# Fishless Cycle



## GuNSm0k3 (Sep 7, 2010)

Yesterday I filled my 100G with tap water and primed it. FX5 canister, Media is all brand new fluval BioMax in all 3 buckets
24h later tested everything with hagen nutrafin test kit
results below this is my first time testing water conditions so if something doesn't look right let me know and ill double check it
-ammonia 0
-pH 7.0
-Nitrate 0
-Nitrite 0
-KH 20
-GH 20
Now im going to add 6-8 drops of ammonia per 10 gallons of water every day, will post results again in 2 days
When can I add plants to my aquarium?
I have some Alkaline buffer should I use any of it?
And here is a pic of my set up so far








Thanks hopefully everything goes smooth


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

I would just throw in a couple raw shrimps and replace them every 3-4days until the tank is cycled
I wouldnt even bother testing for atleast a week.


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## Soul Assassin (Nov 21, 2006)

I would keep on using that ammonia adn not test for 2 weeks.

It looks like you got a lot of gravel at the back, this will cause you more headackes in the end, imo

I would also add a nice piece of drift wood and a plant or two; fake or real


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## GuNSm0k3 (Sep 7, 2010)

I'm going to add a piece of driftwood and a couple real plants soon, still looking,
something low light and will grow easy in gravel. onion?
Can I add them at any time or does the tank need to cycle first?
The gravel is not that thick there is a couple inches of foam under it.
The water is a little hazy looking through the side of the tank should I add some polishing pads to the filter?


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## Soul Assassin (Nov 21, 2006)

you can try some polishing pads

i never heard of anyone using foam under the gravel, keep an eyeon it as a lot of sh*t could get stuck under it


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## GuNSm0k3 (Sep 7, 2010)

Threw some raw shrimp in like ****** suggested (pure ammonia is hard to find)
anyway day 4
-Ammonia 0.6
-Nitrite 0
still waiting....


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Sounds good! Just be sure to replace the shrimp every 3-4 days or it will really start to stink

Best way to replace it is to add more a day before you remove the old shrimp, that way it will already have started to break down and you'll have constant ammo source


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## GuNSm0k3 (Sep 7, 2010)

Day 7
-Ammonia 1.2+
-Nitrite 0
At what level of ammonia will I start to see nitrites?
When can I plant a couple amazon swords, will it mess up the cycle or kill the plant?


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Not sure about when to add plants but you should get a nitrite reading at day 12-15 I think


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## GuNSm0k3 (Sep 7, 2010)

Day 12
-Ammonia 4.5-5
-Nitrite 0
Ammonia is right up there, is there any way you can have to much (a bad thing?) before you see nitrite readings?


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Nitrites should show up soon, just be patient and test every week.

At this point no I dont think that you can have too much ammo, throw some more shrimp in if you'd like


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## GuNSm0k3 (Sep 7, 2010)

Day 15
-Ammonia 5.5-6
-Nitrite 0.1
Looks like there's a slight bit of pink on the surface of the test tube
Also seeing some growth on the output assembly


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## GuNSm0k3 (Sep 7, 2010)

Day 22
-Ammonia 6.1
-Nitrite 0.5
Cut down on the shrimp only have 2 in the tank now


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

gOOD CALL ON REMOVING SOME OF THE SHRIMP.
Are you doing weekly waterchanges during your cycle?


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## GuNSm0k3 (Sep 7, 2010)

No I haven't. Didn't think water changes where necessary during the cycle.


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## GuNSm0k3 (Sep 7, 2010)

Day 26
-Ammonia 5.0
-Nitrite 2.5
ammonia is on the decline, anything else to test for?
the end is in sight


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

You can test for nitrates....if they are rising then all the needed bacteria is in place...now it just needs to balance itself out.


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## GuNSm0k3 (Sep 7, 2010)

Day 30
-Ammonia 0.0
-Nitrite 3.3
-Nitrate 110
Still have the single shrimp in there changing it every 4 days.
Anyone have anything to add or does it look all good?


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Looks like it is coming along fine. Once there is no ammonia you can pretty much drain the tank and refill it with clean water (use conditioner for a 100% change). Then toss in a piece of shrimp until you get your fish...that will keep the cycle going.


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## GuNSm0k3 (Sep 7, 2010)

You mean once there is no Nitrite then do the water change right?


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

I would do a 50% W/C now, it will lower your nitrites and freshen things up.
But add the shrimp like gg said


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## GuNSm0k3 (Sep 7, 2010)

Alright thanks guys did the 50% water change, so ill be good to add plants and fish once the nitrate drops to 0?


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## the_w8 (Jul 28, 2003)

there should be 0 nitrites before adding any fish...Your nitrates you can keep under 80ppm and you should be fine.


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## GuNSm0k3 (Sep 7, 2010)

Day 34
-Ammonia 0
-Nitrite 0
-Nitrate 10
Looks like I'm all good, thanks for the help guys


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## the_w8 (Jul 28, 2003)

Looks pretty good and the amount of time it took sounds about right...Plug away bud!


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