Keeping a tank cycled

[nzafi]

I just converted my 180g from 3 AC110s to a hmf filter yesterday. The single occupant, aimara, jumped out last night and killed himself. I have removed the AC110s but left my biomax in the tank to seed the poret foam. However, now that the occupant is no longer alive, how do I keep the bacteria alive in my tank long enough for me to pick up another fish. It could take me up to a month to get another fish and I really didn't want to buy random fish to throw in there.

Any suggestions?

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

fish food, pure ammonia liquid will keep your BB alive.

 

[nzafi]

fish food, pure ammonia liquid will keep your BB alive.

Any idea of how much I am suppose to toss into the tank and how often?

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

Any idea of how much I am suppose to toss into the tank and how often?

I used to put pure ammonia into my tank until It's show 0.25 ppm on the test kit (take note the amount) and repeat daily or every other day and don't forget to do your WC schedule or you will have a tank nitrate built up sky high.

 

[pacu mom]

You would essentially be continuously fishless cycling your tank. I would add enough ammonia (without surfactants and other additives) to get a reading of 4ppm. Pour in a measured amount of ammonia and keep adding until you get 4ppm. Ammonia comes in different concentrations, so cannot say how much you need to add. When we fishless cycled our 300 gallon, it took 132 ml of ammonia to get a reading of 4ppm. It would have been less with a more concentrated ammonia.

If the tank is cycled, the ammonia reading will drop to "0" in less than a day, so you will have to add ammonia every day. I wouldn't worry too much about the nitrates until just before you add fish. Change out 100% of the water, if you have to get the nitrates really low before adding fish.

The beauty of 4ppm ammonia (which is what is usually recommended for fishless cycling), is that you build up and maintain very large colonies of beneficial bacteria. 4ppm was far more than what my fish generated in a day, so I had no fear of cycling issues when our fish were moved to the tank.

 

[nzafi]

Thank you. I am surprised I have to add ammonia everyday. But that is what I will if needed.

 

[pacu mom]

Here's a chart that I made when fishless cycling our tank. I have records of the readings and the amount of ammonia I added to keep the ammonia at 4ppm.

It actually took longer than a month to cycle the tank. The longest time was spent waiting for the BB to colonize to remove the nitrites. Once the nitrites dropped to "0", I never ever had a nitrite reading again.

 

[pacu mom]

Thank you. I am surprised I have to add ammonia everyday. But that is what I will if needed.

Think of it as feeding your fish every day.

 

[nzafi]

Think of it as feeding your fish every day.

Thank you for your help. Luckily I don't need to do the full cycle, I just need to keep the bacteria alive.

 

[skjl47]

Thank you. I am surprised I have to add ammonia everyday. But that is what I will if needed.

Hello; My take is that the every day suggestion will keep a large population of bb active and ongoing all the time. That way the tank will be ready any time you get another fish.

As with any living thing the bb need a source of nutrients to stay viable. For the bb one needed thing is ammonia. The amount of ammonia should determine the size of the bb population.

There are some possible alternatives to the liquid ammonia but you have rejected the simplest which is to get a fish in the meantime? I can not prove this but do believe that snails in a tank will produce ammonia as a waste product. There are several species used in freshwater tanks. I happen to like snails and keep them in all my tanks. Some do reproduce and that should be considered. There is one type I have in a tank which will not reproduce in freshwater, I think they are called niterite (sp).