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Step-by-Step Nitrogen Cycle Guide and Fishless Cycling

51K views 169 replies 47 participants last post by  Hallyx 
#1 ·
Woo, what a long time in the making. First of all, a huge WOOP to Sakura for.. well everything she does, and for not rushing me on this, because I took my sweet time. I'd also like to thank my dear friend Hallyx, for all his input and cycling knowledge. We'd be no where on BettaFish without these two sweeties around. :-DAdditional thanks goes to Chesherca, for going through my work as well, making sure everything actually made sense to someone other than myself.

Things you will need:
- A filter (Hang-on-back (HOB) and sponge are most popular with betta)
- An ammonia source (this could be pure ammonia, fish food, raw shrimp, or even your fish, depending on the method you choose)
- Plants (if you plan on doing the planted method)
- A small oral syringe (meaning without a needle!) is useful when using pure ammonia, usually a 5mL size is best. These can be found in pet stores in the dog/cat section, or in pharmacies in the baby section, as they are used to measure out dog/cat/baby medicines. Only needed for pure ammonia method.
-Tank (and possibly bucket for a bucket cycle), substrate, decorations, all of which provide surface area for your bacteria to grow.
-A test kit for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. An API Master Test Kit gives the best value over the long run, but strips can also work fine.

About the Nitrogen Cycle:
There is tons of info on this, but I want to sum this up as briefly as possible. The nitrogen cycle is when you "grow" bacteria in your tank, on your filter and everything else in the tank. Fish produce ammonia, which is bad for them, it damages their bodies, causing burns and death. The bacteria consume the ammonia, and produce nitrite. Now, nitrite isn't any better and can do just as much damage as ammonia, so another type of bacteria consumes it to make nitrates. Nitrates are the last step of the cycle, and are much less toxic, but still hurt in the long run, which is why it's important to do weekly water changes of 30-50% in a cycled aquarium.

First Thing's First- The Method:
There are five distinct methods for properly cycling your tank that we'll be looking at in this article. Any of these methods will achieve the end-result of a fully-cycled tank, but only you can decide which will work best for your situation. You can safely cycle a tank of any size using the techniques listed here. Some people prefer not to cycle smaller tanks, instead relying on more frequent water changes to keep the water clean. However, if you plan to keep a larger tank of five to ten gallons or more, it will be necessary to cycle the tank for the health and safety of the fish who will be living there.

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#152 ·
I'm having a terrible time getting my 10-gal tank to cycle.

It's been up and running for about 7 weeks. I have one (neurotic) betta in while I'm cycling. It took about 4 weeks for ammonia to show up, spike & go back down. During that time I was changing 20%-25% of the water every to every other day. Not a big deal

The last 2-3 weeks have had huge nitrite readings. I've been changing 20-25% of the water twice a day. Last week I had to go away for 30 hours so I did one large water change before I left, and came home to super high nitrite and a lot of tail biting damage. Nitrite levels are frequently getting to 2-5ppm after just 12 hours. This seems excessive. Is this normal in other peoples experience?

I'm going to do what it takes to keep my little guy healthy, but the twice daily water changes are slowly driving mad. I've tried adding some quickstart but that didn't seem to do anything. Please tell me there is light at the end of this tunnel!

my ph is higher, around 8.0
temp is kept at 80

I keep the tank light off since my betta seems to hate it. I have an air stone that I turn on occasionally but it doesn't run 24/7. I also have a few IALs in the tank.

I've tried to reduce feeding some, but that also seems to encourage my guy's tail biting, so that didn't last. He gets 3-5 pellets a day.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be hugely appreciated.
 
#153 · (Edited)
Afirose, you don't need the ammonia any higher that 4.0ppm. In fact, that's the level you'd use for cycling a tank for a large bioload community. I'd suggest you remove the shrimp as soon as you see any nitrite. Keep the nitrite below 4.0ppm with water changes. Don't worry about nitrate. You'll be doing a large (75%) water change as soon as nitrite gets to 0.0ppm. That will cut the nitrate down to aceptable levels.

Slt, try to keep nitrite below 0.50ppm. Use a triple dose of Prime to detoxify nitrite. Changing water chemistry (as during a cycle) can stress some fish. It's not dangerous to his health otherwise.

Persistent nitrite is a nuisance. Nitrite is produced through the oxidation of ammonia by the cycling bacteria. You have a large ammonia source somewhere creating that nitrite. Keep the tank as clean a you can, siphon waste regularly, and feed as lightly as he'll put up with.

Ammonia and nitrite are more toxic the higher the pH. That 8.0pH is a little high, so make sure you dose Prime with every water change and a couple drops per gallon daily until the nitrite goes down.

Cycling a 10g with the ammonia produced by only one Betta can take some time. Stick with it. It's worth it in the long run.
 
#156 · (Edited)
Afirose, you don't need the ammonia any higher that 4.0ppm. In fact, that's the level you'd use for cycling a tank for a large bioload community. I'd suggest you remove the shrimp as soon as you see any nitrite. Keep the nitrite below 4.0ppm with water changes. Don't worry about nitrate. You'll be doing a large (75%) water change as soon as nitrite gets to 0.0ppm. That will cut the nitrate down to aceptable levels.
Wow ok. So my nitrites got to 0.5ppm yesterday. Today they are back to zero. Did the extra high ammonia kill the cycle? :cry: (I started cycling the tank 9/27 btw.)

