Cycling

[christian1971]

How much ammonia do I add to a 75 gal tank for cycling?
Also can someone please give me a step-by-step on this proceidure until ank should be cycled. Or refer me to a site/post. Thanks, Christian

[strawberryblonde]

For 75 gallons, try adding a teaspoon of ammonia, then test the water. If it's below 5ppm, add another teaspoon. The target you want is 5ppm. You'll need to test daily and add a bit each day to bring it back up to the target number. When it drops to 0, it's time to test the nitrites.

At the point where you have nitrites and 0 ammonia, continue to add ammonia using the same amount that you used daily. In other words, you want to add enough ammonia to maintain an ammonia level in the tank so that the nitrites have something to feed on.

Test the nitrites daily till they hit 0. At that point you will see a big nitrate spike. Do a 50% water change to lower the nitrates and then you are ready for fish.

If you don't have fish to add immediately you can continue to add ammonia daily in order to keep feeding the bacteria.

The whole cycle can take anywhere from 14 days to 6 weeks. It all depends on your water. Oh and heat! Maintain the tank water at 84 - 86 throughout the cycle to speed it up a bit.

[ericatdallas]

for a 10% ammonia solution, you need about 15 mL to accomplish 5ppm (http://www.fishforums.net/aquarium-calculator.htm)

Click on link and go to bottom page for a calculator. (http://www.fishforums.net/aquarium-calculator.htm)

[Skip]

LOL... Christian.. U get award most most threads stared in first 3weeks of SD membership! 40 could be all time record! I am sure u wull be very prepared!

[mmorris]

This might prove useful: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?86009-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Getting-Started-with-Discus

[DiscusBR]

Several sources in the internet say that too much ammonia can slow cycling. I am no experienced fishkeeper, but I just went though a 6-week cycling in my 80g tank. I started with 5ppm ammonia and it took a very long time before I got the first nitrite readings. Based on this small experience, I would recommend starting with about 3ppm ammonia. I did not inititally use products like Stability and Safe Start, but when I introduced Stability down the road things started to move faster. It is hard to know if it can be attributed to Stability, but such products might help.

[strawberryblonde]

You make a good point DiscusBR. I've had good luck with 5ppm, which is the internet standard, but I think pH and temp can play a large role in how well the bacteria handle the ammonia, so if you don't see nitrites building in the first 2 week it would be good to let the ammonia levels drop a bit.

I'm just "lucky" that I have very high pH, which makes the 5ppm work for me. My tanks cycle in under 4 weeks, but as I understand it, that's not typical. Oh and I do LOVE Stability! I use it when I'm switching or adding filter media to an established tank and it gives me good results every time. Also comes in handy if you get a little too vigorous when squeezing out sponges. (Yep, I was over zealous when I started using sponges and squeezed out a lot of the beneficial bacteria the first few times I cleaned them)

[Batt4Christ]

I'm surprised there hasn't been a suggestion to use media from an established/cycled tank. Then again, is there a precautionary reason? Most instructions I have seen for fishless cycle recommend this.

As far as the ppm of Ammonia- I believe there is a limit before you start essentially "choking" the process... So long as you keep it at least 4ppm, you should be fine.

[moon_knight1971]

I never seem to have time to let a tank cycle naturally. I always set the fish immediately in the water and use Seachem Stability or Tetra SafeStart. I have about 40 fish and so far no loses....

Joey!

[discuspaul]

Toni also mentioned an interesting point about pH affecting a cycle, and that is - for those of you who do not know:
pH under 7.0 will cause the cycle time to be significantly longer, whereas pH of between say 7.5 and 8.0 can hasten a cycle by as much as 2 weeks.
pH near 6.0 or below can completely stall a cycle. That's why a lot of people will add small amounts of baking soda to their water while fishless cycling, to maintain pH at 7.5 or above dring the entire cycling period.

[tcyiu]

I'm surprised there hasn't been a suggestion to use media from an established/cycled tank. Then again, is there a precautionary reason?

People use fishless cycles to prevent transfer of pathogens from existing fish stock to the new tank. Using established media runs counter to what these people want to achieve.

However, that said, my opinion is that fishless cycles is an unnecessary waste of time. Unless your tanks are kept physically separated, pathogens from your existing tanks WILL migrate to your newly established tank. There are several potential pathways: 1. through the air 2. through your hands 3. through your nets and various other implements. The same way that beneficial bacteria get established in your new sterile tank. These had to come from somewhere.

As long as your existing stock are healthy, then using established media will get you up and running in about a day. If you do not have healthy fish, and do not know why, fishless cycles are not going to prevent your new fish from getting sick.

Just my opinion.

[ericatdallas]

Fishless cycles are helpful for when you are starting or re-starting the hobby (as in, no established media). A lot of people use guppies, danios, or other cheap LFS fish which is why it's a problem. I don't use fishless cycles and I keep extra media to seed new or QT tanks.

Also, if your plan is to eventually combine your stock, then it's also kind of pointless as said avoided pathogens will be introduced later.

But if you are going to use someone else's media or cheap fish, then you do run the risk of introducing additional pathogens. Or some people are super-strict about keeping their fish and equipment isolated. I can't afford having multiple pieces of equipment for different tanks. I tried doing separate siphons for each tank and I inevitably screwed up and mixed them so now I just don't care. :(