I Need Help Cycling A Goldfish Tank.

So I've tried cycling my 20 gallon freshwater aquarium about 4 times, and I've finally decided to try cycling with a dirty filter cartridge that I got from a cycled aquarium. So, I put the dirty filter and dirty filter water into my aquarium and put a bubbler in the tank to provide the bacteria with oxygen. To feed the bacteria, I put sinking goldfish pellets into the tank to add ammonia. I have put about 4 pinches of pellets in the tank, waiting for them to rot. It has been about 5 days since I added the bacteria and pellets, so should I have ammonia levels about 0 by now? I don't know if I should start over because I'm afraid the bacteria have died due to not having ammonia for too long. What should I do? Should I start over or add something else? Do you think my bacteria would be dead?

P.S. I have not seen nitrites in my aquarium.

 

So I've tried cycling my 20 gallon freshwater aquarium about 4 times, and I've finally decided to try cycling with a dirty filter cartridge that I got from a cycled aquarium. So, I put the dirty filter and dirty filter water into my aquarium and put a bubbler in the tank to provide the bacteria with oxygen. To feed the bacteria, I put sinking goldfish pellets into the tank to add ammonia. I have put about 4 pinches of pellets in the tank, waiting for them to rot. It has been about 5 days since I added the bacteria and pellets, so should I have ammonia levels about 0 by now? I don't know if I should start over because I'm afraid the bacteria have died due to not having ammonia for too long. What should I do? Should I start over or add something else? Do you think my bacteria would be dead?

P.S. I have not seen nitrites in my aquarium.

It usually takes 6-8 weeks for the whole "nitrogen cycle" to take place. If you are feeling uneasy about it I had success with TSS+, cycled in a week but I would wait 2 weeks to be safe. Check nitrates also as you could be cycled already. Good luck!

 

Thanks for the advice! Will my bacteria that I got from another fish tank be okay for 2 week, or will I need to get new bacteria if I try something else?

 

Thanks for the advice! Will my bacteria that I got from another fish tank be okay for 2 week, or will I need to get new bacteria if I try something else?

If ammonia and nitrite are 0 and nitrate are present in numbers you are most likely cycled! Keep up the grind! This is the only hobby I even had that gave me a sense of uphoria you could say lol. Played Minecraft and league of legends for the past 5 years, oh boy was I missing out. Sorry for going off topic lol.

 

If ammonia and nitrite are 0 and nitrate are present in numbers you are most likely cycled! Keep up the grind! This is the only hobby I even had that gave me a sense of uphoria you could say lol. Played Minecraft and league of legends for the past 5 years, oh boy was I missing out. Sorry for going off topic lol.

I'll check my nitrates! Thanks! Also, I know the feel. Hitting level 100 on Overwatch felt nice.

 

If I'm cycling with fish food(Saki-HikarI Fancy Goldfish) when should I expect my first ammonia spike? And will the bacteria on the filter media I borrowed from someone die due to not having sufficient ammonia for a week? Suggestions would be appreciated, thanks.

 

depending on how much you add, it could be within hours, but most likely a day. if you have another tank, use the dirty water from your water changes as an ammonia source also.

 

May I ask you a question on why you chose fish food as fishless cycling? Based on personal experience ( I tried the fish food AND raw shrimp years ago ) and I must tell you its DISGUSTING! If you can get over the smell of rotting food, then go for it but there is a MUCH easier way to do it - its with pure ammonia ( like the one pictured below )
Its much cleaner and you can control the amount need to get your cycle going. On 2 tanks I did this and each cycled within 3-4 weeks!
There's instructions here on FL and online.

 

depending on how much you add, it could be within hours, but most likely a day. if you have another tank, use the dirty water from your water changes as an ammonia source also.

I haven't got ammonia readings and it has been 5 days. Have the bacteria in the media I got from the other tank died by now?

May I ask you a question on why you chose fish food as fishless cycling? Based on personal experience ( I tried the fish food AND raw shrimp years ago ) and I must tell you its DISGUSTING! If you can get over the smell of rotting food, then go for it but there is a MUCH easier way to do it - its with pure ammonia ( like the one pictured below )
Its much cleaner and you can control the amount need to get your cycle going. On 2 tanks I did this and each cycled within 3-4 weeks!
There's instructions here on FL and online.

View attachment 368476

How should I go about restarting my cycle? Should I drain my aquarium and clean my filter media? Or should I just take the food out of the bottom of the tank and put ammonia in?

 

Your filter media probably is still good as long as you have kept it wet. In my experience, if you set the heater up to 80 + degrees and then do the ammonia ( you'll have to check the instructions here ) you should speed things up. You don't need to drain the tank, just start where you left off. Don't clean the media just yet....

Ammonia instructions for a fishless cycle

 

Definitely remove the fish food and go with pure ammonia to cycle with.

 

Your filter media probably is still good as long as you have kept it wet. In my experience, if you set the heater up to 80 + degrees and then do the ammonia ( you'll have to check the instructions here ) you should speed things up. You don't need to drain the tank, just start where you left off. Don't clean the media just yet....

Ammonia instructions for a fishless cycle

I have had this ammonium chloride for about a year.



I might use it to give my bacteria a source of ammonia. I'm just not sure if this stuff is still good or if it will work with the bottle of Tetra SafeStart I bought today.