Cycle Your New Aquarium The EASY Way (Beginner Friendly!)

Last Updated on July 12, 2019 by Ian Sterling 554 Comments

You bought your new aquarium, filled it with water. The next step is adding fish, right?

Hold up!

If you add your fish now, they will soon be dead.

Seriously.

Before you add any fish to your aquarium, there is one important thing you must do:

Cycle it!

To beginners, the nitrogen cycle is considered the most confusing part about owning an aquarium.

But don’t worry – it doesn’t have to be this way.

I am going to show you how to cycle your aquarium the right way, with fishless cycling – it’s much easier than it looks.

What is the nitrogen cycle and why is it so important?
The nitrogen cycle process
What happens if you don’t cycle your aquarium?
How long does it take to cycle your aquarium?
How to cycle your aquarium the easy way
FishLab’s 6-step cycle method

What is the nitrogen cycle and why is it so important?

You may have heard the terms biological cycle, nitrification process or break-in cycle. Don’t get confused, these all refer to the same thing I cover in this guide – the nitrogen cycle.

Before I show you how to perform a cycle, it’s important that you know what is going on behind the scenes.

Imagine swimming in a pool surrounded by your own pee and poop.

Sounds horrible, right?

Your fish feel the same.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a toilet for fish. So, your fish will poop and pee in the same water they swim in. That’s like you pooping in your bedroom!

As your fish’s pee, poop and other waste breaks down, it releases ammonia into the water. Ammonia is a toxic substance that will kill your fish. Death by poop? No thank you!

Luckily, nature is on your side. The nitrogen cycle prevents your fish from meeting this horrible end.

In this natural three-stage process, you encourage beneficial bacteria (good bacteria) to become established in your tank and filter, keeping your fish safe from ammonia.

Let’s take a closer look at the nitrogen cycle…

The nitrogen cycle process

See this diagram? This is the nitrogen cycle in a nutshell. Let’s break it down.

Stage 1: Ammonia (Harmful)

It begins with waste. Poop, pee, uneaten fish food and rotting plants all give off ammonia as they break down.

Ammonia will continue to build up in your tank, reaching deadly levels. That is, until a beneficial bacteria that eats it begins to form. These bacteria naturally appear in your tank on their own and once they grow in number, they can eat ammonia as quickly as it appears.

You know these bacteria are present in your aquarium when your ammonia levels begin to decline, typically after the first week. And when that happens, you know that you are entering the second stage of the nitrogen cycle…

Stage 2: Nitrites (Harmful)

As your ammonia levels begin to decline, you notice that the nitrite levels begin to rise. This is because the bacteria that eat the ammonia give off a new chemical – nitrite.^[1]

Just like ammonia, nitrites are highly toxic to your fish.

But not to worry because as your nitrite levels rise, a second bacteria appears in your aquarium. It’s favorite food? Nitrites

Once this good bacteria grows in number, it can eat nitrites as quickly as they are produced.

You know this bacteria is present in your aquarium when you see your nitrite levels begin to fall. When this happens, you have entered the final stage of the nitrogen cycle.

Stage 3: Nitrates (Harmless)

As your nitrite levels decline, you notice that the nitrate levels rise. This is because the bacteria that eat nitrites give off a new chemical – nitrate.^[2]

Nitrates are the final product of the nitrogen cycle. And, they are relatively harmless to your aquarium, at least in small amounts.

But as nitrates build up, they can become toxic to your fish. Fortunately, nitrates can be lowered back to harmless levels by performing a water change. In fact, this is one of the reasons why you should be performing regular water changes on your aquarium.

Important: With just a single letter separating nitrites and nitrates, it’s easy to confuse the two. Remember… Nitrites are highly toxic to your fish while nitrates are not harmful in small amounts.

And, that’s really all there is to the nitrogen cycle!

That wasn’t so hard, was it?

When you cycle your aquarium, you are simply forcing your tank to undergo the nitrogen cycle.

The reason you need to cycle your aquarium is so that these two beneficial bacteria can grow to the point that they can eat the harmful ammonia and nitrites as quickly as they produced.

FishLab Fact: The bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrites and nitrites to nitrates are called nitrifying bacteria.

At this point, you can consider your aquarium effectively cycled.

It’s important to understand that the nitrogen cycle is continuous. While you can’t see it, this cycle is constantly happening in your aquarium, keeping your fish safe from harm.

What happens if you don’t cycle your aquarium?

The nitrogen cycle is a funny thing in that it’s going to happen whether you want it to or not.

If you add your fish to an uncycled aquarium, the food and poop breaking down is going to introduce ammonia, which kick-starts the cycling process.

In fact, this is the very idea behind fish-in cycling – a method of cycling an aquarium that is best left to the experts.

Just one problem…

You see, your fish are in the tank while toxic ammonia and nitrite levels rise. To say these things are dangerous to your fish is an understatement.

This toxic environment is incredibly harsh on your fish – most fish cannot survive this cycle, and the ones that do are more susceptible to disease and don’t live as long.

So while a tank may cycle itself without any effort on your part, there is no guarantee that your brand new fish will survive it.

Unfortunately, if you have already bought fish to go with your new tank, a fish-in cycle maybe your only option.

If you are in this unfortunate position, don’t panic. I created a fish-in cycling guide that will give your fish the best chance of survival.

How long does it take to cycle your aquarium?

The other day I was stocking up on supplies at a major pet store. In the next aisle, I overheard a conversation between an employee and shopper who wanted to buy a pet fish.

I won’t bore you with the details, but the employee was working hard to pitch this shopper a new tank – claiming that modern tanks only take one day to cycle. After this 24-hour period, it’s safe for fish.

Those of you with a bit of experience will see right through this lie.

But for those of you who are new to the hobby, cycling your aquarium is going to take a lot longer than that!

How long?

Depending on who you ask, cycling your aquarium can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months.

The best answer:

It will be finished when it’s finished.

If you are lucky, your cycle might be short. But don’t be upset if it takes longer – we’ve all been there before and it sucks!

The problem is that the bacteria you introduce in the cycle grow very slowly. And all you can do is wait.

It is for this reason that you should cycle your aquarium before you buy your fish. Don’t add them to your aquarium before it has cycled.

Remember… Cycling isn’t an instant process. But you have to do it if you are planning on keeping happy and healthy fish.

But don’t stress – I’ll cover some tricks that you can use to speed up the cycling timeline later in this guide.

If you do not have the patience to cycle your aquarium, then fish are not the right pet for you.

How to cycle your aquarium the easy way

There are two ways to cycle your aquarium:

Fishless cycle – A beginner-friendly and harmless method to cycle your aquarium

Fish-in cycling – Recommended only for experts because this method could potentially kill your fish

As you probably guessed, this guide covers cycling a tank without risking the lives of fish. And, it is the most popular and common technique used to cycle aquariums.

Note: There are many ways to perform a fishless cycle. This beginner-friendly method, if followed step-by-step, is almost foolproof.

What do you need to perform a fishless cycle?

When it comes to cycling your aquarium, you only need three products…

1. An aquarium test kit

The nitrogen cycle is an invisible process. The only way to truly understand what is happening inside your tank is to test for it. And, the most popular way to do that is with an aquarium test kit.

I recommend buying a master test kit like the one above because it contains every test that you need to cycle your aquarium at one low cost.

Learn how a test kit works. Check out FishLab’s aquarium test kit guide.

2. Ammonia

Instead of waiting for waste to break down into ammonia, add it directly. This will make it easier to keep ammonia levels constant.

Important: Use 100% pure ammonia. Many household ammonias contain scents and additives, and this is going to kill your cycle before you even start. Stick to pure ammonia, like the one above.

3. Dechlorinator

Are you using tap water to fill your aquarium? Be aware that it contains chloramine and chlorine, two chemicals that kill beneficial bacteria in your tank.

Fear not! Adding a good water conditioner to your aquarium will dechlorinate your water, making it safe for the beneficial bacteria (and fish when you finally add them).

Use this whenever you add tap water to your aquarium.

Have these on hand? Good. You are now going to learn how to cycle your aquarium in 6 simple steps.

FishLab’s 6-step cycle method

Cycling your aquarium is easy…

As long as you carefully follow the instructions!

So, slow down and make sure you understand each step before moving to the next. If you don’t, you risk ruining the cycle. And if that happens, you will have to start over.

Step 1. Set up your aquarium

You know all that equipment you got with your aquarium? Well, you need to set all that up.

Heater, filter, air pump, substrate, plants… Get it in there.

Why do you need your tank fully set up?

Well, beneficial bacteria needs a surface to cling to, namely your substrate and filter media. In fact, most of the bacteria will call your filter home.

Once your tank is set up, you want to keep any electrical equipment, such as heaters, bubblers and filters, switched on throughout the cycling process. Doing so encourages the beneficial bacteria to grow and may even make your tank cycle faster.

Note: Beneficial bacterial prefer temperature between 65-85 degrees Fahrenheit. Growth is slower outside of this temperature range – which can cause your cycle to take longer to complete. Check your water temperature with an accurate aquarium thermometer.

Step 1 Summary

Set up your aquarium
Turn on all electrical equipment

Step 2: Check your pH

This is perhaps one of the most commonly missed steps when it comes to cycling your tank – and a common cause of failed cycles.

You see, the cycling process can slow down or even stop if the pH level of your water drops below 7.

Since the master test kit includes a pH test, it would be silly not to use it now.

So, check the water you added to your aquarium with your test kit. If it’s below 7, you need to raise your pH before moving to the next step.

Good news! This won’t be a problem for most of you because the majority of water supplies across the United States test at a pH that is greater than 7.

Even so, you want to continue performing pH tests throughout the cycling process. You see, the beneficial bacteria in your tank give off acids that lower the water pH over time.

If you notice that your pH levels drop under 7, a simple 20% water change is all that’s needed to raise the pH and get the cycle going again.

So, make sure you test your pH regularly and adjust it if needed.

Step 2 Summary

Test the pH of your water
Adjust when lower than 7 pH

Step 3: Add your ammonia

In a brand new tank, there won’t be any waste, meaning nothing to break down into ammonia. So, we must add it ourselves.

Simply take your Fritz Ammonia and read the instructions.

At the time of writing this, one level teaspoon of Fritz Ammonia per 100 gallons of water will give you an ammonia level of 4 parts per million (ppm).

You need to know how much water is in your aquarium in order to add the correct amount of ammonia. Use FishLab’s gallon calculator if you are unsure of just how much water your tank holds.

So, measure out your ammonia…

Fish tanks less than 40 gallons: Aim for 2 ppm

Fish tanks more than 40 gallons: Aim for 4 ppm

While you can steal the measuring spoons from your kitchen, I recommend having a dedicated set of measuring tools for your aquarium.

You now want to make sure that you have added the correct amount of ammonia. And to do this you are going to use your aquarium test kit, which will give you a result in ppm

But before you do that, you want to let the ammonia sit for an hour, so that it evenly distributes throughout the water. Next, measure the ammonia levels using the ammonia test from your master test kit – Make sure you follow the instructions provided by the test kit for accurate results.

If your ammonia readings are less than the above levels, add more ammonia and re-test.

If your ammonia levels are higher, perform a water change. Doing so will swap out your high-ammonia water with ammonia-free water, lowering the levels.

Record the amount of ammonia that you added. You will need that information in the rest of the steps.

Ammonia levels higher than 5 ppm can actually slow down the cycling process.

Now, the next part will test your patience. Check your ammonia levels each day with the test kit. This is as much as you can do for now. You are waiting for your ammonia levels to drop.

This typically takes a week. Once a week has passed, it’s time to move onto the next step.

Bookmark this page so that you can easily find it when you are ready for the next step!

See you next week!

Step 3 Summary

Add ammonia to your aquarium
Daily testing to monitor ammonia levels
Don’t forget to test the pH every few days

Step 4: The ammonia eating bacteria appears

After a week has passed, it’s time to test for nitrites. So, grab your nitrite test kit and check the levels.

If your test comes back positive, congratulations – your cycle has officially started!

Now, it’s important to remember that this bacteria feeds on ammonia. And the only thing adding ammonia to this aquarium is you. If your ammonia levels reach zero, this bacteria will starve, and you will have to start your cycle all over again.

So, we are going to give this bacteria a little more food. Add half the amount of ammonia that you added on day one, but make sure that your ammonia levels remain under 5 ppm.

Now what you want to do is monitor your nitrites, testing daily. You should notice the nitrite levels continue to rise. Once you see your nitrite levels start to drop, it’s time to move onto the next step.

See you again in a few days!

Step 4 Summary

Once nitrites are detected, add a half dose of ammonia
Ensure ammonia levels are less than 5 ppm (but greater than 0 ppm)
Daily testing of ammonia and nitrite levels
Don’t forget to test the pH every few days

Step 5: The nitrite eating bacteria appears

To confirm that the nitrite drop is due to the beneficial bacteria, use your test kit to check for nitrates. If they are present, you are now in the final stage of cycling your tank.

Now, we still want to make sure that the bacteria has enough food to eat. So add a half dose of ammonia as needed, each day if you have too, to keep the levels above 1 ppm.

Continue testing. When you can add a half dose of ammonia and both your ammonia and nitrite levels read zero 24 hours later, your nitrogen cycle is complete.

