Stalled cycle? Or normal?
- Thread starter x3ro
- Start date
According to the nitrate test, which i followed directions 1000% (even used the stopwatch function of my iphone to time it), I'm between 5ppm-10ppm...
I wonder if the live plant i had gotten from the LFS has helped speed up getting the bacteria? Its weird though, as the plant wasn't in a tank with fish.. It was in a tank with other plants being fed co2..
I wonder if the live plant i had gotten from the LFS has helped speed up getting the bacteria? Its weird though, as the plant wasn't in a tank with fish.. It was in a tank with other plants being fed co2..
Plants can consume ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. In fact they need them. If you were to take an aquarium and plant it wall to wall and put .5 inches of fish per gallon (within reason) you would not have to cycle at all.
The fact that you are starting to see nitrates means you are getting close to the finish.
:thm:
The fact that you are starting to see nitrates means you are getting close to the finish.
:thm:
Ah.... Well good then 
Started my cycle not this past sunday, but the sunday before...
Couple factors that I think helped (inadvertently):
1. We started the tank up with a live plant from the LFS.
2. My tap water has about 1ppm of ammonia in it, which we used to fill the tank..
The plant has since been removed as it turned mostly brown within a week, so we ditched it.
How often should I check for nitrates? I just dosed my tank again tonight and got it back up to about 3-5ppm of ammonia.
Started my cycle not this past sunday, but the sunday before...
Couple factors that I think helped (inadvertently):
1. We started the tank up with a live plant from the LFS.
2. My tap water has about 1ppm of ammonia in it, which we used to fill the tank..
The plant has since been removed as it turned mostly brown within a week, so we ditched it.
How often should I check for nitrates? I just dosed my tank again tonight and got it back up to about 3-5ppm of ammonia.
Since you are getting some, don't worry about it yet. When you have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites and you are dosing ammonia then measure your nitrates. That is when you stop adding ammonia and need to do a big water change and then you will be ready to add some fish.
I declared my fishless cycle officially over today. I added two snails to the tank.
I declared my fishless cycle officially over today. I added two snails to the tank.
colinsk is right, check your ammonia and nitrite levels instead. After a while, you'll get used to knowing how many drops it takes to get from 0ppm ammonia, to 5 ppm. At that point, you can stop testing for ammonia also, only nitrite. When your nitrite hits 0ppm after 24 hrs of adding ammonia, you're pretty much done.
Here's how I do it, to save test kits.
Add ammonia, test, adjust ammonia to 5ppm. Take note of how much it takes from start, to 5ppm.
Wait 1 week, test ammonia, and adjust for 5ppm.
Test daily only when ammonia starts to drop more than 2ppm after a day.
Once ammonia hits 1ppm after 24 hrs, stop testing for ammonia, and just dose for 5ppm each day.
Start testing nitrite once a week. Repeat until nitrite is at 0. If you suspect that something is wrong, then test for nitrate.
You mentioned that your water has 1ppm ammonia in it from the tap, that's too high for fish to live in. You will need to treat your water before adding it to the tank. Lowering your pH can help de-toxify the ammonia. You can also filter your water before adding it to the tank. There's products available like Ammo-Chips to de-toxify ammonia. It might be feasable for you to have a tub for water changes, and run a bio-filter through it so remove the ammonia before it enters your fish tanks.
I think prime does as well.
Most people on here so far have just told me to dose the tank with prime (for the full gallon amount, not just what I'm adding) before adding water from a python...
