Fishless Cycling - what is next and we have snails???

[Zenz]

Started fishless cycle on August 27th. Added plants from lfs from a tank with fish which added the seed that I needed to start my cycle.

I've been keeping amonia at about 2-3ppm. Each morning, amonia has tested at 1ppm in the morning. Nitrites have been going off the charts. Yesterday the nitrates showed up and tested at 20! Added the amonia to bring it back up to 2-3ppm.

This morning, amonia tested at 0ppm!! Nitrites were at 1ppm. I didn't test nitrates.

So am I cycled now that amonia is going to 0??

Also, I noticed a snail in my tank today. It must have come from the plants. But I didn't just notice one, I see one larger one and several little ones ..... must be babies. What do I do about these snails??? Will they take over my tank?? Is the amonia that I'm adding going to kill them? I suspect not since I've been adding it each day and here they are.

All help and advice is appreciated.

Thank you!!

 

[jackiomy]

Just my opinion I like the snails in my tank,they do a lot of natural clean up They will only get out of control if you over feed. And even then, if I end up with more than I want I just put a couple of pieces of zuchinni in the tank (weighted down) and the next morning you can scoop up all the little snails and toss them.

 

[customdrum]

i have done fishless cycles on several tanks. i get around a cycle all together by using half used substrate and water from another tank. if you cant get used substrate or water load the tank down with tons of fast growing plants. the plants eat up the nitrates. ive never used ammonia to cycle a tank.

 

[NickD]

This morning, amonia tested at 0ppm!! Nitrites were at 1ppm. I didn't test nitrates.

So am I cycled now that amonia is going to 0??

Not quite cycled yet but getting there. You know your cycle is complete when your ammonia and nitrite are both zero and you have some nitrates showing up.

Snails: Many people like to keep snails in the tank, myself included. They do eat up the leftover food and dying plant material. They should not eat live healthy plants. They can get out of hand if there is a lot of food around for them. If you do find a lot of snails, it means you're overfeeding.

If you don't want snails, get rid of them now before they really multiply. I like to squish some and drop them in the tank. the fish love to eat them.

 

[jpappy789]

:iagree:

Your ammonia and nitrite need to consistently fall to zero with the addition of ammonia. Also you should wait for your nitrates to build up, do a large water change, and then you can add fish.

 

[Zenz]

Thanks for the snail info. I guess I will leave them. I'm not overfeeding because I have never put food in the tank since I do not have fish.

We brought the amonia back up to 3 yesterday and this morning it was

Amonia 0
Nitrites 1 (so down from yesterday)
Nitrates 5 (down from 20 a few days ago)

I added about 7 - 9 new plants yesterday too.

So when my amonia is 0 and nitrites are ALSO 0, then I do a partial waterchange and we're ready for fish?

>starting to get excited!<

 

[NickD]

So when my amonia is 0 and nitrites are ALSO 0, then I do a partial waterchange and we're ready for fish?

>starting to get excited!<

Yep.

 

[Rbishop]

Yep, after a dose of ammonia to 2-3 ppm, and 24 hrs later ammonia and nitrites are at zero, you are there. I usually do it one more time to be sure then the big water change.

 

[OldMan47]

Like Bob Bishop said, the real telltale is when both ammonia and nitrites are at zero after an ammonia dose. You may not see a nitrate build up depending on how many plants you have and how quickly they are growing and using nitrates for growth. Confirmation by at least one more sample is, as he said, a necessary evil before you take a chance putting fish into the tank.

 

[KarlTh]

Worth using substrate from an established tank; not much point using the water. The bacteria are not generally found free floating.