I'll remove the shrimp asap. Should I then do a large water changes, introduce a small amount of ammonia, and see what happens from there? Ooor... ugh, you can tell I'm new to this. Haha *sigh*
 
#154 ·
Thanks for the encouragement hallyx

I didn't want to post the photo since I can't resize on this computer, but here's a link to my ammonia/nitrite/nitrate tests. I had changed 25% of the water 12 hours earlier

http://31.media.tumblr.com/5756fa2ce1ec1d6b48eaa852ec75363c/tumblr_ncqk1jXZqP1sitb2ro1_1280.jpg

my tap readings are pH 8.0, ammonia 0-0.25, nitrite 0, nitrate 0-5


after I did the above test I changed 25% of the water, refilled with tap and then changed 25% again immediately after. It brought the nitrite down to 0.25. Once again 12 hours later I tested the water this morning and nitrite is back up in the 2-5 range (hard to tell the color apart when it gets that high). If there isn't that much ammonia in my tap, how in the world could one little fish produce that much waste in 12 hours?
 
#155 ·
Your AOB (ammonia oxidizing bacteria) are working overtime converting ammonia to nitrite. NOB typically takes longer to emerge.

Somewhere in your tank is something producing ammonia. An average-sized well-fed, active Betta might put out 0.50ppm ammonia/gal/day at the most.
 
#159 ·
Okay so I removed the shrimp and let the tank sit a day. After that I checked and the ammonia had rocketed up to 8ppm according to my API liquid kit. I did a 50% water change to cut it back. It was 3-4ppm after that. A week and a half went by with not a blip. Then over the last couple days the nitrites and nitrates have been rising, and the ammonia has been dropping. Tonight the nitrite and nitrate rocketed up to off the chart levels. And there is ZERO ammonia. Now I know thats whats desired. BUT because the shrimp is removed, theres not a continuous source of ammonia for the nitrites. So if the nitrites start to drop will it be because the cycle is complete or because it stalled with no ammonia source? Should I add an ammonia source (ie crushed fish food or stick another reeeeally tiny piece of shrimp in there), to allow the cycle to continue? I'm stumped again.

Thank for an help in advance guys!
 
#161 ·
ishless cycles are a little funny at this stage. I would let the nitrite go down below 0.50ppm.

Then put in the shrimp until you see about 2.0ppm ammonia. Take it out and watch the cycle go round. If you can do this twice in two or three days, you're cycled.
 
#163 ·
ishless cycles are a little funny at this stage. I would let the nitrite go down below 0.50ppm.

Then put in the shrimp until you see about 2.0ppm ammonia. Take it out and watch the cycle go round. If you can do this twice in two or three days, you're cycled.
Update

I did 1 gallon water change after I left the post about no ammonia anymore. Just because I swapped out my heater and didn't want to worry about the water level while changing it out. The next day the nitrite had dropped to 2ppm. This afternoon I checked the nitrite and ammonia. Now there is currently no ammonia AND no nitrite. This all seems really fast to me. I hope I'm not doing anything wrong. I'll stop by the grocery on the way home and get more shrimp. Test it out the way you said, and I guess we'll see!

Thank you so many for your guidance!
 
#164 · (Edited)
Sometimes it takes a while for the nitrite oxidizing bacteria to take hold and start working. But when they do, it can happen really fast.

There is a small amount of bacteria in the water as it blows around and spreads throughout the tank. But most of it is found sticking to surfaces, like in the filter on the walls, plants and decor ... and even on the livestock.

Changing water-- even large changes -- has little or no measurable effect on the cycle.
 
#166 ·
Sometimes it takes a while for the nitrite oxidizing bacteria to take hold and start working. But when they do, it can happen really fast.
After I got home that night I added half a cocktail shrimp (which is still in there now). Because a whole one brought on 4ppm ammonia, I thought I'd just do half to get the 2ppm as recommended. 24 hours later the nitrites went up to 0.25, but the ammonia barely raised. And I mean like the ammonia was more than zero but less than 0.25. lol
After that I checked every 12 hours. Since that little spike it's been zeros all around. (Nitrate levels definitely say I need a water change though. lol)
Is it safe to assume my tank is cycled? Or should I have added a whole shrimp to really get an ammonia kick?
 
#165 ·
Okay, thank you. I left a bit less than a gallon probably of old water but washed the plants and such so it should be fine. Now I just have to hug nitrite and nitrate kit since my API kit is only ammonia
 
#169 ·
Question.

So this might be a dumb question. Recently, I did a dumb thing by introducing a betta which looked healthy into a fully cycled tank. He ended up really sick and is now quarantined in a hospital tank. My fishes are all doing great but I have lost some shrimp and snails. I was wondering if I wanted to disinfect the whole tank, would it be smart to re-cycle the tank? Can filter pads and decor carry diseases on it?
 
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