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fishless cycle

4K views 21 replies 6 participants last post by  Byron 
#1 ·
Hi I am new to the forum and was curious is this was normal. I am in my third week of cycling my fish tank fish-less and still have no readings. My ammonia is at about 3.5 ppm nitrates 0 and nitrites 0. My ammonia dropped once to 2 and I bumped it back up to about 4 it has been around four for a while. never had nitrates or nitrites. Temp is about 80 degrees and I am using a pure ammonia (doesnt foam) Only had too add ammonia once to bring it back to four. Am I doing anything wrong? Thanks for the help.
 
#2 ·
Are you sure it's pure ammonia? Surfactants would cause it to foam but it might contain other chemicals that could be preventing bacteria from growing.

Sometimes, though, all it takes is patience. Seeding the tank with bacteria from an established tank (via filter media or decor) could help speed up the process.
 
#5 ·
Hi Willow, oh yeah i forgot to finish my profile. None of my friends or family have an aquarium. I live in chicago, Illinois. I even offered to buy some from my lfs's and they still said no...lol... Will I be ok without adding any bb from an established tank, will it just take longer? I will keep asking around, but it looks pretty slim. Thanks for the reply.
 
#7 ·
It depends on a huge number of factors that you can't really quantify, so there's no set amount of time. However, I have heard of cycles taking an incredibly long period of time (a month or more) to get started.

You could also try increasing the temperature a bit. This increases the growth of the bacteria.
 
#8 ·
^^ i was going to say the same thing. :-D
my tank took forever to cycle,about 6 weeks if my memory serves.
you will get there honest.
 
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#9 ·
One trick would be going to your LFS (that sells potted plants from a cycled tank) and purchasing one of those. the plant will likely die BUT the media it is in will likely contain a good portion of bacteria that will take over.
 
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#11 ·
One trick would be going to your LFS (that sells potted plants from a cycled tank) and purchasing one of those. the plant will likely die BUT the media it is in will likely contain a good portion of bacteria that will take over.
Great idea I was thinking of that, but didnt know if it would work. Thanks alot I just may try that tomorrow. Are the plants tolerable of the ammonia, or is that what would prob kill it?
 
#12 ·
Byron gives alot of info here although he does not say at what level could be considered bad for the plant. If nothing else you could just take the plant out of the pot and keep it in a separate container until you are done adding ammonia. Most the bacteria should be in the pot and the material inside the pot assuming its there at all?
 
#13 ·
Another tip. LIE. Okay maybe not lie. But I know several places avoid putting water with the potted plants. Ask them to put a cup of water in the bag with it. Tell them it is a long drive and your AC is broken in your car. This should serve to protect as much of the BB as possible. With my smaller tanks that tend to spike in a huge way I've just dumped the contents of the pot into the tank and put the plant else where. If they use that foamy cotton like stuff, it turns almost powdery. Since you have no livestock to speak up, you may as well do that and allow the filter to do it's job. This will disburse much of the BB to the filter and some to the gravel.

If it's just rocks and that pillow stuffing stuff, I'd divide the stuffing to the filter and let the rocks go to the bottom.

As far as the plant. I say it will likely die because in the time it takes to establish a BB colony there will be limited amounts of nitrates and spikes of Nitrites that will both serve to damage it.

Another tip (from my own bad experience) if you do put the plant in, get something with giant broad leaves that are easy to manage. I used hornwort and months later I'm still vacuming the debris from the substrate.

Good luck.
 
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#16 ·
got any prawns in your freezer ?
put a couple in the tank,up the temperature and check water readings
in a couple of days.
 
#17 ·
What size is this aquarium? If you are goiong to start buying plants, you might as well let the plants cycle the tank which they will do in less than one day with a fish or two. I can explain when I know your tank size, and what fish you plan (in total so I can suggest possible first ones) and if plants are in the plan.

Byron.
 
#18 ·
What size is this aquarium? If you are goiong to start buying plants, you might as well let the plants cycle the tank which they will do in less than one day with a fish or two. I can explain when I know your tank size, and what fish you plan (in total so I can suggest possible first ones) and if plants are in the plan.

Byron.
Hi my tank is a 29 gallon. I just am probably gonna put some tetras, maybe some neons, maybe a dwarf gourami and some cory's prob, and some shrimp. My ammonia is at about three ppm no other readings. I would like to add plants. Im doing some readning on them currently.

Willow what exactly are prawns? I have never heard of them. Thanks for the help guys! If I do want to add fish and cycle with them in, will have to drain my tank to get rid of the ammonia?
 
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