Middle of Fishless Cycle - What to do while on vacation?

[Kapoosta]

I have been doing the wait and add method using ammonium chloride and a bit of fish flake. I'm currently at the point where I can add 4-5 ppm of ammonia and it'll be gone in 24 hours (or less because I haven't tested less than 24 hours). The nitrites are off the charts. Nitrates are slowly increasing. Currently sitting around 10ppm nitrates.

We are leaving for a trip on Tuesday next week for 7 days. Should I just add some fish flake and pellets on the day I leave and dose it with ammonia as well? I really hope I don't lose this cycle because my kids are so excited to get fish and we're at 4 weeks of cycling..

 

[Flyfisha]

Hi Kapoosta
Ever tank is different and i feel for this question there is no right answer.

Personally I believe the bacteria we all use is much more resilient than some people give it credit for ? Ok the bacteria in your tank are new and still establishing themselves however I see no reason to do anything different for a 7 day trip away. Yes you could add a little ( tiny tiny ) bit of dry fish food but the bacteria will not starve in 7 days.

Having seen fully established bacteria in gravel go 3 or more weeks without food when a local shop moved premises i base my opinion on that . All be it an established cycle.

 

[Kapoosta]

Thanks for the input! I am hoping that is the case as well.

I could ask a neighbor to come in and add ammonia every few days.. it's just a bit more complicated to explain lol.

 

[Noroomforshoe]

You could get some grocery store shrimp, stick them in a nylon stocking, and hang them over the edge of the fish tank.

 

[Flyfisha]

I do not know how big your tank is Kapoosta and do not think you need to add a rotten shrimp/ prawn/ fish but if you do the old school recommendation is half a shrimp/ prawn regardless of tank size.

My understanding is from what I have read is it stinks . It’s something that was done before bottled ammonia was freely available. The fact is granddad would just let the first fish die in the tank and rot away ( big tanks ) .The rotten fish / shrimp or prawn half is removed and placed in the refrigerator when not needed then added back again

As you have been able to buy and use bottled ammonia the need for a bag of rotting fish is not needed in your life in my opinion.

 

[Azedenkae]

I have been doing the wait and add method using ammonium chloride and a bit of fish flake. I'm currently at the point where I can add 4-5 ppm of ammonia and it'll be gone in 24 hours (or less because I haven't tested less than 24 hours). The nitrites are off the charts. Nitrates are slowly increasing. Currently sitting around 10ppm nitrates.

We are leaving for a trip on Tuesday next week for 7 days. Should I just add some fish flake and pellets on the day I leave and dose it with ammonia as well? I really hope I don't lose this cycle because my kids are so excited to get fish and we're at 4 weeks of cycling..

You can just leave it be.

Nitrifiers are very resilient and go for weeks to months starved of ammonia before even going dormant, let alone die off. So seven days is perfectly fine. In fact, probably would be a good thing. Gives your nitrite-oxidizers a chance to catch up and consume the nitrite you have.

Because, regardless, you should not be dosing ammonia when nitrite is present anyways. Only re-dose ammonia when both ammonia and nitrite reads zero.

 

[Kapoosta]

Thanks everyone. I will just leave it be for the week and update everyone when I get back as to whether anything was affected.

For reference, the tank is 28 gal.

 

[Kapoosta]

In case anyone is interested, here is what happened..

I tested the water the day before I left. Ammonia had been zero for quite some time already but nitrites finally hit zero that day. Nitrates were 40 ppm so I did a 25% water change and then added enough ammonium chloride to hit 4-5ppm of ammonia.

Came home 7 days later and tested the water. Ammonia and nitrites were both at zero again. I added 4-5 ppm of ammonia again and after 24 hrs found that ammonia was down to 1-2 ppm and nitrites were high. I added some more ammonia to get to 4-5 ppm.

24 hrs later, ammonia is back down to 1-2 ppm and nitrites are still high. Left the ammonia for now and will see what the nitrites look like tomorrow.

I have yet to see nitrites go down so I'll update this when they go down. Ammonia load of 4-5 ppm was being processed in 24 hrs before my trip and now it's taking multiple days so I'm not sure if a bunch of bacteria died or it's taking longer to wake them up.. let's see what the next few days look like.

 

[Azedenkae]

In case anyone is interested, here is what happened..

I tested the water the day before I left. Ammonia had been zero for quite some time already but nitrites finally hit zero that day. Nitrates were 40 ppm so I did a 25% water change and then added enough ammonium chloride to hit 4-5ppm of ammonia.

Came home 7 days later and tested the water. Ammonia and nitrites were both at zero again. I added 4-5 ppm of ammonia again and after 24 hrs found that ammonia was down to 1-2 ppm and nitrites were high. I added some more ammonia to get to 4-5 ppm.

24 hrs later, ammonia is back down to 1-2 ppm and nitrites are still high. Left the ammonia for now and will see what the nitrites look like tomorrow.

I have yet to see nitrites go down so I'll update this when they go down. Ammonia load of 4-5 ppm was being processed in 24 hrs before my trip and now it's taking multiple days so I'm not sure if a bunch of bacteria died or it's taking longer to wake them up.. let's see what the next few days look like.

Certainly very interesting indeed! Thanks for sharing. Resiliency does vary from one type of nitrifier to another, so not too surprised that there is some decreased ammonia oxidation capacity there, although honestly a week is very short. But hey, it is what it is.

Keep us updated. I would be very keen to know how long it takes for your ammonia oxidation capacity to reach 4-5ppm/day again.

 

[StarGirl]

Is there a reason you are dosing 4-5 ppm? Seems like overkill for a 29g to me.

