I Don't know how to Cycle!!!!!Test Kits??

[Bobafish]

I am fairly new to the wonderful hobby that is fishkeeping. I need some help with my 10 gallon. I read the cycle sticky, and am still confused about what to do! I filled it approxamately 2 weeks ago and didn't "seed" it or anything like that with bacterial matter from another tank. I am wondering if the fishless cycle will complete without adding anything else????? I have heard that I need to add ammonia. If so what kind??,where do i get it??, and how much should go in my 10 gallon????

Also, do I need to get a test kit?, what do I really need to test for right off the bat? and if I do use ammonia, how often do I add it? and what levels do I check for in ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites????
Do i need to do tests for ph and hardness also at the same time????
I saw a master test kit at Petsmart, but it was like 25 bucks.

Srry, im kinda freakin' out, cause everything is soooo confusing butTHANK YOU for your help!

 

[Harlock]

A fishless cycle will not complete without adding ammonia. You can do a fishless cycle without seeding a tank, but it does take longer. The type of ammonia you need is pure ammonia. It should be clear, have no added lemons scent and when shaken, the bubbles should last no longer than a second or two. The bottle should say something like 10% ammonium hydroxide and water and possibly chelating agents. If it says surfactant, scent, etc. it's not the right stuff. I have heard that the Seamist brand available at Wal-Mart works, and someone just recently posted about some from Ace Hardware called Janitorial strength ammonia that is the right stuff.

Yes, you have to have test kits. There is just no way around it if you wish to be a responsible fish keeper. It would be difficult in the extreme to fishless cycle without test kits. You must add ammonia to a reading of 5 ppm on your test and then check the water daily. If the ammonia drops below 4 ppm, you add ammonia back to 5 ppm. It helps to keep notes to determine how many mL of ammonia you are adding to get to that level. After a while you'll notice ammonia dropping more and more. At this point you should start seeing an increase in nitrites. After a while (usually weeks, without seeding) your nitrites will begin dropping. All the while you are dosing ammonia to 5 ppm every day. After some more time, you will notice that an ammonia reading of 5ppm reads zero with nitrites zero and nitrates somewhere around 10ppm after a 24 hour period. This means your tank is cycled. I would still test it one more time by adding ammoni to 5ppm. If, after 24 hours your readings are ammonia and nitrite 0 and nitrates around 10 or so, you are cycled. At this point, you would change 80-90% of the water, add conditioned water to the tank, then add a full bioload of fish.

 

[Stefanie]

I am pretty new to keeping fish, too, but maybe I can help a bit.
If you want to do a fishless cycle, you need a source of ammonia. This is commonly found in supermarkets, in the cleaning supplies. It should not have any detergents or perfumes added. It should be clear, and when you shake the bottle is should not foam.

For test kits I would recommend getting ammonia/nitrite/nitate right from the start, along with pH and KH/GH. I have heared that some waters with a low KH are not well suited for a fishless cycle, but hopefully someone else can answer this more properly.

Bofore starting, you should add a dechlorinator to the water in the tank, because chorine and chloramines will kill the bacteria you are trying to grow.

When you add ammonia to the tank, make sure to add it up to 3-5 ppm. Measure once a day, and do not add more until you see a drop. Always top off to 3-5 ppm.

After a few days, you should be able to read nitrites. They will sky rocket and level off after a while. If they go off your test kit chart, do a partial water change to get it back into a range that you can read. But don't forget to refill ammonia.

Once the nitrites appear it is time to check your nitrates. Those will get very high.

You will reach a point where you have to add ammonia daily. This means that your first colony of bacteria is well established. These grow faster than the nitrite consuming bacteria.

After a while the nitrites will also be at 0, and your nitrites very high.

At the end of a fishless cycle, make a test for two days in a row, where you add ammonia to 3-5 ppm and check your water after 24 h. If both ammonia and nitrite are at 0 you are done cycling. Now it is time for a large water change, to lower your nitrates to acceptable levels, and then you can go out and buy your fish. Keep testing your water daily for a while to make sure that everything is stable. Then you can do your testings less freequent.

I know it sounds boring, but all this time is great to research the fish you like and to decorate your tank, and to plan everything out. It is so much more rewarding than a cycle with fish. You would have to test all the time, change gallons and gallons of water sometimes twice a day, and and and... Fishless is really the way to go! Even if you screw up you can't hurt any fish...

 

[Bobafish]

Thx Harlock, I can always rely on you to offer valuable information. :bowing:
Thx also Stefanie That just about answers most of my questions.
but what about hardness, and ph, do i need to test for those also?
And is there a place where I can get test kits for less than 25 bucks?

 

[Harlock]

Thx Harlock, I can always rely on you to offer valuable information. :bowing:
Thx also Stefanie That just about answers most of my questions.
but what about hardness, and ph, do i need to test for those also?
And is there a place where I can get test kits for less than 25 bucks?

GH, KH and hardness are not a necessity, but can be useful. They are used often by those with planted tanks. They can come in handy in fishless cycling as well. There is something to be wary of called a pH crash. It can happen when the water you use is particularly soft and acidic. Having a KH test kit would allow you to see where you water stands as far as buffering goes. The pH is handy to see if you see a rapid decline in pH indicative of a crash, which can stall and even set back a cycle. As for cheap test kits, I like Big Al's. Here's a link to the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master Test Kit which comes with a pH test, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates tests. It's a pretty decent kit, from what I hear and also pretty cheap. As for testing KH and such, take a sample to a LFS and have them tell you what your KH is. Most places test it for free as a customer service. If the KH is 3 or above, you are likely in decent shape and won;t have to worry too much about a crash.