Fishless Cycling Help

[JustAdam8]

I hope you guys are all doing well!

I am doing a fishless cycle for the first time, and would appreciated a bit of guidance. I started my cycle on June 23rd with the 2ppm ammonia using Dr. Tim method. Ammonia went down on the 27th so I added more. On the 29th I registered 5.0pm Nitrite for the first time. Since July 2 my ammonia has been at 0ppm but my Nitrite has stayed around 5ppm with no reduction in 7 days.

My question is: should I do a partial water change to reduce the nitrites so I can keep adding a bit of ammonia, or should I wait another few days to see if the Nitrites drop?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Gnop1950]

Sounds like your AOBs are established, but the NOBs are lagging. This happened to me on one of my Fishless cycles. What is the PH reading? If the PH is too low (below, say, 7.0), it can stall the cycle, as can the Nitrites being too high.

Since it has been almost a week, I'd do a partial water change, 25% to 50%, which won't hurt the bacteria since they reside in the filter, substrate, and hardscape. I'd think you would want to get the Nitrites down to the point where you can add a bit of Ammonia to keep the AOBs fed.

You can always add a bit more of Dr. Tims if you'd like, I did since it contains both NOBs and AOBs.

If you haven't read this: Stalled Nitrogen Cycle it has some good information.

 

[JustAdam8]

Sounds like your AOBs are established, but the NOBs are lagging. This happened to me on one of my Fishless cycles. What is the PH reading? If the PH is too low (below, say, 7.0), it can stall the cycle, as can the Nitrites being too high.

Since it has been almost a week, I'd do a partial water change, 25% to 50%, which won't hurt the bacteria since they reside in the filter, substrate, and hardscape. I'd think you would want to get the Nitrites down to the point where you can add a bit of Ammonia to keep the AOBs fed.

You can always add a bit more of Dr. Tims if you'd like, I did since it contains both NOBs and AOBs.

If you haven't read this: Stalled Nitrogen Cycle it has some good information.

Thank you! My pH is 7.8 and usually stays around there. That thread is super helpful, and seems to be exactly what I am dealing with. I will go ahead and do a water change and see what happens. Thanks for the help!

 

[GlennO]

Also the second part of cycling, waiting for nitrites to reduce, usually takes the longest. It can take around 6 weeks to fully cycle so it's early days for you yet.

 

[JustAdam8]

Also the second part of cycling, waiting for nitrites to reduce, usually takes the longest. It can take around 6 weeks to fully cycle so it's early days for you yet.

Totally understood, which is why I wasn’t sure whether to do a water change or just keep waiting! I figured after 7 days I should have seen some sort of reduction.

I just did a 50% water change and will test again tomorrow. Hopefully it will be down and I can add ammonia again to 2ppm.

It seems a lot of this hobby is patience!

 

[GlennO]

7 days wasn't long enough for a reduction and a partial water change was a good idea given the nitrite level.

 

[JustAdam8]

7 days wasn't long enough for a reduction and a partial water change was a good idea.

Sorry, do you think I should have waited longer than 7 days to see if the Nitrites reduce (typically?)

Thanks for your help! First time fishless cycling..

 

[GlennO]

Sorry, do you think I should have waited longer than 7 days to see if the Nitrites reduce (typically?)

Thanks for your help! First time fishless cycling..

You could have waited a bit but since they are at 5ppm a partial water change won't hurt and it allows you a bit more freedom to add a little more ammonia. Wouldn't be ideal for nitrites to go much above 5ppm.

 

[JustAdam8]

You could have waited a bit but since they are at 5ppm a partial water change won't hurt and it allows you a bit more freedom to add a little more ammonia. Wouldn't be ideal for nitrites to go much above 5ppm.

Understood - thanks for guidance. I’ll retest today and see where levels are at. If they’ve come down, I’ll add the 2ppm ammonia. If not, I’ll wait a bit more or do another partial water change.

