Fishless Cycling - Everything You Wanted to know...
- Thread starter arcab4
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EVERYWHERE I have read says to get about 5ppm of ammonia in the tank and keep it that way.
What happens if you put way too much in? I accidentally put WAAY too much in last night and um...did a 4 gallon change out of my 10 gallon this morning to see if I could lower the level...and it really didn't change much.
Should I just wait for it to go down now...or should I keep doing water changes until the ammonia level drops??
10 gallon tank...no fish...no nothing. The Ammonia is as high as the kit reads...I put a splash of ammonia from the bottle in last night, dunno how much that was. The nitrites are as high as they read on the chart. And I have no clue what the nitrate level is. The tank was set up...and cycled for 3 weeks with fish in it...then I moved the fish out and its been empty for almost a week. The ammonia level went down (because there weren't any fish in it) so I decided to finish the cycle w/o fish and add some ammonia.
Help?
What happens if you put way too much in? I accidentally put WAAY too much in last night and um...did a 4 gallon change out of my 10 gallon this morning to see if I could lower the level...and it really didn't change much.
Should I just wait for it to go down now...or should I keep doing water changes until the ammonia level drops??
10 gallon tank...no fish...no nothing. The Ammonia is as high as the kit reads...I put a splash of ammonia from the bottle in last night, dunno how much that was. The nitrites are as high as they read on the chart. And I have no clue what the nitrate level is. The tank was set up...and cycled for 3 weeks with fish in it...then I moved the fish out and its been empty for almost a week. The ammonia level went down (because there weren't any fish in it) so I decided to finish the cycle w/o fish and add some ammonia.
Help?
Yeah I did the same thing. Not sure what I was thinking (or rather NOT thinking). I dumped about 1/3 of a cup ammonia into a 10G tank. Right after I did that I went DOH!
I then drained out all the water except for about 1/2" or less that the gravel was covering. Fulled the tank back up and still got readings of around 5 to 7 ppm.
I then drained out all the water except for about 1/2" or less that the gravel was covering. Fulled the tank back up and still got readings of around 5 to 7 ppm.
well to shed another perspective on this, according to the saltwater ppl their most common way to get ammonia is....drum roll...a shrimp...mhm u get one from the fish section at that grocery store, and through it in a mesh bag, into the tank and boom ammonia rises and after the shrimps gets pretty mutilated u know its time to take it out. 
Well my first fishless cycle is finally compelete and now that I've been through one successfully, I thought I'd share my experiences...
I used the Safeway brand of ammonia. It just says "ammonia all purpose cleaner" on the side of the bottle. The listed ingredients are: water and ammmonium hydroxide. I phoned the number on the bottle and the rep told me that the concentration was 2%-3%.
If you decide to use the same brand of ammonia, while you're at the Safeway stop off at the pharmacy and pick up two oral syringes. At my Safeway they give them away for free so just ask the pharmacist. Use one syringe just for adding ammonia and the other for drawing out the 5ml of water needed to perform the tests (I used the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit and the same brand for the Nitrate tests). Using the syringes makes testing a breeze because you always get the right amount and when adding ammonia, you know exactly how much you've added.
Other than that have patience! It took my tank just about 5 weeks to cycle but it finally did. Just add the ammonia until you reach ~5ppm then don't do any tests for at least a week. Testing the water every day just makes the whole process seem longer -- especially when you keep getting this: ammoina: 5ppm Nitrites: 0ppm over and over again -- yes I tested everyday I couldn't help it and it drove me crazy!
www.dejanews.com has a lot of interesting articles about fishless cycling so check that out too.
Its funny because one petstore employee told me that fishless cycling was really complicated and easy to screw up! From my experience this couldn't be further from the truth.
Hope this helps!
I used the Safeway brand of ammonia. It just says "ammonia all purpose cleaner" on the side of the bottle. The listed ingredients are: water and ammmonium hydroxide. I phoned the number on the bottle and the rep told me that the concentration was 2%-3%.
If you decide to use the same brand of ammonia, while you're at the Safeway stop off at the pharmacy and pick up two oral syringes. At my Safeway they give them away for free so just ask the pharmacist. Use one syringe just for adding ammonia and the other for drawing out the 5ml of water needed to perform the tests (I used the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit and the same brand for the Nitrate tests). Using the syringes makes testing a breeze because you always get the right amount and when adding ammonia, you know exactly how much you've added.
Other than that have patience! It took my tank just about 5 weeks to cycle but it finally did. Just add the ammonia until you reach ~5ppm then don't do any tests for at least a week. Testing the water every day just makes the whole process seem longer -- especially when you keep getting this: ammoina: 5ppm Nitrites: 0ppm over and over again -- yes I tested everyday I couldn't help it and it drove me crazy!
www.dejanews.com has a lot of interesting articles about fishless cycling so check that out too.
Its funny because one petstore employee told me that fishless cycling was really complicated and easy to screw up! From my experience this couldn't be further from the truth.
Hope this helps!
