to know how this can be done and cycled PROPERLY.

i ask for help as im in desperate need, i would like to NOT remove anything from the tank other than water as needed, the carbon is mainly for ensuring that the bogwood doesnt release tannins into the water.

HELP! i await any help possible, as much detail as can be given would be amazingly appreciated as i dont want to let my tank just die off with whats in it now.

ive tried to upload a pic but it wont let me, so heres a link, this is minutes after it had been filled so its a little cloudy i know.

https/twitter.com/...6226048/photo/1

i also have a tetra pro testing kit (the liquid one) so tests can be done when needed

 

[mike455555]

dont worry, first id say take out the ammonia remover from your filter, this wont help you get cycled at all. replace it with more bio rings, or filter wool (this just clears little partials from the water so it looks clear)

putting flake in does work because it breaks down into ammonia, although you cant measure the amount, id say feed a little pinch each day measuring the amount of ammonia in the tank, once it gets to about 4ppm (i think) stop feeding flake, keep measuring the amount of ammonia, and nitrites, when they start to drop start adding flake again. the best thing todo to get your filter kick started would be to get some mature media if you can

you could try to find some ammonia online? order it and as then you'll know how much your putting in

 

[msasa19]

another option:
http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kleen-Off-Household-Ammonia-Suitable-for-fishless-aquarium-cycling-500ml-/370644379331?pt=UK_HomeGarden_CLV_Cleaning_CA&hash=item564c2066c3

then use the calcuator at the top of the page to work out how much you need to add

 

[daizeUK]

There's also this: Biomature on ebay which I'm using, without much success but i think that's just me, it should work well in theory.

Some people have got ammonia in homebase too.

You didn't mention but I assume you dechlorinated your water?

 

[strobe1980]

I am using jeyes kleen off and it is working, although I think the %of ammonia is higher than 9.5% as my measurements were higher than what was calculated. Other than that it is getting the desired results, around £5 with delivery.

£4 with delivery

Strange! What I'm trying to say is four pound with delivery haha.

 

[paradiddle]

i did dechlorinate yes, im using API stress zyme+ and stress coat+

Also i went to the pets at home and the guy said hes been keeping fish for over 20 years, and he said to avoid at all costs using ammonia, and stick to adding flake food each day instead, as the ammonia can be really unpredictable.

I just used my test kit for the first time and my NO2 is <0.3mg/l

Also if it can be helped id rather not touch the filter media, but in my head i know that keeping ammonia remover in the filter whilst cycling is probably very daft. But i dont know, in my head i want to keep it filtered with the way that the filter is now, so it doesnt get any shock changes down the line

 

[mike455555]

turst me you dont need ammonia remover, i had it since i got my filters, its never gone in them and its still sitting in the box's after 6 months.

as for using ammonia, theres no problem with it long if you dont over dose, ammonia will give more accurate result's, because you can add say 4ppm and see how long it takes to be processed (by using your test kits) where as with flake you dont know how much is being produced so you dont know if you'll be fully cycled or not

 

[paradiddle]

In all honesty (if people think this method will work...) i think i will add flake (any ideas in weight? 1gram of flake for the whole 248l a day?) for approx 2 weeks, testing the NO2 every day, and when it reaches towards my top scale on my reading chart, i will stop adding and allow the filter to take it down to 0

any ideas? i think i prefer the flake method to the pure ammonia, id hate myself if it went wrong after all the money ive spent lol

hmmmmmm anyone live close to me? hahaha &pound;50 for cycling my aquarium :L i really dont want it to go wrong! lol

 

[mike455555]

the flake method is guess work, your better of using ammonia, iv cycled tanks with flake but not with ammonia, but if i were to ever cycle one again id use ammonia 100%, you want to be testing NH3 as well as NO2 to see when they both peek and fall

 

[paradiddle]

There's also this: Biomature on ebay which I'm using, without much success but i think that's just me, it should work well in theory.

Some people have got ammonia in homebase too.

You didn't mention but I assume you dechlorinated your water?

I like the idea of this, i know its near enough the same as ammonia but i feel more confident using an aquatic product rather than house cleaning stuff lol

do you think i could go with the biomature when it arrives, and until then just add flakes to keep the bacteria going?

the flake method is guess work, your better of using ammonia, iv cycled tanks with flake but not with ammonia, but if i were to ever cycle one again id use ammonia 100%, you want to be testing NH3 as well as NO2 to see when they both peek and fall

my test kit is a Tetra Water Test Set, it only tests for pH, KH, GH, NO2 and CO2

Seriously considering doing what i didnt want to and just chucking in 3 danio's =(

Tbh pouring in ammonia scares the crud out of me, being a beginner with ALOT of money invested in this haha

 

[mike455555]

at the end of the day its the same stuff, the chemical NH3 just ones sold to clean and ones sold for a bit more by the looks of it to cycle tank's, long if you get the right type of house hold (being pure ammonia) then you shouldn't have a problem

also if you leave your ammonia remover in your tank wont be cycled at all no matter how much ammonia you add, well untill the active ingredient in the ammonia remover runs out that is

 

[paradiddle]

so you would recommend that stuff from ebay? the 2nd post down, the one that says its safe for cycling tanks,

So i should keep using fish food daily until that arrives in the post, then remove all the ammonia remover (and carbon?!) and start using the ammonia.
What would i do with the ammonia once i had it?
How often would i put it in? check the water? what to do if it sky rockets to dangerous levels. Im trying to think of the best way, but also the safest way for my plants, my tank, and my wallet so far lol.
Im not fussed on the price of the source of ammonia i use, as long as i know its gonna work.

 

[mike455555]

the second post down looks fine. buy that

do you have a test kit for ammonia? or just Nitrite (NO2)

first thing, get rid of the ammonia remover from the filter, how can the bacteria grow if they dont have a food source. you can keep the carbon, because you want to remove the tannins, although after most of them have gone you can replace this with other media. id recommend more bio balls, to provide a bigger surface area for the bacteria

you can add flake to start, add a pinch and take a reading the next day. once your ammonia is at a level (im not sure what ppm you should cycle a tank at, i'll check in a min) but once you have that reading on your test kit, stop adding fake and wait.

keep taking reading every day or every other day, once that reading starts to drop your starting to get more bacteria in your filter, then you will want to feed it, so wait untill the level of ammonia reaches a set point (id say about half the original amount) you can add some more, to bring it back up to the starting level, eventually your ammonia level which you started with should drop from your starting level to 0 in one day, then your filter is cycled on the ammonia side of thing's

your ammonia levels will not sky rocket if you dont add anymore ammonia, they will only decrease because the bacteria is using it for food.

your filter wont be fully cycled untill you get the nitrite levels down to 0, so after your ammonia reaches 0 or just before it does, start testing for nitrites, or you can test from the start with both if you want,

what should happen with your nitrites is: it will rise to a peek and fall over time, but it do so after your ammonia does. does that help?

read though this link and it should explain what todo a little better http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/113861-fishless-cycling/

 

[paradiddle]

p.s mike what ammonia are you/have used to cycle yours? got a link to a website? im really not fussed on price, if it costs me another &pound;10 its worth it, compared to buying the wrong product and having to start from scratch, after spending &pound;145 on sand, rock, wood, plants, a new heater, and the filter media. ;p

 

[mike455555]

iv never cycled my tanks with ammonia, sorry i did a fish in cycle then used my mature media from 1 tank to cycle another, sorry cant help you on that, but the second link down looks good, if i were to start from scratch id probably use that one