 

[Gnop1950]

Totally understood, which is why I wasn’t sure whether to do a water change or just keep waiting! I figured after 7 days I should have seen some sort of reduction.

I just did a 50% water change and will test again tomorrow. Hopefully it will be down and I can add ammonia again to 2ppm.

It seems a lot of this hobby is patience!

Patience is certainly a virtue in this hobby. Experiences vary a lot, but the fundamentals remain the same. I recently started fish keeping again after a 20-year hiatus.

Since then, I've done a fishless cycle on five different tanks. The longest took more than 10 weeks, and the shortest was completed in 10 days. There is a thread in here where someone was/is struggling with a fishless cycle for 5 months!!

I don't know for sure why the one tank cycled in 10 days. Possibly because I used a different type of nitrifying bacteria, maybe just that the nitrifying bacteria were "fresher", or that it is a tank with a sump and there was a lot more media for the bacteria to grow on.

 

[JustAdam8]

Patience is certainly a virtue in this hobby. Experiences vary a lot, but the fundamentals remain the same. I recently started fish keeping again after a 20-year hiatus.

Since then, I've done a fishless cycle on five different tanks. The longest took more than 10 weeks, and the shortest was completed in 10 days. There is a thread in here where someone was/is struggling with a fishless cycle for 5 months!!

I don't know for sure why the one tank cycled in 10 days. Possibly because I used a different type of nitrifying bacteria, maybe just that the nitrifying bacteria were "fresher", or that it is a tank with a sump and there was a lot more media for the bacteria to grow on.

It certainly seems that there are so many different experiences and different ways to do things (and unknown factors) that all contribute. I think this is what has drawn me to it. So much to learn and try to understand, and everything is different!

I have been following that thread…. wild!!!

 

[JustAdam8]

8 days ago I added another 1ppm of ammonia and my ammonia is at 0 but my nitrites are staying high somewhere between 2-5 with no obvious reduction. Going to do another 50% water change to see if I can bring them down again…

 

[JustAdam8]

My nitrites were 1ppm yesterday and 0.25ppm now so I just added the 2ppm ammonia. Let’s see how it goes!! This is day 24 of the cycle.

 

[GlennO]

Any nitrates?

 

[JustAdam8]

Any nitrates?

I didn’t test yesterday but 2 days ago it was at 10ppm. I am also dosing with easy green for the plants a bit.

 

[GlennO]

Getting close I'd say, maybe another week.

 

[JustAdam8]

Getting close I'd say, maybe another week.

Amazing. Thank you

 

[JustAdam8]

It took 3.5 days to go from 2ppm ammonia to 0 nitrites and now at 20ppm nitrates. Not there yet, but getting closer!

 

[JustAdam8]

Getting close I'd say, maybe another week.

Close but not there yet! Did 2ppm last night and it is 1ppm nitrite today. Will likely be 0.25 or 0 tomorrow. Has to happen soon!!!

 

[JustAdam8]

Getting close I'd say, maybe another week.

Cycled! It took 1 month and 6 days. I just added in the 3 chopstick snails. Not great timing as I am away for the next 6 days. Do you think I should add some ammonia or fish food before I go? Or I could add some BB?

 

[Gnop1950]

My understanding is that while some of the bacteria may go dormant, they'll wake up quickly once more ammonia from livestock is present. Especially since you'll only be gone a week.

Since you've added snails, putting some algae wafers in the tank for the snails probably wouldn't hurt.

 

[JustAdam8]

My understanding is that while some of the bacteria may go dormant, they'll wake up quickly once more ammonia from livestock is present. Especially since you'll only be gone a week.

Since you've added snails, putting some algae wafers in the tank for the snails probably wouldn't hurt.

Great idea! I just got a few as well for the shrimp (haven’t added yet). Thanks for your help!

I just broke up two and dropped them throughout.

I think I am almost done with my additional stocking list as well. I’ll transfer everyone over slowly first from the 10g and then my plan is to add a few more fish and retire the 10g for now.