Fishless Cycle with Ammonia AND Stability?

[tcarswell]

Nope, you didn't, they did.


Rob, you followed the directions correctly. Like I said in my prior post, before the trolls decided to act up, don't trust any of the "quick cycle" products. The best way, and the way that always works is ammonia and time.

Good lord. your right everyone was mistaken but you. We are all swimming in a sea of wrong and your the only one that can save us.
In reality a fishless cycle using tremendous amounts of ammonia (More than even a recommended fishless cycle) an amount that fish would not excrete in weeks is not even close to using it as intended for a fish cycle. So while the experiment of stability trying to fight off masses of ammonia being dumped in daily did not yield immediate results does not make you right. Nor does it make my results and lots of other members educated and documented positive results wrong.

 

[ward1066]

Oh I guarantee there are bacteria in stability. Look what happened to me when I overdosed my tank a few weeks ago. I learned a lot about Prime and stability that week. rule of thumb- if a little bit is good, a lot is not always better LOL

 

[tcarswell]

Oh I guarantee there are bacteria in stability. Look what happened to me when I overdosed my tank a few weeks ago. I learned a lot about Prime and stability that week. rule of thumb- if a little bit is good, a lot is not always better LOL

I think I saw that picture before amazing. How much did you dose?!

 

[ward1066]

probably more than double dose, funny thing is my fronts spawned in that murk and I got some fry in a 10g from that day

 

[tcarswell]

probably more than double dose, funny thing is my fronts spawned in that murk and I got some fry in a 10g from that day

nice. Crazy they spawned in the murkiness!

 

[bobgobucks]

Well I have heard rumors that from time to time the lakes of origin (and lakes in general) are prone to become murky. I have not been able to confirm this though.

 

[Rockydog]

Well, thus far I'm not overly impressed with the Stability guys. Here's the readings:

Day 1: Got ammonia up to 4ppm. Added 12 capfuls of Stability.

Day 2: Ammonia reads 2ppm, Nitrites 0ppm (what's going on here?)
Added 10 mls of ammonia, Added 12 capfuls of Stability

Day 3: Ammonia reads 4ppm once again, Nitrites 0ppm
Added 10 mls of ammonia, Added 12 capfuls of Stability

Day 4: Ammonia now reads 6ppm, Nitrite 0ppm
Add 10 more mls ammonia, Add 12 capfuls of Stability

Day 5: Ammonia still holding at 6ppm, Nitrite still at 0ppm
Add 10 more mls ammonia, Add 12 capfuls of Stability

Day 6: Ammonia still holding at 6ppm, Nitrite still at 0ppm
NO Ammonia added, Add 8 capfuls of Stability (bottle now empty)

Day 7: Ammonia STILL holding at 6ppm, Nitrite STILL at 0ppm.
NO Ammonia added, No Stability added.

So, what gives? First some ammonia seems to just dissapear without any nitrites showing up. Then the ammonia seems to hold steady despite me adding more each day to the tank. Now, after an entire bottle of stability ammonia is still holding at 6ppm and I am still reading no nitrites.... Not a fan of stability thus far. Any ideas?

You've added way too much ammonia - and it is correct that too much will slow the process drastically.

The process is:

1. Decide what bioload you want. (How many fish am I going to add at once after the cycle is complete). As I said 2.5 ppm is more than enough to fully stock any tank. It has been proven many times that 4 ppm is too much.

2. Day 1 add your ammonia.

3. Wait until it drops to 0 (I have found after cycling many tanks that topping it up each day only slows the process) this may take 3 to 5 days. You still wont see nitrites at this time (I don't know why but you think it should because the ammonia has disappeared there should be nitrites.

4. When it drops to 0 ppm add your original bioload this time should only take a couple days.

5. At this point your bacteria will be consuming your bioload each 24 hours and nitrites will start to show and gradually climb to max on scale.

6. When nitrites are at max they seem to hold on forever before crashing to 0 ppm so what I've been doing the last couple of tanks is do a massive water change at this point to dilute the nitrites in the water and it will 0 out quickly then.

7. Continue adding bioload and monitor for 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites for a couple days and your done. At this point bring your nitrates under control and stock your tank.

So at this point it's important to do a large water change to bring the ammonia down to a more reasonable level and continue with step 1.

Hope this helps.

 

[malawi mayhem]

Very good thread...!

I have a question...

What kind of ammonia should one use in a fishless cycle...? Just the stuff off the shelf in the grocery store... or is there a special type...?

Thanks...!

mm

 

[Rob Martin]

As long as it is a PURE ammonia it is fine. You don't want anything with any perfume or extras added. Try shaking the bottle, if it foams up it is no good as it contains additives of some kind. Good ammonia won't foam when shaken.

 

[malawi mayhem]

Excellent...! Thanks for the advice...!!!

mm