Fishless cycling without "seeding bacteria"

[byanymeans]

Hi, I am planning on doing a fishless cycle on my 72 gallon tank, however i do not have access to any seeding bacteria(i.e. gravel from another tanK). My question is do I add enough ammonia to get a reading of 3-5 ppm and then continue to add that same amount daily until the ammonia drops or do I add the ammonia the first day and wait until it drops before adding more ammonia? I know when you have seeding bacteria you add ammonia daily to "feed it" however I am unsure if you do the same thing without "seeding bacteria".

[mishi8]

Add ammonia to 3-5 ppm and don't add anymore until you start seeing it drop...and then only add enough to bring the ammonia level up to 3-5ppm again. Keep notes on how much ammonia is added to get those levels so you know how much to add as you go. Check out this fishless cycling info for more details:

http://www.aquamaniacs.net/forum/cm...icle.php?aid=31

The bacteria will develop without seeding, it will just take longer than with a seeded tank.

mishi8

[byanymeans]

Thanks, that's what I thought.

[byanymeans]

I am at day number eleven (11) in my fishless cycle (72 gallon bowfront). Ammonia still at 4-5ppm and no sign of nitrites. Is this normal? I just found a LFS that stocks refrigerated bio spira... should I add it to speed things up? I don't know if it helps a fishless cycle. My parameters are as follows:

Temp: 82.8 F
PH : 8.2 (planning on african cichlids - tap water is normally high)
ammonia: 4-5ppm (used 15ml of ammonia to reach that on day one and have not added any more yet as I didn't have any bacteria to seed the tank)
nitrites: 0ppm

[Harlock]

I am at day number eleven (11) in my fishless cycle (72 gallon bowfront). Ammonia still at 4-5ppm and no sign of nitrites. Is this normal? I just found a LFS that stocks refrigerated bio spira... should I add it to speed things up? I don't know if it helps a fishless cycle. My parameters are as follows:

Temp: 82.8 F
PH : 8.2 (planning on african cichlids - tap water is normally high)
ammonia: 4-5ppm (used 15ml of ammonia to reach that on day one and have not added any more yet as I didn't have any bacteria to seed the tank)
nitrites: 0ppm
If you have the means, buy the BIO-Spira. It can speed up your cycle quite dramtically. There have been mixed results, but a proper batch of BIO-Spira will cycle a tank in a day or two up to two weeks, from everything I have seen on it and my own experience with it.

Since you are already accustomed to the fishless cycle way of doing things, keep it up. ignore the part of the instructions on the BIO-Spira that say to add fish within 24 hours. That's not necessary as you'll be providing ammonia for the bacteria in the pouch. Just add the BIO-Spira. Wait 24 hours, then test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. If ammonia is under the 4-5 ppm range, add some more. to get it back. If the ammonia is by chance Zero and the Nitrites are Zero and your nitrates happen to be showing at around 10ppm, you may very well have cycled in 24 hours, but I would check it one more tmie by adding ammonia to 5 ppm and making sure it is all gone the next day, as are all traces of nitrites. If it is, congrats, do a large water change like you would at the end of a fishless cycle, go buy your livestock and add them in. You may add a full bioload after the fishless BIO-Spira cycle, just like you could after a fishless cycle. Don't let the LFS tell you differently in that regard. 5 ppm ammonia per day is likely a bit more than a reasonably stocked tank will find itself processing. Conventional LFS "wisdom" says you can only add a few fish at a time and then wait weeks between additions. Most LFS just do not understand fishless cycling.

[Rebgen]

Bio spira will cycle your tank almost instantly. Don't add Bio spira unless you have your fish ready to introduce. Otherwise you'll waste the BS because the bacteria won't have any food (fish waste) and will quickly die. You should be able to introduce a full bio load once your water parameters are stablized following the bio spira.

Do a search on "bio spira" on AC prior to using it and you should be good to go. Either way you decide to go, you'll get your tank cycled. One just works a lot faster than the other.

[Harlock]

Bio spira will cycle your tank almost instantly. Don't add Bio spira unless you have your fish ready to introduce. Otherwise you'll waste the BS because the bacteria won't have any food (fish waste) and will quickly die.Actually, Rebgen, he can continue the fishless cycle with the BIO-Spira as I stated above. This way he is certain of when the BIO-Spira has cycled the tank, rather than getting stuck with a 1-2 week cycle with a full bioload and all of the 50% water changes, frustration and potential loss of fish that entails.

[Rebgen]

I agree with you. My thinking behind my post was motivated by several people who had dosed Bio-Spira and waited several days or a week or two before adding fish....thus wasting it. Your advice was more comprehensive and you're 100% correct. I just added .02 instead of adding .10 or more that time. ;)

[byanymeans]

Thanks for the advice.