Fishless cycling a 240 Gallon with ATM Colony Freshwater

Hey all,

So will be cycling this tank fresh as haven't got any media available but I'm not worried as waited 10 weeks to get the tank, I can wait longer to fill it up lol.. mattgirl helped me cycle my precious smaller tank (it was around 55-60 gallons).

The plan of attack this time is that I've used ATM Colony freshwater as my bottled bacteria and have dosed around 2ppm ammonia.

Picture added of the tank. This will be more a log/trial of my progress using ATM colony as have seen people say it's an amazing product.

Would it be fine for me to test ammonia level 5-6 hours after dosing just to check if it's dosed to 2ppm as sometimes there's variation in these ammonia instructions (1 drop per gallon/4 drop per gallon?!)

 

I normally recommend giving the tank at least 30 minutes before running the ammonia test. If you are adding Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride you may find your ammonia level close to twice as high as you expect it to be if you followed the directions on the bottle.

I am following along as I too am anxious to hear if the bottled bacteria you have chosen will work well.

 

I normally recommend giving the tank at least 30 minutes before running the ammonia test. If you are adding Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride you may find your ammonia level close to twice as high as you expect it to be if you followed the directions on the bottle.

I am following along as I too am anxious to hear if the bottled bacteria you have chosen will work well.

So that's good, I'll test now then and see what's up. And yes I didn't follow the instructions (I'm a rule breaker) and went for the 1 drop per gallon as opposed to the instructed 4 drops per gallon!

 

So that's good, I'll test now then and see what's up. And yes I didn't follow the instructions (I'm a rule breaker) and went for the 1 drop per gallon as opposed to the instructed 4 drops per gallon!

In this case it is probably best that you are a rule breaker. If the ammonia isn't up to 2ppm. Just add, wait, test and add more as needed. Just keep track of how many drops you ended up adding so you can repeat as needed.

 

Hey all,

So will be cycling this tank fresh as haven't got any media available but I'm not worried as waited 10 weeks to get the tank, I can wait longer to fill it up lol.. mattgirl helped me cycle my precious smaller tank (it was around 55-60 gallons).

The plan of attack this time is that I've used ATM Colony freshwater as my bottled bacteria and have dosed around 2ppm ammonia.

Picture added of the tank. This will be more a log/trial of my progress using ATM colony as have seen people say it's an amazing product.

Would it be fine for me to test ammonia level 5-6 hours after dosing just to check if it's dosed to 2ppm as sometimes there's variation in these ammonia instructions (1 drop per gallon/4 drop per gallon?!)

Yes, absolutely, and really 30 minutes later should be sufficient too. Especially if you are using a bottled bac product, which may already get to work immediately after dosing and could skew results too much if you test ammonia too late.

 

So tested today and ammonia looked to be around 1PPM. Have added ammonia and will test after 30 mins to see if 2ppm achieved.

Should I only be testing ammonia at this moment, and also should I wait for ammonia to drop below 1PPM before dosing more ammonia?


*edit*

So ammonia is now sitting at 2ppm nicely and tested nitrites for fun and it was a clear 0.

Current tank temperature is 80.6F, would knocking it up to 82F be better?

 

So tested today and ammonia looked to be around 1PPM. Have added ammonia and will test after 30 mins to see if 2ppm achieved.

Should I only be testing ammonia at this moment, and also should I wait for ammonia to drop below 1PPM before dosing more ammonia?

Ammonia and pH level really is the only thing you need to be testing for at this point. The cycling process often cause a pH drop. We want to catch it early should that happen here.

I would wait for it to drop close to zero before adding more. Now that you know how much ammonia it takes to get it up to 2ppm just add that much each time it drops.

Since you are using a new to us bottled bacteria you may also want to run the nitrite test. It seems some folks skip the nitrite spike when using some types of bottled bacteria. I have to wonder if it actually did spike but it happened so quickly they missed it.

There is no need to run the nitrate test until nitrites rise and start dropping.

*edit*

So ammonia is now sitting at 2ppm nicely and tested nitrites for fun and it was a clear 0.

Current tank temperature is 80.6F, would knocking it up to 82F be better?