Woo! Home stretch… Just one more step to make it official!

Step 5 Summary

Test to confirm nitrates
Daily testing of ammonia and nitrite levels
Add half doses of ammonia every few days
When both ammonia and nitrites show <0.2 ppm, swap to daily dosing
Test until both ammonia and nitrites read zero 24 hours after dosing
Don’t forget to test the pH every few days

Step 6: The Final Test

You are so close. You just want to make sure that your tank is fully cycled. To do that, one last test is in order…

Once your ammonia and nitrite levels reach zero, add a full dose of Fritz Ammonia, the same amount that you added on day one. Now, will need to wait one last time…

Check back in 24 hours. Test your ammonia and nitrite levels. If both read zero….

Congratulations!

Your patience has paid off, and your tank is now fully cycled.

If you record your test kit readings each day, you will have a clear understanding of the nitrogen cycle.

This chart is from the last time I cycled my tank:

It took me 28 days to cycle the aquarium.

You see a distinct rise and fall of ammonia and nitrites as the beneficial bacteria become established in the tank. You can also see how nitrates drop at each water change.

I highly recommend recording the results of your test kits each day. Not only will it give you a better understanding of what is happening in your tank, but you can also use the results for troubleshooting.

Now that your tank is cycled, the bacteria colonies are large enough to remove ammonia and nitrites as quickly as they are produced…This nasty stuff won’t be harming your fish anytime soon!

But before you add your fish, you want to perform a water change to remove those built up nitrates.

Speaking of which… You should add your fish to your tank now. If you don’t plan on adding fish just yet, keep dosing the tank with ammonia daily. This will ensure that the beneficial bacteria don’t starve. If the bacteria starve and dye, you are going to have to cycle your fish-tank all over again.

It might have felt like a lot of effort, but your hard work will be rewarded once you see just how healthy and happy your fish are. And, it’s all thanks to your newly cycled tank!

Conclusion

Phew, you did it! You should be proud of yourself. Your patience has paid off, and your tank is now cycled.

By cycling your aquarium, you give your fish the best possible chance to live a happy and healthy life.

Just remember that once started, the nitrogen cycle consistently runs in the background of your aquarium.

But you are not home free just yet.

You still need to continuously monitor your ammonia and nitrite levels to ensure that something hasn’t gone wrong. I recommend that you include testing your tank as part of your maintenance routine.

How did you cycle your aquarium? Let me know in the comments below!

Emergency: Performing a Fish-in Cycle The RIGHT Way

Super-Speed Secrets To A Faster Aquarium Cycle

Beginners Guide to the Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle

Ian Sterling

I've been keeping fish for over 30 years and currently have 4 different aquariums – it's an addiction. I'm here to teach you everything there is to know about fishkeeping.

I also use this site as an excuse to spend lots of money on testing and reviewing different aquarium products! You can find my reviews here.

