I had 0ppm of ammonia today! Whoo hoo! Translation: my tank filter has grown enough bacteria that it will eat my fish’s waste so the tank doesn’t act like a big unflushed toilet they swim around in!
However, the bacteria that is eating the ammonia makes another waste product even more dangerous called nitrite. Now the next type of bacteria needs to grow a large enough colony to eat the nitrites… which I will know happened when my nitrite is also at 0ppm. I’m about 2/3 of the way home.
Home school moms- this would be a great science experiment. And your kids will feel very scientific with test tubes for measuring ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. However, you may end up with a fish when you are done.
**update: for the record- specifically my record when I try to recall later how long it took to cycle a tank- I had my first 0ppm reading of Nitrite on Nov. 9th. 30 days total.
The Fishless Cycle is actually working! I got my first measurable levels of nitrites today, and the levels, while they are great for the cycle, would be deadly for any fish. That’s the great thing about this method- I don’t worry about any fish; I am not cruelly putting them through potentially deadly stress. I am really enjoying this humane method.
Once again, thank you, Craig’s list. I got a 12 gallon tank for 30.00 with the same eclipse hood as the 6 gallon I sent back to Pet Solutions. (Twice the capacity for less than ½ the price). I called Pet Solutions and told them I got another tank and they agreed to issue a refund instead of sending a new tank. I highly recommend them for their great customer service.
This tank has some obvious scratches on the front, which bothers me until I remember the great deal we got and that Lily and Fin (I have names already – even though I think I shouldn’t name anything unless it lives a whole month) won’t care about such things.
I am 4 days into my fishless cycle and have measurable nitrates today. (not from any legitimate cycle, but from a product called “cycle” that many claim doesn’t work. I think it worked fine, for nitrate) I found some great advice online that says to wait until the tank can process 4-5ppm ammonia in 8-12 hours. So I’m not there yet.
I just sit in the kitchen and watch the bubbles in the tank. I love it. I can totally see why aquariums lower blood pressure. It’s so beautiful.
So I’m happily doing the fishless cycle thing, dreaming about having an actually live fish someday… and I notice a LARGE CRACK right in the front bottom curve of my brand new tank.
I am happy that it’s discovered now, rather than bursting and crashing my fish all over the floor, or leaking while we are away and we come home to a flood and dried fish in the kitchen.
Pet solutions, the place I got it, is of course replacing it without question
Fishless cycling is the process of cycling a tank, or establishing a biological filter in a fishless aquarium.
The biological filter, or nitrogen cycle, naturally occurs over the first 4-6 weeks after a tank is set up. Cycling a tank is necessary to keep the water free of pollutants and the fish healthy, but while the filter is establishing itself, fish are exposed to toxic levels of ammonia and nitrite and often succumb to disease and death. Fishless cycling removes fish from harm by establishing the biological filter before fish are introduced to the aquarium.
Normally, when fish are added to a new aquarium, even though the water is clean, ammonia begins to build immediately, as fish release ammonia through breathing and waste. Uneaten food, and decaying plants also create ammonia. However, ammonia is necessary to start the nitrogen cycle — the first step in establishing a biological filter.
In January 1999 Chris Cow who holds a PhD in organic chemistry, posted a paper online regarding fishless cycling. He got the simple idea to add ammonia to a fishless aquarium in order to get the nitrogen cycle going. This not only saves fish, but it saves the aquarist from stress as well.
At this point all of the normal phases of the biological filter can be triggered without worry. Ammonia levels can soar, followed by toxic levels of nitrite, until, finally, both become neutralized. With the tank fully cycled any ammonia created by adding fish will now quickly be converted to harmless nitrate by the established colonies of positive bacteria that make up the biological filter.
Chris Cow’s experiment worked wonderfully, and has been used by countless aquarists since.
To use the fishless cycling method simply add 4-5 drops of pure ammonia per 10 gallons of water to a fishless tank. Do this once a day until nitrite becomes measurable. At that point cut back to 2-3 drops per 10 gallons of water, per day. When nitrite and ammonia are both at zero, and nitrate is measurable, the tank is cycled. A substantial water change of 25% or more is advised, then your tank is ready for a full complement of fish.
Only pure ammonia, without detergents or colors, should be used. Ammonia with additives will foam up when you shake the bottle. Pure ammonia will not foam.
A simple declorinator/de-chloraminer is recommended while cycling fishless, rather than products like Prime or AmQuel that sequester ammonia by converting it to non-toxic ammonium. The concern is that sequestered ammonia may be harder for bacteria to process, and therefore could slow down the establishment of the bacteria. Once the biological filter is established, adding products like Prime and AmQuel are excellent and will not hamper the biofilter.
Biofilter bacteria thrives at about 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius). If you turn up your tank’s heater while cycling fishless, the tank can cycle in as little as 7-10 days. Be sure to turn the heater back down when the nitrogen cycle is complete, and allow the water time to reach the desired temperature before adding fish.
The great advantage of fishless cycling is that it is humane and stress-free.
I didn’t see that comin’. I mean, we were concerned yesterday, when he started with the swimbladder symptoms, but fish can sometimes recover from that.
Ok, I don’t think I’ll go this far for Schrody- but I really hope he recovers. It’s just awful to watch him be so helpless in the water. This is a great description of what’s wrong with him.
I think Sweet Cheeks is awfully cute, and HOW do you get golfish to eat from your hand?
Schrody is not well today. He has no equilibrium, actually rolls as he tries to swim. Poor little guy has swim bladder. Some fish come by a tendency to it through breeding, sometimes it’s from overfeeding (I don’t think that’s the problem here) and if they have any tendency to it they are way more vulnerable during the first month or so of a new tank. It’s called new tank syndrome, a time when bacteria levels are unstable. He keeps getting stuck under rocks and such, so I’ve cleared the tank of decorations and he’s treating himself the best way he can, by hanging vertically upside down along the filter. I’m just doing what I can and am sad about it, since I already have gotten pretty attached. I’ll let you know if he pulls through.
Shrodinger definitely has his own quirks. He does a little hard to describe dance in an attempt to get fed. It’s the same every morning when Paul gets up to make his coffee, and pretty funny.
He’s afraid green leaf lettuce (hides behind something on the other side of the tank until I remove it), is indifferent to lighter green leaves like spinach, prefers his cucumbers chopped rather than a slice hung on the side of the tank, but LOVES oranges. He also happily eats peas. I have 3 different kinds of goldfish food, and of course he ignores the two cheap brands from Wal-mart and goes crazy over the one from world of fish.
I’ve settled into a pattern on water changes on Mondays and Thursdays and really like having him around. The fabric on the back of the tank has special meaning for me. When we went to Kuai with Ed and Vonda, everyone indulged me one day and trekked to a fabric store so I could pick up a souvenir. Back then I used part of it to recover my makeup table stool (see picture #2 in the redecorating post)where it reminds me daily of our trip. I love having it as the background for a fish tank too.
The air pump in Schrody’s tank was too powerful and the water was roiling from the bubble wand, even though I had bought the smallest air pump I could find. So I first poked pins in the air tube to cut down on the pressure- that hardly made a dent. I then took my sewing scissors (little and very sharp) and cut a slice: better, but when I cut a tiny triangle out of the tube, it slowed the wand to about 5 streams of bubbles- perfect.
Schrody is calm, but he gets some extra oxygen in his water. He even swims through the streams now instead of banishing himself to the front half of the tank to escape the torrent of movement.
This tank has some obvious scratches on the front, which bothers me until I remember the great deal we got and that Lily and Fin (I have names already – even though I think I shouldn’t name anything unless it lives a whole month) won’t care about such things.
