Cycling problems.

HI there! I just purchased a 75 gallon tank off of Craigslist and I just set it up and started to fish less cycle. I bought ammonia and brought the level up to 4 ppm. It's been four days and there isn't even a slight change. I added a bottle of tetra safestart and it still hasn't changed. The ammonia's ingredient list says ammonium hydroxide, is that okay? It doesn't have any scent but it suds a little. My friend has a seven year old tank and is willing to help me seed the tank. How should I correctly seed it? How much time would that take off of the cycle? Is the ammonia ok? Please and thank you! Also, if someone could give me a step by step for cycling, that would be amazing!!

 

HI there! I just purchased a 75 gallon tank off of Craigslist and I just set it up and started to fish less cycle. I bought ammonia and brought the level up to 4 ppm. It's been four days and there isn't even a slight change. I added a bottle of tetra safestart and it still hasn't changed. The ammonia's ingredient list says ammonium hydroxide, is that okay? It doesn't have any scent but it suds a little. My friend has a seven year old tank and is willing to help me seed the tank. How should I correctly seed it? How much time would that take off of the cycle? Is the ammonia ok? Please and thank you! Also, if someone could give me a step by step for cycling, that would be amazing!!

Before anything else, I suggest you commit to particular cycling method and be patience with that process. Cycling doesn't happen over night.

I would suggest reading the following links first:

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

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/four-methods-of-fish-less-cycling.48446/


https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/q-a-with-tetra-about-tetra-safestart.58116/

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...-cycling-with-established-filter-media.66727/

 

you can't add ammonia and TSS/ tetra safe start. either do one or the other. I would take all the water out of your tank and start over.

if you go with TSS you will, refill your tank with dechlorinated water, wait 24 hours and add TSS and some fish. then no water changes for 2 weeks I believe. after 2 weeks you will check your water and find out if the cycle worked. sometimes it dose sometimes it dosent. if it dosnt you will have to do daily water changes with prime to protect your fish from ammonia tell the cycle is complete.

I never have used TSS iv picked this up from others. I always do a fishless cycle with ammonia. it takes a lot longer but there is no chance of it failing. I would suggest you go this rout but your going to have to be very patient. it will more than likely take more than a month. so if you can't wait that long go with the TSS.

hope this helps

 

Like the above posts said, you only do TSS WITH fish, not with ammonia
I did ammonia cycling and I used this step-by-step
Getting ammonia alert isn't really necessary, you can just test it with your liquid test kit

 

If it suds, it's not pure and will likely kill the bacteria you're trying to grow. Does it list ANYTHING other than ammonia or water on the ingredients list? Your best bet that I know of is the Janitorial Strength Ammonia from Ace Hardware.

One method or the other is probably better, although I must note that Dr. Tim's One and Only nitrifying bacteria is said to be OK to use for fishless cycling and I would have expected SafeStart to be the same way. I definitely would not start that high with the ammonia if I did it that way, though.

As for seeding, it depends on what you're using. It would take much more substrate than filter media. I use filters with two pads, and remove one pad to start a new tank with (replacing it with a new one, of course).

 

Ok, I want to do fishless cycling, and my friend has filter media that has been in his filter for a month, I did a 90% water change and the ammonia went down to somewhere between 0 and .25. I raised the temp to 87 degrees. Also, no, it only says ammonium hydroxide. I have no idea why it's bubbly. It's Meijer brand so.... I think I will try to get the ACE brand. What level should I start it at? All of the internet blogs even one here on FL said to bring the ammonia level to 5 or 6ppm..

 

I would drop your temperature to 84 degrees. Warm temperature helps the growth of BB but having a to high temperature can stall the growth.


This section is from the fishless cycling using Ammonia by Shawnie (Moderator)

Use 100% pure ammonia.
Using a dropper, add 5 drops of ammonia per 10 gallons of aquarium water. If you don't get an ammonia reading with your test kit, add some more drops until you start to see an ammonia reading. Keep track of how many drops you've used so you can repeat this process daily. Continue to dose the tank with ammonia until you start to get nitrite readings with your test kit. Once you can detect nitrites you should only add 3 drops of ammonia per 10 gallons of aquarium water, or if you added more drops originally to get an ammonia reading cut the amount of drops used in half. Continue this process daily until you get nitrate readings with your test kit. Do a 30% water change and your tank is ready.

 

Keep track of how many drops you've used so you can repeat this process daily. Continue to dose the tank with ammonia until you start to get nitrite readings with your test kit.

I never kept dosing ammonia, I got it to 5ppm and stooped dosing tell I saw the ammonia start to drop. if you kept dosing wouldnt you end up with a ton of ammonia? soon as the ammonia start to drop or nitrite shows up then I start dosing again.

 

45ppm seems to be the highest you want to get to. If you add the drops as mentioned by Amazon at this point you should come out perfect.

 

I am also using Meijer brand Ammonium Hydroxide. I also noted that it does foam some, but after almost three weeks with no seeding, my Ammonia level has just started to drop and I am now getting increasing Nitrite levels (starting yesterday), so I guess it is working.

I do have some concern about the foaming, but the label lists only one ingredient, Ammonium Hydroxide.

If, once cycling is complete, and I add my fish I find problems, I will definitely be complaining to Meijer about their inadequate labeling. For now, I will allow things to continue on.

Update, 8/31: Well, I went shopping for some different Ammonia and found some clear "Blue Ribbon" brand at a local hardware. It has no scent, and does not foam when shaken. I decided to do a 100% (as close as I can get) water change and re-dose with the new Ammonia. I will allow it to run for a day or two, then do another 100% water change a few more times during the continuation of the cycling. Hopefully this will solve the problem of possible surfactant contamination. I'll keep you posted.

 

Ok, I want to do fishless cycling, and my friend has filter media that has been in his filter for a month, I did a 90% water change and the ammonia went down to somewhere between 0 and .25. I raised the temp to 87 degrees. Also, no, it only says ammonium hydroxide. I have no idea why it's bubbly. It's Meijer brand so.... I think I will try to get the ACE brand. What level should I start it at? All of the internet blogs even one here on FL said to bring the ammonia level to 5 or 6ppm..

Your ammonia is bubbly because it has surfactants in it. Apparently, the manufacturers are NOT required to list surfactants on the ingredients list and some products that are labeled as "Clear" Ammonia are really not. I bought a bottle of clear ammonia from Wegmans (grocery store) that only listed Ammonium Hydroxide on the ingredients list. But it bubbled up when I shook it. So I did a bit of research and found out about the surfactants, so I did NOT use it. Instead, I got a bottle of pure Ammonia from Ace Hardware that does NOT bubble up.

If I were you, I would stop using the ammonia that you have right away. I would wait until you can get a pure ammonia source, then I would do a 100% water change and start over.

EDIT TO AD Also, waiting only 4 days is not long enough. A fishless cycle takes time and patience. I'm on day 32 of my fishless cycle and I'm still not done yet (although I'm getting close). So when you do get your pure ammonia source be ready for a long wait. Some people can cycle faster because they have seeding material from healthy, well established tanks that have been set up for at least six months. This certainly does help speed things up but even then, you will be waiting at least a week or two.