Lana Bollers Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 Okay as you all know I had a bit of a burp with my tanks, so now I have a new tank set up - NO FISH in it....haha, Anyway, I have started the fishless cycle, but I just wanted to clarify the steps for myself. I have been adding ammonia for three days, today I finally reached the 4.0+ ppm of ammonia, Nitrites are 0ppm I have not tested for the nitrates thus far. Once I am at this level for a few days, when will the nitrites start to develope? When do I start putting in the strategy and how big of a water change should I do before adding fish? I am also wondering if I should just throw in a sponge for the nitrites etc to grow, right now there is only a couple plastic plants and gravel. Any help is greatly appreciated... Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted July 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 Okay as you all know I had a bit of a burp with my tanks, so now I have a new tank set up - NO FISH in it....haha, Anyway, I have started the fishless cycle, but I just wanted to clarify the steps for myself. I have been adding ammonia for three days, today I finally reached the 4.0+ ppm of ammonia, Nitrites are 0ppm I have not tested for the nitrates thus far. Once I am at this level for a few days, when will the nitrites start to develope? When do I start putting in the strategy and how big of a water change should I do before adding fish? I am also wondering if I should just throw in a sponge for the nitrites etc to grow, right now there is only a couple plastic plants and gravel. Any help is greatly appreciated... Lana Ooops word error, I mean stability not strategy....ummm... silly me. Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrie Lee Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 The bacteria should grow in your filter. You could add a sponge from an established tank to help the bacteria along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted July 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 OKay I also read on the previous fishless cycling that someone used the septo bac, from wal-mart. I did buy some and now it is sitting in my window sil so hopefully it is growing a bunch of bacteria... I will have to read it again... because I screwed up and completely cleaned out my filter in the one tank and my other tank is blooming I don't have a good tank filter to use... so I am trying to do it right with this third tank... third time is a charm so they say...haha Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/info...cleAquarium.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted July 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 2. Cycling using ammonia: 1. Introduce pure ammonia to cycle the aquarium. You can buy unscented ammonia with no additives from a supermarket or a bottle of ammonium chloride. 2. Add ammonia from a dropper, 3 - 5 drops per 10 gallons of water per day to get and maintain a reading of 5 ppm. 3. Initially there will be no nitrites. Monitor nitrites daily and continue the daily ammonia dose until you get a nitrite reading. At this point you can reduce the daily amount of ammonia to 2 - 3 drops per 10 gallons. Continue this until both the ammonia test and the nitrite test reads 0 ppm. 4. This method can take as little as three weeks or up to six weeks to complete the nitrification cycle, but adding a starter culture as described above can speed the time up considerably. 5. When the cycle is complete reduce the temperature slowly back to 74° to 80° F(26° - 28° C). Reducing it quickly can stress the bacteria. 6. Do a major water change, about 90%, and add activated carbon to remove any possible additives which might have been in the ammonia. This is the method I am starting however it is unclear when to add the septo bac. Currently nitrite is at 0ppm so I am guessing I have to wait until the nitrites reg. onto the test kit, then add the septo bac, once everything is back to 0ppm then I complete a 90% water change and add activated carbon to the filtration system... does this sound correct? Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 The septobac can be added right away. I'd just put it into a bowl and cover with water from the tank, let it sit a few minutes then strain out the liquid. Add the liquid only to the tank. Toss away the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted July 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 The septobac can be added right away. I'd just put it into a bowl and cover with water from the tank, let it sit a few minutes then strain out the liquid. Add the liquid only to the tank. Toss away the rest. How long should I let it sit for? I think it has been sitting for about a half hour now.... Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 you take 1 pack of Septo-Bac, mix it into a few gallons of water, stir it up & let it 'grow' overnight. Then strain over cheese cloth, and 1 cup will provide enough bacteria for a 50 gallon tank. As long as there's an ammonia source to feed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted July 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 you take 1 pack of Septo-Bac, mix it into a few gallons of water, stir it up & let it 'grow' overnight. Then strain over cheese cloth, and 1 cup will provide enough bacteria for a 50 gallon tank. As long as there's an ammonia source to feed OH shoot I better add more water, I just put it in a cup...eeek... good thing you posted!!! I have good ammonia growth sitting at about 5-6ppm, so I will add it tomorrow when I add my dose of ammonia. hopefully it will do it's thing... Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 Use water from you other aquarium or insure you de-chlorinate it as tap water contains chlorine to kill all the stuff you are trying to grow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.