Scratching my head during a fishless cycle

[Tikitank]

Bought Dr Tims ammonia & One & Only bacteria. Used according to directions. Tested 4ppm of ammonia the next day. Seven days later tested zero ammonia and zero nitrites. I’ve got some nitrates but my tap water tests for nitrates. Same nitrate color from tap & tank. I’m happy about the zero ammonia but a little stumped at the zero nitrites. Those tests were done yesterday so I decided to test again today. Everything’s the same. I’m alittle stumped. Any ideas? Is this as odd as it feels to me?

[Tikitank]

The tank is 160 gallon, two trickle filters underneath and two large sponge filters inside tank. Temp is 76, PH stable at 7.4

[LizStreithorst]

I use Seachem Stability which sounds like the same thing. I'm moving many tanks of fish in the fish room to sterile tanks. I don't own a test kit. I depend on the fish to tell me how their water quality is. Since I have QT's 5 huge show quality Discus in a sterile tank and let the cycle develop in the sponge simply by changing water. 90% daily to start and by less than 3 weeks just 30% daily. I didn't use a test kit that time either. The fish showed me by how they acted that they felt fine. How are your fish acting? If they act fine what you're doing is working just fine.

[Willie]

Bought Dr Tims ammonia & One & Only bacteria. Used according to directions. Tested 4ppm of ammonia the next day. Seven days later tested zero ammonia and zero nitrites. I’ve got some nitrates but my tap water tests for nitrates. Same nitrate color from tap & tank. I’m happy about the zero ammonia but a little stumped at the zero nitrites. Those tests were done yesterday so I decided to test again today. Everything’s the same. I’m alittle stumped. Any ideas? Is this as odd as it feels to me?

So zero nitrite is the definition of fully cycled tank. Ammonia converts to nitrite, which converts to nitrate. So you should have nitrates in a cycled tank. Some tap water also have nitrates, especially if you live in an agricultural area. Looks to me like you're fully cycled.

[Tikitank]

Liz, I have no fish in this tank. I get my discus on the 22nd and didn’t trust taking filter media from my husbands African tank. It’s my first fishless cycle. I’m stressing over this cycling thing. Going to be a great discus owner. Can I start counting my ulcers yet??

[LizStreithorst]

Buy a bottle of Stability and use it according to directions on the bottle. Add the fish. Dose the Stability, do your normal daily WC with stable water (30% for me). Watch the fish. If they seem unhappy change more water. Do you have an aging barrel set up? Your temp needs to be at least 82 for Discus.

[dspeers]

Step 1. Relax and take a deep breath, no ulcers. What's the worst that can happen with no fish in the tank. Also some breeders will send a little seasoned filter material with the fish to add additional bacterial colonies.
Step 2. You have to be skeptical about the accuracy of your current testing equipment because the formula is simple, first the ammonia is metabolized to NO2 then the nitrites to NO3. When your ammonia and NO2 are zero and no change in NO3, at least one of your tests is wrong or you forgot to actually add the ammonia, but since you tested to 4 ppm that possibility can be eliminated. There are no other explanations. So, I would obtain a different test. I prefer Hanna checkers as I hate trying to read color shades, but they do not make a fresh water NO3 checker and they are pricey.
Step 3. How long has your NH3 been 0? If you do not feed additional NH3 then your nitrifying populations of bacteria will starve.

[LizStreithorst]

I forgot about a cycled filter from the breeder. That would make you able to breath a lot easier than doing it my way.

[captainandy]

The best indication of a completed cycle is algae growth on tje
Surfaces and on the Glass

[Tikitank]

Added more ammonia this am and just tested now at 3:00 at .5ppm. Don’t want to starve my good bacteria. Nitrites still zero. Will test again tomorrow am. If the ammonia is zero again, then I’ll assume my tank is cycled. Yes, Liz. I do have barrels for aging water. One was filled yesterday. The tank temp is a bit low right now but will raise it as it gets closer to discus day. Im taking deep deep breaths. Lol

[dspeers]

You are 15 days out from fish. At this point I would add NH3 every other day to ~ 2ppm, if you test and are at 0 just before adding you do not need to keep testing every time. Your nitrites are 0, but if your nitrates do not bump you need a new test. It has to be there whether your test is showing it or not. Not sure at what level nitrates become toxic to the bacteria, which will drive any water changes between now and 24 hours prior to fish arrival. Hopefully someone will chime in with that value, may be high enough that nitrate toxicity to bacteria is not a "real" concern. You do want to do a 90+ % water change 24 hours out from your fish arrival to drop your nitrates to a level appropriate for discus. Some debate on that but I think the majority feel <10 is a good value. That water will be aged in your display tank prior to your discus arrival so you do not need to use your aged water this one time. Your tank also is at 76, what is your target? I think most folks agree that 82 is a good minimum temp for discus.

[Tikitank]

You are 15 days out from fish. At this point I would add NH3 every other day to ~ 2ppm, if you test and are at 0 just before adding you do not need to keep testing every time. Your nitrites are 0, but if your nitrates do not bump you need a new test. It has to be there whether your test is showing it or not. Not sure at what level nitrates become toxic to the bacteria, which will drive any water changes between now and 24 hours prior to fish arrival. Hopefully someone will chime in with that value, may be high enough that nitrate toxicity to bacteria is not a "real" concern. You do want to do a 90+ % water change 24 hours out from your fish arrival to drop your nitrates to a level appropriate for discus. Some debate on that but I think the majority feel <10 is a good value. That water will be aged in your display tank prior to your discus arrival so you do not need to use your aged water this one time. Your tank also is at 76, what is your target? I think most folks agree that 82 is a good minimum temp for discus——-



Thanks for the advice. Will do it all. Water change before fish to get nitrates down and raise the temp to 85. Wasn’t sure how long this fishless cycle would take and didn’t want to take any chances. Three weeks seemed pretty good to me. I guess I expected to see what I considered, the normal cycle. Add ammonia and test daily. Ammonia starts to go down, nitrites start to rise. Then ammonia disappears, nitrites start to go down and nitrates start to go up. This isn’t what I’m seeing so it’s got me wondering what’s going wrong. And I agree with others when they say it’s difficult to judge the colors on the chart. After adding 120 drops of ammonia yesterday, my ammonia tested AROUND 0- .25 so I’ll say the tank is not cycled yet. Tomorrow I’ll add enough ammonia to get it to 2ppm and see how my tests turn out.

[Tikitank]

Liz —- Going to Wattley to pick out my discus ( he’s only 2 hours from me) and will try to get some filter media from him.

Everyone —. Thanks so much for the help you all are giving me. I really appreciate it.

[Iminit]

Will you be adding dither fish to your discus tank? If so this is the time to add them. Maybe some corys a bn pleco and a school of something tetra. How many discus will you be buying and how big?

[Tikitank]

Iminit- I will have no other fish. Kinda afraid to add anything other than discus. With the 160 gallon tank I will buy 6-7 four inch discus.


How do you all put another posters questions in those blue boxes when you answer their questions? I copied and pasted on an above reply and it didn’t show up in a blue box. ????