Fishless Cycling - Everything You Wanted to know...

[RedTurquoise]

Thanks Eire! I would agree with that! Seeding a new tank does jump start the cycle but I was curious about the half hour cycle!

Vancouver? I'm here in Edmonton!

[Mike]

i just barely finished my fishless cycle in 7 days. best time ever. all i did was buy a 4L bottle of ammonia for 99 cents and put in 5ppm. remember i say ppm because there is no exact measurement for all types of ammonia since most of them have different concentrations of ammonia. by adding some nitrifying bacteria from Cycle and putting my biowheel mini penguin filter to this 10 gallon it made the ammonia drop within 3 days(the added capfulls of Cycle made the ammonia go higher up to 7-8ppm and made it take longer to get to 0). then i kept adding just a little ammonia to keep the new bacteria happy and eating. 3 days later i saw the nitrite peak begin to drop. the 6th day it dropped just a little but by the 7th day there was no nitrite at all and it was cycled.
~~Mike

[circuitdragon]

another beginner question after reading the articles on the cycle process...it mentions using gravel from an existing "good" tank. I have 3 bettas (all in seperate tanks) and I am wondering if they may be included as a way to help my new tank? Granted a single fish can't be keeping much of the bacteria alive, but would it be worth trying?

[Serpio]

circuitdragon: so you want to do a fish cycle with your bettas?

[circuitdragon]

lol...no, not a cycle for my bettas...I have a new 30 gallon I am trying to setup...my first real tank...so "trying" is the keyword here was only wondering if a bettas tank would have these "good" bacteria in the gravel, and if so...would it help start a bigger tank in its cycle? I added the ammonia(sp) tonight, so my clock is now running (crawling?)...heh

[michael]

Interesting article, however, do you know what is associated ammonia (NH4) and what is free ammonia (NH3)? I doubt the grocery label tells you that! This article should be in an Experimental Forum... Not this one.. ;(

[RedTurquoise]

Michael,
It does not matter if it is NH4 or NH3! The important thing that it is ammonia, not what form of ammonia. If you read the ammonia test kit booklet, it mentions that it tests NH and both NH3 and NH4! Free ammonia is usually associated with water treatment along with chlorine that bind together to form the famous Chloramines.

About the article being experimental? Highly unlikely as this method of cycle has been around for many years and has been gaining momentum now that the internet is being used as the best way to find info. Its not something new and not something experimental as many, many fish hobbyists and breeders are using it.

[michael]

RedTurquoise,

You are correct. I'm just too old-fashioned.

[RedTurquoise]

LOL! No big deal! I do appreciate when people question things rather than blindly jump into it! It is a good thing!

[cgoodloe]

I went to that Tammy site and saw that pH Down can stimulate algae. Just great. Wish they would have told me that on the package before I used the stuff. My pH is 8.2 according to PetsMart. It's so high that my readings on my test kit are always blue (7.6) and never change. How can I lower my pH without using the chemicals?? I have hard water (most of California does) that leaves lime and calcium deposits all over the sinks and pipes. What can I do about such water that will also put this stuff on my tanks? I've seen other people's tanks that have that yucky mineral deposit buildup all over the tank and filter and stuff. If you read my first post about being an newbie tank owner, you'll see more about my tank and conditions right now.