Good morning!

Frank is holding his own and waiting for his new home to be ready. I am on day 12 of a fishless cycle for a 40 gal tank. Media was added to the filter from two other cycled tanks and then pure ammonia to bring an ammo reading of 4 as per the instructions on the "fishless cycle" chart on Kokos.

On day 3, the ammo had dropped to 1.0, nitrites 0, nitrates 0, pH 7.6
On day 5, the ammo rose to 2.0, nitrite and nitrates at 0, pH 7.6
On day 7, ammo dropped to 1.0, nitrite and nitrates at 0, pH 7.6
On day 11, ammo .25, nitrite 1.0, nitrate 5, pH 7.6
Today, ammo 0, nitrite 1.0, nitrate 10, pH 7.6

Have I come to the point in the fishless cycle where once the ammo reads 0 that I need to add more daily? I know the tank will process faster when it's seeded, but can it cycle this fast?

Any comments and advice greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Carla

Yes, it is possible for tanks to cycle that fast. I think a couple people on here said their's were done in 6 days or so (lucky them!) I'm waiting for a tank to cycle now, and would love it to be done soon!

And to your question regarding ammonia, yes, this would be the point when you would add small amounts of ammonia daily.

Good luck!

Hi there Petperson!

Thanks, I will go to the chart on here and see just how much I need to be adding and for how long..... And yes, lucky them who had their tanks cycle that fast! I wonder what they used??? I hope your tank is cycled soon....almost like waiting for Christmas or something isn't it!
Carla

LOL It takes some serious patience, but doing the fishless cycle is a lot easier than trying to do it with fish in there! I have some used filter media in the filter on the new tank, and that seems to be speeding things up a bit.

Yes, it does require patience, but it a lot less work for sure. The reason we did a fishless cycle this time was we just didn't want to put Frank through anymore trauma - on another thread I came here to get help for ammonia poisoning - we moved him to a larger tank immediately, but had to cycle it whilst he recouperated - we were on fish watch 24/7 for weeks. On the bright side, we now have a cycled 10 gal to use as a hospital/quarantine tank when needed. Frank's new home is 40 gal - he's going to think he moved into an indoor pond after being in his tiny 10 for so long.

I've been adding ammonia daily, and the tank seems to be processing it as it's read 0 for the past 4 days, the nitrites have dropped to less than .25 but still not at 0 as of this morning, and the nitrates have gone up to 10 (the colour is in between the range on the card) and the pH has remained stable throughout the whole process at 7.6. I think it's almost done! Just need to see those last bits of nitrites gone so I can do the big water change.

I will add some ammonia this morning before work and take a read when I get home - at the rate it's going, it might be ready by tomorrow.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks, Carla

Hi Carla!

Wow things sure have moved quickly, haven't they! Great job!! Be sure to let us know when he goes in the new tank! He will love it!
I'm glad that pH has been stable! Sometimes it flucuates as it's cycling. Good luck on it being finished tomorrow!

Debbie

Hi Debbie! Thanks!

Frank went into his new tank this morning! When I got home last night, hubby was ready with buckets and hose if the readings were on the mark - and they were, so we started the big water change - 75%. Then we refilled with water treated with Amquel+, and opened the filter to full force and let things run overnight. The water results this morning were good with ammo 0, nitrites 0 and nitrates 5 and pH 7.6. and the water crystal clear.

I felt it was safe enough for Frank, so hubby put him in and we both delighted in Frank not missing a beat in looking for his breakfast as that's what he was doing when hubby picked him up and moved him over. We don't use a net because Frank always swims into hubby's hand when he puts it in the tank. I gave him a light feeding and he's been busy in there ever since, doing his thing until I go over to look at him and then he swims over to see me.(I think he's just checking to see if I have more crisps for him). Hubby is convinced Frank will lose weight from having so much room to swim around in, but I've warned him that one feeding a day is all that's needed (remember this is the guy with his order pad at the back door for the animals to place their order)

So far so good, but we will be keeping an eagle eye out for any changes in him and water tests twice daily to be on top of any changes. I'm off the next couple of days to keep an eye on things and then when I'm back to work, hubby is off and he will take over fish sitting. Frank's old home got a 50% water change and is now running as a hospital/quarantine tank for which I hope we have no use for other than quarantine for Frank's new tank mate when we find one.

As silly as it sounds, I can't tell you how good we felt to see him swimming about happy and that we managed to save him from our ignorance. Again, I can't thank everybody here enough for all their help, sharing and concern in getting Frank healthy and into the right environment for his needs. I'm always learning something when I come on here. I will say that fishless cycling is the way to go in terms of less stress on both fish and concerned fishkeeper - and that a seeded tank certainly does speed it up somewhat! I was surprised at just how much faster it is. I was rather pleased that the pH remained stable throughout - I've read lots here about pH crashes and the harm they can cause.

I'll keep you posted as to how Frank is doing, and I'll be around asking questions about quarantine and such - as you know, hubby thinks everybody needs a pal and we no sooner had Frank in the new tank and he said that we have to get him a friend because he'll be lonely in all that space! lol. What a man, what a man! Right now, I think caution is best and to wait and see before getting another fish - although I have to admit that last week, I did see a "baby" Frank that just stole my heart because he came right up to the glass to check me out while the others were busy doing their own thing - just like Frank did.......patience, patience, patience.....lol

Have a great day!

Carla

Good to hear everything went smoothly!

Thanks Petperson! Frank seems to be enjoying himself and has figured out that he has much more room to coast around in before he gets to the other side of the tank.