Fishless Cycling a 240g....

riddle4sphinx

riddle4sphinx

AC Members
Jul 19, 2006
268
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Illinois
Hey everyone! My gravel is set, the driftwood is all anchored, filters and heaters are up and running, prime is in.... and I'd love to start cycling my 240g! Sadly I don't have enough light for a planted tank, and my fake plants are not in yet... but I did read on the sticky for cycling that that is okay and I can add them later. I have a test kit ready to go but my question is, did I get the right ammonia? I got the 1 liter bottle of this...
http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1272325
Several forums I've read on fishless cycling say pure ammonia or ammonium chloride.... this is 10% ammonium hydroxide and water (I shook it, didn't foam), can I use it? On the reviews on the Ace website, the only one is from an aquarist saying it worked well, so I'm hoping I got the right stuff. I've never done fishless cycling before and am getting some worried comments from those closest to me (They would never add chemicals like that to a tank!, etc) so basically some reassurance would be nice. Let me know if I need something else or if this will do! Also, is the major water change at the end of the cycle to remove any trace chemicals left? Or is it because the water has sat unchanged for however long? (That was a question from my hubby I wasn't 100% on the answer to, but my thought was the second option....)

Also, when the whole cycle is complete, some still say to start adding fish slow, some say you can add them all... I'm still compiling the list of everything I want in there, but I am thinking along the lines of 30 neon tetras, 10 black skirt tetras, a few dwarf gouramis, a few killifish, small school of glass catfish, possibly some rainbows, 3-4 clown loaches, and a school of cories. Has anyone stocked a tank this large fully right after cycling or should I add them slowly? One specie at a time? Ideas? Thanks everyone!!!:feedback:
 
it looks like the correct one. If you put some in a cup and add water and you see foam and bubbles bring it back, but it looks like plain ammonia.
Wow a 240g, that's a playground in there, good luck with your tank.
I add one type of fish at a time at the beginning or there will be a big ammonia spike, then again I only have a 75g, small fish like you putting in is probably like a drop in the bucket. I'm sure there are people with much more experience that will answer that question for you. Just in general I think it's good to add fish slowly, if anything going in with any aggression they go in last. Enjoy!
 
Yes, that's the correct stuff. Ammonia is most commonly sold as a 10% concentrate/solution with water, and that's what you have - it's somewhat more difficult to find 100% ammonia.

So go ahead & begin dosing - enough ammonia to produce a test reading of 3 or 4 ppm - no more. (Don't go over 5 for sure).
To get a 4 or so reading using the 10% solution, you need 1 tspn. of ammonia solution per 10 gallons of water (or 22- 24 tspns. for your tank) - That amounts to slightly less than one-half cup.

Start with 1/3 of a cup and do your test - add a little more if you don't get a reading of at least 3 ppm. Then leave it that way until the ammonia level drops down to around 1 - then bring it back up to 3 and so on.
It may take several days between each ammonia addition to bring the level down to about 1 ppm.

You should test the pH of your water - hopefully it will be 6.8 or above, up to say 8. Anything over 7.0 will develop the cycle relatively well. If it's in the low 6 range, that will slow down the cycle, and possibly stall it if the pH is 6 or lower.

Keep in mind that it will take, very likely, up to a month or more (6 weeks is not that uncommon, so be patient) to go through the entire cycle, with the nitrites rising quite high about the end of the second or well into the third week, and then slowly beginning to reduce, until some nitrates begin to appear.

Near the end of the cycle, when your test readings for both ammonia & nitrites start to show 0 readings within 12 hours of your last ammonia addition, and the nitrates show a fairly high reading, the cycle is pretty much completed.
At that point, you need to do a large water change to drastically reduce the nitrate level, and then you're good to go. That's why you do the wc.

At that point you should be able to add a good number of fish, but it's best/safest to do just one group at at time, adding more every 3rd or 4th day. Start with your large group of Neons, and go from there. After the Neons, you could safely add 8 to 12 other fish, 2 or more species at a time. Observe carefully between fish additions, and test your water daily or every second day to ensure your params are remaining steady/ok.

Hope this helps. Best of luck to you.
 
Thanks guys! This definitely makes me feel better! I definitely have a liquid test kit, don't worry! I've had a 20g tank for a long time but it's been up and running for so long, that I haven't had to think about cycling and this is my first shot at fishless. Aright, here goes nothing!!!
 
You might be interested in giving Dr. Tim's One & Only a try. I just used it to cycle my 120 gal. and it worked so well I couldn't believe it. It only took 12 days - and I had a couple of fat Ryukins in there, too. I've used other cycle starters in the past and wasn't impressed, plus I'm a skeptic anyway. So I saw this stuff and then I saw the name of the guy who developed it and I remembered his name from this article I'd read several years ago about the strains of bacteria that actually cycle aquariums and how they're not the same strains as the ones that are in cycle starters that they sell in the store. So I bought it along with his water conditioner and stress coat, dumped it in, and my tank was cycled in no time. It really does what they claim.


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