General Aquaria Discussion • Cycling

[Aaron S]

Hey,

I am trying to setup a new tank and I feel like the cycle is taking longer than it should - was hoping to get some more opinions.

I am trying to do a fish-less cycle with pre-existing media. I did a fish-less cycle without media in the past and I feel like even it was faster... I am setting up a 125g. Filled the tank with water about 2 weeks ago and added 3ppm ammonia. Then took the HOB filter from my 46g tank (it had two filters, but the fish load is currently light) and put it on my 125g. I had forgotten to put in the dechlorinator until the same time I put the filter on - could that have done something? The HOB didn't fit very well on the back so the water flow was pretty slow and after 3 days of not seeing any changes in the readings (3ppm ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 0 nitrates) I decided to take the biomedia only from the old HOB filter and put it in the filters I was expecting to use to get better flow rate. At the same time I finally got my bubblers put into place and turned on. After 4 or so more days of the same ol' readings, I decided to try the next thing I could think of...That crappy bacteria in a bottle that doesn't make any sense that there could be live bacteria in and is more than likely a waste of money... that was about 4 days ago. The point of my diatribe is that I have not progressed at all in any readings for 2 weeks and tried all the things I could think of. Ideas?

[Samadhikash]

Cycling a tank can be like standing in line for a new roller coaster at an amusement park. It can feel like it's going to take forever to get on the ride. And the anticipation makes the wait all the more achingly wretched. Acceptance and patience are basically your only defenses.

You might nudge your temp up a little, maybe 82-84. But don't crank it up crazy, because warmer water holds less oxygen and the bacteria like oxygen too. You could double check your pH. If pH is too high (let's say 9) or too low (let's say 6) it could hinder your progress, so if it's out of whack bring it back on course. Putting the used filter media in the new filter to seed it was good. The more you can seed the better.

Now, read a book, build a ship in a bottle, throw a frisbee, till under your garden, give your tractor new sparkplugs, learn a foreign language, maybe just spend a nice afternoon at a winery--whatever it takes to ease the pain of the wait. Standing in front of the tank glaring at it nastily and trying to cuss it into action is useless. If that worked, we'd all be cussing like sailors dawn to dusk.

[Aaron S]

A watched pot never boils! I stopped taking readings for a day or two and now I have nitrites and nitrates going up! Weeeee.

[Roger That]

I am also cycling a 125 gallon tank. I reached the seventh day yesterday and the ammonia dropped from 4 ppm to .25 ppm. I expect it to be zero today and will start adding ammonia every other day starting tomorrow. I have my water temps to 81 - 82 degrees, put a month old bio bag from an established tank and some gravel in one of my canister filters.

[Roger That]

Keep an eye on your Nitrite levels. Two days after my ammonia dropped to zero....so did the Nitrites and now have Nitrates climbing. I think the established media gives a head start on the Nitrite phase of the cycle. You may be ready in a couple or few days.

[Aaron S]

Yeah my ammonia is dropping decently quickly (like 1ppm per day) but the nitrites are not able to keep up yet. However, I found a sublet for my apartment where I had left my fish tank setup so the fish are going into the new tank this weekend and I will have to deal with whatever state the bacteria is in...hopefully it works out.

[Roger That]

Keep checking. My Nitrites now read zero along with ammonia after 24 hours. My 125 just cycled in about ten days using established media. Don't bother checking Nitrates until you have a zero reading on Nitrites. If there are ANY Nitrites present in the water it skews the Nitrate reading.

If when your fish arrive you still have a Nitrite reading.....perform series of PWC's to get the Nitrite to .5 ppm or below. Do your best to keep it under .5 and you should be ok until it finishes cycling. Then when it does read zero test for Nitrates keep up with your PWC's to keep it to 20 ppm or below and you're good. Good luck!

What do you have coming for stock? Here is my list arriving on Tuesday:

1 m, 7 f Labeotropheus Fuelleborni OB
1 m, 7 f Pseudotropheus Maingano
1 m, 4 f Labidochromis Caeruleus ( Yellow Lab )
1 m, 4 f Cynotilapia sp Hara ( White Top Hara )
1 m, 4 f Iodotropheus Sprengerae ( Rusty )
5 Synodontis Multipunctatus

[Aaron S]

Yeah, I will definitely have to watch it carefully and see how its going. I had to do 3 massive water changes to get the nitrite down to clean up the water from the fishless cycle. I put one test fish in yesterday and now have the rest of the fish I wanted to move in from my 46gal (6 yellow labs and an ahli). The final stock is going to be quite simple...

3m, 9 F Placidochromis phenochilus Tanzania
3m, 9F Yellow labs
5 Synodontis luccipinis

Then a few random leftovers from my previous setup that my girlfriend won't let me upgrade out of... ahli, brichardi, venustus, and red shoulder/regal hybrid peacock)

Your tank stock sounds fun, I was going for simple yellow and blue. I will post a picture when I get them all in there.

[DJRansome]

Maybe you mean nitrate? Nitrite will go down when cycled without water changes.

[Aaron S]

Nope, I meant nitrite. I was forced to put fish in before it was done cycling. The nitrites can be diluted just as easily as nitrates.

[DJRansome]

Oh that is true. But they will come right back so your cycle continues.

[Aaron S]

Yeah, should be OK... I just need to watch it very carefully!