Final result of Al's fishless cycling idea

[Matt in Houston]

We have just cycled a tank (Juwel Lido 120Ltr) with Amonia and Seachem Stability in 10 days! We put the Stability in the tank and 24hrs later started feeding the Amonia in. We continued with the Stability for the whole 10 days. When the Amonia was at 4ppm we held it there and after 7 days the bacteria were clearing the Amonia in 24 hrs and at 10 days all the Amonia was consumed in 12hrs......cycled tank!

I guess there are lots of different methods to do this but the Amonia + either Stability or SafeStart would be my choice and we will use it again.

What about your nitrites? I wouldnt consider a tank fully cycled until it is stable with zero ammonia and zero nitrites, no matter how quickly it eats ammonia. In my experience getting rid of the nitrites and converting them to nitrates is a process that takes longer than converting ammonia to nitrite.

Have you tested for nitrites? If not please do before you put any fish in that tank just to be safe. Good luck with the tank!

[River Studio]

What about your nitrites? I wouldnt consider a tank fully cycled until it is stable with zero ammonia and zero nitrites, no matter how quickly it eats ammonia. In my experience getting rid of the nitrites and converting them to nitrates is a process that takes longer than converting ammonia to nitrite.

Have you tested for nitrites? If not please do before you put any fish in that tank just to be safe. Good luck with the tank!

When I wrote that the bacteria ate the Amonia I should have added that the Nitrite and Amonia levels returned to zero after 12/18hrs.

That would suggest that the tank is cycled, don't you think?

During the whole process the Nitrates have steadily grown so a 100% water change was necessary and now we are maintaining the filter with a few drops of Amonia every day.

Hope this makes it a bit clearer.

[Matt in Houston]

Yes, much clearer now with the added information you just provided. Thats good news...

I agree if your nitrite levels and ammonia levels are now back to zero you should have a cycled tank! Looks like that stability works pretty good.

[River Studio]

Hi Matt,

Yes I think either Seachem Stability or the SafeStart would do the trick. I prefer Stability and have grown to trust Seachem's range of products. Their Purigen is excellent and Prime can dig you out of a real hole if you ever get a Nitrite spike.

[target]

I just started a cycle on a 46 gallon tank last night. I used a liquid plant food, (Not MG) that is 10-15-10 for its formula. I started with ~1 TBSP and got my ammonia up to ~1ppm. Will test tonight when I get home for work and see what I have. The tank is bare bottom, no plants or gravel, just 2 sponges. Should be interesting to see if the results are as good as when there are some plants.

[joanr]

Depending on how quickly you need the tank cycled, we have also combined the process with either SafeStart or Stabililty during the Nitrite spiking period to shorten the cycle with good success. SafeStart works better IME, and some folks add fish right away but I used it when the Nitrites stalled and it really helped within a few days it cycled fully.

[target]

Tested my water tonight when I got home from work. Less than 24 hrs after addind the plant food and my cycle has started.

Ammo: ~1
Nitrites: 0.5
Nitrates: no reading yet

[joanr]

Just wondering why you brought the ammo to only 1 ppm. We all took it to at least 3ppm initially. You might need a little more ammo to insure a better load of bacteria.

[target]

I kept it low because when I read through this thread it seemed like a lower ammo made it easier to cycle. I will leave it for tonight and if it drops will add some more tomorrow.

[joanr]

I kept it low because when I read through this thread it seemed like a lower ammo made it easier to cycle. I will leave it for tonight and if it drops will add some more tomorrow.

Yes, we were all using different strengths of the MG. Eddie and I overdosed at 4 -5 ppm and had much longer cycles. I think that 2-3 is what the fastest and still successful initial amount for the cycle to complete with a good amount of bacteria was. Does that make sense? Are you looking for a quick cycle or do you have plenty of time?

[target]

I am looking for a quick cycle as it took 4 weeks linger for me to get my tank than planned and I will be getting my fishes from the Forrest shipment April is getting early Nov.

[River Studio]

Amonia at 2ppm seems to be the fastest way to cycle the tank and the whole cycling process can be as brief as a week if you manage to get the balance right.

All the best with it and I'm sure things will work out fine.

[joanr]

I am looking for a quick cycle as it took 4 weeks linger for me to get my tank than planned and I will be getting my fishes from the Forrest shipment April is getting early Nov.

Ok, so time is a factor, get a bottle of SafeStart ( bottle size depends on tank capacity ) and start using it when your nitrites peak, should cut the time in half. Just dump in the recommended amount for your tank. Measure nitrite & ammo each day. When both are 0 ppm and you still don't have your fish in tank you will need to feed your filters a little ammo each day to keep things cycled while you are waiting. Do huge w/c before adding fish.

[target]

Ok, so time is a factor, get a bottle of SafeStart ( bottle size depends on tank capacity ) and start using it when your nitrites peak, should cut the time in half. Just dump in the recommended amount for your tank. Measure nitrite & ammo each day. When both are 0 ppm and you still don't have your fish in tank you will need to feed your filters a little ammo each day to keep things cycled while you are waiting. Do huge w/c before adding fish.

Thanks for the advice. I was headed to the LFS this evening anyways, so I will look for a bottle of that as well.