week 1 of fishless cycling

[andruboz]

week 1 of fish cycling

so last thursday i sarted adding ammonium chloride xtals to the tank. i would add till i saw 5 ppm just like the procedure said. this is on a 125 with 2 emperor 400's each with one used [cycled?] cartridge filter and one new cartridge in it. it started using up the ammonia but didnt see nitrites. topped off the tank with dirty water from cleaning other tanks on tuesday. wednesday saw nitrites and ammonia off scale. thursday both down to zero.

could i have a situation where the emperors are doing all the work, but i really dont have a good bacteria colony in the gravel yet?

 

[andruboz]

Doh!... the title was supposed to read fish-LESS cycling . if a mod could fix that, i'd feel .1% less stupid.

 

[wetmanNY]

Okay, we're reading "fishless."

So? So! So, tell.

 

[andruboz]

well a lot has happend since then.

the tank was consistently wacking the ammonia to nitrites to nitrates, and today i finally decided it was good to go. date of first post apr 25. today: may 2.

i did a 90% water change. added 1/8th of an inch to the low end of the stand to level the tank. hung the canopy with the 8 -19 watt 5700k flourescents. added 4 ounces of biospira as insurance [$38 worth]. a shot of melafix as a little more insurance, and 1/4 cup of salt as just a little bit more insurance. threw in a fahaka, a redtail blackshark, a firemouth, and one extra male nicaraguan. [ i have 3 males and no females yet.] please note: my puffer is unusually tolerant of other fish compared to most fahakas. if you try this at your house, the puffer may shred them.

initially i matched the temp of the new water to the fahaka's tank. which was 4 degrees warmer than the firemouths tank. so the firemouth was little freaked out at first. turn white. within the hour he had his color back.

the red tail chases the firemouth and the nicaraguan. the puffer sat for an hour under a stump and then preceded to going around the tank wiping all the little bubbles off the glass with his face. he can see the tv again, so he should be happy.

will do water testing after dinner but everybody is looking good right now.

 

[JSchmidt]

Fishless cycling AND Biospira! You are a conservative sort... you'll fit in just fine around here, Andruboz.

Sounds like all is well with your tank. Keep testing for a week or so just to make sure you don't have any nasty surprises. (Very unlikely, give that you have a biofilter that could support a much more heavily stocked tank.)

I can't recall if this is your first tank... so pardon me if this is something you already know. It's very good practice to keep track of nitrate production in your tank over a period of several months (6 months, maybe) as you figure out what sort of water change/maintenance schedule is required to keep you fish healthy. I'm continually surprised by how newish tanks seem to stay so clean; after a couple months, they start to require more water changes to keep the same quality. Just be sure to avoid basing your water change schedule on the first two month's readings from your tank.

Good luck,
Jim

 

[andruboz]

actually its my 5th tank. just the first fishless cycled. didnt even know about the cycle until i'd had other tanks running a year. just happen to get lucky.


all water testing has been fine. havent tested nitrates but its only been running 4 days..