Fishless Cycle Progress, I Think....

Just a quick update..

I'm currently in week 4 of a fishless cycle on my 29gal.
Temp 82f
pH 6.5
Amm .5
Nitrite 3
Nitrate 100

I've been having low pH from my water being very soft but ammonia is processing. I've added baking soda (1/2tsp) to try and neutralize the pH and it seems to help a little.

Today I did a 25-30% wc to get rid of tannins from recently removed driftwood. My nitrites and nitrates were very high also and I heard that can stall the cycle. Ammonia has been processing slower but it's still processing nonetheless. Before the wc, pH was a tad over 6, amm 1ppm, nitrite 50, nitrate 100. After the test, pH 6.5, amm .5, nitrite 30, nitrate 100

Tap readings
pH 7.0
Amm .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 3

Should I keep these wc going to help stabilize the pH and prevent the cycle from stalling? With the baking soda, should I keep adding that? How often?

 

Your pH isn't terribly low and at its levels shouldnt impact the cycle - I wouldnt mess with pH.
However your nitrites are very high and would be stalling the cycle - I would recommend 70% water changes daily over next few days to bring the nitrites down to 2ppm - you can stop adding ammonia for next 3 days. Once you get nitrites below 2ppm, get into a daily 30% water change regime and add ammonia every other day - here is a link to article which is a great help for getting through the process. Also, the regular WC will keep your nitrates low so once your cycle is done, you can add the fishes with minimal water change.

 

That sounds great, thank you for the info! I really didn't want to mess with my pH so that's good

Once I get nitrites down to 2ppm, how high should I bring the ammonia to while doing the water changes? I've been dosing to 2-4ppm, ammonia is processing at an average of about 1ppm per day

 

Given that your are seeing ammonia get processed now the main objective is to get nitrites to nitrates bacteria established - Feed every other day to about 2 ppm, if that is pushing your nitrites too high then you can even feed once every 3 days.
If possible try to get a seeded filter pad (used) from LFS / friend's established tank (where you know it is a healthy tank) - it will help speed up things a lot. Dont worry too much if you aren't able to get a seeded pad as you seem to be close to be done anyways.

 

So this morning I was about to do a 70% wc but decided to test the water first, since I did a 30% yesterday.

Ph 6.3
Amm .25
Nitrite .35
Nitrate 80

Should I still do a wc to knock down the nitrates? I feel like I'm very close...

 

Just throw an old seashell in there that will help bring the ph up slowly and increase your cycle speed.

. . . Should I still do a wc to knock down the nitrates? . . .

I would watch it for a few more hours and see which way the readings go.

Nitrate readings are not your issue because there's no fish in the tank yet. Get the bacteria working a little faster.

 

I did another 30% wc and after a couple hours tested amm <.25, nitrite .25 nitrate 80. I dosed ammonia back up to 2ppm and after 7+ hours everything is testing the same. Ph is still low so I threw in my mesh bag of crushed coral. Is my cycle stalled?

 

Check the water once a day around the same time, give ammonia 24 hours to get processed and then see the readings, avoid the temptation to check earlier.

 

If you think you're stalled a little bit crank the temperature up 3 or 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

With no fish in the tank it won't hurt anything but the bacteria will bloom faster.

 

I added coral and baking soda and it stabilized my pH.... for a day. Back down to 6.3, I'm guessing this is just normal pH swings during the cycle. More hoping than guessing

More heat, more patience

 

29gal on week 6 of fishless cycle

Temp 86-87f
pH 6.3
Amm- 0 (this A.M. after 48hrs processing 2ppm ammonia) Dosed back up to 2ppm
Nitrites- <.25
Nitrates- 40-80

Ammonia is consistently processing 1ppm every 24hrs. Could a cycle still be "stalled" but still process the ammonia? I've tried raising the pH naturally but doesn't want to stay.

 

Hmm, is there a particular reason why you have the temperature so high? I generally keep my tanks about 74 degrees F except for when I kept neons at 82 F.

What kind of filter do you have going with what sort of material in it? Do you have any media in it? The amount of space in there and material for the bb to hang onto can make a difference.

Personally, I would go crazy spending so many weeks on a fishless cycle. That's why I do tough livebearers and cycle with them

 

I think some people recommend upping the temperature to cycle the tank (fishless). Like that bacteria grows faster in warmer water. What have you used to raise the ph naturally? Just curious.

 

Yes, I've raised the temp to help bacteria growth. I've only used crushed coral in a mesh bag

I'm starting to get a little impatient, but I've read too many stories where people got impatient and lost their fish by not waiting. I really want to succeed in a fishless cycle. It's challenging and a great test for my patience.

I have an emperor 400 biowheel with fluval media

 

If you introduce your fish too early you will not necessarily kill them all off but you will make more work for yourself as you will be doing lots of water changes to keep them happy.

Eventually the tank will cycle and you can go to a more routine schedule.

 

Thank you for your response!

My ammonia is processing faster now, 2ppm every 36hrs. My nitrites are at 0 but nitrates are high, around 80. Should I water change to knock those down or leave it and keep dosing ammonia?

