Keeping a tank cycled

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The advantage I see of using pure ammonia versus food, etc., is that there will be no build up of debris, only sky high levels of nitrates which can be removed with a water change just before adding fish.

This thread has given me an idea. I was just going to connect my little wet/dry filter to my big sump system temporarily when the big tank is set up and running. Now, I think I will throw all the new media into a container with water, add a bacterial source and ammonia and culture BB on all the media for the big system a month before the big system is operational. Don't see why it wouldn't work. :)
 
pacu mom said:
The advantage I see of using pure ammonia versus food, etc., is that there will be no build up of debris, only sky high levels of nitrates which can be removed with a water change just before adding fish.

This thread has given me an idea. I was just going to connect my little wet/dry filter to my big sump system temporarily when the big tank is set up and running. Now, I think I will throw all the new media into a container with water, add a bacterial source and ammonia and culture BB on all the media for the big system a month before the big system is operational. Don't see why it wouldn't work. :)
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So I bought ammonia from Shoprite. It said its only ingredient was ammonia. I kinda over did the ammonia last night and out too much to where it was 8ppm. I proceeded to do a 50% water change to reduce it below the 5ppm max for BB survival. I did a test today and the ammonia dropped to about 2ppm instead if 0. Is this ok? I thought I'd skip tonight and add more ammonia tomorrow. Considering the only inhabitant was a 10in Aimara my guess is that I had less BB than what can consume the amount of ammonia I put in.
 
I hope you measured the amount so you'll how much to add the next time. Actually, when they fishless cycle, they reduce the ammonia when it zeroes out. They reduce it to about half, which would be 2? until the nitrites are "0". I don't know how fast BB die off, but you probably don't need to feed every day (as I wrote). I'm not positive on the daily feedings--that would work--what I don't know how soon BB die off from starving. I am definitely going to try BB cultivation in a container.
 
last time this happened my tank went a week without a problem. The ammonia reduced to 2 and my nitrites have stayed at 0 which is great. When my ammonia drops to 0 I'll add more ammonia. I did measure. Essentially 5 teaspoons takes me to where I need to be.
 
nzafi said:
So I bought ammonia from Shoprite. It said its only ingredient was ammonia. I kinda over did the ammonia last night and out too much to where it was 8ppm. I proceeded to do a 50% water change to reduce it below the 5ppm max for BB survival. I did a test today and the ammonia dropped to about 2ppm instead if 0. Is this ok? I thought I'd skip tonight and add more ammonia tomorrow. Considering the only inhabitant was a 10in Aimara my guess is that I had less BB than what can consume the amount of ammonia I put in.
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Hello; The tank is to be empty of fish for a few weeks so what you are trying to do is keep some bb alive in the meantime. The greater amount of ammonia you add should keep a greater population of bb fed. It is a sort of guessing game in terms of how large a population of bb will be needed to match the fish that is to be in the tank later. If the new fish is to be a large one then a decent population of bb will need to be active at the time of adding it. A smaller fish will need less.
It is unlikely that you will match the bb exactly to the fish, but that should not be a big deal. If the bb cannot handle the ammonia from the new fish you may get an ammonia spike for a short time. The effects of such a spike can be lessened with some extra water changes at the time until the bb population catches up. This sort of dynamic balance goes on any time we add or remove a large fish or enough small fish. The bb will either increase in numbers or die back.
It seems to me that any amount of ammonia right now will feed the bb enough to keep some going. Say you plan to add the fish in four weeks. For the next two or three weeks add a small dose of ammonia and then around a week or so before the fish is added up the dose a bit.
Others need to check my thinking on this next part. I would stop adding ammonia at least a day before the new fish is added. Perhaps test the water for ammonia the day of and it should be at zero before adding the fish.
 
Any idea how long it should take for BB to consume the ammonia I put in the tank? Looks like the ammonia is holding steady at 2ppm, nitrites are 0. Guessing my Aimara didn't produce anywhere the level of ammonia I put in the tank.
 
Check for nitrates if you have a good amount of nitrates, that means nitrites were converted. 8 ppm ammonia was more than the current population of BB could handle. If you have no nitrates, then you are doing a real fishless cycle. The clue is whether or not you have nitrates.
 
Nitrates are at 25ppm. Considering I did a 50% water change 3 days ago I'd say there is some BB doing its work. Normally my nitrates go up to 25ppm after about a week.
 
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