cycle not starting?

[Chris Palma]

Hi.

I posted recently about starting the fishless cycle in my new 75 gallon
tank. Here is what I have done so far:

Set up tank with gravel, airstones, and filled it.
Added water conditioner to remove chlorine.
Ran Aquaclear 300 filter for ~1 week, airstones too
Took gravel from friend's established tank and added it to mine.
Put in enough ammonia to get a 5ppm reading.
Test ammonia & nitrites every day since the initial 5ppm reading of
ammonia.

I think it has been 5 days, 6 days since the ammonia read 5ppm. The
nitrites haven't budged from 0ppm.

It is possible my nitrite test kit is old, but even if I'm not getting an
accurate nitrite reading, the ammonia still reads 5ppm, and hasn't
decreased (and I haven't added any additional ammonia, since it is
constant at 5ppm).

so... any ideas why the cycle apparently isn't starting yet? Am I doing
something wrong, or just being impatient?

Anything I should check and possibly adjust to kick start the process?

Oh -- one last point -- I've upped the water temp to 75 degrees, which is
suggested in one of the fishless cycling articles.

TIA...

--chris



| Chris Palma, | The preceding was a work of fiction, |
| University of Virginia Astronomy | any similarities to persons living or |
| | dead, places, or events is purely |
| www.astro.virginia.edu/~cp4v | coincidental... |

[Michi Henning]

"Chris Palma" > wrote in message
tro.Virginia.EDU...
>
> I think it has been 5 days, 6 days since the ammonia read 5ppm. The
> nitrites haven't budged from 0ppm.
>
> It is possible my nitrite test kit is old, but even if I'm not getting an
> accurate nitrite reading, the ammonia still reads 5ppm, and hasn't
> decreased (and I haven't added any additional ammonia, since it is
> constant at 5ppm).
>
> so... any ideas why the cycle apparently isn't starting yet? Am I doing
> something wrong, or just being impatient?

It can take a while. Last time I did this, it took about five weeks for the
tank to cycle.

> Anything I should check and possibly adjust to kick start the process?

Best way I know of is to get a handful of filter media from an established
tank and put that into your filter. Instand tank cycle that way.

Cheers,

Michi.

--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com

[TYNK 7]

(Snipped)
>Subject: cycle not starting?
>From: Chris Palma
>Date: 1/27/2004 11:09 PM Central Standard Time
>Message-id: irginia.EDU>
>

>I posted recently about starting the fishless cycle in my new 75 gallon

> any ideas why the cycle apparently isn't starting yet? Am I doing
>something wrong, or just being impatient?
>
>Anything I should check and possibly adjust to kick start the process?

If you have a PetLand around, (or if not, call all your local shops) and look
for a product called Bio Spira.
Your tank will cycle in 24 hours.
This is the ONLY cycling starter that has the correct bacteria in it. ALL
others do not have the correct bacteria and are garbage.
I've cycled a 3g and a 75g with it. Works great!
In the new 75....filled it with dechlorinated water, set it up, waited for the
temp to adjust properly, and the same day added young Angels and a school of
Neon Tetras (highly sensitive to the ups ad down of a cycling tank) and haven't
lost one.
For the seasoned hobbyists, we all know Neons are the last fish you'd ever
want to put in a brand new tank. I figured this would be a great "test" for the
product, and it worked great!
It must be refrigerated, so if you just look on a shelf in a shop you're not
going to see it. Some shops have a mini frige made by Marineland (makers of the
product) on display. Some keep it int he back and you'd never know they carry
it.
So check around and don't fuss with cycing with ammonia anymore. = )
I was very big on recommending fishless cycling before this product came out.
Never again will anyone have to wait weeks before adding fish, or using fish to
cycle tanks and either harming them or even kill them from it.