Currently on week 7 fishless cycle on my 29gal. Have been battling soft water and low pH, but the cycle is still making progress. Ive added crushed coral and, just yesterday, a limestone rock to help stabilize the pH.

Ammonia has been processing 2ppm/36hrs, when lately it's only been 1ppm/24hrs.

Parameters:
Temp: 86f
pH: 6.3
Amm: .25ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 80ppm

Should I water change to bring nitrates down? I feel like I should leave it be since I'm not stalled, but if I can do anything to speed things along even a little, it wouldn't hurt my feelings!
Also, this morning's 0 nitrite reading was the first one since starting the cycle, does that mean progress or am I just overanalyzing everything? Be honest

 

Currently on week 7 fishless cycle on my 29gal. Have been battling soft water and low pH, but the cycle is still making progress. Ive added crushed coral and, just yesterday, a limestone rock to help stabilize the pH.

Ammonia has been processing 2ppm/36hrs, when lately it's only been 1ppm/24hrs.

Parameters:
Temp: 86f
pH: 6.3
Amm: .25ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 80ppm

Should I water change to bring nitrates down? I feel like I should leave it be since I'm not stalled, but if I can do anything to speed things along even a little, it wouldn't hurt my feelings!
Also, this morning's 0 nitrite reading was the first one since starting the cycle, does that mean progress or am I just overanalyzing everything? Be honest

I’d leave it be, that’s how I did my last fishless cycle.

 

Sorry for the slow response but yes you should change the water and change it frequently. You don't want the nitrates to build up over 40~50ppm during cycling.

 

No problem, I appreciate the info

I did 30% water changes daily and only got a slight change. Should I do 50% once daily, 25% twice daily or keep doing the 30%?

Should I worry about taking too much water out at once and hurting the cycle?

 

I would do like a 75% change and see how the tank responds to that and then decide how often to do smaller changes.

I like to do a 75 or 80% water change at least once a month and sometimes two to three times a month, with a 20 to 30% water change every 2 to 3 days. It all depends on how the individual tank is doing, but I give them all regular small changes and an occasional large change where I rake up all the gravel & mulm & siphon it out of the tank.

You don't have anything to rake up yet.

 

Ok I'll start on some larger changes and go from there.Thank you very much for your help, this is tough without a mentor

Just did a 75% wc and got nitrates down to 30ppm. I'll dose ammonia again and see how it processes. It's converting 2ppm every 24hrs now, so I feel as though I'm rather close to adding my fish

 

I killed a lot of fish back in the 1970s because of poor understand and poor advice. Nowadays it's a lot easier to achieve success because so much help is available around the world. 50 years ago things in the hobby were much much different than they are now.

Okay . . . so if you have 0 nitrites 24 hours after a small dose of ammonia I would go ahead and put in your first fish. Get a hungry one & feed him really well, and don't add any more ammonia because you won't need it.

If your ammonia and nitrates go to zero quickly you can slowly add more fish.

You may be able to bring the tank up to a level of bacteriological filtration where you could add a full load of livestock at once and just cut off the ammonia at the same time, but in my mind you'd have to be awful lucky to do this without causing an unexpected spiking.

 

I was thinking of having a school of tetra or rasbora, 10-12. Maybe introduce some Corys later on to clean up the sand. What would you recommend introducing first?

 

Tiger barb.

Personally I'm getting away from owning tetras because the quality of fish available seems to be declining.

BTW, Corys will sift the sand looking for lost food, but you have to remove the wastes.

 

That's a good point on the tetras, thank you for the advice. I agree the tetras do seem to have lots of problems.

I know I have to siphon the waste, I was just looking for a small school of bottom feeders. My pool filter sand substrate would be great for them. As for the Barbs, do they feed off the bottom? I haven't done much research on them yet, but I will be soon

 

Barbs usually feed from The Middle or top. But most any fish will eat off the bottom if they are hungry enough.

I would not start out with the bottom fish until you know you have a healthy aquarium going. I can put bottom fish in the first week if I do an instant cycle, by basically Scavenging everything out of a healthy tank and putting it in a new tank. But even then the whole biology suffers from the agitation. Animals, plants, bacteria . . . everything suffers.

I wouldn't put any bottom fish in until your other fish have appeared healthy and happy for a few weeks. You'll want them in quarantine that long anyway. Make sure they don't have parasites, etc.

By the way I have never kept rasboras so I'm not sure what to tell you about that.

 

Thank you for all the information, it is extremely helpful. I'll probably stick with a decent size school of barbs and go from there.

 

So just a little update...
Yesterday, 24hrs after dosing 2ppm ammonia, 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite readings Did an 80%wc and got nitrates down to 5-10ppm so I went and got a green tiger barb this morning. He's acclimated and swimming around actively and eating well. Thank you for the recommendation on the tiger barb. Very active and will look nice having a large school darting in and out of my plants.

Again, your help is much appreciated. Thank you

 

Tiger barbs were some of the toughest fish I ever raised in a community, although the silver dollars were tougher and lived longer.

They're not nearly as pretty however.

And as I recall the tiger barbs were perfectly happy to eat other tasty smaller fish.

A lot of people start with mollies because people say it's a good beginners fish. The reason they say that is because mollies will survive in crappy water a long time.