Comments

valerie struski says
August 21, 2019 at 11:58 am
hi ian! i am back. oh man, things have been interesting. so, the aquarium people here don’t know anything about fishless cycling, they all do fish-in, so i didn’t go to them and waited it out. in less than a week the ammonia dropped again, yay. after another bit of time my nitrites finally dropped to zero- super yay! and my nitrates read at like 80-100+ ppm. (it’s super dark red, but i’m just not sure which number.) i was so excited. so, i put another dose of ammonia in the tank, brining it up to 3-4ppm, hoping it would cycle in 24 hours and then i could FINALLY get fish. well it has been almost 2 weeks later and the ammonia has barely gone down, it is still at 1ppm.
so, i don’t know what to do. am i really stalled AGAIN?! can i not get fish yet??
appreciate your advice.
valerie
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  August 23, 2019 at 4:26 am
  Hi Valerie,
  Fish-in is a little old-fashioned but some people still do it. Unfortunately, some petshops recommend fish-in as it allows them to sell you extra products and fish that are not necessary in a fishless cycle.
  Okay, so your tank was almost certainly “cycled”.
  In order for me to better help, What are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate pH and temperature reading today?
  Reply
April says
August 20, 2019 at 4:57 am
Hi there, I started up a new tank (10 gallon) with new gravel plus a handful of other gravel, some rocks, an old catappa leaf and moss balls from a mature tank. No plants or animals. I read that putting in these things from an already established tank helps speed up the nitrogen cycle. I also used Seachem Prime and Seachem Stability which contains live bacteria for tank cycling. It has been almost 2 weeks and yesterday I added in the filtration (a sponge filter and hob filter) and heaters. I tested the water with Tetra easy strip tests. I’m now thinking that I may be trying to cycle the wrong way but the results came up with ammonia at between 0 and 0.5, nitrite at 0, nitrates at a little under 20, and pH at 7.8. I don’t know how I already have nitrates so fast, I’m a little confused.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  August 20, 2019 at 5:44 am
  Hi April,
  Test strips are the least accurate way to test your aquarium, and can often give false results. I highly recommend buying an aquarium test kit (I personally recommend the API Master test kit, it has everything you need when starting out) not only are these more accurate, but cheaper in the long run.
  Now, as for the readings, in some instances, the cycle can go slightly differently. For instance, the nitrite eating bacteria may establish themselves quicker than the ammonia eating bacteria. This can lead to nitrites reading zero before the ammonia does.
  Also, time is different for everyone. Some people experience the cycle in just a few days, others take months. It sounds like everything is normal here, but I would grab a proper test kit to confirm – water quality is the most important thing in keeping healthy fish, and you want to accurately be able to measure it.
  Reply
Dominique says
August 17, 2019 at 12:45 am
UPDATE:
I have tested my tap water and it is about an 8PH. I have done 2 water changes at about 20% each and I cant seem to get my PH to raise in the tank! What do i do?
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  August 17, 2019 at 5:00 am
  Give it a day and then do a 50% water change (don’t forget to redose with ammonia, water changes dilute it) then wait an hour for the water to settle and re-test.
  Reply
Dominique says
August 16, 2019 at 11:30 pm
Okay, so I just tested my tank that I am cycling without fish using ammonia. The readings I got are between
6.4-6.4 PH
1-2ppm Ammo
0.50 nitrites (which has dropped alot it was off the charts before)
5.0ppm nitrates (this was also off the charts a few days ago)
what should I do at this point?
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  August 17, 2019 at 4:59 am
  When you say nitrates was off the charts, did you do a water change or three to get it back down? Nitrate does not decrease without your input.
  Everything otherwise seems normal, although I wouldn’t want pH to drop much more. If it gets much lower you would need to raise it. Otherwise it’s more waiting here. It looks like you are on the right path.
  Reply
Dominique says
August 16, 2019 at 10:38 pm
Hello again Ian,
I just thought of this and wanted to ask you – in my 10 gallons and 5.5 gallons I have Marineland filter and marina which I customized with a sponge, carbon and bio rings. However, I purchased a 5-gallon top fin tank which has a built-in filter with a cartridge it is very small so I can’t fit anything in there with the cartridge in place – I also have a 3 gallon top fin betta sooth tank which has a built-in filter in the middle.
Would you suggest taking out the cartridges and adding my own media? I have sponges, carbon, and bio rings… If I do remove the cartridge since the filter is tall and not long how in what order would you place the media? My only concern would be removing the cartridge and getting rid of the bacteria – keep in mind these are the tanks that have been cycling 3 weeks and showing no ammonia.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  August 17, 2019 at 4:57 am
  I agree with your thoughts 100% here. If they are those disposable filters, with the fleece like sponge, rip or cut that off and squeeze it in with your new sponge, that’s where the beneficial bacteria, if any will be hiding. Your customized filter sounds like it is much better for the job.
  Reply
Elaine S. says
August 12, 2019 at 9:43 pm
Hi, I need a little help with a new aquarium. I took home a Betta that was living in a small bowl at my workplace. I got a 5 gallon tank with a filter (charcoal cartridge type) and set everything up. I added Tetra Safe Start and then went ahead and added my Betta (I wanted to get him out of the small bowl quickly) with the plan to follow your guide for in-fish cycling with Seacham Prime. I have the API test kit. I waited a week and tested the water. Ammonia was .25. Began testing every 48 hours. Ammonia has remained between .25 – .5 now for about 4 weeks. I had Nitrites of .5 for one test and then Nitrites went back down to 0 and there are 0 Nitrates. I have dosed with Prime every time I test. The Ammonia seems to be creeping up very slowly. I have done no water changes except for maybe a cup that is removed when I clean debris from the tank. I added a piece of aquarium sponge to the filter box hoping that would help build bacteria. I have no idea how to move forward. It’s as if he is still in the small bowl just building Ammonia up more slowly. Any help would be appreciated.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  August 13, 2019 at 6:30 am
  Hi Elaine,
  I just want to make sure you are reading your test kit results in natural daylight? This can have a big impact on the colors you see – indoor lighting can make the test results look off. I just want to confirm you are reading the results correctly since this is a common mistake that is made when first starting out.
  Next, can you confirm that there is no zeolite or other ammonia removing media in your filter? This can cause the cycle to stall.
  Otherwise, it sounds like you are on the right path and it’s just a matter of more waiting. Unfortunately, much of the cycle is just waiting. Hang in there!
  Reply
  - Elaine says
    August 14, 2019 at 12:28 am
    Hi, I am reading the results in front of a window so I think they are correct. Yesterday the ammonia was between .5 – 1 so it appears to be climbing. I researched what I could about the filter and this is all the info I can find: Helps absorb odors, pigments, and chlorine with activated carbon. Would you recommend changing the media in my filter to something else? Sorry, I am really new at this. Thanks for the help.
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      August 14, 2019 at 4:33 am
      Activated carbon is fine. Just be mindful that if you are using one of those disposable filters, you are essentially removing the beneficial bacteria every time you replace it. Ceramic rings work best as a home for beneficial bacteria, this way when you swap out the sponge, it doesn’t crash your cycle. I generally don’t recommend these disposable filters (if that’s what you have) as they are an ongoing cost and a bit of a scam. There are filters that allow you to install cheap sponge that lasts months and months and ceramic rings that last years. If your current filter has room for ceramic rings, I highly recommend stocking up. You can never have enough “biofiltration” which is the beneficial bacteria that live on these.
      If your ammonia is between .5 and 1 then it’s climbing and it will only be a matter of time before nitrites appear (it still could be a week or so out though) hang in there!
      Reply
Rachel says
August 6, 2019 at 9:10 pm
I’m completely lost I guess. I’ve been cycling a new 40 gallon since about 7/27. I’m using liquid ammonia (the one you suggest) and on about day 7, I did start showing Nitrite. Yesterday I came home and tested like I do every day, and both the ammonia AND the nitrites were down but not to zero. I tested the nitrates, and they were at about 20. PH was at about 7.
I added ammonia, not wanting my nitrites to starve. This morning, my boyfriend tested and now my Nitrites look very high (5ppm) and my nitrates are SKY high at 160. I don’t know what else to do other than a water change to get that nitrate level down. What am I doing wrong here? Am I about to get to start all over? Should we have waited to test until this evening?
NO FISH. We do have live plants and we are running the filtration and a bubbler and the heater.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  August 7, 2019 at 6:33 am
  Hi Rachel,
  It’s possible you misread the test when you first did it – indoor lighting can really throw the colors off. If you test in natural daylight, you’ll get a much more accurate reading.
  The good news is that nothing here sounds wrong, your cycle has not settled yet. The nitrates are particuarly high, a 50% water change will drop this roughly in half. You’ll probably want to do a few of these (one a day, to get things back down to normal levels) you’ll need to sort this out when you add fish anyway.
  Just remember that a water change also drops your ammonia levels too, so you’ll need to redose after.
  Reply
  - Rachel says
    August 7, 2019 at 7:41 am
    Yay! That’s what I did. 50% water change today, added ammonia and Prime after. At 4pm CST My readings before the water change were 0 ammonia, 2ppm Nitrite, and 40-80 on Nitrate.
    I’ll just keep monitoring daily and go from there until ammonia and Nitrites can go to zero overnight.
    Thanks so much!!
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      August 7, 2019 at 8:46 am
      It sounds like you knew what to do all along and were just looking for reassurance. It all sounds hugely positive, just more waiting unfortunately. Hang in there, don’t let your ammonia levels reach zero and keep doing what you are doing! It will be worth it once it’s all done.
      Reply
valerie struski says
August 2, 2019 at 12:17 pm
hi ian! i am back. i started all over after talking to a local fish person, new water, dechlorinator and everything. (they said our los angeles water normally needs double the amount of dechlorinator.) anyway, all seemed to be going well but then in it has stalled.
after 3 weeks i finally had nitrites, yay! i tested on the 22nd and they were there, around 2-3ppm. so each day for the next 8 days or so i measured my levels. when i would measure at night my ammonia would be around .25 or .5 so i would dose the tank to around 2-3ppm. in 24 hours my ammonia readings would drop again to .25 or .5ppm.
during this time i started getting some nitrate readings. i was so happy, feeling like everything was coming together. i thought i just had to wait for my nitrite levels to drop and i would be ready to FINALLY add fish. however 3 nights ago something happened.
i got another ammonia reading of .25 or .5 ammonia so i dosed the tank to around 3-4ppm.
however, this time after 72 hours my ammonia levels have not really dropped.
my nitrite level is around 1-2ppm.
my nitrate level is between 5-10ppm.
should i be worried that my ammonia level has not dropped after 72 hours, even though for 7 days straight i dosed the tank and it dropped from about 2-3ppm to .25-.5 in a 24 hour period?
also- my nitrites must be at 0 before i can get fish, right?
thoughts?
valerie
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  August 2, 2019 at 2:36 pm
  Hi Valerie,
  Wow, what an adventure you have had – I had no idea LA water was so heavily chlorinated! No wonder beneficial bacteria was not growing! I’m so sorry to hear you have had such a rough start to cycling, hopefully this is the last bump in the road.
  You are 100% correct that your nitrites should be at zero – this indicates a properly cycled tank (the beneficial bacteria are “eating” nitrites as quickly as they are produced, so they will read 0 and won’t harm your fish)
  If you dosed as normal, and have dechlorinated and done everything else as normal, I would expect that the ammonia would decrease at a similar rate as it previously had. Did you do anything different when you dosed? Also, are you reading your results under natural day light (I always ask this, as indoor lighting can make the test results look off)
  I would monitor both your nitrite and nitrate levels and see if they are moving at all, if they are not, something has caused your tank cycle to stall.
  I completely feel for you here, and how frustrating this must be. Are you able to get a second opinion from your local fish person?
  Reply
Chelcee Zang says
July 30, 2019 at 5:50 am
Hello,
I just started cycling my 40 gallon hex tank and had a few questions. I am looking to stock the aquarium with angelfish, mollies, guppies, dwarf frogs, shrimp, and catfish.
1. I get plants in a week which should be about when my Nitrite eating bacteria should appear (day 8-9). Can I plant the plants in the tank at this time or should I wait until the cycle is over since I will have to drain half the water to add plants?
2. My pH is at 8.2 which is really high and I already tried pH down but it is still remaining at the same level so I figured I will try to use the pH 7.0 stabilizer to lower it down. My GH and KH are super high as well. Took 19 drops for GH (which isn’t recorded on the chart) and took 7-8 drops for KH (which is 7 degrees dKH or 125ppm on the chart). Will the high pH and GH keep the bacteria from cultivating properly? Is there a way to reduce the GH of an aquarium since my tap water is way too hard?
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  July 30, 2019 at 12:17 pm
  Hi Chelcee,
  Welcome to the hobby! I highly recommend reading up on just how many different fish you’ll be able to fit in your tank. hex tanks are normally deeper and hold less fish than a simiarly sized rectangular aquarium (due to more surface water being exposed to air) – a lot of problems can come from overstocking a tank, so I highly recommend chatting to your local fishstore (avoid big chain stores) about what can actually fit.
  1. Toss em in whenever. Most of the beneficial bacteria live in your filter and as long as they have constant water flow across them, it won’t impact the cycle. Although, ideally, since you have started the cycle, it would make it easier if you wait until the end – you will be less likely to make a mistake and need to start over. Not saying you will, but there is always that possibility.
  2. That certainly is some hard water you have. I have seen hard water tanks cycle just fine, you just need to be mindful that certain fish don’t like hard water, so it may limit what fish you can choose from. Fortunately, there are plenty of beautiful hard water fish to choose from.
  Reply
Lindsay Wilson says
July 28, 2019 at 10:06 pm
Hello,
I was hoping to get specifics on the water change percentage once the ammonia and nitrites reach zero after the full dose of ammonia in the very final phase. Is it 10%, 20%, or even greater?
Thank you for all of your guidance. It has been a lifesaver!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  July 29, 2019 at 7:06 am
  Hi Lindsay,
  Excellent question.
  The exact amount of water change will depend on how quickly nitrates build up. Ideally, you you don’t want them to reach 40 or higher also ideally, you want to get them back down below 10 with your water change.
  Once done, I’d do a water change or three to get the nitrates as low as possible. From here, you monitor how quick the nitrates rise over the course of the week. This determines the amount of water you change. A 50% water change will roughly drop nitrates by 50%. Overstocked tanks and fish with a high bioload may need more frequent water changes. Overfeeding and not maintaining the tank will also contribute to how quickly nitrates rise.
  Reply
Abuharis.khan says
July 25, 2019 at 9:57 pm
Very informative! Specifically step by step sections will made this page awesome.
Thank you very much Fishlab.com
Reply
Tim says
July 21, 2019 at 9:33 am
am i reading the chart right? On day 10 your ammonia ppm was 10? i thought it was suppose to stay under 5 ppm. Just asking im 4 days in my cycle and just wondering.
Thanks
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  July 21, 2019 at 10:00 am
  Hi Tim,