 

[Kapoosta]

Certainly very interesting indeed! Thanks for sharing. Resiliency does vary from one type of nitrifier to another, so not too surprised that there is some decreased ammonia oxidation capacity there, although honestly a week is very short. But hey, it is what it is.

Keep us updated. I would be very keen to know how long it takes for your ammonia oxidation capacity to reach 4-5ppm/day again.

Looks like the ammonia processing is back to 4-5ppm/day now. I guess they just needed time to wake back up.

Nitrites went down to zero yesterday. I'm guessing it's processing around 1-2 ppm/day right now. I added some more ammonia yesterday so I'll test later today to see if Nitrite processing has increased.

Is there a reason you are dosing 4-5 ppm? Seems like overkill for a 29g to me.

I was just following the Fishless Cycle guide. I'm completely new to fish tanks so I am likely doing a few things wrong lol.


If my tank is good for Ammonia but only doing 1-2ppm per day of nitrites, can I get a few fish into the tank at this point? I was planning for 6 tiger barbs, 6 Corys, and a pleco for this tank.. so could I start with the tiger barbs today?

 

[StarGirl]

Looks like the ammonia processing is back to 4-5ppm/day now. I guess they just needed time to wake back up.

Nitrites went down to zero yesterday. I'm guessing it's processing around 1-2 ppm/day right now. I added some more ammonia yesterday so I'll test later today to see if Nitrite processing has increased.



I was just following the Fishless Cycle guide. I'm completely new to fish tanks so I am likely doing a few things wrong lol.


If my tank is good for Ammonia but only doing 1-2ppm per day of nitrites, can I get a few fish into the tank at this point? I was planning for 6 tiger barbs, 6 Corys, and a pleco for this tank.. so could I start with the tiger barbs today?

I wouldnt until Nitrites stay zero. They are more toxic than ammonia.

 

[RayClem]

It is not necessary to add 4-5 ppm ammonia to a tank. Something on the order of 1-2 ppm should be sufficient.

Since you are going to be gone for a week, I would suggest placing some large (chiclid size) pellet food into the tank while you are gone. It will degrade and feed your bacteria while you are gone.

One a tank is established, I have gone 7 days without feeding the fish while I am absent.

 

[Kapoosta]

It is not necessary to add 4-5 ppm ammonia to a tank. Something on the order of 1-2 ppm should be sufficient.

Since you are going to be gone for a week, I would suggest placing some large (chiclid size) pellet food into the tank while you are gone. It will degrade and feed your bacteria while you are gone.

One a tank is established, I have gone 7 days without feeding the fish while I am absent.

Sorry, I just want to clarify that I am already home from my trip. This is just followup to what I'm seeing after 7 days of no ammonia addition and no food added to decay during my trip.

So far things seem to be fine after 7 days of the tank not having any ammonia or nitrites. Maybe a slight delay in fully cycling the tank but nothing detrimental I would say. So I don't think you need to add any food to decay in your tank while on vacation based on my experience here.

 

[Azedenkae]

Looks like the ammonia processing is back to 4-5ppm/day now. I guess they just needed time to wake back up.

Yep. I am surprised it only took them a few days to start slowing down like that. Usually should be way longer.

Nitrites went down to zero yesterday. I'm guessing it's processing around 1-2 ppm/day right now. I added some more ammonia yesterday so I'll test later today to see if Nitrite processing has increased.

So, you dosed ammonia to 4-5ppm, let's say 4.5ppm, and it went down to let's say 1.5ppm. You dosed to 4.5ppm again, then it went back to 1.5ppm again, and finally zero, after three days or so. Nitrite went down to zero too in that time.

So in total, over the three days, your tank consumed 3 + 3 + 1.5 = 7.5ppm ammonia, i.e. 2.5ppm a day.

2.5 ppm ammonia converts to 6.75ppm nitrite (1ppm ammonia converts to 2.7ppm nitrite).

So to clarify, your tank is handling 6.75ppm nitrite a day, not 1-2ppm a day.

Just fyi, the amount of ammonia suggested to be needed to be consumed a day in the guide you linked is wayyyyyyy higher than needed.

Simple calculations estimate ammonia produced, max, in a fully stocked tank does not even reach 1ppm a day. Exceptions are cichlid tanks that are 'overstocked'. But for pretty much all other tanks, 1ppm a day is plenty.

So if you want to, you can even fully stock your tank now.

 

[Kapoosta]

Yep. I am surprised it only took them a few days to start slowing down like that. Usually should be way longer.

So, you dosed ammonia to 4-5ppm, let's say 4.5ppm, and it went down to let's say 1.5ppm. You dosed to 4.5ppm again, then it went back to 1.5ppm again, and finally zero, after three days or so. Nitrite went down to zero too in that time.

So in total, over the three days, your tank consumed 3 + 3 + 1.5 = 7.5ppm ammonia, i.e. 2.5ppm a day.

2.5 ppm ammonia converts to 6.75ppm nitrite (1ppm ammonia converts to 2.7ppm nitrite).

So to clarify, your tank is handling 6.75ppm nitrite a day, not 1-2ppm a day.

Just fyi, the amount of ammonia suggested to be needed to be consumed a day in the guide you linked is wayyyyyyy higher than needed.

Simple calculations estimate ammonia produced, max, in a fully stocked tank does not even reach 1ppm a day. Exceptions are cichlid tanks that are 'overstocked'. But for pretty much all other tanks, 1ppm a day is plenty.

So if you want to, you can even fully stock your tank now.

This is amazing info! Thank you so much.

Out of curiosity, do you know how much nitrate is produced from each ppm of nitrite?

 

[Azedenkae]

This is amazing info! Thank you so much.

Out of curiosity, do you know how much nitrate is produced from each ppm of nitrite?

1.35ppm-ish.

So 1ppm ammonia ultimately produces 3.64ppm nitrate.