cognizant

During the fishless cycle, how often should I test the water?

Lucy

It depends on which method you're doing.
There's the add and wait method, where you add ammonia to 5, wait till it goes to 0 then bring it back to 5.
Some people add ammonia to 5 and as soon as it drops bring it back up to 5 and continue that until nitriates show then cut the ammonia your adding in 1/2.
Did you seed your tank?

cognizant

No I did not. I just put the water in when I got home from work... so it's been running for about an hour.

cognizant

It's not a new filter though, I just restarted the tank after I lost all my fish due to stupidity, or at least that is what everyone thinks. I forgot I changed the water and vaccuumed (they all start to run together) and changed the filter cartridge as well. Within 3 days everything in the tank except one scissor tail and one cory cat was dead. So I put them in a 2.5g I had running and started the 29g over.

jdhef

Comgrats on the fishless cycle! You should avoid changing the filter cartridge for as long as possible. Every time you do a water change, just swish the cartridge around in old tank water. Also when using this method, you would need to remove the carbon, since it is only good for about a month, and if you leave it in it will release the stuff it's been holding back into the water.

Lucy

I'm sorry to hear about your fish, that's terrible.
I'm sure no one thinks your stupid, we've all made mistakes.

How long has it been since you lost your fish? Are you showing any readings?

cognizant

About a week since I lost everyone. I'm actually not sure how long I should even cycle for since it's a used filter and the cycle is mainly for the filter.

jdhef

Well, I'm thinking that since your fish probably died due to the new filter, that it might take a little while to build up all the beneficial bacteria again.

Lucy

The cycle can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to over a month.

This link will give you a better understanding of the nitrogen cycle.

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

This link explains how to do a fishless cycle:

Ammonia instructions for a fishless cycle

How often you test will depend on which method you use.

I hope that helps.

cognizant

Out of curiosity, is it better to do a fishless cycle, or one of those cycles with fish where you throw the biospira into the tank?

Lucy

I've done fishless with ammonia and 2 more cycles by seeding my tank.
I've never used Bio-Spira (the new formula is called Taetra Safe Start), I can't get it around here, but if I could, I definitely give it a try.

cognizant

I'm wondering if I should try that since the filter is used?

Lucy

If you choose to use tetra Safe Start, it wouldn't matter if your filter was used or not, I don't think.
Since the filter probably got cold and dried out during the week, you would have lost any bacteria that may have formed when you had your fish.

cognizant

Can you tell I miss my fish and want them back? I don't want to rush it though.

Lucy

Hey, no problem.
Like I said, I've never used Tetra Safe Start, but a lot of our members have had good luck with it.
If you want to add the fish right away, it sounds like that's the route you want to take.