  You are correct, As I have told others below, this is from a fish in cycle and my intention here was to give an idea as to how the cycle progresses through each chemical. I would hope you are not experiencing anything similar in a fishless cycle. I can see how this chart is confusing and I plan on editing the guide to elaborate when I have the time. I hope this helps – good luck on your cycle and please ask any questions regarding the cycle should they arise!
  Reply
  - Tim says
    July 22, 2019 at 1:07 am
    Oh I’m sorry I didnt see that was a fish in cycle. thanks this article has helped me alot thank you very much
    Reply
    - Dee says
      July 27, 2019 at 11:53 pm
      Great material Ian…l have had various fish tanks for over 8 years, with some level of success in keeping my fish healthy but never considered cycling any of my tanks. After moving and losing all my fish within a space of a week…l’m starting on a clean slate and taking your guidance in doing it the right way.
      So l have my 60 gallon tank cleaned up and set to initiate the cycle.
      Reply
      - Ian Sterling says
        July 28, 2019 at 4:27 am
        Hi Dee,
        It’s very likely you accidentally performed a fish in cycle – While it’s stressful on the fish and can kill them or lead to severely reduced lives, as long as you are not throwing out the filter media where the beneficial bacteria lives, and performing proper maintenance, your tank will eventually cycle itself,
        I’ll be here if you have any questions or concerns regarding the cycle. However, given your previous experience, I’m sure this will be a walk in the park for you.
Zach says
July 16, 2019 at 9:52 pm
I see some people say do not put love plants in during fishless cycle then some say do. What do you think?
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  July 17, 2019 at 5:13 am
  Hi Zach,
  Unless you are dealing with particularly sensitive plants, which require very specific nutrients, then my suggestion is to add plants during the cycle.
  Reply
Zach says
July 16, 2019 at 9:30 am
Do I need to use a bb like safe start or something with api quick start
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  July 16, 2019 at 10:05 am
  Hi Zach,
  Nope, your tank will cycle without these additives.
  Reply
Steve says
July 12, 2019 at 8:17 pm
Hi Ian.
A newbie here and glad that I discovered your very informative blog. I am researching before starting to cycle my new tank and have read through your instructions a few times. However, I noticed in one of your replies below, that you say “Ideally you want nitrates 10 or under, allowing them to increase to a max of 40 before the weekly water change is done (in a non-planted tank)” What should the nitrates range be for a moderately planted tank?
With thanks and keep up the good work.
Steve
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  July 13, 2019 at 4:56 am
  Hi Steve,
  Good question, It entirely depends on what you have planted in your tank. Different plants have different nutrient requirements. If you google “plant name” aquarium care it should bring up care sheets including the amount of nitrates each ideally needs. That then becomes the baseline for your nitrate levels. Remember: some plants are root feeders who draw nutrients from the substrate while others are column feeders who draw nutrients from the water.
  Reply
Gilmore says
July 6, 2019 at 7:51 am
I’ve been following this guide and I’m on day 4. My goal is to have snails, shrimp, and a betta (hoping it won’t eat the shrimp). So I have a piece of driftwood in there along with some live plants. And I also have a substrate that lowers my PH.
Currently, my tank seems to maintain 6.6 ph. Since your guide says to do a water change if it’s below 7 ph, I’ve been doing so. My tap water PH (treated with seachem prime) is 7.4. Whenever I do the water change, my tank water goes back to 6.6 ph every day.
Am I in trouble? Do I need to raise my ph? Should I just keep doing the daily water changes?
Am I just being paranoid? Please advise!
Reply
- Gilmore says
  July 6, 2019 at 7:59 am
  Also, I forgot to mention..
  A friend squeezed his sponge filter into a container and added his tank water in. I put that into my tank to jump start the process, but I’m not sure how much it helps.
  Currently, the ammonia is sitting around 2-3ppm with 0 nitrite and 10-20ppm nitrate. I know that means it’s not fully cycled. Do I need to add extra ammonia to it or leave it since it’s staying around 2-3ppm?
  Thank you!
  Reply
  - Ian Sterling says
    July 6, 2019 at 12:15 pm
    It’s hard to say if it will help, adding the actual sponge would benefit a lot, squeezing out some water probably won’t result in a noticeable difference in cycle speed – but it certainly won’t hurt in doing it!
    If your ammonia is around 2-3ppm, I’d leave it as is and only redose if it drops lower.
    Reply
    - Anthony says
      July 9, 2019 at 1:55 pm
      Wow, when I was a kid I had a gold fish which I plopped in a bowl and it lived for about 7 years in terrible water conditions so when my kid asked for a fancy goldfish I said sure. What a stupid move. I can’t understand how anyone finds this easy to follow. If you mess with this, it changes that etc. I can’t even follow what chemical I’m using to adjust all these different things I’m supposed to be checking. I think I’ll put these fish out of their misery and flush them.
      Reply
      - Ian Sterling says
        July 10, 2019 at 4:49 am
        Hi Anthony,
        Fishkeeping definitely has a learning curve and they are certainly more difficult to keep that a cat or dog, but if you hang in there, they are a very rewarding pet!
      - Anthony says
        July 10, 2019 at 10:40 am
        Thanks Ian. My test strip shows everything to be level except the GH. I read it should be a dark blue. Not even close. All the other seem ok so we will see how it goes.
        It would be nice if someone made a chart:
        NO3 range = x
        If above x Add y
        If below x Add y
        PH range should be = x
        If above x Add y
        If below x Add y
        Etc. I’m having a heck of a time getting all five items in my strip to match up to what the web says my ranges should be.
        So, if my strip tests in range with exception of GH do I still need to let the tank run empty for 5 days. Assuming yes for those things that cannot be measured.
      - Ian Sterling says
        July 10, 2019 at 10:57 am
        Hi Anthony,
        If you use an aquarium test kit, you will be able to much more accurately measure your water (I recommend the API master test kit, it has everything you need) it’s also cheaper in the long run – test strips are inaccurate and expensive.
        When you say “everything to be level” what do you mean?
        In a cycled tank:
        Ammonia should = 0
        Nitrite should = 0
        Nitrates should be forever increasing. These are reduced with the weekly water change They should be kept under 10, reaching a max of 40 by the end of the week
        PH should be constant. If it fluctuates daily, then it is cause for concern. It’s usually caused by soft water. If you use tapwater, KH is generally only an issue IF your pH is fluctuating.
        If you are doing a fishless cycle, as per the final step of this guide, if you add your dose of ammonia and it disapears within 24 hours, then your tank is cycled. If you add your ammonia, and it’s still measurable 24 hours later, then your tank isn’t cycled.
      - Anthony says
        July 12, 2019 at 12:14 pm
        That’s it Ian!! I wasn’t reading the instructions properly. I’ve been thinking I’m doing so well with little to no ammonia and little to no nitrite. That’s because I didn’t read that I needed to introduce the bad stuff then wait for it to level back down DUH! Thanks so much for working with me. I’m headed to the store tomorrow for ammonia and if they don’t have it I’ll prime it. I just hope my fancy goldfish will survive in its fish bowl waiting for this process. Thanks again!
      - Ian Sterling says
        July 13, 2019 at 5:01 am
        Oh, that’s awesome.
        Don’t worry, it’s a lot to take in when you are starting out. I’m glad it was an easy fix.
        Also, I didn’t realize you already had your fish. If you have fish, and neither tank is cycled, you would generally put them in a single tank and do a fish-in cycle. Fish produce ammonia on their own (pee and poop) which causes damage to them in an uncycled tank. Here are instructions for a fish-in cycle guide. The reason this isn’t recommended is that it relies on the fish for the ammonia, which can injure them in the process – this is how we cycled tanks in the old days before fishless cycling came along.
- Ian Sterling says
  July 6, 2019 at 12:13 pm
  Hi Gilmore,
  Beneficial appears to establish itself quickest at around 7 pH. As long as your tank is a constant 6.6 (and not fluctuating down or up) then it shouldn’t be too much of an issue, although it might take slightly longer to cycle your tank.
  Reply
  - Gilmore says
    July 12, 2019 at 8:16 am
    Thank you for replying and I hope I can pick your brain here as well..
    I bought the ammonia fritz and did what you said here (I have a 10g):
    Fish tanks less than 40 gallons: Add Half a teaspoon of Fritz Ammonia (2 ppm)
    So I added half a teaspoon of ammonia and the next day, I did an ammonia test and it was at 8ppm, the highest I’ve ever seen it. So I did a 50% water change and waited until the next day. It was still 8ppm. I did a 60% water change last night and today, it’s still at 8ppm.
    What do I need to do in order to bring it back to 2-3ppm? Should I just keep doing the daily water changes or is there another option? I also ordered Seachem Stability and that should be coming in soon. How should I use that as well?
    Thank you!
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      July 12, 2019 at 10:45 am
      Hi Gilmore,
      Welcome to the hobby. Is there anything else you have added to your aquarium? Or are you sure you didn’t add too much? Something else seems amiss here – If your chart reads 8 ppm, then it’s likely higher since the chart can’t go any higher. If you did 3 water changes in this way, then you could assume that ammonia was at least 32ppm (since a 50% water change drops ammonia levels by *roughly* 50%)
      I’d continue with the water changes until it reaches a readable level.
      Seachem stability is basically bottled bacteria. I don’t recommend them since they don’t always speed up the cycle and can introduce other hiccups along the way (they are a living product and can often arrive dead or may even be the wrong strain) As for using it, simply follow the instructions on the bottle. If you are going to add this, it shouldn’t hurt your cycle, but just be mindful that it may not help it.
      Reply
April S. says
July 3, 2019 at 3:30 am
Hi Ian!
This is one of the clearest, step-by-step guides I’ve seen so far! Thank you so much for helping us new aquarists to get through the difficult cycling process.
I recently bought a 60l tank (16 gallons I believe) and am planning on doing a planted tank. I read that plants can “mess up” the cycle by consuming ammonia and nitrites, thereby making it difficult to see when your beneficial bacteria has actually established. In order for the plants to take on that role of consuming the harmful compounds and keeping the fish safe, they need a constant supply of CO2 and fertilizers though, correct?
I wasn’t planning on using CO2, however, as I am so new to all of this and would like to start out with a low-tech-tank.
The things that confuse me a bit are:
1) When doing a planted tank, does that change any of the steps in the guide? Are there important changes to it that one would need to consider? Or should I just ignore the plants for now and add them after the cycling is complete?
2) I bought a pack of tetra pellets I was planning to break up into powder and put in the tank instead of pure ammonia, as I didn’t know about that option when I bought it. Does that change anything? Is it better to buy the pure ammonia instead or should I work with what I have?
3) I’m planning to go on holiday in a couple of weeks (for 7 days), should I wait until after to start the cycling? With this guide I definitely would to monitor everything closely, but I read somewhere that simply adding slowly dissolving vacation food for fish would do the trick as well. Is this true?
I’m sorry for asking so many questions at once. My local pet stores only seem to have inexperienced staff that tried to sell me the tank and fish on the same day. But the internet isn’t the most trustworthy source either most of the time.. After seeing how many people you helped with their cycling and much more, I figured I would try and turn to you 🙂
Thank you if you have read this far!
Kind regards,
April S.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  July 3, 2019 at 4:27 am
  Hi April,
  Thank you for the lovely feedback, it means the world to me!
  Plants typically fall into one of three difficulties – easy, medium and hard. “Easy” plants can grow in even a beginners tank in sub-optimal conditions (e.g Anubias) while “hard” plants need precise conditions, fertilizers and constant CO2 for optimal growth and color (e.g Rotala) So the plants you choose will decide the amount of care you need to give them.
  1) In a 16 gallon low-tech tank, the cycling instructions shouldn’t deviate from the above.
  2)My personal recommendation is always to use ammonia. It allows you to put a measured amount in and know exactly how much to redose. It also allows the cycle to move somewhat predictably. With pellets, prawns and other organics that break down, you don’t know how much ammonia they give off until you test and find your levels are either too low or too high. That’s not to say it can’t be done, but if this is your first time cycling a tank and don’t know what to expect, you are creating more work for yourself.
  3)That does complicate things somewhat. I wouldn’t recommend a vacation block as they dissolve and make the water a cloudy mess. You’ll then have to deal with that when you get back. If you are going to go down this route, a frozen shrimp in a nylon stocking (so it doesn’t break up into tiny pieces and gunk up your tank *should* keep the cycle going, and it’s possible that there won’t be any issues, but without you being there to monitor, I couldn’t guarantee this. Ultimately, whether you start now or wait is a judgement call only you can make.
  I hope this sheds some light on the issues you are facing!
  Reply
  - April S. says
    July 5, 2019 at 12:38 am
    Thank you so much for taking the time to help people with their problems, including me!
    I have found a workaround in that a friend of mine will continue to monitor my tank cycle while I am gone. I will also be looking for the pure ammonia in order to make things more precise and the process easier to follow.
    Again, thank you for your help and keep doing what you do 🙂
    Best wishes,
    April S.
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      July 5, 2019 at 4:47 am
      I’m so happy to hear you found a solution. I hope you have a great holiday! If all goes well you will return to a fully cycled tank!
      Reply
20gHelp says
July 2, 2019 at 4:38 pm
Hi Ian,
I’m currently cycling a 20 gallon high and have been trying to follow your beginner cycling instructions and have been waiting a week after adding the recommended amount of Fritz’s Ammonia.
The only thing is… I don’t have the Master Test Kit, I spent my whole budget on aquascaping this tank with plants and driftwood and also buying other supplies for my other tanks that I was low on, so I can’t afford to get anything more and can’t really borrow any money from anyone.
I have the Tetra 6-in-1 Test Strips which I’ve heard are far more accurate than the API Test Strips that I had been using for a few months, but the Tetras don’t test Ammonia, so I’ve been trying to use my Seachem Ammonia Alert which I have in all of my tanks but it can’t measure above 0.5 ppm so I’m really stuck.
I just did a water test after wanting to go insane because I overlooked the test kit which I thought would be easier said than done to cycle the tank and I miracously got a small reading of Nitrate, I’ll say around 5-10 ppm or so because the Tetra strips only test above 20 ppm of Nitrate so I’m just taking a guess here, but there is no nitrite at all.
So is this a good thing, bad thing?
Thank you Ian!!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  July 2, 2019 at 4:50 pm
  Hi 20gHelp,
  That’s a precarious situation you got yourself in. A test kit is essential even after the cycle is complete as it will allow “diagnose” your water. It’s very difficult to keep fish without one.
  Are there any local fish clubs in your area? Try and reach out to some members and see if you can take a bottle of your tank water to for testing. Alternatively, your local fish store might be able to provide this service for you too.
  Be mindful that nitrate can also be present in tapwater, unfortunately, the only way to find out if it’s from your tap water or the cycle completing is to burn a test strip on your tap water before you place it in your tank.
  Unfortunately, without a test kit it’s going to be very difficult to determine where you are in the cycle. While you could wait it out for 2 months and “assume” it’s cycled, it’s going to be tricky to see how it’s progressing otherwise. I wish I could help you further here.
  Reply
  - 20gHelp says
    July 3, 2019 at 12:10 pm
