Fishless Cycle .. 1 week

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DaveyGSXR

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Jul 5, 2004
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it's been about a week since i first started my fishless cycle on my 30 gal. everything is still the same but the water is a little foggy my ammonia is 4.0 - 6.0 ppm some where around there, and my nitrites are still zero .. is it a bad thing to use water treatment for chlorine during the cycle ? and how am i doing ? should i be registering any nitrites yet or soon ?


Thanks,
Davey
 
The only reason you should use a chlorine treatment for your water during a cycle, would be if you're doing a fishy cycle and need to do a water change. I'm not sure why you would use chlorine treatment on a fishy cycle, but I dont think it would screw with it.

The cloudy water is a result of the bacteria colonizing and breaking down the ammonia.

If you are cycling with absolutely nothing but a fresh tank (Many people borrow gravel or filter media to seed the bacteria in the tank), then It may take a little while to see the ammonia drop and the nitrites star to rise. Fishless cycles can take up to 4 - 6 weeks. Hopefully you'll be seeing some nitrites soon.

~ MyShrimpDied
 
It's actually a good idea to treat any new water you add to the tank with conditioner. If you add chlorinated water to the tank while you're cycling, you risk killing the bacterial colony building up in the filter.
Just be patient, you'll get there :D
 
38 days

I've read that it takes 38 days to cycle, more or less, if you do not import any bacteria.

Be sure to test for pH, as if your KH is low the pH could crash and that is bad and takes you back to day 1 pretty much.

Put the temp up a little high, that helps the bacteria multiply.

Try to not exceed 5ppm. It just makes your time longer and the nitrite consuming bacteria do not like ammonia. As nitrite begins to show, reduce the max ammonia level, add only about half of the initital volume of ammonia per day.
 
You mention low KH - what is this a reading of, and how can it be modified? My test kit (Aqu.Pharma. liquid format) does not test KH, as far as I can tell. How would adding aquarium salt affect KH, if at all? At what pH should I be concerned?

Sorry for all of the naive questions - just started cycling my first tank 3 days ago. So far not changes to get excited about:
46g fishless cycle (inoculated with filter squeeze)
pH ~7.6 - 7.8
Ammonia ~4-6ppm
Nitrite 0
GH ~50
 
ok thanks, i got some bacteria from a freinds 30 gal tank from his bio wheel i just took it out and let the water from the wheel pour into a bag that i put in my tank, i got about a half a bag full of the water from the wheel .. will this help speed it up at all ?
 
Importing bacteria from the other tanks

Yes, the water from the biowheel will help, if is is nasty and ugly and brown that is best. If it is clean and clear then you need to take the cartridge from his system and swish it in a bucket of dechlorinated water, mind the temp.

The more dirt the better. Pour that into your filter, upstream of the pads so the pads catch all that mess.

With pH above 7 you probably have a good KH. If the pH begins to fall, you may have a problem. I'd worry if it got to 6.5 or less from your starting point.

Call your water company and ask for the General hardness, Carbonate hardness, nitrate, nitrite, calcium, magnesium, conductivity results -- they will mail you a statement with all these values, plus some more that they test. Put it in a file to refer to once in a while. There is another one that tests chlorine and ammonia and ecoli bacteria and some other things that are important, but you want both forms.
 
Re: 38 days

Originally posted by anonapersona
As nitrite begins to show, reduce the max ammonia level, add only about half of the initital volume of ammonia per day.
Click to expand...

You shouldn't decrease the ammonia input unless you plan on going light on livestock. The bacteria that breaks down the ammonia should be able to process 5pmm within a 24 hr period, and depriving them of the 5pmm will result in a die-off of the excess bacteria.
 
See the original work

Fishless Cycling Revisited -- Dr. Chris Cow

I've read that as long as there is a positive amount of ammonia in the tank, the bacteria will continue to multiply to process it. The nitrite consuming bacteria are inhibited by ammonia and so the high levels of ammonia are a problem at that point when the nitrite consuming bacteria are needed.
 
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