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  1. #11
    Eternal Moderator Merrilyn's Avatar
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    give it another try next time you ned to cycle a tank. It does work. I have the tank set upjust as it will be when I add fish, with lights heater plants etc. Add water from the tap but do not add de-chlor. Let filter and air stone run for 24 hours then seed with bacteria from another tank (gravel, old filter medium plants etc) and start adding your ammonia. Full cycle takes me from 12 to 18 days.
    Cheers - Merrilyn
    Thirty-five years keeping and breeding discus, and I'm still learning :P

    Merrilyn has passed, but will not be forgotten - Goodbye dear friend

  2. #12
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    Normally when i have a nitrite peak that last prolonged lengths of time, i perform a water change to bring it back too 2-3ppm, leave it for 24hours and then add a slight bit more. Remember you should half the amount of ammonia once the nitrite peak hits, i woud even go less than half.

  3. #13
    Wrigglers
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    Quote Originally Posted by flukes
    Remember you should half the amount of ammonia once the nitrite peak hits, I would even go less than half.
    I adjusted the amount of ammonia I added so that the level in the tank was a constant 5ppm. Nitrite just kept rising. If I stopped adding ammonia, which I did after a couple of weeks, the levels of ammonia in the tank dropped to almost 0 within a couple of days.

    I can only guess that I never got a decent colony of Nitrite -> Nitrate bacteria.

  4. #14
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    did you use any seeding material from another tank??
    I have found that it can greatly decrease the time of cycling.

  5. #15
    Wrigglers
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    Quote Originally Posted by flukes
    did you use any seeding material from another tank??
    I have found that it can greatly decrease the time of cycling.
    Didn't have another tank at the time. Used "Stress Zyme" and "Cycle" without much success.

  6. #16
    Eternal Moderator Merrilyn's Avatar
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    Haven't had much success with Cycle. I understand the principle but I always thought bacteria had to have oxygen to live. Don't quite understand how you get live bacteria in a sealed bottle. If you can use old filter medium from another tank, try that next time. You may find that more successful.
    Thirty-five years keeping and breeding discus, and I'm still learning :P

    Merrilyn has passed, but will not be forgotten - Goodbye dear friend

  7. #17
    Wrigglers
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    Quote Originally Posted by ladyred
    Haven't had much success with Cycle. I understand the principle but I always thought bacteria had to have oxygen to live. Don't quite understand how you get live bacteria in a sealed bottle.
    I came to the same conclusion $40 later. If bacteria need oxygen to survive, how can they give in an air-tight bottle for 12+ months?

    Quote Originally Posted by ladyred
    If you can use old filter medium from another tank, try that next time. You may find that more successful
    I set up a new tank a couple of weeks ago. I ran the new filter in my old main tank for a week. Then I filled the new tank with 100% old tank water. Then put in about a dozen Wisteria plants and the filter. Then the pair of discus. A week later I've got barely registering Ammonia and Nitrite. Nothing a 20% water change can't remove.

  8. #18
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    Should always cycle mate, and discus arnt the fish too be using it for.
    Now they are in there i would just be checking the water cpecs every day.
    Next tank have a go with the fishless cycle again, using a seeded sponge you should see results sooner. Also the ammonia and nitrite dont have to be exactly 5pm for the cycle too work it will work with a 3-4ppm reading it just might take a bit longer.
    Its really worth it because you know the tank can convert ammonia too nitrates in a matter of hours at a reading of up too 5ppm, more than a tank full of heavily feed fish could produce in the same time.

    Anyway mate good luck with it and just keep trying, if the hobby was easy there would be no fun!

  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by flukes
    Should always cycle mate, and discus arnt the fish too be using it for.
    Perhaps I didn't explain correctly. I wouldn't use discus to cycle a tank.

    By putting the filter in my main tank for a week, it should have been populated by bacteria. As would the water from the main tank. Finally, it's been shown that most aquatic plants actually prefer ammonia to nitrate, so the plants I put in should also help.

    When I say I have low readings of Ammonia and Nitrite, I mean barely detectable. Certainly not even half way to the first indicator on my test kits.

    IMO the tank had a full bacterial load, or was fully cycled, before I put the discus in. I'd never delibrately stress my discus, especially a breeding pair.
    Quote Originally Posted by flukes
    Now they are in there i would just be checking the water cpecs every day.
    Which I am doing. This morning I'd say ammonia was <0.2ppm and nitite was 0. pH 6.7.

  10. #20
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    All good mate i read the post wrong, what ever the bacteria cant convert the plants soon will.

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