    Hey again Ian,
    So I just checked and found out I had around $30 dollars sitting on my debit card so I raced to Amazon and ordered the Master Test Kit and it’ll be arriving Saturday, so I’m happy I can finally start doing it right!
    Thanks for replying so quickly!
    Reply
    - 20gHelp says
      July 3, 2019 at 12:12 pm
      I also found out why I had those mysterious Nitrates show up, It wasn’t because of my tap water, a few days ago I added a whole bottle of API Quick Start which is where those little buggers are coming from, I’m hoping it will help a bit!
      Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      July 3, 2019 at 2:40 pm
      Hi again, 20gHelp
      Oh, that’s good news. I’m so happy to hear it! Trust me, you will be thankful when you get it, it’s going to make fish keeping a whole lot easier.
      Just remember to compare the color of your test kit under natural daylight – indoor lighting can make the colors appear off.
      If you have any further questions about cycling, please leave them in the comments here and I’ll do my best to help.
      Reply
      - 20gHelp says
        July 8, 2019 at 6:02 am
        Hi Again Ian,
        I got my test kit yesterday and watched a few videos on how to use it, so after learning how to use it properly, I tested the 20g that I’m cycling and here are the results:
        pH: 7.6-7.8
        Nitrite: 0ppm
        Nitrate: 0ppm
        Ammonia: 8.0ppm
        So after noticing I had a high ammonia count, I did a water change to keep it under 5ppm as stated in your article, I replaced 6 gallons of water and then tested it about 5 minutes later and the Ammonia tested at 4.0ppm, I then added a full bottle of Tetra SafeStart (As directed by the instructions).
        I checked today, after a full 24 hours, and the Ammonia rised back to 8.0ppm again… Do I need to keep doing water changes to keep it down?
        I will continue to keep following your instuctions, thank you!
      - Ian Sterling says
        July 8, 2019 at 7:26 am
        Hi again 20gHelp,
        5 minutes is probably a little too soon to get an idea of your ammonia levels, try waiting half an hour before re-testing. Tetra Safe Start could be responsible for the ammonia spike, it is bottled bacteria and if it’s dead, it will break down into ammonia (like all decaying organic things) I generally don’t recommend bottled bacteria supplements doing a fishless cycle as they are not guaranteed to speed it up, are an extra cost and add an extra step where things can go wrong.
        Looking at your test results, you are at the very start of the cycle – just a whole lot of waiting to do now!
Lezlee says
June 28, 2019 at 4:51 am
Ian:
Hi! You helped me with my platy babies and multiple aquariums earlier this year. 4 out of the 5 babies we saved have lived (6 months now). We also have a betta in its own tank and now one of its eyes is cloudy. Do you know what that can be and how to fix it? So much conflicting information online! I didn’t know where to post this question, hope it’s ok to do it here.
Thanks in advance!
Lezlee
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  June 28, 2019 at 7:22 am
  Hi again Lezlee!
  Cloudy eye is a tricky one because the cause can be a bajillion different things from natural causes like cateracts to disease to physical injury. If your water parameters are fine (which I suspect they will be, your patience in cycling was amazing) then the only way to know for sure is if more symptoms keep arising. I wish I could help you more here, but it really is one of those things where if everything else is fine, then It’s a waiting game. If your fish continues to be otherwise normal and healthy, it’s just going to be one of those aquarium mysteries. Unfortunately, lots of things in fishkeeping comes down to just waiting.
  Reply
  - Lezlee says
    June 29, 2019 at 8:53 am
    Ok thanks for your response! The water does always test well so I guess we’ll just wait…do you think it can clear up on it’s own?
    A little update on my other fish. The mother Platy is still in her own 3 gallon tank…it didn’t cycle for months and then we changed the filter type and it cycled amazingly fast! Her 5 babies survived in their 10 gallon tank together for 4 months and then one of them just disappeared…could not find a body. We assume one of the others killed and ate it…? A couple of months later we catch one of the four left bullying one of the others! So we took him out and he is in his own 3 gallon tank. So we have 2 three gallon tanks, 1 ten gallon tank and one 5 gallon with the beta. I’d love to put the mom in the ten gallon with the babies now and the bully too so I’d have only one ten gallon and one 5 gallon, but I’m afraid the mom may mate with one of her children, and I can’t handle any more babies! And I don’t want the bully to eat any more of his siblings!
    But all of the tanks always test well. I could never have gotten them all cycled without your help and advice and I really appreciate it!!
    Lezlee
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      June 29, 2019 at 2:55 pm
      It’s hard to say if it will clear up on it’s own. If it’s natural or physical, it’s gonna stay. If it’s bacterial or disease, it might. No guarantee though. I have had a completely blind fish live an otherwise full and happy life, feeding him was a bit of a chore though.
      Wow, your collection of tanks keeps growing. Not by choice unfortunately, but you are doing a great job playing mother to your fish, that’s for sure.
      And no need to thank me, you did all the hard work! Wishing you all the best for the future!
      Reply
valerie struski says
June 27, 2019 at 11:36 am
hi ian! i’m hoping you can help me. i am new to owning a tank and had no idea what i was in for. ha. i feel like i have tried to read everything on the fishless cycle but i’m more than 14 days in and no signs of nitrites.
set up the tank on friday june 7th, added API stress coat (the pet store told me to come back in 4 days, that’s when i thought i could buy fish, boy did they leave out some info.) water was very cloudy after 24 hours even though i rinsed all my materials before putting them into the tank.
over the weekend i read up about cycling a tank.
june 11- did a 25% water change added more API stress coat, then added tetra safe start
12th- added ammonia to raise to 5ppm. i checked an hour later and it was around 8ppm or so.
Ammonia 8, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, pH 7.8/8.0 water temp 78
13- Ammonia 4, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, pH 8.2
14- Ammonia 4, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, pH 8. Added Stability
15- Ammonia 4, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, pH 7.8. Added Stability
16- Ammonia 4, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, pH 7.8. Added Stability
the 16th through today the 26th i have the exact same readings. my ammonia has not dropped at all and i have no nitrites. i understand that this can take 2-6 weeks, but i thought i should be seeing some signs of nitrites after 14 plus days.
any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
thank you.
valerie
ps- i don’t know anyone with an aquarium that i could take material from.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  June 27, 2019 at 12:29 pm
  Hi Valeria,
  At least you figured out the cycle before it was too late. Don’t worry, it gets much easier from here!
  I don’t like adding all those “bottled bacteria” supplements, because I’m not convinced they work – I have seen tanks cycle in just a few days with people using them or I have seen some tanks take weeks, I have seen the same with people who skip them.
  My first question is:
  Are you using an API liquid test kit? And if so, are you checking the readings in natural daylight? Indoor lighting can throw these colors off.
  Next, did you dechlorinate the water you added to the tank. Chlorine kills beneficial bacteria and they cannot grow in it.
  Next, do you have a filter set up with biomedia (like ceramic noodles) or a sponge for the bacteria to inhabit?
  It sounds like your tank cycle has stalled and we need to figure out the cause.
  Reply
  - valerie struski says
    June 27, 2019 at 10:21 pm
    hi ian,
    yes i am using an API test kit to get all of my readings each day. i’m not checking them in daylight, but inside my house. (i am checking them at about the same time everyday in the same room though.)
    the API stress coat says it dechlorinates, so i thought that did that. should i have used a different product?
    i do not have a filter with biomedia, but i have lots of gravel on the bottom, a few plastic plants and a large rock tunnel. (not real rock.) i thought it would have attached to this.
    what do you think i should do?
    valerie
    Reply
    - valerie struski says
      June 27, 2019 at 10:27 pm
      i should add, this all started with a gold fish for my 5 year old. she won one at the school fair so we went to the pet store to pick it up along with a gallon bowl and all the stuff. after a few days i started reading about fish and realized how small the bowl is, dirty goldfish are and maybe i want to upgrade. after about 5 days i went to another pet store and thought it im gonna buy a 10 gallon i might as well get a 20 gallon incase we end up liking fish. i also got the pet store to take my 2 goldfish as i don’t want to keep them. we thought we were going to get new neon fish a few days later but now im about 20 days out and have a 5 year old with no fish and a mama who is having a hard time practicing my patience bc i think something is going on!
      that is my very long way of saying, i very much appreciate your site and your help!!!
      valerie
      Reply
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 28, 2019 at 6:49 am
        That’s a story I have heard dozens of times! A fish is less of a prize and more of a burden for many people who dont have the time to take proper care of them.
        In a 20 gallon, I would certainly recommend a filter. You need it for water movement in addition to a home for beneficial bacteria.
        Also, you have a good local fish store, not many agree to take back fish. I would ask them about filters, they should be able to point you in the right direction.
    - Ian Sterling says
      June 28, 2019 at 6:46 am
      I highly recommend switching to outside reading, even though the light is constant, it makes it difficult to see color changes, even if you measure inside each time.
      API stresscoat certainly dechlorinates, I just wanted to check that you were using it consistantly after water changes – it needs to be added each time.
      I personally recommend setting up a filter (even a sponge filter will do) as most beneficial bacteria will live here. The filter sucks water through it ans as it does, it provides “food” (ammonia, nitrite) to the beneficial bacteria, filtering your water.
      Reply
      - valerie struski says
        June 28, 2019 at 8:13 am
        Ian,
        Apologies, I misunderstood you. yes, i have a filter. i bought the Aqueon LED 20 Gallon Aquarium Kit. it comes with Kit includes Glass Aquarium, Low Profile LED Hood, QuietFlow Power Filter, Filter Cartridge, Submersible Preset Heater, Premium Fish Food Sample, Water Conditioner Sample, Fish Net, Thermometer, and Set Up Guide. they system also says that you have to have the filters facing the front, which i made sure to do.
        i did add the dechlorinator when i first added the water and when i did a partial change. since i am not getting anywhere, should i change out the water? 50% or more?
        valerie
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 28, 2019 at 8:19 am
        Hi Again Valerie,
        First, take your readings in natural daylight so we are confident we know what we are working with. Make sure you follow the instructions on each test kit to the letter.
        It is also possible you have a faulty test kit. This issue has occurred with a couple of commenters in here.
      - valerie struski says
        June 28, 2019 at 8:30 am
        ok, i’ll do it tonight when i get home. should i take a sample to my fish store and have them test it too?
        valerie
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 28, 2019 at 12:01 pm
        If your fish store offers that as a service then absolutely, it never hurts to check. Once you have eliminated that as the problem, you can be confident that something else is the cause. Unfortunately, many of these solutions are trial and error, trying something then ruling that out. Usually a cycle goes smoothly, but there are a few that for one reason or another go amiss.
        While you are at your local fish store, ask them how they cycle their tanks, they are using the same water source as you and should be able to provide extra information. Since you are there already, it won’t hurt to ask.
      - valerie struski says
        June 28, 2019 at 10:06 am
        just took the test tonight and read the results outside, they look identical to the numbers inside. ammonia is 4 and nitrites is 0.
        the only thing i can think is that there is not enough dechlorinator? i followed the instructions, but maybe we have a lot of chlorine in our water? should i add more of the API stress coat just in case??
        valerie
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 28, 2019 at 12:03 pm
        Hi Valerie,
        If you are following the instructions, dosing to your tank size, then you should be fine. I personally use seachem prime as it is cheaper in the long run (you use less of it so you don’t need to buy it as often) but I know plenty of people who have used API to dechlorinate. The thing is, if you forget just once, then it means you need to restart the cycle from day one.
      - valerie struski says
        June 28, 2019 at 9:07 pm
        sorry- just saw your top reply. i’ll ask my local fish store, but i am thinking of starting again…
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 29, 2019 at 5:15 am
        I would seek their advice first, before starting over, they should be able to provide better guidance since they cycle their tanks in the local area likely using the same water source.
Barry King says
June 21, 2019 at 1:03 am
Hiya Ian!
Have recently setup my third tank! On this one though, I am going planted (this will be my first attempt ever with live plants) 😎.
It’s a 15 gallon tank and has been cycling since the 28th of May, with no fish but with a variety of plants. I used ADA Amazonia as substrate and I am assuming it was this that was providing all the ammonia I needed in the beginning weeks, because I was not adding any and my readings were astronomical 🤣
Now going onto day 4 of next to no ammonia being picked up by my test kit. I do however get readings of both nitrites and nitrates (?). These levels have been increasing but are pretty constant now at 10ppm nitrites and 250ppm (!!!) nitrates. Am I ready to start adding ammonia? Have a healthy biofilm on the spider wood, rocks and glass too. So I assume something is feeding that.
Another question I have and the Internet seems to have no consensus, is regarding water changes. As I have no fish yet, I have not been doing super-regular water changes – about 40% weekly. Do I even have to be doing these at all? After reading this article though, I realise my pH is not ideal at around 6.4, so I will start the 20% changes as you suggest above.
Thanks for the help,
Barry
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  June 21, 2019 at 5:27 am
  Hi Barry,
  Congrats on the new setup! There is nothing more exciting than planning out a new tank, experimenting with new aquascapes, plants and fish. Well, too me, I’m addicted.
  Anyway, let’s shed some light on your questions. You are correct in that ADA aquasoil leaches ammonia into the water, which kickstarts the cycle without effort on your part.
  If the aquasoil is still releasing ammonia, then the first bacteria should be processing it as fast as it is being released (the bacteria are in high enough numbers). This results in a constant zero reading. However, you can add 1 or 2 ppm ammonia to your tank to see what happens (whether it stays or whether it dissapears in 24 h, just to see what is happening. It would seem like you are waiting for the second bacteria to accumulate (nitrite -> nitrate) where it can eat nitrite as quickly as it is produced.
  What is the upper limit on your test kit for nitrite and nitrate (the max number they read)?
  In a fishless cycle, there isn’t really a need to do a water change except when balancing the parameters is needed (for instance, ph). You have correctly identified that as a possible way of raising your pH levels. Depending on your test kit, you may also need to do a water change to drop your nitrite and nitrate levels, but I’ll explain that once you provide your upper limit on your test kit cards.
  Reply
  - Barry King says
    June 21, 2019 at 1:34 pm
    Thanks for the feedback Ian.
    The upper limits are 10ppm for Nitrites and 500ppm for Nitrates. So my readings are quite up there!
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      June 21, 2019 at 2:13 pm
      Thanks for clarifying Barry.
      My concern here is that your nitrites are excessively high. If your test kits max measurement is 10 ppm then even though it reads 10 ppm, it could be 10 or it could be 100. Or anything really.
      You can cheat to find out if this is a case. If you fill a test tube with 50% tank water and 50% distilled (Or reverse osmosis) water, then you will be able to use your test kit to measure up to double the reading.
