Starting a Fishless Cycle - Am I too late?

[SilverBee]

Hi All

I've checked out the forum for threads on Fishless Cycling but couldn't quite find the answer to my question, please therefore forgive me for starting a new thread on cycling a tank.

So, I've had my new 20l nano tank set up for about 4 weeks now, with 50% water changes daily for first week, alternate days the second and third week and now 25% changes every few days.

Now I might have confused myself somewhere, because I understood that the water changes above are needed to prevent algae in the starting days of the tank and to help with cycling, however, I'm not convinced by tank has been cycling.

I have tested the ammonida and nitrite parameters whenever I'm about to do a water change, just to see where things are. The Ammonia hasn't been above 0.25ppm and nitrite has been 0 (though if I leave the tube a few minutes more it turns a very light shade of pink). I haven't added an ammonia source (I have some though if needed to get this process started), as I assumed that the tropica soil I'm using would leach enough - though it doesn't seem to have leached much at all.

The tank is densely planted - any chance the plants are consuming more of the ammonia? I've seen many times people saying that all you need really are healthy plants and that they will take care of the rest, but I'd like to be sure before I add any living creatures!

Thanks

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I haven't added an ammonia source (I have some though if needed to get this process started), as I assumed that the tropica soil I'm using would leach enough - though it doesn't seem to have leached much at all.

You don't need an ammonia source to start cycling, in fact it may actually delay the development of an appropriate microbial assemblage in a planted tank. Have a look at the linked threads in <"My new Oasis......">.

The tank is densely planted - any chance the plants are consuming more of the ammonia?

No, there isn't just a chance that the plants are consuming the ammonia, it is a 100% proven fact.

I've seen many times people saying that all you need really are healthy plants and that they will take care of the rest. but I'd like to be sure before I add any living creatures!

I think "being sure" is really important and that we have a <"duty of care"> to the fish we keep.

cheers Darrel

 

[Wookii]

Hi All

I've checked out the forum for threads on Fishless Cycling but couldn't quite find the answer to my question, please therefore forgive me for starting a new thread on cycling a tank.

So, I've had my new 20l nano tank set up for about 4 weeks now, with 50% water changes daily for first week, alternate days the second and third week and now 25% changes every few days.

Now I might have confused myself somewhere, because I understood that the water changes above are needed to prevent algae in the starting days of the tank and to help with cycling, however, I'm not convinced by tank has been cycling.

I have tested the ammonida and nitrite parameters whenever I'm about to do a water change, just to see where things are. The Ammonia hasn't been above 0.25ppm and nitrite has been 0 (though if I leave the tube a few minutes more it turns a very light shade of pink). I haven't added an ammonia source (I have some though if needed to get this process started), as I assumed that the tropica soil I'm using would leach enough - though it doesn't seem to have leached much at all.

The tank is densely planted - any chance the plants are consuming more of the ammonia? I've seen many times people saying that all you need really are healthy plants and that they will take care of the rest, but I'd like to be sure before I add any living creatures!

Thanks

Just to add to what Darrel has said, it looks like you are doing it exactly right. Keep up with the water changes, and don't consider adding any shrimp or snails (I assume that is what you are looking to add, as the tank is too small for fish) until you've had a couple of weeks of zero ammonia and nitrite readings.

 

[SilverBee]

Thanks both - much appreciated and thank you Darrel for the thread link - really interesting stuff! And actually kind of a relief. I tried cycling a tank using added ammonia once before (hence why I have the product) and it was honestly stressful. My previous tank was also generally pretty unstable.

Thanks Wookii as well, I'll keep testing! I'm planning to add 6 chili rasboras, as looking at their size and bioload it seems okay, but please do correct me if I'm wrong. I had previously considered cherry shrimp but the prolific breeding puts me off. I know they'll "level out" eventually but I haven't found out what that "levelling out" actually looks like - are we talking about shrimps realising they don't have enough resources for more babies and therefore not breeding, or babies dying or having to take out dead shrimp that didn't make it D:

Apologies if that's naïve but honestly, I want to avoid dying creatures as much as possible, though I know it can still happen regardless of best intensions.

 

[Wookii]

Thanks both - much appreciated and thank you Darrel for the thread link - really interesting stuff! And actually kind of a relief. I tried cycling a tank using added ammonia once before (hence why I have the product) and it was honestly stressful. My previous tank was also generally pretty unstable.

Thanks Wookii as well, I'll keep testing! I'm planning to add 6 chili rasboras, as looking at their size and bioload it seems okay, but please do correct me if I'm wrong. I had previously considered cherry shrimp but the prolific breeding puts me off. I know they'll "level out" eventually but I haven't found out what that "levelling out" actually looks like - are we talking about shrimps realising they don't have enough resources for more babies and therefore not breeding, or babies dying or having to take out dead shrimp that didn't make it D:

Apologies if that's naïve but honestly, I want to avoid dying creatures as much as possible, though I know it can still happen regardless of best intensions.

I personally wouldn’t keep Chillis in a tank that small,
they’re a very active fish, but other people may disagree.

As for the shrimp, yes, they seem to have a way of slowing down the breeding as the population maxes out. I’m not sure of the exact mechanism though.

You’ll very rarely find a corpse of anything in a shrimp tank, shrimp or fish. Anything dead gets consumed within hours. Plus if you find yourself with too many for your liking they are easy to catch, and an advert in the classifieds here would likely see them gone in short order.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I tried cycling a tank using added ammonia once before (hence why I have the product) and it was honestly stressful. My previous tank was also generally pretty unstable.

That is one of the advantages of <"plant and wait">. You just need to watch the plants. If you have a floating, or emergent, plant it isn't limited by CO2 availability (it has access to aerial CO2) and it can respond to any change in ammonia levels.

Some people just use a floating plant during the tank establishment phase, but I have them all the time and I use them <"as an indication of when to add fertilisers">. I called this approach the <"Duckweed Index">, because originally I used <"Common Duckweed (Lemna minor)"> as my floating plant.

cheers Darrel

 

[sparkyweasel]

Chili Rasboras like a bit of swimming space. If your 20l is long and shallow that would be a lot better than if it is tall and thin. Volume isn't the only factor, and probably not the most important.