I have to think 80.6 is plenty high enough. The last time I had to cycle a tank from scratch I kept it at 76 the whole time. I was doing a fish in and that was the best temp for my fish.

 

Ammonia and pH level really is the only thing you need to be testing for at this point. The cycling process often cause a pH drop. We want to catch it early should that happen here.

I would wait for it to drop close to zero before adding more. Now that you know how much ammonia it takes to get it up to 2ppm just add that much each time it drops.

Since you are using a new to us bottled bacteria you may also want to run the nitrite test. It seems some folks skip the nitrite spike when using some types of bottled bacteria. I have to wonder if it actually did spike but it happened so quickly they missed it.

There is no need to run the nitrate test until nitrites rise and start dropping.

I have to think 80.6 is plenty high enough. The last time I had to cycle a tank from scratch I kept it at 76 the whole time. I was doing a fish in and that was the best temp for my fish.

Ill test my pH, expecting it to be high due to 240lbs of aragonite sand substrate!

 

I have to think pH will be no problem in this tank so you shouldn't have to keep an eye on the pH level

 

I have to think pH will be no problem in this tank so you shouldn't have to keep an eye on the pH level

So tested and pH is around 8.0-8.2 which was as expected and perfect for my Malawi Cichlids I believe should hopefully be high enough to not have to worry about a crash

 

So ammonia is now sitting at 2ppm nicely and tested nitrites for fun and it was a clear 0.

Sweet. So now you know how much to dose to get to 2ppm each time (whatever amount you dosed first + second time).

Current tank temperature is 80.6F, would knocking it up to 82F be better?

Yes. Not necessary, but would help.

 

So test day today, have tested ammonia and seems to be just slightly below 2ppm but if I'd have to bet on it I'd say its not moved much at all.

Will try and take pictures like I did last time but just remember it may look different to in person due to camera and external light.

Day 3 of cycling with ATM Colony done.

A thought I have is that ATM Colony states you can put fish in 15 minutes after dosing the tank, yet its unable to process 2ppm any quicker, I'm assuming they've accounted for maybe minimal ammonia due to them stating to only lightly feed then wait a couple days.

 

A thought I have is that ATM Colony states you can put fish in 15 minutes after dosing the tank, yet its unable to process 2ppm any quicker, I'm assuming they've accounted for maybe minimal ammonia due to them stating to only lightly feed then wait a couple days.

Yeah, I just read their product description. Seems like yeah they are expecting minimal ammonia, and even then, expect that the user may still see ammonia and nitrite spikes... =.=

I mean I *guess* it is not technically false advertising? But bleargh.

 

Yeah, I just read their product description. Seems like yeah they are expecting minimal ammonia, and even then, expect that the user may still see ammonia and nitrite spikes... =.=

I mean I *guess* it is not technically false advertising? But bleargh.

Lol yeah realistically it means that if you did a fish in cycle, once you added more fish you'd just get so many spikes.. I have a funny feeling that the bacteria in this ATM Colony is going to struggle to make a difference in this cycle then but we can assess where we are once we day number 7

 

Lol yeah realistically it means that if you did a fish in cycle, once you added more fish you'd just get so many spikes.. I have a funny feeling that the bacteria in this ATM Colony is going to struggle to make a difference in this cycle then but we can assess where we are once we day number 7

Yaya, keep us posted! XD

 

Yaya, keep us posted! XD

Will do, on another note my tank is soooo crystal clear haha.

 

Will do, on another note my tank is soooo crystal clear haha.

Gosh, I always miss this feel (which mostly just happens for me at the start). XD

 

Day 4 update:

So ammonia seems to have dropped I'd wager its around the 1ppm mark. Have tested nitrites and it was still very blue but I could defo say it wasn't as blue as last time so maybe trace nitrites so far.

Any suggestions on anything else I need to do or just let it run it's course and re-test tomorrow? mattgirl

 

Day 4 update:

So ammonia seems to have dropped I'd wager its around the 1ppm mark. Have tested nitrites and it was still very blue but I could defo say it wasn't as blue as last time so maybe trace nitrites so far.

Any suggestions on anything else I need to do or just let it run it's course and re-test tomorrow? mattgirl

It does look like there is some forward motion. I would just let it ride and add more ammonia once it gets closer to zero.

