Fishless cycling questions

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StephH

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 3, 2019
7
1
8
Ohio
Hi guys,
I'm working on setting up a 120gal cichlid tank. I don't know if this matters but the tank had substrate, rocks, bubbler, heater and water for about 1.5wks before my filter was setup on Oct 19.
These numbers are all from testing in the morning.
Oct 20 I added ammonia to 4ppm
Oct 24 nitrites showed up .25
Oct 28 nitrites at 2 and ammonia almost 0 so I started adding ammonia everyday trying to keep it around 3
Oct 29 nitrates showed up at 5 (and have been at 5 ever since)
Nov 1 Ammonia .25, nitrites .25, nitrate 5
Nov 2 Ammonia is 0, nitrites are 0, nitrates are 5
Am I doing this right? Could the tank really be cycled in 2wks?
Any ammonia I add is gone within 12hrs.
pH is sitting around 7.6
Just fyi my substrate is aragonite sand and my water is run through a softener because that's my only option atm. I used to use city water but we moved and now we have softened well water. I've also done no water changes during this time. I'm running a new fx4.
I used to have a few tanks setup but haven't had any for a few years and this is my first time cycling with ammonia and without seeding.
Any info/help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
 
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StephH said:
Hi guys,
I'm working on setting up a 120gal cichlid tank. I don't know if this matters but the tank had substrate, rocks, bubbler, heater and water for about 1.5wks before my filter was setup on Oct 19.
These numbers are all from testing in the morning.
Oct 20 I added ammonia to 4ppm
Oct 24 nitrites showed up .25
Oct 28 nitrites at 2 and ammonia almost 0 so I started adding ammonia everyday trying to keep it around 3
Oct 29 nitrates showed up at 5 (and have been at 5 ever since)
Nov 1 Ammonia .25, nitrites .25, nitrate 5
Nov 2 Ammonia is 0, nitrites are 0, nitrates are 5
Am I doing this right? Could the tank really be cycled in 2wks?
Any ammonia I add is gone within 12hrs.
pH is sitting around 7.6
Just fyi my substrate is aragonite sand and my water is run through a softener because that's my only option atm. I used to use city water but we moved and now we have softened well water. I've also done no water changes during this time. I'm running a new fx4.
I used to have a few tanks setup but haven't had any for a few years and this is my first time cycling with ammonia and without seeding.
Any info/help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Click to expand...


Welcome aboard
Hope this helps until experienced members chime inhttps://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/fishless-cycle-wont-start-after-3-weeks.716709/
 
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Did you do any kind of media/bacteria "seeding" or additives? Whats your Nitrate currently? Have you done WC while cycling?
 
Seems odd that even though you continue to add ammonia there is no sign of the conversion taking place to the final form, your nitrates should be going up as well, unless there is some form of denitrification? Have you tested your city water for nitrates? Never hurts to have a lfs check your water as well to make sure your testing method is working.
 
Raka said:
Seems odd that even though you continue to add ammonia there is no sign of the conversion taking place to the final form, your nitrates should be going up as well, unless there is some form of denitrification? Have you tested your city water for nitrates? Never hurts to have a lfs check your water as well to make sure your testing method is working.
Click to expand...
I agree there must be some sort of denite going on or your testing method is faulty/getting interference. The math is not quite adding up. It is certainly possible that you had a quick startup, but without an explanation of where that nitrate went, I wouldn’t throw fish in there.
 
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Raka said:
Seems odd that even though you continue to add ammonia there is no sign of the conversion taking place to the final form, your nitrates should be going up as well, unless there is some form of denitrification? Have you tested your city water for nitrates? Never hurts to have a lfs check your water as well to make sure your testing method is working.
Click to expand...
I thought it was weird too and since I've never cycled a tank like this I thought maybe I was doing something wrong. Even though the API test kit I have should still be good I have a new kit coming tomorrow. I'll test my tap and tank water when it gets here. I've had a lot of tanks over the years and used these test kits so I'd be surprised if I'm doing it wrong but ?
 
StephH said:
I thought it was weird too and since I've never cycled a tank like this I thought maybe I was doing something wrong. Even though the API test kit I have should still be good I have a new kit coming tomorrow. I'll test my tap and tank water when it gets here. I've had a lot of tanks over the years and used these test kits so I'd be surprised if I'm doing it wrong but ?
Click to expand...
Yes. Most likely you are doing the testing right. Depending on how deep your sand is and if there are anoxic pockets, your tank could definitely be doing some sort of denitrification.
Hey if it keeps eating everything up, it sounds like you have a pretty robust setup which should make your life easier moving foreword. Good luck!
 
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Sgowan713 said:
Yes. Most likely you are doing the testing right. Depending on how deep your sand is and if there are anoxic pockets, your tank could definitely be doing some sort of denitrification.
Hey if it keeps eating everything up, it sounds like you have a pretty robust setup which should make your life easier moving foreword. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Any chance you can help with gh and kh? I'm not understanding how to read the tests.. gh was 13 drops and kh was 5
 
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