Fishless cycle problems. Advice welcome.

fishorama said:
I've never broken a tube...what did you do?!? I thought I did vigorous shaking?!?
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Knocked it over the other night. I think I must've cracked it. :oops:
 
Big Bass said:
You know, as crazy as it might sound, i have never knowingly cycled a tank in my over 30 years of fish keeping. I use well water, that is outta the tap and 7.4 , add a ton of live plants, let it run for a day to clear up any cloudiness (Maybe) and toss in my fish, snails, inverts, whatever, and have never had an issue.
Knock-On-Wood
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You probably never do water changes either.. right? (kidding)

Seriously though, your 30yr/old method would work with light stocking.

When I did it that way 35yrs ago, my fish didn't live but a few months at best.
 
Big Bass said:
You know, as crazy as it might sound, i have never knowingly cycled a tank in my over 30 years of fish keeping. I use well water, that is outta the tap and 7.4 , add a ton of live plants, let it run for a day to clear up any cloudiness (Maybe) and toss in my fish, snails, inverts, whatever, and have never had an issue.
Knock-On-Wood
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You probably never do water changes either.. right? (kidding)

Seriously though, your 30yr/old method would work with light stocking.

When I did it that way 35yrs ago, my fish didn't live but a few months at best.
 
Actually i do 50% water changes monthly, again with well water, not run thru a softener, and my oldest fish right now is a 5 year old green sunfish and a bowfin that has just reached about 18 inches, and is 3 years old. Ive always stocked lightly because ive never felt the need to stuff a tank so full of livestock that my bio has to work overtime to keep up. With the exception of schooling fishes that is not how it happens in nature, novice hobbyist just cant stand to see a tank with only a couple of fish in it.
I can. :)
And if your fish only last a couple of months, maybe you should re-think your methods. :)
 
Big Bass said:
And if your fish only last a couple of months, maybe you should re-think your methods. :)
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Like I said, that was 35+ years ago. I knew nothing about nitrogen cycle at the time. I did use conditioned city water. No live plants. I don't recall much being available in terms of live plants at the local fish stores that were plentiful back then.
 
I don't know about you Big Bass but I started out keeping native fishes adding river water to the tank. Then transitioning to tap water(luckily knew about water conditioner because my mom kept bettas). I Knew nothing of the cycle till I reached tropical fish keeping. And even with the lack of knowledge I rarely lost a native fish. Some of those suckers are dang hardy if they can withstand an aquarist who dosnt know what they are doing.
 
My natives tank is a 210 gal. , I just use my well water right outta the tap. Never have any issues, and i dont pay any attention to all the trivia. My water changes go in with the same chemistry always, and the fish seem to love it. I do things my own way, and always have. I think people get too anal about things that dont need to be so complicated. If you have water that is alkaline, keep cichlids, thats a no brainer, why fight your hobby all the time ? Most fish you can buy locally have never known what their real habitat is like anyway. They are mass produced and shipped off to some retailer that puts them in whatever he has his tanks at, and then people buy them and try to replicate what the book says, thats all bologna. Fish adapt, just keep it warm, and clean and you will have happy fish.

This method has served me well for my entire hobby, and just because some self proclaimed "Expert" says im wrong, does not really interest me in the least.

The right way is what works for you, and keeps your fishes healthy and happy.
 
And here's tonight's cycling report:

I decided I needed a baseline, and so tested my tap water after letting it sit in a glass for 24 hours:

Basic Tap Water:
NH3 = .25
PH = 7.6-7.8
GH = 143.2 ppm (8 drops)
KH = 107.4 ppm (6 drops)

Last night, Ammonia and Nitrite were both zero, so I added enough ammonium chloride to bring the NH3 to somewhere between 2 and 4 on the chart. Here are tonight's readings, roughly 24 hours later:

03/04/2016
18:23
PH 7-7.2
NH3 0.25
Nitrite 1-2
Nitrate 5-10
GH 7/125.3 ppm
KH 5/89.5 ppm

So now I'll add enough ammonium chloride to bring the NH3 reading back to above 2.

While trying hard to be patient. :)
 
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Seems like things are moving along. I know probably not as fast as you want. We always want it now not later haha expecially when you got a new tank at you fingertips :p.
 
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