Fishless Cycle - Want to hear others' experiences

here's my thought and answers
Have you successfully completed a fishless cycle?
yep, thought it would never end
How big is the tank?
30 gallon
How long did it take?
8 weeks
Did you seed the tank?
other than using the ammonia, I didn't seed it
What did you use for seeding?
I'm thinking you mean did I use anything from another tank.... that being said, no
Did your cycle stall at any point?
it did.....
When? ?
I'd say at week 4....
How did you resolve it?
Lots of patience, I just kept checking the ammonia, didn't add any until I needed to bring it to 5ppm, then added baking soda for boost
Did you fully stock the tank after cycling?
I believe I did
Any fish losses after stocking?
1 loss, a black moor
How soon did you lose fish?
I lost him about a week after adding him
Reason for loss?
I think he just came from a weak breeding

Have you successfully completed a fishless cycle?
Yup, I was dying to put in fish
How big is the tank?
20 gallon
How long did it take?
6 weeks
Did you seed the tank?
Nope
What did you use for seeding?
N/A
Did your cycle stall at any point?
Yup
When? ?
At the nitrites part
How did you resolve it?
More wating...its perfectly normal
Did you fully stock the tank after cycling?
No. I added 1/4 of the fish, over two months
Any fish losses after stocking?
A Otto
How soon did you lose fish?
Two weeks
Reason for loss?
Was sick, very week when I got it

Have you successfully completed a fishless cycle?

Yes

How big is the tank?

2 each 15s, 20-long, 29.

How long did it take?

The first two took 3-4 weeks, the last two between 2 & 3 weeks.

What did you use for seeding?

Freshly recieved potted aquatic plants, left in pots with rock wool.

The last two had additional plants added after the ammonia dropped to undectable levels.

Did your cycle stall at any point?

First two did briefly, last two did not.

How did you resolve it?

See above.

Did you fully stock the tank after cycling?

Yes.

Any fish losses after stocking?

No.

Ive done it several times. I always seeded it via old some old substrate in a nylon, old filter pad, or what have you.

Lately, I have put extra ceramic rings into a healthy tank's filter. When I need to start a new tank, I tank one or two out and put it in the new tanks filter. That instantly cycles the tank. Those ceramic rings are loaded with bacteria. One in a ten gallon works like a charm and I've "cycled" four of them like that (as well as my 125g, using four or five rings). It's basically the same as adding a pre-cycled filter to the tank. Of course, if you're going to be stocking a large tank heavily, you would wants lots of those rings. Heck, I'm thinking about starting another filter just to house the rings until I need to take them out.

Yes the majority were fully stocked (probably overstocked; they are q-tine tanks) and no losses ever.

When I cycled the 125g using this method, it was not fully stocked right after because the fish needed to be cycled through quarantine before they could be added.

Fishless is the way to go; and it's even better if you can get your heads on some bacteria!

I've cycled quite a few tanks fishlessly. The early tanks were cycled without seeding, and took a while -- 4 weeks or more. The nitrite spike seemed to last forever... much longer than the ammonia phase. That is normal, from what I've read, although it is frustrating.

When seeding a tank, the cycle can be very brief or nonexistent, if you import enough bacteria. It all depends on how strong of an innoculation you deliver relative to the bioload.

If you have sufficient KH, above 80-100 ppm (or 3 degrees) you don't need to add baking soda. If KH drops, adding baking soda is a simple way to replenish KH. A partial water change would do the same, but adding bakings soda is probably easier. A fishlessly cycling tank can burn up KH pretty well, but as long as you're keeping track of it, it's not really a problem.

Cycling (esp. without fish) can seem to take forever. Just hang in there. Take some comfort in the fact that you're not burning any fish gills with ammonia, nor are you scooping out dead fish from the tank.

HTH,
Jim

I confess that I only did fishless cycling during the early days of Chris playing with it. Normally I don't need to do that. I have spare filters running on the central system and can cheat and just "borrow" one to put on the new tank. Give the tank an ammonia challenge and see the next AM if there is either any ammonia or nitrite detectable, if not I am there. If there is, a handfull of days using ammonia generally finishes it off. There are finge benefits to running fewer tanks than I used to do.

The nitrates do take a little longer to go up. Everything sounds good. Hang in there!