1 Short Question!
Hi..i have a 10 gallon tank that i'm going to use to breed my fish. (platies) If anyone knows a site that gives good info on breeding them that would be great if you could post it.
But anyways...a lot of you were talking about taking your filter media and putting it in the tank that you are trying to cycle (my fish breedy-thingy).
I was wondering which one you should use. On my 72 gallon it has two different filters that are together that sit in the "main compartment." In the main compartment thing-o...there is a bag of carbon and a very porous sponge, they are on top of each other...which one do i use?...and do i just set it in the tank?
Also, my fish breedy-thingy tank has a corner sponge filter, do you think that it will be fine for the bacteria to collect on or should i just buy a bio wheel? I'm asking because i know that every 2 weeks you have to change the sponge filter, and with that, a lot of the bacteria will go too. Plus i want good filtration for my platy fry!
My questions:
1) A good platy breeding info site
2)Which type of filter do i put in my cycle tank. the carbon or the sponge...Do i just put it in there?
3)Should I buy a bio-wheel?
I'm sorry if i just took up a whole page. Thanks a lot for reading this. ~~~Joe
Hi..i have a 10 gallon tank that i'm going to use to breed my fish. (platies) If anyone knows a site that gives good info on breeding them that would be great if you could post it.
But anyways...a lot of you were talking about taking your filter media and putting it in the tank that you are trying to cycle (my fish breedy-thingy).
I was wondering which one you should use. On my 72 gallon it has two different filters that are together that sit in the "main compartment." In the main compartment thing-o...there is a bag of carbon and a very porous sponge, they are on top of each other...which one do i use?...and do i just set it in the tank?
Also, my fish breedy-thingy tank has a corner sponge filter, do you think that it will be fine for the bacteria to collect on or should i just buy a bio wheel? I'm asking because i know that every 2 weeks you have to change the sponge filter, and with that, a lot of the bacteria will go too. Plus i want good filtration for my platy fry!
My questions:
1) A good platy breeding info site
2)Which type of filter do i put in my cycle tank. the carbon or the sponge...Do i just put it in there?
3)Should I buy a bio-wheel?
I'm sorry if i just took up a whole page. Thanks a lot for reading this. ~~~Joe
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Fishless cycle for salt water????
Soon I will try my first attempt at a fishless cycle for a 5 gallon freash water. I'm just waitng for the test kits I need in the mail.
But in the mean time I have found a outstaning deal for a 100 gallon with stand. I have though much about spend the time to research a salt water tank.
So I was wondering....can a fishless cycle be done for a salt water tank?????
Soon I will try my first attempt at a fishless cycle for a 5 gallon freash water. I'm just waitng for the test kits I need in the mail.
But in the mean time I have found a outstaning deal for a 100 gallon with stand. I have though much about spend the time to research a salt water tank.
So I was wondering....can a fishless cycle be done for a salt water tank?????
Just a note on Amonnia
Well I'm on day 5 with fishless cycle in a 5 gallon. I read that adding a 'couple' of teaspoons of amonnia to a *10* gallon was the way to start...' couple' ...meaning two...right? Then add if needed add more to get a reading of 5 ppm.
So with the *5* gallon I started I added 1 teaspoon to start. This is A LOT!!! I got a reading of 7 ppm to start with! So to any one else doing a *5* gallon start with LESS than a teaspoon.
Well I'm on day 5 with fishless cycle in a 5 gallon. I read that adding a 'couple' of teaspoons of amonnia to a *10* gallon was the way to start...' couple' ...meaning two...right? Then add if needed add more to get a reading of 5 ppm.
So with the *5* gallon I started I added 1 teaspoon to start. This is A LOT!!! I got a reading of 7 ppm to start with! So to any one else doing a *5* gallon start with LESS than a teaspoon.
Great advise!
Just wanted to share. After starting my first ' fishless cycle' in a five gallon I did as advised and put a older filter sponge with carbon in the hanging box. I started with a high amonnia reading of about 5-7ppm. After adding the old filter from a a good tank it only took 2 days to get a 0 reading for amonnia and 3 days for the nitrite to go to 0!!!!
If you have a established tank in your house or a friend with one this is the way to go IMO. I moved my platy fry in there and they love it.
Good Luck Going Fishless!
Just wanted to share. After starting my first ' fishless cycle' in a five gallon I did as advised and put a older filter sponge with carbon in the hanging box. I started with a high amonnia reading of about 5-7ppm. After adding the old filter from a a good tank it only took 2 days to get a 0 reading for amonnia and 3 days for the nitrite to go to 0!!!!
If you have a established tank in your house or a friend with one this is the way to go IMO. I moved my platy fry in there and they love it.
Good Luck Going Fishless!
THANKYOU..great article on cycling the tank and saved me asking any questions..Ive got a 10gallon tank which is doing great and am going to run that filter in the new tank (with the new filter going as well..
I was surprised at the short amount of time this take..advice from other sites told me 4 weeks to cycle a tank!..
..I was surprised at the short amount of time this take..advice from other sites told me 4 weeks to cycle a tank!..