fishless cycle

[waterspirit]

Question...

I'm trying to do a fishless cycle by feeding the empty tank fish food and letting it decompose. I did this almost three days ago and the water is still reading negative for even the slightest trace of ammonia. Am I doing something wrong, or does it just take longer for ammonia to build up?
Also, any suggestions on fishless cycling would be most appreciated. I don't plan to add fish to this aquarium for atleast another week or so.

Thanks

 

[pinballqueen]

If I've read all of the articles correctly (I've not done a new setup since I started posting here, so I haven't tried it yet), go to WM and pick up some non-foaming ammonia-water cleaner and add it to your tank. Someone else can chime in with concentrations.... Be sure to get the stuff that is just an ammonia-water solution, not cleansers or detergents, because those things will hurt the tank. It may take longer than a week or so to get everything cycled and ready, but it'll take a heck of a lot longer using fishfood, and it'll cost more, too....

Also, have you got a friend with a healthy tank (or have one yourself) that has been established for a while? If so, grab a handful of THEIR gravel and put it in your tank. It'll help jump-start the process...

HTH

 

[Jared]

Here, IMO, is the Bible for fishless cycling: http://www.tomgriffin.com/aquamag/cycle2.html

Jared

 

[Tyler718]

If you follow the link that Jared gave you should be in pretty good shape. This what I used to learn how to do it.

I'm in the process of cycling a 150 right now. I started a week ago and my nitrites have peaked since last night. All I did was follow his directions and added all small amount of filter-fiber from an established tank.

The advantage of using ammonia like PBQ said over using the food method is that you start the bacterial growth right off the bat. If you use food you have to wait for the food to start to decay. Then for the bacteria to start growing from the ammonia produced.

Hope this helps some.

 

[NJ Devils Fan]

Thats tom griffin article is very good. I have a copy printed out and sitting here on my compter desk from about a month ago.

 

[famman]

Tyler718
a re-innoculation once the NitrItes spike will speed your process along.
good luck

 

[Tyler718]

Originally posted by famman
Tyler718
a re-innoculation once the NitrItes spike will speed your process along.
good luck

I think I'll try it. I'm cleaning my tanks tommorrow. I'll add some more. I'll post to let ya'll know what happens.

 

[carpguy]

I just recently finished a fishless cycle on a 30g, with no seed gravel. It took 30 days to hit 0/0 (started seeing nitrites around day 12 or so). The nitrIte to nitrAte bacteria can suffer during the initial ammonia spike, so if you can reseed after the ammonia starts to go back down, its only going to speed things along.

 

[waterspirit]

Thanks guys, that helps alot.