Different Cycling Question

[Stykman]

I have been cycling my 125 for about 10 days now. Fishless. 100% Pure Ammonia added to start. Following MissFishy's Instructions.

My current readings:

pH = 7.4
Ammo = 0
Nitites = 5.0 ppm
Nitrites = 40 ppm

I placed the Plants in the tank on day 2, and they are doing well. NO FISH IN TANK. (I'm doing this right for a change )

Am I on the right track?

Should I be adding Ammonia at this point?

 

[emmanuelchavez]

You'll have to keep adding ammonia till nitrites go down, but so far so good.

 

[MissFishy]

I'm assuming you had the ammonia spike? Keep adding ammonia every day or so, if you stop feeding the bacteria, it will die off. You'll know your tank is done cycling when you can add ammonia and within a day the ammonia and nitrite read 0.0. If you have plants, your nitrate readings may be nonexistent. I'm assuming you have a typo in your message and one of those is actually nitrate

 

[Stykman]

Uh...Yea, that was dumb. Let's try this again:

pH = 7.4
Ammo = 0
Nitrites = 5.0 ppm
NitrAtes = 40 ppm

Why couldn't the "Chemistry People" pick a different Suffix or something for these 2 very similar compounds...like "BadNites and GoodNites"...that way it wouldn't get confusing for guys like me*crazysmil

Ammo Spike? It never really spiked, I did add it until the nitrAtes showed up, then I stopped. I guess I should be adding more in.

Will that affect the Live Plants? Also because this is a 125 gal, it took a good bit of 100% Ammo to get to even 3.0 ppm, let alone the 5 ppm you suggest in your Guide. Is there a Formula for how much to add per x# of gallons of Tank?

 

[TabMorte]

The ammonia won't hurt the plants. The nitrates that the whole cycle is making is infact feeding them. And the presence of plants really really seems to help the cycle move along faster in my experience, especially if you're using a plant oriented substrate.

 

[MissFishy]

The plants will eat nitrates and keep those down. I don't know of any ratio of ammonia to water to keep the levels up. That would be hard since different brands can come with different concentrations. Is your 55g cycled? If so, you can always seed your 125g.

 

[Stykman]

Yea, the 55 has been around for a little while now. I was thinking about doing just that. Taking 20 Gals from the 55 and putting it in the 125.

But I felt Guilty. LOL

What fun would that be?

Besides, I never really did a Fishless Cycle By the BOOK. I'm in no rush, so I figured it would be a good learing experience for me. I just wanna make sure I'm doing it Right...not Fast.

All the time I've been spending with it, has made me go back and forth between different things I would like to do. Right now, I think I'm pretty set on trying my hand in Breeding Angles.

My son's 55 has already been declared the "Livebearer Tank", so we are experiencing "Fry Care" with that to start.

 

[TabMorte]

Taking water from one tank to another won'e help but if you can take some gravel from the 55, cut the leg off some pantyhose and stuff it in there and tie it off and put THAT in the new tank you'll cycle pretty fast. Or if it's about time to change your filter media on the 55 take the old media and stick that in the 125's filter that helps a lot too.

 

[MissFishy]

Like tab said above...the water doesn't have bacteria in it, only the gravel/filter media/decoration has bacteria living on it. It's not really cheating per se, your just "seeding" it. You'll still have to continue with the ammonia and testing, but it will make it go a bit faster.

 

[Stykman]

Thanks for that clarification guys. I appreciate it. I did the Gravel in the Panty Hose trick.

I added more ammonia.

Now I go to test tonight, and I have 0 Ammo, nitrItes are coming down 0.5 ppm, and nitrAtes are up to 80 ppm.

I believe I'm on the right track.

 

[Punkrulz]

Here's a question, don't mind the stupidity of it please.

When I get my new tank, and of course I will be doing the fishless cycle...
1) For the ammonia, which I know needs to be 100% pure... how do I know how much ammonia to add? Do you add daily?
2) Do you still add ammonia if you put used gravel into the stocking and into the new tank?

Thanks for the clarification!

 

[Stykman]

1st Time I'm going to give advice here

1) You add little by little, and test every 20 mins or so, until you get about 5 ppm. I added until I saw nitrates appear. But you are supposed to keep adding.

2) The reason you keep adding is because you have to "feed" the Good Guys. If you put "Cycled Gravel" in, you have to Feed it...so I would say Yes, you still need to add the Ammo.

Seeding a Tank, only helps the Cycling happen faster...it doesn't DO the cycling.

How'd I do, Experts?

 

[Airborneguy]

Not bad I'd say! I did it basically the same, except I didn't bother with testing for the first few days. I just dumped in a few caps (20gal tank), and waited a few days. I then tested to get my base reading, and added 1 cap per day after that. I didn't test nitrites until Ammo was zero consistently, then I kept adding, but began testing nitrites only. Once everything settled, I added all the fish, tested for a few days to confirm everything, and now I only test once a week.

 

[MissFishy]

I think what you're trying to ask is how much ammonia to add to get it up to the right level when you start cycling? This is pretty tricky. The first time I did it, I added a capful to my new 20g and obviously...that was WAY too much! I had to do some water changes to get it down to 5.0ppm. I suggest adding a couple drops to start, then testing every 20 mins or so as stated above to get it to 5.0ppm. Wait a couple days, then test again to see if the ammonia has started going down, then continue adding a drop or two a day to keep the bacteria fed.