FishProfiles.com Message Forums

1. It won't be cycled by the end of the week.
2. Its great to see you doing a fishless cycle.
3. No need to change any water yet,you have not fish.
4. Try to keep the ammonia at 5ppm.

Everything is going fine, hand in there.

Its a Fishless [font color="#008000"]BIO-SPIRA[/font], which should significantly reduce the cycle time. With that being said, thanks for the replies

[span class="edited"][Edited by sly 2004-07-14 08:19][/span]

I wouldnt add anymore ammonia till it drops down to 1ppm. i think u have overdosed. I don't know the size of your tank but i used 15 drops of pure ammonia for a 29 gallon tank to get to 5ppm. 9ml is heaps. let the ammonia drop till it gets to just a trace of colour on your test kit.
no nitrite yet also shows there is too much ammonia.


good luck my fishless cycle took 13 days.

oops, just read the bio spira bit that explains the low reading of nitrite and then it being used up so quick.

Still the amount of ammonia is too much ease up on that.

Yeah, I stop putting addidtional ammonia until I see a decrease. I''ll take your advice and wait for it to go down to 1ppm.

I'll keep this thread updated until I finish my first cycle ever! ]

Updated the stats. Ammonia decreased to 3ppm, Nitrite appears to be .5pmm, and Nitrate rose to 20ppm.

I hope I'm nearing the end soon

[span class="edited"][Edited by sly 2004-07-14 10:33][/span]

I started on 7/8/04 (Last Thursday) and finally I see nitrate. Its was ~7.5ppm Monday and today, it is about ~10+.

However, my ammonia has not decreased so I'm kind of worried. I may have added too much ammonia...

I'm hoping it will finish by the end of this week though.

Fishless Cycle w/ [font color="#C00000"]Bio-Spira[/font]

7/8 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia 5ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite 0[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 0[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 9mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/9 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia 4ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite 0[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 0[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 0mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/10 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia 3ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite 0[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 0[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 0mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/11 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia 4ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite 0[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 0[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 8mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/12 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia 5ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite .3ppm[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 7.5[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 3mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/13 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia 5ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 10[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 0mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/14 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia 3ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite .5[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 20[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 0mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/15 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia 2ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite .5[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 15[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 0mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/16 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia 1ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite 3[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 15[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 4.6mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/17 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia ~0ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite 4[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 15[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 4.6mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/18 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia ~0ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite 4[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 15[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 4.6mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/19 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia ~0ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite 4[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 15[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 4.6mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/20 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia ~0ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite 4[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 15[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 4.6mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/21 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia ~0ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite 4[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 15[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 4.6mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/22 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia ~0ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite 4[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 15[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 4.6mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/23 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia ~0ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite 4[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 15[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 4.6mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/24 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia ~0ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite 4[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 15[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 3.6mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/25 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia ~0ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite 4[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 15[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 3.6mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/26 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia ~0ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite 4[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 15[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 3.6mL pure ammonia[/font]
7/27 -[font color="#008000"]Ammonia ~0ppm[/font], [font color="#C00000"]Nitrite 4[/font], [font color="#BF791F"]Nitrate 15[/font], [font color="#000080"]Dosed 2mL pure ammonia[/font]

The readings may not be 100% correct since this is my first time using kits.









[span class="edited"][Edited by sly 2004-07-24 10:28][/span]

[span class="edited"][Edited by sly 2004-07-27 08:50][/span]

Stop - dont panic.

give it time.

Amonia will decrease as bacteria turns it to nitrite so an increase in this is when cycling is normal.
Bacteria then forms to turn nitrites to nitrates. so sounds like this hasn't happend in your tank yet.

so sounds like everything is fine to me. just let your friendly bacteria do there job and you should see your nitrites levels peak and then decrease as the nitrates level increases.

I added 1mL of ammonia because it was pretty low at the beginning of the day (1ppm).

Im becoming fimiliar with the cycle as I am going through it at this time, but with a full stock of fish (beginners mistake). But are there any visual presences to take note of signafying how the cycle is doing? Such as a tan slimy alge (which i do have on my power head filter) Or should i clean that off a.s.a.p.?

My tank hasn't shown any changes in color. I've using two filters---one 111GPH Fluval canister and one Aquaclear 150GPSH hang-on filter. Even with a small piece of driftwood, I didn't see any changes in color.

Hi sly,

did the same thing as you are doing.
Have a read of the link
http://www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/thread.asp?id=40379

I don't have a nitrATE tester so no results on that line but the rest you can compare with.

With bio-spira you should be able to add a full stock of fish directly after putting the bio-spira in. If the tank isn't balanced out and totally cycled within a day or two, then you got some dud bio-spira. Dud bio-spira could be due to improper handling during transit ( must be kept refrigerated at ALL times) or its self life is expired.

Bio-spira isn't a cycling " helper"...it's the actual nitrifying bacteria...and it's actually alive..not dead bacteria in an ammonia base like many cycling products are.

Others may have different opinions, but I can direct you to countless independent studies if you would like.

If thats correct then the ammonia and nitrite levels should be ~0ppm right after Bio-Spira is put in?

So in my case with the fishless approach, after some dosage of pure ammonia, both my ammonia and nitrite should be zero after a couple days...


From what I've seen, Bio-Spira is not instant and still needs time to cycle.

[span class="edited"][Edited by sly 2004-07-16 22:48][/span]