      A measurement of 7.5ppm, for example, would mean that your nitrites are actually 14ppm (since you have to double the result, since you halved the amount of tank water)
      You can do the same by adding 25% tap water and 75% distilled water, which would effectively allow you to test up to 40ppm (don’t forget to multiply the reading 4 times)
      If, after using these techniques you see elevated levels of nitrite, you should perform multiple water changes to get the back down to readable levels. Remember: A 50% water change will *roughly* drop your parameters in half. This will make it easier to determine whether your nitrite levels are in the process of rising or falling, as you can once again measure it with your card.
      Reply
      - Barry King says
        June 21, 2019 at 2:55 pm
        Cool! Will give this a go.
        When you say multiple water changes, do you mean daily until the nitrites are at “acceptable” levels?
        Then lastly, should I be feeding the bacteria ammonia, or wound the ADA still be supplying this? Or could it be that the bacteria are establishing but are simply overwhelmed by the amount of nitrite, and the water changes would control the levels enough for the bacteria to tackle?
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 22, 2019 at 4:00 am
        Hi Barry,
        Whatever works best for you. Daily or back to back, seperated by 1/2 an hour or so.
        If it’ still in it’s early days, I would expect that the ADA aquasoil is still leeching ammonia into the water at a rate fast enough to feed the bacteria. Unfortunately, the only real way to determine if your first bacteria has “starved” to death due to a lack of ammonnia is if your nitrite levels drop to zero and nitrate levels stop rising. Adding 1 or 2ppm of ammonia shouldn’t impact your cycle if you wanted to add it to test what happens and the rate at which it falls. Much of fishkeeping still comes back to experimenting to see what works with your setup.
      - Barry King says
        June 21, 2019 at 11:31 pm
        Hi Ian 👋
        Did the distilled water test and my nitrite reading was between 5 and 10ppm – so 10 to 20ppm when multiplied. Then performed a 50% water change.
        Will continue to test regularly and hopefully we get there soon 😊
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 22, 2019 at 4:01 am
        Yikes, that is quite high. You did the right thing with the water changes, now you should be able to observe whether the nitrite and nitrate levels are rising and make a better judgement as to how far along the cycle you actually are. Hang in there! It will be worth your patience.
      - Barry King says
        June 24, 2019 at 4:26 pm
        Hello Ian, it’s me again 😅
        Ok! Since my large water change on the 21st, ammonia remains at 0ppm, nitrites hovering close to zero and nitrites at 100ppm. I’ve been testing daily.
        I think you mentioned that if ammonia and nitrites remain zero, and nitrates don’t spike my bacteria may be dead 😵
        So I take it I need to start from step one in this article?
        Seems that the pet stores here in South Africa don’t seem to stock ammonia. In fact many of the staff I spoke to seemed appalled that I wanted to add ammonia to the tank 🤣 I can see however that I can get ammonium chloride powder from a laboratory supply shop. Would that do?
        Also, does Seachem Stability help at all with bacteria levels?
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 25, 2019 at 4:03 am
        Hi Barry,
        Do you mean your nitrates are 100 ppm?
        It’s possible your cycle is done, but that will depend on if your nitrates keep increasing. 100 ppm is still far too high for a tank with fish (ideally you want it under 10 in a non-planted tank, with it reaching 40 max
        I’d keep changing water to get these levels.
        I still don’t think you need to start from step one, I think using the aquasoil caused all your parameters to blow out. It’s in the USA, we use measured amounts of ammonia – it allows you to keep these levels completely under control throughout the cycle.
        Ammonium Chloride can also be used, you want it to ideally be pure. 99.9% ideally, without any other additives.
        Ammonium chloride is roughly 32% ammonia by weight. So 2 ppm/L would require you to dose 6.3mg/L.
        If I was in your shoes, I’d do another few water changes to get the nitrates down then observe if they keep rising. Nitrates rise continuously in a cycled tank, so if yours are going up, while the nitrite and nitrate remain at zero then all your bacteria are in place and the tank is cycled!
        Bottled bacteria *may* help, but it’s hit and miss. Since it’s a living product, there is no guaranteed the bottle you bought has been stored properly and all the bacteria inside may be dead. Then there is the argument that the strains of bacteria in these bottles may not be the same as the bacteria that forms in your tank. I have seen tanks using bottled bacteria cycle in just a few days and also a few weeks or months. I have seen the same with tanks that cycle without bacteria. So I don’t think it’s essential, but it certainly won’t harm your tank.
      - Barry King says
        June 25, 2019 at 6:05 pm
        Yes, I meant nitrates at 100! 🤣
        I added 1/4 tsp Ammonium Chloride to the tank (15 gallons) last night and left for an hour. Unfortunately it was too much and read at just over 5ppm. Did a water change to bring it under 5ppm. I put it at around 3ppm as my test kit (made by Sera) read darker than 2ppm but lighter than 5. This morning, down to 2ppm. I am expecting it to be zero by tonight (24 hours later). This morning my nitrites read at 2 (up from 0.5 pre NH4Cl) and old reliable nitrates back at 100. If ammonia and nitrites are at zero tonight and nitrates stubbornly high, then will do some water changes and test in the morning.
        Thanks again for all of the help Ian!
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 26, 2019 at 5:53 am
        That’s good news! It means you don’t need to restart your cycle! If I was in your position, It’s just a waiting game now. I hope it’s not too much longer for you, Barry!
Joel says
June 20, 2019 at 3:42 pm
My Nitrites is reading like 10 on the Seachem test kit.
Ammonia 0
I already water changed about 50%.
After the change it still about the same on the test kit about a 10 Nitrites.
How soon can I do water changes until I see a reduction of Nitrites and how much water should I change?
I have Seachem prime, stability and stress guard on hand.
I would be adding all three.
The tank was left on autopilot with a fish feeder and we came to two fish dead and one that barely swim.
I think the cause was to much food by the feeder machine.
Looking forward on what should I do to try to save the fish.
Thanks.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  June 21, 2019 at 4:52 am
  Hi Joel,
  Is this for a fishless cycle?
  Firstly, are you reading your test kit in natural day light? Indoor lighting can make colors look off and hard to color match.
  I’d do a second water change, vacuuming the substrate and rinsing the filter (dechlorinated water only) in addition to a wipe down – you want to get rid of any rotting organics that are breaking down to ammonia (then nitrite)
  Seachem prime only treats up to 5 ppm of nitrite (at a 5x dose) so you need to get the levels right down for it to be helpful. Unfortunately, there is no guarentee that your fish will survivie.
  Reply
  - Joel says
    June 21, 2019 at 7:58 am
    Hi,
    Fish are in the tank.
    I read it with indoor lights.
    I did a water change yesterday about 50% the fish is swimming better today like he got energy again.
    Right after this I would do another water change.
    I threw away the filter put a new one there was a lot of food waste on it.
    Would vacuum the substrate again.
    There was a lot of rotting food.
    I am just in awe as the ammonia seem to be non existent.
    Thank you.
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      June 21, 2019 at 8:52 am
      Thanks for clarifying, Joel.
      Does your filter have biomedia inside it, such as ceramic rings? Otherwise, each time you throw away your filter, you are getting rid of the beneficial bacteria that keep your tank cycled – which can also lead to water quality issues like this.
      I would double check your readings outdoors in daylight, just for accuracy, so you know what you are working with – It’s possible there is ammonia but the lights are making it difficult to read. Doing the water changes is spot on, as these levels are very toxic to your fish, so you are doing everything right. Well done here!
      Reply
      - Joel says
        June 22, 2019 at 1:31 am
        After the filter I have some Seachem matrix but not a lot. As there not much space.
        My substrate is the CaribSea FloraMax I only have two plants at the moment. I have 4 Marimo moss balls but took them out for cleaning as the big one turned brown. I might throw it away if it don’t turn back green while on the temporary tank.
        Took another sample today hope you can look at the pic http://i66.tinypic.com/104oxlk.jpg
        The middle one was my 1st sample really dark since then have evaporated. It was taken Two days ago. The sample for yesterday far left. Today sample far right.
        I been doing about 45-50% water change and vacuum the substrate.
        I would do another water change in the afternoon.
        I changed the filter again, thinking of rinsing it and using it to filter the water as I put it back in the tank while I vacuum the substrate.
        I have a net filter at the end of the vacuum hose as water fall in the bucket to filter some. And then would use the old tank filter to filter the water back in the tank while cleaning the substrate and then do the water change.
        Does this sound about right?
        Thank you.
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 22, 2019 at 4:10 am
        Hi Joel,
        Thanks for the pic, unfortunately, it’s reeeeally hard to check these colors through computer screens since every screen renders color “slightly” differently. However, it does looks like your levels are getting lower.
        It sounds right except for the throwing out and replacing of the filter part. Each time you do this, does your filter have room for ceramic rings? If so, I would buy some, as it stops you crashing the cycle each time you change out the filter. Also, I just want to make sure you are using fresh dechlorinated water rather than returning the old water to the tank. There are tiny things in the water that your filter is probably missing not to mention that fresh water restores mineral balance.
        If your cycle has crashed, you will need to recycle your tank, which is going to create some unusual test readings until it the end of the cycle.
Lisa W says
June 11, 2019 at 11:13 pm
Ian, it’s Lisa again.
I can’t believe I forgot to mention my biggest problem: diatoms! I cannot get rid of these little devils! I’m doing twice weekly 20-25% water changes. I’ve read that diatoms feed on silicates – what’s in my tank that contains silicates? I increased the water flow of the filter. I take the ornaments and plants out weekly and rinse them off. Occasionally, I soak the ornaments in a water:bleach solution, but that scares me a bit. I even microwaved the resin log and stone arch.
They appear to be indestructible.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  June 12, 2019 at 4:07 am
  Hi Lisa,
  In a regular maintained tank, diatoms are normal during cycling and sometimes persist after the cycling stage before finally disappearing. Ordinarily, they go away on their own. Often it’s best just to wait them out. If they continue, then they are likely feeding off something in your tank. First thing to do is to check your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, KH/GH, etc.) and make sure everything is normal here. If something is off, you’ll need to identify the cause, which can take some trial and error, often adjusting your schedule or removing something from your tank piece by piece until you identify the culprit.
  But I have my fingers crossed it doesn’t come to that!
  If you are really finding it unsightly while you wait for it to hopefully clear up on it’s own, you can use a really fine filter sponge, which will trap any diatoms floating through the water, including those you disturb as you scrub them off in your tank.
  Reply
Lisa W says
June 11, 2019 at 10:51 pm
Hello Ian,
I am so glad to find your site. All my Internet research and even an employee of an aquarium/fish store have confused me mightily.
I have a 2.5 gallon tank with one Betta, and I am having a terrible time getting everything right. This is my first fish – and I really had no idea what all was involved. This is the setup:
• TopFin 2.5 gallon with filter
• Black gravel substrate (color is fading/flaking)
• Hydor 25W Submersible Glass Aquarium Heater – Original Theo
• Zacro LCD Digital Aquarium Thermometer
• hygger Betta Log Resin Hollow Tree Trunk Ornament
• Luffy Marmo moss balls
• Silk plants and plastic leaf hammock
I feed him food pellets – one at a time. He had been gobbling them up. For the last few days, he’s been spitting them out and letting them fall to the bottom. Occasionally, I give him Daphnia or dried bloodworms.
I’ve had the tank since October 2018. I think all the testing values were right ONCE back in December. My poor Betta was in the tank the whole time because I didn’t know any better.
I run tap water through a Britta filter, then add water conditioner (I’ve tried TopFin Betta Water Conditioner, Seachem Stability, and Tetra 16837 BettaSafe Water Conditioner).
I use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit 800 to test Nitrate, Ph, Ammonia, and Nitrite. This week I also used API Test Kit for KH/GH and Phosphate, all of which tested as normal.
The thermometer shows the temperature is always between 78F and 82F. I had live plants for a little while, but when I added aquarium salt (based on something I read on the Internet to reduce nitrite levels), the plants did NOT like it. Now there are only silk plants.
For a long time, the pH was too low and the ammonia was too high. I’ve been doing 20-25% water changes twice weekly for about 4 months. I added a sponge filter and a Purigen bag. I used the Purigen bag to replace the cartridge filters (carbon?) that came with the TopFin aquarium…which are supposed to be replaced monthly.
Yesterday, the pH was 7.8 (it’s never been that high) and the ammonia was nearly off the chart (could it really be 8?). I immediately added Seachem Prime.
I am thinking of getting a 5-gallon tank and using sand substrate. I read (Internet again!) that sand is easier to keep clean because waste and food sit on the surface instead of falling into the gravel. I will cycle this one without the Betta, using your instructions.
In the meantime, please help before my beautiful Betta goes belly up!
Thanks.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  June 12, 2019 at 4:22 am
  Hi Lisa,
  It sounds like you are doing well, it’s a lot to learn for a beginner, fish are more tricky to keep than a pet such as a dog or a cat. Don’t worry, most people start out the same – it can be really confusing when everyone is recommending that you do different things.
  Seachem prime treats ammonia up to 5 ppm, if your ammonia levels were 8, then they were still harming your betta. A water 50% water change or three is needed here, each 50% water change will roughly drop the ammonia concentration by 50% (8ppm would become 4ppm and so on) getting it back to manageable levels.
  On the sand substrate, it’s a matter of choice. I personally prefer gravel and rocks but each to their own. Using a gravel vacuum weekly with your water change will keep gravel perfectly clean.
  Unfortunately, I cannot diagnose your betta. Fish are very sensitive and stress that was caused months ago due to poor water quality (combined with your current extreme levels) may have done irreversible damage.
  All you can really do is get your water parameters as “clean” as possible:
  Ammonia: 0
  Nitrite: 0
  Nitrate: Ideally below 10
  And ensuring this is maintained daily – sick fish are extra sensitive to water quality. Most aquarium problems can be traced back to water quality. The good news is that once you establish a balance, you won’t need all that extra stuff like Carbon, aquarium salt, and other chemicals. You should be able to get by with basically just a bottle of seachem prime (for conditioning water before adding it to your tank, also in most cases you shouldn’t need to run it through a water filter, brita filters are just carbon)
  Reply
Rupert adams says
June 4, 2019 at 8:35 am
Ive just started my tank cycle. After looking at your chart i noticed you said “you can also see how nitrates drop at each water change”
how often did you perform a water change during the cycle as your only mention of a water change is at day 36
I have a 70L Tank
I look forward to your reply 😊
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  June 4, 2019 at 8:55 am
  Hi Rupert,
