Your Thoughts On My Fishless Cycle

[studmaster]

Okay, here are my details....I need your opinions

50gal aquarium I bought second hand. It came with an Eheim Classic 2217 filter that had tank water in it for about a week or two, but no flow through. I filled it up and began my fishless cycle. I took out the sponge media from a small hanging filter from another tank and stuck it to the end of the eheim intake so that all water would go through the bacteria filled sponge first.

Day 1 - added 5ppm Ammonia
Day 2 - tested for Ammonia, still 5ppm
Day 3 - tested for Ammonia, down to roughly 1ppm, added more to get back to 5ppm
Day 4 - tested for Ammonia, down to roughly 1ppm, added more to get back to 5ppm
Day 5 - tested for Ammonia, down to roughly 1ppm, added more to get back to 5ppm, tested for nitrite (0ppm)
Day 6 - tested for ammonia, down to roughly .5ppm, tested for nitrite (once again 0ppm), tested for nitrate (off the scales....160ppm+)

Why no Nitrites at all? Do you think the filter could have still had some of that bacteria alive in it after two weeks of just sitting there? Maybe my Nitrite test bottle is getting too old (2-3years).

Any ideas? It would be sweet if the cycle was almost finished already after 6 days. I imagine the ammonia would be down to 0 in the next few hours.

 

[Mikaila31]

What kind of test kit are you using?

Seeding the tank definetly helps and will shorten your cycling time. The more mature filter material you add the quicker your tank will cycle. You should of been seeing nitrite a while ago. How much nitrate is in your tap water?

 

[rdd1952]

It certainly sounds as if the seed media worked. I would suggest a large water change to get the nitrate down and then add ammonia again to make sure it is processing properly. If it disappears quickly again with no sign of nitrite but the nitrate goes up then I'd say you are good to go.

 

[studmaster]

It certainly sounds as if the seed media worked. I would suggest a large water change to get the nitrate down and then add ammonia again to make sure it is processing properly. If it disappears quickly again with no sign of nitrite but the nitrate goes up then I'd say you are good to go.

I tested last night about 3 hours after my post and yep the ammonia is down to 0, so are the nitrites. So I guess its safe to assume that the Eheim filter that had water sitting in it for a couple weeks somehow kept some of the bacteria alive.

To answer the other questions from Mikaila31, the nitrates in my water are 20ppm usually. And I'm using an API liquid test kit.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

sounds like it's cycled, stick with it for a couple of days more, adding your 5ppm ammonia daily. if you've still no nitrite after the weekend then you can be pretty safe that you are good to go