Fishless Cycling

K

KCOXTWO

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 15, 2009
20
0
0
RED OAK, TEXAS
Ok, bare with me for a min., I've read all the post and maybe I've missed something or I'm doing something wrong. Last Thurs. I set up a fishless 100 gal tank and started using the Seachem Stability. I've put it in every day per the instructions on the bottle. I have a canister filter, aerator, heater etc all going. Oh this is being setup for Cichlids. I test the water everyday and the Nitrite haven't budged from 1.6 mg/l (thats the reading on my chart) According to the test thats just one level above killing off everything. So what am I doing wrong? Or do I just need to be more patient.
 
Z

zennzzo

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 18, 2005
8,051
46
0
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Mile High in Northern AZ, baby!~
KCOXTWO;3221881; said:
Ok, bare with me for a min., I've read all the post and maybe I've missed something or I'm doing something wrong. Last Thurs. I set up a fishless 100 gal tank and started using the Seachem Stability. I've put it in every day per the instructions on the bottle. I have a canister filter, aerator, heater etc all going. Oh this is being setup for Cichlids. I test the water everyday and the Nitrite haven't budged from 1.6 mg/l (thats the reading on my chart) According to the test thats just one level above killing off everything. So what am I doing wrong? Or do I just need to be more patient.
Click to expand...
If you are going to cycle with Seachem's STABILITY, you need fish in the tank...;)
 
K

KCOXTWO

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 15, 2009
20
0
0
RED OAK, TEXAS
Ugh....this is what is so frustrating for newbies, I depend a lot on my LFS to give me info. I was told to not add fish until the nitrates came down, but keep adding the Stability....I'm just chasin my tail. I have fish in a 30 gal just waiting to be put in this tank, I'm puttin em in. Thanks!
 
Z

zennzzo

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 18, 2005
8,051
46
0
66
Mile High in Northern AZ, baby!~
KCOXTWO;3223454; said:
Ugh....this is what is so frustrating for newbies, I depend a lot on my LFS to give me info. I was told to not add fish until the nitrates came down, but keep adding the Stability....I'm just chasin my tail. I have fish in a 30 gal just waiting to be put in this tank, I'm puttin em in. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Here is something to think about...Some but not all of the LFS's keep the doors open and their pockets padded by selling stuff to us. Some needed, most just snake oil...

Stability is formulated to start colonies of Benificial Bacteria in your filtering system. If the spores are introduced into the tank and there is no food for the Bacteria to feed on and convert, it just doesn't get established and dies off.

Nitrates aren't the killer in a new tank senario, it is Nitrites. You'll never see Nitrites until there is a bio-load I.E. Ammonia (bottled or natural from fish waste) for the first stage of the nitrogen cycle to even convert to Nitrites.

STABILITY contains spores of bacteria for both Ammonia and Nitrites

At 20 some dollars for a 500ml bottle, the people at your LFS should at least read the label.

I have cycled new tanks with all the traditional methods and I found the 7 day regimine of STABILITY to be the fastest and easiest.
From 30g to 650g
It is designed for the customer to buy all the goodies from the tank to the fish, bring it home, fill it up, de-chlorinate the water, bring it up to temp add the Stability (double dose the first day) add the fish, and regular dose for the next 6 days...simple and I haven't lost one fish doing just like that...

to be perfectly honest I have used it so many times sucessfully, I don't even bother to test the water till week 3 when I do the first water change of 15%, and that is the truth...;)

I used to be so anal about cycling, but it really has been simplified...:headbang2

My latest new tank setup was my 225g with 1,000 Brand new scrubbies in a 90g WetDry. all the trimmings brand new...
I put in my 20" Aro, 18" RTC, a 11"Giant Gourami, 2 9" RTCxTSN,
a 16" TSN, a 8" GT, a LIMA cat, and Synodontis...
No problem whatsoever...;)
 
K

KCOXTWO

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 15, 2009
20
0
0
RED OAK, TEXAS
zennzzo - thanks - I had been sprinkling flake food in the tank every day or so, because I was kinda thinking the same thing, nothing in the water whats the bacteria gonna eat. So this morning after I posted I tested the water for the umpteenth time and all the reading where perfect or close enough :) So in the fish went and I'm happy to say they are still swimming around very much alive. I was looking for answers when I found your orignal post and that's what I got, can't ask for more than that. Man I love a happy ending - Thanks again!!!
 
W

www.JandRHookahs.com

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 11, 2008
31
0
0
Houston
I have been cycling my tank for a few days...The Ammonia is around .25 ppm. The Nitrate is around 10-15 ppm, BUT, the Nitrite is still high at around 5-7 ppm. it was 10 yesterday, but has gone down.

If I understand the fishless cycle correctly, shouldn't the ammonia be around 0 and nitrite be around 0 as the ppm of the nitrate comes down to "normal"??

Thanks in advanced.
JZ
 
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