I am currently fishless cycling a 55 gallon tank... I am in my 3rd week of cycling and am very much a newbie... but heres what I have learned
a couple of pieces of advice. 1) be patient 2) read all that you can 3) post often and research more 4) be patient!!! ( I am having trouble with #'s 1 & 4 )
OK fishless cycling as I understand it (if any of my info is wrong please let me know)
To start, buy a test kit. It should test the main 4. PH, Amonia, nitrite, nitrate. I reccomned the drop tester not the strip testers. They are a little more hassle but seem to get more accurate results.
I went ahead and conditioned my water for chlorine and chloramine (but I am not sure this is necessary) if you choose to do so make sure the product you are using does not treat for ammonia (you want the amonia for now).
ok so you have your tank set up... heater going, rocks in place, decorations and the like ( i am assuming )
1.you will need to get a baseline... so do all of your tests and record the results.
2. A.
add amonia to the tank you want to get the levels on the tester between 3-5 ppm (my reccomendation is to fill a 1 gallon bucket with water and add amonia until get a reading between 3-5ppm {stir}... this is most easily achieved if you have a dropper that has measuring marks... once youve done this you can determine how much amonia to add to your tank) once youve added your first dose wait atleast an hour or two before you test... If you dont wait you'll get a false read.
2. B.
Seed your tank. Seeding= adding "media" from an established tank. ie. filter, gravel or sponge squeezing from an established tank. The sponge/filter are apparantly the best. I used gravels, a filter and bioballs from the lfs. the drawback of the lfs (local fish store) is that their "media" sometimes come with more than just benificial bacteria. In my case the media cam with micro-organisms and snails.
the purpose of seeding is to introduce bacteria into your tank... by adding them you can speed up the process, but its only a catalyst and by no means a fix all.
ok so youve added ammonia and seeded your tank... now you must be patient
3.
you will need to start testing your tank ammonia's levels daily. You may not notice a drop for several days (patience)... once your ammonia levels drop below 3 you will need to add more to get the ammonia levels back to 3-5ppm.
When the levels begin to drop it means that there are bacteria in the tank and they are consuming the ammonia. When you have fish they will produce the ammonia. The bacteria that are eating the ammonia will produce NITRITE. Time to start testing for nitrite.
4. YOU SHOULD BE RECORDING ALL OF THIS
now you are testing for nitrite and amonia... one day they show up, just a little at first then gradually the numbers will increase (yeah) they will eventually spike and begin to drop, once they begin to drop it means that the bacteria are consuming the nitrites as well.
5.start testing for NITRATE. your nitrate levels will continue to increase throughout the process you can lower them by doing water changes, but this is not necessary during your fishless cycle.
BACTERIA EAT AMONIA WHICH PRODUCE NITRITE, THERE ARE OTHER BACTERIS THAT EAT THE NITRITE AND THE END RESULT IS NITRATE
...at this point you can assume you are growing your own little colony of bacteria that will be able to consume the ammonia and nitrites that will be present in your aquarium... so keep adding ammonia (3-5ppm) every 24hrs to make sure the bacteria have enough to eat...
This is where I am in my cycle
Eventually you will test your tank and your ammonia levels will be zero... (the bacteria are doing their jobs) the nitrites may take longer to zero... but they will eventually zero out.
6. OK SO youve been adding ammonia each day to achieve levels of 3-5ppm but when you test 24hrs later there is no trace of amonia or nitrite... whew... do this for two more days... if each day the amonia and nitrite are zero then you are cycled
YOU HAVE A HEALTH COLONY OF BACTERIA
7.
now you need to do a 60 to 90% percent water change to get the levels of nitrate back into check... make sure treat for chlorine/chloramine.
you still may have issues with ph, gh kh (but I am not knowledgable to advise about this)
8.
Add fish... and keep testing those levels daily to make sure there are no problems... I have been told to add a full bioload to provide your bacterai enough food.
OK this is the best I can do for you... I am still waiting for my nitrites to zero.
Good lucka nd be patient... i hope this is helpful...
If any of my info is incorrect I hope you "in the know" will let me know
I like to read how to do the whole thing start to finish and then do it.