Do you remember my thoughts on adding a bit of fish food along with the liquid ammonia? Liquid ammonia to control the ammonia level but a bit of fish food to add just the little touch it needs to help build strong bacteria?

 

It does look like there is some forward motion. I would just let it ride and add more ammonia once it gets closer to zero.

Do you remember my thoughts on adding a bit of fish food along with the liquid ammonia? Liquid ammonia to control the ammonia level but a bit of fish food to add just the little touch it needs to help build strong bacteria?

Yes I remember this! Do you think it's too early in the cycle to introduce fish food yet though? Also as its such a big tank, how much would you recommend?


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Day 5

Ammonia test done as that's all I'm focusing on at the moment.

Looks to be around 1ppm still!

 

and perfect for my Malawi Cichlids

Peacocks, Haps or Mbuna? In any case: Remove the mussels. They pose a real threat of injury.
Also, are those few rocks all or are you going to add more?

 

Peacocks, Haps or Mbuna? In any case: Remove the mussels. They pose a real threat of injury.
Also, are those few rocks all or are you going to add more?

Mainly larger haps and peacocks. Ahh okay, is it because of their shape which could hurt them?

No I'm adding more holey rock just waiting for the shipment to get in. How much more rock do you think is needed?

 

Ahh okay, is it because of their shape which could hurt them?

These mussels have sharp edges, yes.

Be careful with holey rock. Many fish can get stuck. Especially such fish as Malawis that chase each other a lot.

How much more rock do you think is needed?

Luckily not as much as needed for Mbuna. 4-5 times as much as you have right now. You don't have to provide as much caves, but you do need broken lines of sight. Any dominant fish will likely see almost the whole tank as territory if you leave it in the current state.

It would also help to dim down the lights to produce shadowy areas. This also comes closer to the habitat.

 

Yes I remember this! Do you think it's too early in the cycle to introduce fish food yet though? Also as its such a big tank, how much would you recommend?


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Day 5

Ammonia test done as that's all I'm focusing on at the moment.

Looks to be around 1ppm still!

I have to think adding food at the beginning of the cycle is the way to go. Since we really don't want to create a mess in the tank that has to be cleaned up later we want to contain the fish food. I would put a tablespoon of it in a fine mesh media bag. Hang this bag where water is running over and through it. Leave this to decompose for 3 days. After that add a big pinch of fish food to the bag every third day. This should keep a steady supply of decomposing food in the tank and should give the bacteria the food it needs. I highly recommend flakes. Pellet type food tends to fungus over instead of disintegrate.

We aren't depending on it as our ammonia source so continue adding liquid ammonia as needed.

 

I have to think adding food at the beginning of the cycle is the way to go. Since we really don't want to create a mess in the tank that has to be cleaned up later we want to contain the fish food. I would put a tablespoon of it in a fine mesh media bag. Hang this bag where water is running over and through it. Leave this to decompose for 3 days. After that add a big pinch of fish food to the bag every third day. This should keep a steady supply of decomposing food in the tank and should give the bacteria the food it needs. I highly recommend flakes. Pellet type food tends to fungus over instead of disintegrate.

We aren't depending on it as our ammonia source so continue adding liquid ammonia as needed.

Okay will do this today, I still have a bunch of the fine mesh bags from last time


Update:
Tablespoon of fish food added mattgirl hopefully this won't skew the ATM colony results (which tbh seems to be doing nothing

 

Day 6

So ermm we have some purple

Ammonia looks to be between 0.5 and 1ppm

Should I maybe add some more ammonia or leave it mattgirl

 

Day 6

So ermm we have some purple

Ammonia looks to be between 0.5 and 1ppm

Should I maybe add some more ammonia or leave it mattgirl

It seems the bacteria in a bottle you added is speeding up this cycle. If you have the fish food in there now I would wait until it get closer to zero before adding more ammonia.

 

Do you remember my thoughts on adding a bit of fish food along with the liquid ammonia? Liquid ammonia to control the ammonia level but a bit of fish food to add just the little touch it needs to help build strong bacteria?