  That chart is actually off and old fish-in cycle I did and is best used as an example to show how a water change drops the nitrates. If there are no fish, and your nitrate readings are not “off the chart” then there is no reason to perform a water change until you finish. However, if you want to see the “rate” at which nitrates are increasing, you may want to perform a water change sooner (you’ll notice the low level colors on your test kit are closer together than the higher levels) just keep in mind that during cycling that that a water change will also dilute your ammonia levels, so make sure you double check those if you do perform one and redose if necessary.
  Reply
  - Rupert Adams says
    June 4, 2019 at 11:47 pm
    Thank you for your quick reply. I have one more question.
    You mention having the airpump on during the cycle, how strong should the airflow be
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      June 5, 2019 at 7:08 am
      Hi Rupert,
      As strong as you intend for it to be when you add fish. Keep in mind that certain fish prefer varying levels of water movement. Betta, for instance, prefer very slow moving water.
      Reply
      - Rupert Adams says
        June 7, 2019 at 8:34 am
        Appreciate the reply.
        I did a nitrite reading earlier today and its reading at 1.0ppm after 3 days. Is this normal as i expected it to take longer
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 7, 2019 at 11:21 am
        Hi Rupert,
        Truth be told, everyone experiences the cycle slightly differently. Others experience it quickly, for others it’s a long and drawn out process. If your nitrite is measurable this quickly, and you have confirmed that your tapwater doesn’t contain this amount of nitrite, then it’s possible you are one of the lucky ones who is experiencing a quicker cycle, at least so far. Time will tell!
      - Rupert Adams says
        June 11, 2019 at 5:18 am
        I keep adding ammonia however the levels aren’t rising past 0.5ppm
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 11, 2019 at 5:47 am
        Hi Rupert,
        I assume you are at step three? Are you testing correctly in natural daylight (orange lights can make the colors look off)? Are you sure your test isn’t faulty? I only ask as eventually there comes a point where there the ammonia concentration is greater than the water in the tank.
      - Rupert Adams says
        June 12, 2019 at 1:34 am
        Im already getting nitrate readings of around 40ppm. My nitrate levels have dropped down to 0ppm but my ammonia levels are still around 2ppm. Should i do a partial water change?
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 12, 2019 at 4:01 am
        Hi Rupert,
        I’m confused here, yesterday you were saying you couldn’t raise them past 0.5 but now you are saying they are still 2?
        If you wait 24 hours, without adding ammonia, what happens to your ammonia reading?
      - Rupert Adams says
        June 20, 2019 at 5:36 am
        Sorry for my long reply
        I waited the 24 hours and the levels did rise. I discovered i hadnt added enough ammonia.
        However my ammonia levels arent dropping to 0ppm even after a few days it doesn’t change. Its currently around 0.25ppm and highest nitrite reading ive ever had is 1ppm and now its reading at 0ppm
        My nitrate levels are 40ppm
        I did a nitrate test on my tapwater and it has the same reading as the water in my fish tank.
        It looks like i need to start from the beginning or shall i wait longer
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 20, 2019 at 6:39 am
        Not a problem Rupert.
        I’d give it one more week and see what your readings are then. If your nitrate levels have been going up this whole time than I wouldn’t say anything is off just yet. I just want to confirm you are testing in natural daylight? It’s easy to get an incorrect reading if you are testing under indoor lights.
        I really don’t think you need to start over. This all seems positive, it’s just that last little bit of ammonia that is the issue.
        If you wanted, you can do a 50% water change to drop the nitrate levels by roughly 50%, this will make it easier to see that your nitrate levels are rising (the color card ppm gets further apart as the nitrate levels get higher) don’t forget to re-dose ammonia after!
    - Rupert Adams says
      June 28, 2019 at 5:51 am
      So ive waited a week. Yesterday i added the full ammount of ammonia that i added on day 1 and 24 hours later both ammonia levels and nitrite levels are 0ppn. However my nitrate levels are now 160ppm. Does this look like the cycle is complete? And do i need to do a partial water change to reduce nitrate levels?
      Reply
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 28, 2019 at 7:17 am
        Hi Rupert,
        Yeah, you are definitely cycled. At 160 ppm, you’ll need to do multiple water changes (a 50% water change roughly cuts nitrates by 50%) Ideally you want nitrates 10 or under, allowing them to increase to a max of 40 before the weekly water change is done (in a non-planted tank)
        These water changes can be done back to back if you want. Just don’t forget to dechlorinate that water, you don’t want to kill that beneficial bacteria after all your hard work!
        Congratulations! You made it.
      - Rupert Adams says
        June 28, 2019 at 6:57 pm
        Thank you for all your help. That hard work has paid off.
        One more question. my tap water has a nitrate level of 40ppm so how to i reduce that after a water change
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 29, 2019 at 5:15 am
        Hi Rupert,
        Are you sure that is correct? The EPA maximum for nitrate is 10 milligrams per liter which is 10 ppm. Any higher than that and you are at risk of health problems. If you are correct, you should sort this out as a priority.
        You can always use distilled or RO water mixed in to lower nitrate levels, but then you will likely have to balance hardness too with a KH buffer. The easiest way would be to fix the high nitrates coming from your tap.
Uliana says
May 24, 2019 at 4:54 pm
Hi Ian
Thank you for very helpful beginner friendly guide.
I bought my first 2.6 gallon tank. The problem is I live in Kuwait and i couldn’t find pure ammonia and master test kit.
In local pet store i found only nitrite test. So, I started cycling by adding every day fish food , so it can decay and produce ammonia. Due to I couldn’t test for ammonia levels, after one week of cycling i decided to test for nitrites. According to Tropical NO2 Test it shows 0.9mg/l nitrites.
Recently I ordered from Amazon testers for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. But it will take some time till I receive them. Total cycling 3 weeks now. From the moment i’ve seen nitrites levels (after one week of cycling) I stopped dropping food to the tank. I used Tropical super goldfish mini sticks. They decaying so slow. Today, its two weeks since I stopped adding food to the tank but food sticks are still there at the bottom decaying.
What advice can you give me in this difficult situations? I completely new to all this.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  May 25, 2019 at 6:06 am
  Hi Uliana,
  Thank you for the kind words. I understand all this can be confusing at first. I don’t like to use fishfood as it will continue to decay and gunk up your tank. You can use something like a turkey baster or aquarium vacuum to remove the food at the bottom of your tank.
  You’ll still need a source of ammonia in your tank though until you add fish. So once these are cleaned up, I would add another pinch then remove those too once they start to decay and go mushy in a few days and repeat.
  It’s going to be difficult to know when your cycle is over *just* with a nitrite test, but you could assume once they have gone up then down to zero, that nitrates are now appearing and your tank is cycled. Unfortunately, without the proper tools it is just guess work.
  Reply
- Sue says
  May 30, 2019 at 11:16 pm
  Date PH Ammonia Nitrites Nitrates Any treatments added after readings recorded
  18.05.2019 7 0 0 0 Aqua safe and 9.2 ml ammonia
  19.05.2019 7.6 2 9.2 ml ammonia
  19.05.2019 4
  20.05.2019 7.6 4
  21.05.2019 4
  22.05.2019 4
  23.05.2019 7.6 2 2 9.2 ml ammonia
  24.05.2019 7.5 2 2 First time testing for high PH. 9.2 ml ammonia.
  25.05.2019 1 2 9.2 ml ammonia
  26.05.2019 0 2 18 ml ammonia
  26.05.2019 8 2nd test 1 hour later
  27.05.2019 0 0.5 5 9.2 ml ammonia
  27.06.2019 2 2nd test 1 hour later
  28.05.2019 7.6 0 0.4 5 9.2 ml ammonia
  29.05.2019 0 0 5 9.2 ml ammonia
  30.05.2019 0 0 5 18 ml ammonia
  Hi Ian, many thanks for such clear and easy to follow instructions. I’m setting up a 200ltr aquarium after a gap of nearly 40 years and it’s a whole new learning curve. I think, I hope 🤞 that my tank is now cycled. I’ve added a full dose of ammonia this afternoon and will test again tomorrow. If ammonia and nitrites are zero am I correct in thinking I’m good to go now? If so, with my Nitrates only being 5 should I still do a partial water change or should I leave it until they go up a bit higher? If that’s the case how high does it have to be before I do a partial water change. Once again, many thanks…..I’m living in hope 😊 Sue
  Reply
  - Ian Sterling says
    May 31, 2019 at 5:16 am
    Hi Sue,
    Welcome back to the hobby! Being a fishkeeping veteran of 30+ years I completely understand how much the game has changed in that time.
    If your readings are correct, that looks like a nice quick cycle. My only concern is that your nitrates are not going up? Is it possible you are not doing the test right, or the test is faulty – unless you are using a chemical filter to remove nitrates, you should see this number continue to grow as ammonia is cycled to nitrite then finally nitrate.
    Otherwise it certainly would seem cycled – generally when you perform a water change, the idea is to get the nitrates back under 10 (unless it’s a planted tank).
    Reply
    - Sue says
      May 31, 2019 at 10:01 pm
      Hello again Ian. Many thanks for your reply.
      I really do think I’m doing the Nitrate test correctly, timing the shakes accurately and the resting period. It’s a brand new API testing kit.
      I’ve just taken today’s readings and they are:
      PH 0, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 5
      Will this level of Nitrates cause a problem? Is there a way to bring them up?
      Do you consider it safe to start adding some fish?
      Kind regards
      Sue
      Reply
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 1, 2019 at 6:15 am
        Hi again Sue,
        My pleasure. The reading itself is not an issue, in fact, it’s the opposite: 5 ppm nitrates is great. But it is not expected behavior. Those nitrItes have to go somewhere, and are converted to nitrate. Your nitrate levels have remained steady throughout the cycle, If you are not removing them, say, by chemical filtration or a heavily planted tank, then those nitrate levels should be rising.
        That is why I was concerned that your test kit might have been out – it is important that we can accurately measure these three chemicals (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) as problems faced in aquariums are often traced back to this trio. I would hate for your nitrate levels to be higher and for you not to know, as excessive levels can negatively impact fish health.
        If you are not removing the nitrates, I would get a second opinion by testing your water at your local fish store (just to be safe) If that comes back with the same reading, then it’s fish time! From here, it’s weekly water changes as these don’t only lower nitrate levels but also replenish trace elements that fish use to osmoregulate.
        Oh, had one last thought, are you reading your results in natural daylight? Orange overhead lighting can make the colors appear different.
      - Sue says
        June 1, 2019 at 9:58 pm
        Hi again Ian. I added ammonia yesterday to bring back to 4. I took your advice and took a water sample to Maidenhead Aquatics to test. Ammonia was 0 but nitrites and Nitrates were sky high, he said he’d never seen such high levels, he thins it’s because of the amount of ammonia I’ve been adding. I’ve now bought a different testing kit for nitrites and Nitrates and his advice it to stop feeding ammonia and just leave it alone to bring the levels down, not to do a water change.
        I am confused and sad that this has gone so horribly wrong, I can only assume due to a duff API test kit. I shall wait and see what happens over the next few weeks.
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 2, 2019 at 3:08 am
        Hi Sue,
        You must be over in the UK – Maidenhead Aquatics is a great chain, I wish we had them here.
        Terribly sorry to hear about your testing kit failure. Does your new test kit read correctly? And if so what does it read for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?
        Also, what are the ppm levels on the color chart with your new test kit?
      - Sue says
        June 2, 2019 at 11:12 pm
        Hi again Ian
        Yes, I’m in the UK and I totally agree that Maidenhead Aquatics are brilliant. Really friendly and knowledgeable people and their fish selection and quality are fantastic.
        I didn’t get a new ammonia test, at their recommendation. I bought Aquacare nitrite and nitrate tests. The nitrites range is 0 – 8.0 and the Nitrate range is 0 – 80.0. In both cases 0 is white then increasing numbers go in darkening shades of pink. I just tested both and my reading was more a shade of orange so goodness only knows what that means!! I’m just going to retest every other day and see what happens. Funny isn’t it that I’m trying to do the best for my hopefully soon to be purchased fish. Never had these headaches in the old days🤣
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 3, 2019 at 3:46 am
        Thanks Sue,
        The reason I ask is that Test Kits have a severe limitation that not many people talk of – once over the limit (in this case 8 or 80), you don’t know how far over you are. You said that your nitrite and nitrate levels are extremely high, so it’s possible that they are off the charts. For instance, while the color chart stops at 80, your reading could actually be 200.
        Here is a handy trick to get it down. When testing your tank water, split the ratio of tank water with distilled/ro water. So if you were going to do a test 50% tank water and 50% distilled water. This will cut your reading in half, and may get it back to measurable levels on your color chart. So if you did a 50/50 split and it read 60 ppm, you would know that your actual levels are 120 (since you have halved the reading) Depending on how high your levels are you may need to play with this and even do an 80/20 split. From here, water changes are a done get your tank back down to measurable levels.
        I am unfamiliar with Aquacare test kits (over here, aquacare is a hand lotion) but it’s possible that your levels are so high that the color is off the chart? I am guessing here, but if maiden head aquatics are experienced with this test kit then they should be able to confirm it – as long as you are looking at the reading under natural daylight?
        I know we never had these problems back in the old days, but fish had much shorter life spans and we killed a lot of them in the cycling process too. things may gave gotten more complicated, but once you pass this hurdle, your tank and fish will experience fewer issues. It’s certainly worth it in my opinion.
      - Sue says
        June 4, 2019 at 10:43 pm
        Hi Ian. It’s me again 🙈 Thanks for your advice. I tested today and Nitrites were 4 Nitrates were still unreadable so I followed your advice and did 50/50 tank water and purified water (couldn’t find any distilled) the test reading was 80 so times 2 is 160. I’ve not added any ammonia for 2 days now at the recommendation of the fish shop but I am wondering how long I can leave it without.
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 5, 2019 at 7:06 am
        Hi again Sue, I’m glad that little tip came in handy, I almost never get to give it out because most peoples tests are never “off the charts”
        I’m a little disappointed to hear that Maiden Head Aquatics tested your water then gave you a test kit without informing you it wouldn’t read such an extreme level of nitrate.
        If I was in your position, I would perform two 50% water changes (separated by a few hours) to get your nitrates back down to readable levels, this way you can monitor the rate at which they increase relative to your nitrite either increasing or decreasing. A 50% water change roughly drops your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate in half. From here I would redose ammonia as needed. As halting ammonia is not something I would personally do as the “nitrite” producing bacteria still need ammonia to eat.
        However…
        Since you are following your fish stores advice, I would recommend asking them, as these are not the steps I would take.
        Can you call them and ask for their advice on how to progress, since this is their process you are following?
      - Sue says
        June 5, 2019 at 7:27 am
        Hi again Ian.
        Thank you again for your reply. I’m going to follow your advice because everywhere I read says that the ammonia needs to be added until cycling is finished and fish and food are added. I’ll do water changes tomorrow. Having done that, what level should I raise the ammonia to again.
        I really do appreciate and value your advice.
        Sue
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 5, 2019 at 11:00 am
        I’m happy to help!
