[Newbie22]

Hi all,
I’ve just started to do a fishless cycle with Dr Tim’s ammonium chloride. I have a 10 gallon tank, but realistically it’s 9 gallons with lava rock as decoration and gravel as substrate. It has 8 small crypts, 1 anubias nana, 3 nana petite, 2 tiny trident Java fern, 1 tiny windelov Java fern (making a comeback), Christmas moss on the lava rocks and willow moss.
Before I dosed the ammonia I tested my water using the API master liquid test kit and my water was:

Ammonia: 0ppm
NitrIte: 0ppm
NitrAte: 5ppm (tap water or fertilizer).
Ph: 8.2

I dosed my tank to 2ppm and on day 1 my parameters were:

Ammonia: 2ppm
NitrIte: 0ppm
NitrAte: 5ppm (tap water or fertilizer).
Ph: 8.2

It’s day 3 now and my parameters read:

Ammonia: 1-2ppm (between colors)
NitrIte: 0.5ppm
NitrAte: 5-10ppm (between colors)
Ph: 8.2

It looks like my cycle might be on the right track (fingers crossed it goes smoothly). I know the nitrates are due to either the fertilizer or my tap water. I tested my tap water years ago and know it contains nitrates. I’ll wait for my nitrites to spike, then decline to 0 and my nitrates to go up exponentially before I consider the bacteria to be growing. I’ll also now dose ammonia to 1ppm only and maintain this level.

My question is I have been dosing my tank with Seachem Flourish fertilizer at 1/3 the recommended dose for my plants. I also have flourish root tabs for my crypts. Can I continue to dose with Flourish at this rate and not have to do water changes whilst my tank is cycling?

TIA.

 

[JackTheCaptain]

Hi!

I don't know that this addresses your question specifically, but it does have some useful info;

CYCLING: the two-sentence tutorial

Change half the water when either ammonia or nitrite approach 0.50ppm (alternately, 25% at 0.25ppm), or weekly, whichever comes first. Add Seachem Prime at 2-drops per gallon of tank size every day until cycled. That’s all you have to do. You can stop reading now. But there’s a lot of...

www.bettafish.com

 

[Newbie22]

I think this mostly applies to a fish in cycle, I’m doing a fish less cycle but thanks anyways.

I know this guide makes it safe, but I can’t bring myself to do a fish in cycle. I deal with euthanasia on a weekly basis and I just can’t do it.