Stuck fishless cycling?

Really informative post, anonapersona. So should I not add any more ammonia at this point and wait for nitrites to drop?

I was wondering whether to add all of one type of fish at once or not and from what you've said, that's what I'll be doing once things cycle.

I was thinking of tetras and corys, also maybe some zebra danios - would this be a good mixture?
 
No, no, keep feeding, no increases

No, you do keep feeding, just try to not change the amounts all the time.

Just decide if you are going to add the "2 extra droppers of ammonia" all the time. You've started, so you may as well finish, just understand that this has added a few days to the cycle. The nitrite processing bacteria are slower to grow and they don't like ammonia, so increasing the ammonia slows them down, plus the nitrite they have to handle has increased as the ammonia is processed by that group of bacteria.

Keep adding ammonia, daily, test each morning before the new addition. One morning you will see ammonia and nitrite at 0 -- the cycle is then complete. At that point you must continue feeding the bacteria you have grown, either with ammonia at the same rate you had been using, or by adding fish who will produce the ammonia.

If you are ready to add fish, do a very, very large water change, like 80% or better, to remove as much of the nitrates as possible, since you have no test and don't know how high they might be... you could take a sample to the pet store and let them test for you, then do whatever water change is necessary to get the nitrates down to about 5ppm. Consider getting a nitrate test kit, as it will help you determine when to do water changes and how large -- the goal is to keep nitrates to ~20ppm, or 40 ppm if you are lazy. Picky fish keepers shoot for 20ppm. Nitrate is the end product of "the cycle", created from nitrite, not deadly like ammonia and nitrite, but simply a pollutant, like smoke in a room to humans it makes you uncomfortable but you can get used to it if it increases slowly though enough of it will make you sick or kill you.

If you are not ready to get fish, keep feeding the bacteria. And do some moderate water changes to remove nitrates anyhow, as astronomical nitrates can mess with the bacteria you have cultured.


Tetras are fine, cories are too. Not zebra danios -- the tank is too small, they need more swimming room, they get a lot larger than the ones you see in the store and they are very, very active fish. They get manic in a too small tank, I have 5 in a 29 gallon and 30 inches of length is not quite enough, IMO.

Give some consideration to the sort of tap water you have when selecting fish, do you know your pH and hardness?
 
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First tank only

Once you have one tank cycled, you shouldn't ever have to do it again for other tanks as you can share bacteria from filter squeezings.

BUT, the first time, you need to go through growing the bacteria. It is hard on fish and the ones that go through cycling often are damaged.
 
Thanks, anonapersona. I did cut back the ammonia, and it seems that 2 ml will get it to drop to 0 overnight. Nitrites were about 1.6 so they are dropping. I'll probably pick up a nitrate kit fairly soon to see what's going on with that as well. I haven't gotten it yet because I knew I didn't need it quite yet.

Our water is quite hard; don't know exactly, the pH is 7.4.

So no zebra danios then, o.k. I kind of wondered about how active they were, so I'll likely stick to tetras and corys. How will rasboras do in this type of setup?

You've been really helpful, thanks a bunch. My computer at home has crashed, so now I'll have to post from work until it gets fixed.
 
Well, nitrites are still at about 1.6 or so, haven't dropped yet. I'm adding 1 ml household grade ammonia every day. Is this too much, stalling things, or should I keep this amount going? I've seen where some people only add 2-3 drops, but I'm not sure if that is lab-strength ammonia or not.

I'll be at one month into the cycling on January 12th.

My kids are starting to get impatient for sure (and so am I).

Thanks
 
Well you have to add enough to make sure that the bacteria still gets food. So I wouldn't really go below 1 ppm.

Now is the time to get that fish stocking list all finalized so you can rush out atthe right moment and make those exciting purchases.

Rasboras will work fine with most tetras.
 
Thanks, TKOS. I'll just keep plugging away.

I think we'll put in some tetras for a start, not neons, though because I've heard they're not as hardy. The headlight/taillight or glowlight types are pretty cool. Our tank is more for the kids, so it's got some pretty colorful stuff in there, and I think the silvery tetras would look great.

I also saw some really cool little rasboras at our big fish store. I didn't think I would be able to get them around here.

Then we'll put in 3-4 corys for bottom feeders. They are cool little guys, the way they poke around in the gravel.

I'll be sure to stock the tank slowly to give everything a chance to catch up - even 2-3 fish right now would be exciting.
Can't wait!
 
great water!

Cory catfish are great, 6 is better than 3 or 4, IMO if you get small ones. They are just so cute when they hoover (suck and hover at the same time) as they dust off things in the tank. They swim in formation, the more the merrier with cories! Get all the same type, for like different nationalities of humans, given a choice they will associate with their own first.

They like a bit of sand, I've dug out some gravel in the corner and put in fine aquarium sand (Tahitian Moon Black) and they all park there, looks like a used car lot, all lined up side by side.



Rasboras are great, colorful, nice fish.
 
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