Cycling Several Tanks!

Hello! I am a very new hobbyist, and I am currently in the process of cycling two tanks and a quarantine tank. I’ve tried researching as much as possible, but I’m a bit worried about my first tank. I didn’t even know what cycling was a month ago. I know I want to do fishless cycling, however I got a snail for my tank before I even knew about all of this fish keeping information. My snail is in the first tank. I don’t mind how long it takes for my tanks to cycle, I just want my mystery snail to be okay

My first tanks information is:
PH - 7.6
Ammonia - 8.0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
It’s been cycling for just under two weeks now

I have been using ammolock to detoxify the ammonia, and I used ‘Cycle’ at the beginning. I’m doing partial water changes every couple of days, and then adding stress coat in. Am I doing too much or too little? I was hoping to see signs of nitrite by now so I’m not sure if I’m doing the right thing to establish my biological filter.

My second tank readings are:
PH - 7.6
Ammonia - 0.50ppm
Nitrite - 0.25ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm

Would it be safer for me to transfer my snail to the second tank considering it’s super lower in ammonia? My second tank has been cycling for about a week now.

Any tips on what I’m doing wrong or how I can improve my tanks would be really appreciated, thank you!!

 

Either that or put you snail in any food safe container and do water changes every other day.

 

Either that or put you snail in any food safe container and do water changes every other day.

Okay thank you!

 

Move the snail to the second tank and let the first tank sit with that ammonia level and don't touch it until you get NITRATE .. You will eventually see the ammonia disappear and nitrite go through the roof.. sit on your hands and do nothing until you see the Nitrite disappear then your NITRATE will go through the roof.. then Water change. and your "done" THe more water you cange during a cycle the slower it will go.This is why fish in cycle take forever because you have to keep it safe for the fish which means changing water when you see ammonia and using ammonia neutralizers.. . Your second tank seems to be well on track and probably a better environment for the snail at this time. Your learning and doing everything "right" Keep researching and experimenting.. that's what this hobby is about. You got this .

 

Lower the ammonia the tank 1 to 1ppm. 8ppm will stall your cycle for very long

and up the ammonia in the next tank to 1ppm

 

8ppm. Will honestly take a long time to cycle but it'll work. Agree with shiv234 though.

 

HI I also agree, high ammonia (4 and above) can stall a cycle. Best keeping it below 2 and above 1 UNLESS there is livestock then try to keep the ammonia below 1 ideally half or even a quarter of it.

 

Move the snail to the second tank and let the first tank sit with that ammonia level and don't touch it until you get NITRATE .. You will eventually see the ammonia disappear and nitrite go through the roof.. sit on your hands and do nothing until you see the Nitrite disappear then your NITRATE will go through the roof.. then Water change. and your "done" THe more water you cange during a cycle the slower it will go.This is why fish in cycle take forever because you have to keep it safe for the fish which means changing water when you see ammonia and using ammonia neutralizers.. . Your second tank seems to be well on track and probably a better environment for the snail at this time. Your learning and doing everything "right" Keep researching and experimenting.. that's what this hobby is about. You got this .

Thank you so much this was very helpful!! I’m a bit stressed but super excited with all of this stuff!!

Lower the ammonia the tank 1 to 1ppm. 8ppm will stall your cycle for very long

and up the ammonia in the next tank to 1ppm

Ok thank you! How do I go about lowering the ammonia? I started doing ghost feeding but now I’ve just stopped putting anything in the tank in hopes the ammonia lowers, will that work?

8ppm. Will honestly take a long time to cycle but it'll work. Agree with shiv234 though.

I don’t mind the length so much, I just want everything to work and be a good environment eventually!!

HI I also agree, high ammonia (4 and above) can stall a cycle. Best keeping it below 2 and above 1 UNLESS there is livestock then try to keep the ammonia below 1 ideally half or even a quarter of it.

Okay thank u so much, I’ve stopped putting in fish food in the tank, is there anything else I could be doing to lower the ammonia?

 

Ok thank you! How do I go about lowering the ammonia? I started doing ghost feeding but now I’ve just stopped putting anything in the tank in hopes the ammonia lowers, will that work?

water change. What is the tank size and how much water it has.

 

Are these fishless cycles?

Yikes!! 8.0ppm Ammonia. You have got to drop that ammonia, ASAP! I would do a 100% water change and then retest and see where you are. Ammolock only detoxifies up to 1ppm. So it will not work for 8ppm. Not at all. What is the ammonia source in this tank?

Pull that snail out, put it in a food safe container with a heater. Just do daily water changes. Then once cycled you can add to a tank. They don’t tolerate cycling very well.

The second tank, wait until the ammonia drops to 0, then redose your ammonia back up to 2ppm.

 

water change. What is the tank size and how much water it has.

It’s a 50L tank, I’m not sure how much that is in gallons we don’t use that term where I’m from!

Are these fishless cycles?

Yikes!! 8.0ppm Ammonia. You have got to drop that ammonia, ASAP! I would do a 100% water change and then retest and see where you are. Ammolock only detoxifies up to 1ppm. So it will not work for 8ppm. Not at all. What is the ammonia source in this tank?

Pull that snail out, put it in a food safe container with a heater. Just do daily water changes. Then once cycled you can add to a tank. They don’t tolerate cycling very well.

The second tank, wait until the ammonia drops to 0, then redose your ammonia back up to 2ppm.

I’m fishless cycling all the tanks, (well the snail was in the 8.0), so I’ve just been ghost feeding the tanks. Okay that’s very good information. I’ll do a water change now, thank you very much for your help

 

Do about a 90% change and see where the ammonia is at. I don't want to do maths right now

 

Do about a 90% change and see where the ammonia is at. I don't want to do maths right now

Okay will do! Thank you!

 

I read on a thread a while ago that ammo lock will give a false reading of 8.0. Instead of that I would use Seachem Prime since that conditions the water as well as protects from 1ppm ammonia/nitrite.

 

I read on a thread a while ago that ammo lock will give a false reading of 8.0. Instead of that I would use Seachem Prime since that conditions the water as well as protects from 1ppm ammonia/nitrite.

Oh really? That’s really good to know, thanks heaps