Whats the Best amount of time to do a Fishless Cycle?

Question

I just got new gravel, a live plant and because of poor quality stock and I know I am supposed to do a fishless cycle. How long should I do a fishless cycle for? I have my filter running and all of supplements added in (e.g. bio additives, clhorine remover, plant food) What is the best way to do a fishless cycle? The tank is only for 1 goldfish

Answer 1

Hi Sue, Several members of my forum have successfully done fishless cycles & although I have never done one myself I would certainly use it should I need to & recommend it for several reasons: First & foremost you will not have to subject any poor fish to the stresses involved in enduring a cycle-no mater how 'hearty' they are claimed to be. Another point against using fish is what to do with those individuals who have survived the cycle when you just used them for that purpose, not wanting to keep them?

You also have a lot more precise control over the process by the fishless method-you can monitor it daily with water tests & finally if by some chance you make a serious error no one suffers-except your pride!

The attached link tells you all about the fishless cycle-this is the page we have on our forum that the people mentioned above followed. You can see near the top of the page are several sample times the author's tanks have taken to cycle-generally the bigger the tank-the quicker it will cycle but just use those as a rough guide-every cycle is slightly different. Have fun!

Answer 2

I haven't done a fishless cycle yet, nor do I really believe this is any more beneficial then doing it with some hardy fish. How long cycles take I don't think varies that much. I think a fishless might go slightly faster because you wouldn't have to stress overfeeding fish, waste removal, ect... but the process of bacteria building and growing still remains the same. I feel one downside to fishless vs fish is you have to closely monitor your levels and make sure you put enough ammonia (fuel source) in or run the danger of your bacteria dying off, whereas if you have fish in there, even if you don't feed them for a day or two, ammonia still gets put in to the amounts necessary, because it will grow tailored to the population. Even with fishless, you still can't just dump a stock full of fish in and think a spike in ammonia and nitrite won't occur. You still have to ramp that tank up just as slow as if you cycled with fish. The overall time really doesn't change all that much. ROUGH estimate, about 7-10s you'll still be showing ammonia in the water, around 17-24 days for nitrites to be there and then 0 out. These times will vary from tank to tank depending on too many aspects to say, it takes x amount of time though.

JV

Answer 3

There are several ways of doing a fishless cycle (using raw shrimp to using household ammonia, etc).

For effective monitoring of fishless process (or with fish, for that matter) you'll require ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test kits.

You'll first experience an increased level of ammonia. Eventually it will subside, only to be followed up with a high level of nitrites. That too will subside. Your tank is considered cycled when ammonia and nitrite both are at 0ppm and the accumulation of nitrate is present in the tank.

The entire process takes weeks (4-6 weeks, the same as if you used fish), plus or minus depending on the quantity of ammonia used or produced in the tank. The results of your test kits will let you know when.

There are ways to accelerate the process (for example, using established filter media in the filters on the new tank, or using Bio-Spira).

Answer 4

It really depends on a lot of factors
But the real question is, when you would know that it is cycled, simple answer, as soon as your ammonia and nitrite readings are at "0" and you have some nitrate readings in the range under 10ppm
Nitrites convert to nitrates


Hope that helps
Good luck


EB

Answer 5

Well, how long a tank takes to cycle really depends on how encourage the process. It can take as little as 2 weeks, but more than likely, it takes between 4 and 6 weeks. With fish or any pet, patience is key to many things. Just look at it this way. It may seem like forever before you actually get to put fish in that tank, but at least you know that when you do, you are giving them the perfect home that will keep them happy and healthy! Here is a link to a step-by-step process. Good luck!