This is a great idea. I was reading a paper about the nitrogen cycle in a wastewater treatment facility. Its said that nitrification rates were increased by upwards of 30% when phosphates were present. Fish food is a great source of phosphate.

 

This is a great idea. I was reading a paper about the nitrogen cycle in a wastewater treatment facility. Its said that nitrification rates were increased by upwards of 30% when phosphates were present. Fish food is a great source of phosphate.

If you've not read it this is a thread I started about why I recommend adding fish food along with liquid ammonia. https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...-more-and-more-often-fishless-cycling.477380/

 

It seems the bacteria in a bottle you added is speeding up this cycle. If you have the fish food in there now I would wait until it get closer to zero before adding more ammonia.

Awesome, I'll test ammonia tomorrow then and see if we are closer to zero. Yeah the tablespoon of fish food is in there, let me know what day you think I should top up with another tablespoon

 

Awesome, I'll test ammonia tomorrow then and see if we are closer to zero. Yeah the tablespoon of fish food is in there, let me know what day you think I should top up with another tablespoon

If you put the fish food in there yesterday (Friday) it will be time to add another big pinch Monday and then again Thursday. Continue every third day until the cycle is done. The big pinch should kinda mimic what you will be feeding your fish once the cycle is done. If you do it a day early or a day late, no big deal.

 

If you put the fish food in there yesterday (Friday) it will be time to add another big pinch Monday and then again Thursday. Continue every third day until the cycle is done. The big pinch should kinda mimic what you will be feeding your fish once the cycle is done. If you do it a day early or a day late, no big deal.

Sounds like a plan! As I did one tablespoon, I'll just continue with that. Should I clean out the existing food in the bag when I do that? Or just leave it

 

If you've not read it this is a thread I started about why I recommend adding fish food along with liquid ammonia. PSA: Something I am seeing more and more often, fishless cycling.... | Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle Forum | 477380

Thanks for the link....thats a great thread.
I think that a big piece of what is missing that the fish food adds is definitely the phosphates.
In other research and reading that ive done on the topic, the micron size of the bacteria cells plays a major part in the nitrification efficiency.
Therefore just feeding the pure ammonia isn't sufficient.
There are other things that effect the growth and growth rate of the bacteria like phosphate and carbon dioxide that you don't see talked about very often.

 

Sounds like a plan! As I did one tablespoon, I'll just continue with that. Should I clean out the existing food in the bag when I do that? Or just leave it

I would leave it for a while. It may start getting filled up over time. If it does remove some but not all. If you start fresh each time and do it every third day you will be removing it before it has done its job. Maybe remove 1 tablespoon every other time before adding more.

 

Day 7

Only tested ammonia as that's what I'm wanting to see process fast!

Looks to be around the 0.5ppm range. Haven't dosed any further ammonia since the start.

Hoping we see some yellow on the ammonia soon so I can then redose but adding more fish flakes tomorrow as per mattgirl instruction

 

Day 8

Update is that ammonia is very close to 0 (maybe between 0.25-0.5ppm), I'm thinking to redose back up to 2ppm and then add another tablespoon of fish flakes today.

mattgirl what do you think, dose up ze ammonia?

 

Yes, this is close enough to zero. It is time to get it back up to 2ppm and time to add more fish food.

It appears the ATM Colony freshwater bacteria is speeding up this cycle. Seeing the ammonia start going down this soon is a good sign.

 

Yes, this is close enough to zero. It is time to get it back up to 2ppm and time to add more fish food.

It appears the ATM Colony freshwater bacteria is speeding up this cycle. Seeing the ammonia start going down this soon is a good sign.

Maybe it wasn't a waste of money after all.. Let's see .

Tablespoon more of fish flakes added to the mesh bag and dosed back up to 2ppm!

 

Day 9?

So the tank has processed 2ppm in 24 hours but we have nitrites at between 2-5ppm.

Dose ammonia back up?

mattgirl

 

I would go to dosing ammonia every other day now. Fish food is still adding small amounts so the bacteria is being fed. Hopefully the nitrite spike will move as quickly as the ammonia has. I am really amazed at how much the bottled bacteria has helped this cycle. I had not heard of this brand before now.