Fishless cycling help

[Arizonagrace]

I started a 15 gallon tank using the fishless cycling method. I added 2 filter, one internal, one hob. I added a heater, turned it up to 85, put in decorations and gravel as well as an airstone. I then stuck in a bottle of the SmartStart.

I put in 2 uncooked shrimp and when they started to get all fuzzy and yucky, I took them out, did a 10% water change and added 2 more shrimp. After 2 days, I added a sponge filter that had been in a cycled tank for months.

I am getting ammonia readings (monitor in tank indicates dark green), but no nitrites or nitrates. I waited a week and added bio-spira, but still not much of anything. I went out and bought some strips to test the tank and it indicates a tiny bit of nitrates, but no nitrites.

I also have a 30 gallon that went into a cycle because of medication for ich. It has had a small amount of ammonia for over a week now, with little nitrites and little nitrates. I do water changes every 2 days, keeping a very close eye on the ammonia, so the fish don't get harmed. I hate to take out all the ammonia because I know the trites need it for food. I did add a sponge from another cycled tank. I have tested this with strips, monitor and regular test tube tests.

Am I doing this right?

 

[Cholly]

Don't worry too much about removing ammonia in a tank with fish in it. The fish are constantly producing more. The reason fishless cycling is faster, is that we can allow the ammonia and nitrite levels to get pretty insane without worrying about hurting fish. Sometimes cycling is just slow anyway. Seeding should speed it up though to almost no time, how long did you have the sponge in the cycled tank and was it running in that tank?
I ask these questions because I assume nothing and I have seen a lot, lol. A lot of people don't know or realise that there are two types of nitrifying bacteria for tropical tanks and that they are different than the two that handle saltwater or brackish or even coldwater. There will be some of each type in all these colonies, but the greatest majority will be of tropical fresh, brackish, saltwater or cold water. One for the conversion of ammonia into nitrite and one for the conversion of nitrite into nitrate for each type and temperature range.

The only thing you may have done wrong is kicking the temperature up. The different bacteria live in different temperature ranges, increasing the temperature does nothing for the cycle. 75-80F is optimal from everything I have been taught. You want the bacteria that live in the same temperature range as the fish you want to keep. 85 is close enough that there shouldn't be a problem, but it is of no actual benefit.

 

[Arizonagrace]

I had the sponge in the cycled tank for at least 4 months, if not longer. I run one in each freshwater tank in addition to their normal filter if there is only one filter in the tank. This was in a 10 gallon tank that has juvenile fish in it.

I can move the temp back down to 78/80, since this is the temp of the tank the fish are currently in. I plan on moving my swordtails into this tank once it is cycled completely. I was hoping it wouldn't take long, as I have 2 male swords to 3 adult females (1 male was supposed to be female but changed his mind ) I wanted to move them into their new tank and get 2 more females.

This is the first time I have done fishless cycling. I don't like using fish to cycle, and always end up keeping the ones I used for it.

 

[Cholly]

That should have been plenty of time to establish a colony in it, 2-3 weeks is normally enough in an established tank. Now I'm puzzled.

 

[Arizonagrace]

4 days after posting this, I am getting a .25 reading on nitrites, so I believe it has begun cycling. Someone told me not to remove the shrimp, no matter how fuzzy it gets , and it seems to have worked. I only add water to replace evaporated water and don't prime it or anything, as there are no fish anyway. I know my swords are going to love this tank.

The 30 gallon has gone back to normal now, which makes me very very happy It seems to have picked up over night.

 

[gzeiger]

Raising temperature is fine. There are lots of urban legends floating around, but controlled study seems to indicate the optimal temperature is actually in the low-mid 90s. Fish won't take that of course, but for fishless cycling you can certainly raise temperature fairly high.

Reference:
http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0043135400003122

Google will turn up a number of studies on this in the context of wastewater/sewage treatment plants. Nobody puts tons of money into it for aquarium purposes, but the bacteria you want are the same.