fishless cycle

unkempt

Hey guys and gals, its been awhile since i posted due to me being sick and my gf's medical stuff and moving been really busy!!! but we are all ok thank goodness heh.

Anyways ive got my 125 gallon setup and im about to start the cycle iive read about the fishless cycle and thats the way ide like to go, but all i ever read is "add x amount of ammonia daily till it spikes then add half of what you added daily till nitrite spike"...and i cant figure out how much "x" is suppose to be :\ any help would be great or if you could point me to a easy to read and understand how to would be of great help :D

with my 22 gallon tank its running very smooth now i was able to keep up with the water changes and such till it cycled and i only lost one fish and i think it was more because he was the smallest and everyone picked on him


hope everyone is doin good also and look forward to reading your replies thank you!!

iamntbatman

Glad to hear you're doing alright.

I've never personally cycled a tank with pure ammonia before, but I've heard several accounts saying that it's probably the fastest method. Can't say I know much about the dosing, though.

unkempt

yea, ive read adding a little at a time or to doing a massive shock and make it spike all at once then adding a little every day after that till the nitrite spikes, im starting to think its just do it as you see fit kinda thing

unkempt

Got another question, with the size of my wet/dry and the over flow on the side of the tank do i need to still add air pumps/stones since as much as the water is agitated falling down the overflow then going threw the bio balls and back into the tank will that give the water enough air?



thats it before i set it up with the water and started cycling it, the cycle is going good and the agitation of water due to the filtering seems to be adding enough air without the fish, just dont know if it will keep up when i put fish in

Laura Jager

Great size tank. I just finished fishless cycled my 210g freshwater tank a few months ago (took 10 days). Here is what I did:

I took some gravel out of my healthy 90 gallon tank (The LFS could give you a few cups out of one of their healthy tanks, and also ask for their old yucky filter cartridge, full of good bacteria)- put it right into the water in the tank and let it stay there for awhile). I put in all my decorations, rocks, live plants, etc. Then I put in 4-5 drops (eyedropper) of ammonia per ten (10) gallons of water the first day. Make sure you use only the 100% clear ammonia (no additives or fragrances, can get this at a hardware store).

Each day after that I just added half that amount, 2 drops per ten (10)gallons. After the fifth day or so, I added one package (for 90 gallons) of Marineland Bio Spira (it really helped).

I didn't use any bubble walls because I have a wet/dry trickle like you. Each day just keep checking for a good nitrite reading (which will spike), your ammonia will start to decline, and your nitrates will start to climb which means you are almost there The ultimate goal is to have your readings:
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10>

The biggest challenge for me was patience. I am SO proud that you want to spare the lives of fish and not put them through a cycle with fish because the ammonia can burn them. In my opinion it the more humane way to cycle a tank.