Fishless Cycling

I do not agree with most of what Ghostshrimp55 has stated above regarding fishless cycling. Since I have only cycled 6 tanks fishless, I am by no means an expert but can offer the following comments:

I have always used the drops per 10 gal. method of dosing ammonia. The only time I test the tank for ammonia is when I do my cycled confirmation dose (I dose the ammonia and test 90 mins later to confirm a 0 ammonia reading).

I do not even bother to test for nitrites for the first week or two and when I do test, it is only to know I have them and it is time to lower the daily dosing amount for ammonia. Then I will test every for days for nitrites to know they have gone to 0. I also accellerate the time needed for fishless cycling by raising the tank temp.

Once the tank is cycled, I do a huge water change, lower the temp setting and then fully stock the tank. A fully stocked tank sure looks nicer than one cycled with fish where it can take months to reach full stocking levels.

I did cycle my very first tank with fish, something I have never repeated and would never advise anybody do. No amount of ammonia or nitrites are good for fish, which is why newbies are advised to use cheap hardy fish for this job.

Fishless cycling= good! Takes a little time, but no fish injuries or deaths. And by using established filter media as you've done, you can speed up the process...

So regarding your tanks cycle: Yes, keep adding ammonia, but reduce the daily dose to about 2-3 ppm. Now that you're into the nitrite stage, nitrite-eating bacteria don't like massive amounts of ammonia, but they still need some. Keep this up for a while and you'll soon see ammonia drop to 0. Next, nitrites will spike and then drop off to 0.

another vote for Fishless Cycling here. It does indeed work because ammonia is ammonia. The fish would produce the same thing anyway, and we're saving them the stress of unhealthy water conditions that are the biggest problem during the cycle. I think you'll find Fishless Cycling to be a great alternative. I don't think it happens any faster than regular Fishy Cycling. The bacteria still need to come in and reproduce to form a healthy population. Unless you jump-started the cycle by using seeded gravel of filter media.

You might scrub some bacteria off but there is still plenty in the tank. You can always wait until the end to scrape it off as there will be more than enough bacteria to deal with your fish.

Since you used some starter colonies of bacteria thing are going fast for you at the moment. It may slow down a bit as the nitrite bacteria are slow growers. Watch your pH and if it starts to drop and get close to 6 or so do a water change to bring it up. Too low and the bacteria cycle will stall.

And yes, I am pretty sure mbunas are plant eaters. They may attack the guppies but why bother. And the fishless way is ideal for these fish as you won't have to do massive water changes to keep up with growing ammonia and nitrite levels that would be inevitable otherwise.

My Mini Tanks Cycled in 6 days - Fishless

I have one 3 gallon and one 2 gallon Eclipse tanks for bettas. I started them up without the bettas in them, poured some Bio Spira on the filter and bio wheel and added amonia every morning for 6 days. I tested nightly until on the 6th night the ammonia had gone to 0, nitrites 0, and nitrates 20 (in 8 hours time since the last ammonia addition). I then waited til the next day, did a 50% water change and added the bettas. For the first week I tested nightly and the water has stayed at the same numbers. I now test weekly before my water change and have never seen any fluctuation at all.

I know most of you have more fish and bigger tanks but I assume the Bio Spira would work the same but maybe take a little longer for a bigger tank?

Anyway, I highly recommend the Bio Spira for speeding up the process!

girl920 said:

Regardng the "jelly-like" substance on my rocks:

If I scrub my rocks well (again) after cycling, when doing a large water change, this will defeat the purpose won't it? I'll scrub all the bacteria off? Ugh, this growth is scaring me. It can't be good. Has anyone else seen this? Someone told me it was from "other chemicals" in the ammonia, but I thought I was using clear/pure 100% ammonia. Hmmm... any ideas?

Click to expand...

I leave most of it on the rocks. If I were you I would not scrub it off, or at least leave some.