        I would raise the ammonia back to whatever level you were originally dosing (2/4ppm) and monitor how the three are progressing with daily testing. The good news is that because nitrite eating bacteria have already appeared, this shouldn’t take too much longer at all. Hang in there!
        Oh, and when you do your water changes, don’t forget to condition the water being added. Chlorinated water will take your cycle back to day 1 (it kills off all the bacteria), I’m sure you are all over this, but it’s an easy step to forget if you are not in the habit!
      - Sue says
        June 6, 2019 at 1:57 am
        Good morning Ian. Thank you so much 😊
        So today I did a 50% water change with AquaSafe and added 10ml Ammonia. Retested after an hour and a half and Ammonia was 4. I tested the Nitrites and Nitrates with 25% tank water and 75% purified water to try to get an accurate reading. Both came back showing max levels on the chart meaning that Nitrites are 32 minimum and nitrates were 320 minimum. I shall do another 50% water change tomorrow and check readings again. Continue to dose with Ammonia and do water changes until I get anything close to a readable level. On a funny note I decided to treat the water change as if I had fish in the tank…removing the water with a syphon was a doddle, however creating a syphon to get the water back into the tank water another matter….picture the scene. Huge bucket on top of a chair which was sitting on top of the breakfast table. Garden hose filling from the back door and adding kettles of boiling water to the bucket to bring it to the same temp as the aquarium. This was achieved by me standing standing on another chair 🤣 I did look into Python syphons but it would appear that they wouldn’t attach to my UK mixer tap. Hey ho; the physical exercise will do me good 😂many thanks, as ever. I’ll keep you posted. Sue
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 6, 2019 at 8:48 am
        Oh wow, your levels are extremely high then. I would definitely work on getting them back down. I agree with the daily water changes until you can read the levels, although if your nitrates are that high, it could indeed take a few days at least.
        Ha, you paint a funny picture. I hope you have good balance! Have you considered looking into a submersible water pump? You add the pump to your bucket and it allows you to keep your bucket on the ground, rather than your elaborate (but effective!) setup. They are quite cheap (you don’t need a super strong one) and may be a worthy investment, I’m not sure I would have the patience to set up all that each time I needed to perform a water change.
      - Sue says
        June 8, 2019 at 2:41 am
        Good morning Ian,
        Thanks again for your advice. I’ve just had a pump delivered by Amazon. I’ve done three 50% water changes now and things do look to be improving slightly. I’ll pass a copy of my spreadsheet but it doesn’t look the same as it does on Excel. I shall continue with the water changes and hopefully 🤞 sometime soon I’ll get there. Would it help if I rinsed my filters out in the removed aquarium water?
        Thanks again
        Sue
        Date PH Ammonia Nitrites Nitrates Notes regarding test results or changes made after these results
        05.06.2019 50% water change. Added AquaSafe and 10ml Ammonia
        05.06.2019 4 32+ 320+ Tested nitrites and nitrates 25% tank water 75% purified water
        06.06.2019 1 50% water change with AquaSafe
        06.06.2019 0.5 24 320+ Test 3 hrs later- nitrites & Nitrates 25% tank water 75% purified water. 5ml Ammonia added
        07.06.2019 0 50% water change with AquaSafe. Added 5ml Ammonia
        07.06.2019 1 20 280 Test 1 hour later. Tested Nitrites and Nitrates 25% tank water 75% Ammonia
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 8, 2019 at 5:28 am
        Wow, those WERE some impressively high nitrate levels, it looks like you are beginning to get there. This all looks positive. The only advice I have is to continue with more of the same.
        I don’t believe rinsing the filter will help, there shouldn’t be anything in your tank getting trapped in there yet. Take a look at it, but if it’s only discolored and water flows through fine, then leave it. Since this is where your beneficial bacteria is growing, I try to avoid messing with it too much when setting up my tanks.
      - Sue Walters says
        June 25, 2019 at 4:44 am
        Hi Ian, sorry, it’s me again. My water Parameters are still great. Testing daily with just 3 fish at the moment, hope to add more on Thursday. The problem I have now is snails, presumably brought in with plants although I washed them and checked them over closely. For the first couple of days I just saw a couple of very small ones which I hoofed out with long tweezers. Today though I have dozens of teeny tiny ones on the glass. What would you recommend to get rid of them before I add any more fish? Thank you 😊
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 25, 2019 at 7:30 am
        Hi Sue,
        Snail eggs are incredibly tiny, a quick rinse often won’t get them off. Once they are in, it’s it’s difficult to get rid of them. There are snail killing chemicals, often containing copper sulfate. I personally use an assassin snail. I’m not sure if you can get them in the UK, but it’s essentially a snail that hunts down other snails.
  - Sue Walters says
    June 20, 2019 at 8:09 pm
    Hello again Ian, it’s the queen of water changes here 🤣 so for the past 15 days I have been doing a daily 50% water change with AquaSafe and adding 5ml of Ammonia. I have finally got my readings down to 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites and 2.5 Nitrates. I’m really hopeful that it is now fully cycled 🤞 I’m going to take a water sample to Maidenhead Aquatics to double check and if they agree I’ll buy a small number of fish to start off with. I really am so grateful for your advice and patience. One question though is what do you suggest ongoing for water changes?
    Many thanks
    Sue
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      June 21, 2019 at 4:58 am
      Hi Sue,
      I reaaaaally have my fingers crossed that you have reached the end. I have to commend you on your patience with the daily water changes. I personally do weekly water changes on my tank, as long as everything seems normal. A well maintained (and not overstocked) should be able to easily make it through a week without your water parameters reaching dangerous levels. Once everything is order, you will have a better understanding as to how often you will need to do a “full tank clean” including rinsing the filter and wiping down the glass. But for water changes, I just do a quick vacuum, since you are already sucking water out of the tank. In smaller tanks, you can vacuum half of the tank one week and half the other, if you can’t do it quickly enough with the amount of water being drawn out.
      Reply
      - Sue Walters says
        June 21, 2019 at 7:00 pm
        Hi Ian. Hooray 😃 they confirmed that my water is good to go 🐠 thank you so much for your time, advice and patience.
        Kind regards
        Sue
      - Ian Sterling says
        June 22, 2019 at 3:52 am
        Awesome Sue,
        I’m so happy for you. Congratulations, it’s your hard work and patience that got you there. The hard part is over and now you get to enjoy your fish. Wishing you all best for the future 🙂
Emma says
May 23, 2019 at 7:19 am
Hi, Ian!
I have a tank that seems to be stuck in a 48 hour cycle. I add 2-4ppm of ammonia, then 24 hours later it reads 0.25-0.5ppm ammonia, high nitrites, medium nitrates, and 48 hours later 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites, high nitrates. The pH is above 7 and everything seems fine, but it doesn’t seem to be getting any closer to a 24 hour cycle. It took 2 weeks to reach this point and has been doing its 48 hour cycle thing for about 3 weeks now. Do I just keep going? Is there anything else I should be doing to help it get to a 24 hour cycle? It’s a 4 gallon tank if that makes a difference. I have a betta that protests and rips his fins off if I try to put him in a proper 10 gal, so I’m hoping he’ll accept this tank once it’s ready and I can convince him to move out of his 0.9 liter tank that was just supposed to be a transition tank. Oh, the joys of a picky fish! Thanks!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  May 23, 2019 at 7:39 am
  I suspect the problem here is the size of your tank and the filter. Most people who cycle use larger tanks, so my guide does generalize a little here in regards to the amount of ammonia to add. 4 gallons is definitely on the smaller side but considerably better than the little one you have your betta in now. Try reducing the amount of ammonia to 1ppm and see what happens. But I have a suspicion your tank is actually cycled. Congratulations! 🙂
  Reply
JOHN says
May 22, 2019 at 8:09 pm
Hello Sir,
just wanna share. maybe i just got lucky, i know how important the cycle is. but i never do water testing. i started early 2019 bought this new tank, placed everything from substrate, driftwood,aquatic plants and all the electrical equipments like filter and heather then i added the dechlorinated water. i did not put any fish in it. i just run the filter and i added fish flakes. every other day im doing 10-15% water change. i waited for 2 months before i added the 1st pair of fishes, they are zebra danios until this day they are healthy and active. i also added 2 corydoras and 6 neon tetras. im planning to add 4 more zebra danios for them to school.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  May 23, 2019 at 3:43 am
  Hi John,
  I’m happy for your success. Zebra Danios are incredibly hardy fish and were actually commonly used in the old days to cycle tanks (before we manually added ammonia) While your original two that started the cycle may look fine, it’s possible they will live shorter lives due to this stress. With all that said, testing water is one of the most important things you can do for your tank on a regular basis. given test kits are so cheap (use the API Master Test Kit) and last years, there isn’t really a reason not to. Just because everything is going fine now doesn’t mean problems won’t arise in the future.
  Reply
Carley McGrady says
May 20, 2019 at 10:38 pm
Hey Ian,
You’ve been a life-saver! I posted a few weeks ago about how my Ph levels would just drop drastically, even after a water change. Well I figured out that everytime i add ammonia, my ph plummets. So i was doing a 20% water change to increase ph and then adding ammonia to keep my ammonia levels up after the water change, which would drop the ph again! Once I figured that out, I stopped adding ammonia and the ph leveled out and stayed around 7.2. This was all fine and dandy until my ammonia levels started dropping while I progressed through the cycle. Now I’ve got nitrites and nitrates and every day the ammonia levels are dropping – which is great. But when I add more ammonia to keep things going so the bacteria doesnt starve, the ph drops again which I think might really stall the cycle – particularly the nitrate eating bacteria. I’ve been between 2-5ppm nitrites and 5ppm nitrates for over a week now. I have the arganite sand and I’ve removed the driftwood from my tank. I’m just not quite sure what to do to keep things rolling well. Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  May 21, 2019 at 5:24 am
  Hi Carley,
  That’s really unusual, I have never seen ammonia immediately reduce pH. Nitrite and Nitrate are acidic which will lower pH but unless you have low KH, this isn’t a problem for most tanks. Have you re-tested your KH now you have added your sand? If your KH is balanced, you shouldn’t be seeing these drastic swings.
  Reply
  - Carley McGrady says
    June 14, 2019 at 7:45 pm
    Hey there, turns out my kh was low – less than 40ppm. I dosed the tank with alkaline buffer and now it’s closer to 100ppm and the ph has been much more stable and higher, around 7.3 for the past few days.
    I also tested the tap water and it appears to have low kh naturally – only about 50ppm out of the tap. I’m thinking that in the future when I do a water change, I’ll dose the fresh water going in with conditioner and alkaline buffer before adding it to the tank.
    Let me know if you think I should do something different, otherwise – thanks so much for this blog!!
    I bought the python water vacuum / changer bases on your reviews 🙂
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      June 15, 2019 at 6:41 am
      Hi Carley,
      If your pH levels have stablized then the battle is won! It sounds like you have gotten your head around it. I must congratulate you on your great work.
      The Python Water Changer didn’t just change my water, it changed my life. It’s hard to go back to buckets. I would love to hear your experience with it!
      Reply
Rachel says
May 17, 2019 at 3:08 pm
Just wanted to pop in and say thank you for these awesome instructions – I have been checking this page at each step of the cycle! When I was starting out my cycle I found that many resources explained the nitrogen cycle but no actual steps to carrying it out for newbies like me and was so relieved to find this article.
I’m on day 21 now and (somewhat) patiently waiting for my nitrites to start dropping. Of course I intended not to get a fish until cycling was done but then came across a betta I absolutely loved… him and a nerite are waiting in a temporary tank (water changes daily!) and I’m very excited for the day I get to add them into their new home!
I appreciate experts in the hobby taking time to really explain these concepts – my betta is much happier and healthier for it!
Reply
Starr says
May 13, 2019 at 11:04 pm
Wonderful article! My tank was never cycled, I had never heard about cycling. I had a Betta fish and a red fin algae eater living nicely for 5 years. The Betta developed a swim bladder issue and sadly passed away. I changed the water, replaced the algae eater and added 2 new fancy goldfish. All fish were dead within a week. Do I need to start over and do a cycle?
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  May 14, 2019 at 3:38 am
  Hi Starr,
  I’m sorry to hear about the passing of your betta. You likely did a fish-in cycle (this is a fishless cycle) with your betta and were not aware of it.
  What size is your tank? Gold fish need a significantly larger tank than a betta.
  The first thing I would do is measure the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates in your aquarium using an aquarium test kit (API master test kit is cheapest) You should already be testing these weekly when you do your water change and tank clean as these three are responsible for the majority of aquarium problems.
  Reply
CJ says
May 7, 2019 at 5:32 am
Hi Ian,
Just dropping a line my son’s fish Delta is doing well. As you can see here if you would like. This is a link to my Penn State blog that the school makes me keep as long as I am a student.
http://sites.psu.edu/mis204psucjt2016/2019/05/06/73/
It is a nice set up, if I say. But major pain and flaws. I have tried to introduce a 4 shrimp cleaning crew but, the 3 Amano’s are petrified and hide all day and night. The single cherry red goes about his business unharassed for the most part. One Amano was found on my floor this morning. I seperated this one into a bowl on its own while it recovers. It is still touch and go not sure he will make it through the next day.
Meanwhile Delta keeps on bossing his new tank. Plants include Madagascar Lace, Argentine Sword, Java Fern, moss balls, and unidentified hair grass.
Cheers Ian,
CJ
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  May 7, 2019 at 7:36 am
  Hi CJ,
  What a great looking tank, that colored substrate you chose really contrasts nicely with everything. I love it!
  It’s possible that the tank is a little too “open” for your shrimp. Introducing plants that are thicker will help them feel safer when your curious betta swims too close. The downside is that it will make your tank look a little more cluttered. This isn’t a bad thing, just a design preference.
  CJ looks very happy, congrats again on the awesome setup!
  Reply
Rick says
April 24, 2019 at 6:43 am
Ian; Thanks for your advice on being patient. After 3 weeks, my ammonia & nitrite levels finally read 0 ppm, and my nitrate reading was about 5 ppm. As you recommended under the Final Step, I then added a full dose of ammonia and within 24 hrs I was back to 0 ppm for ammonia & nitrite. Two questions: 1) If my nitrate reading remains between 5-10 ppm, should I still do a 25% water change before adding some fish? 2) My vacation plans have unfortunately intersected with the completed cycle. If I’m away for a week, can I just wait until then to add fish, or would the beneficial bacteria become ammonia-starved while I’m away? Last thing I want to do is have to start from scratch … Thanks again for the sound advice
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  April 24, 2019 at 7:28 am
  Hi Rick,
  Congratulations on your success. That’s awesome to hear. You should be commended for your patience.
  To answer your questions:
  1. Unless you have a planted tank, I always like to keep nitrates as low as possible. It gives you more room for error should nitrates unexpectedly spike from an accident, such as over feeding. I’m not saying this will happen, but given that “nitrates can’t be too low” (again, except in a planted tank) I see little reason to skip the water change – it won’t have any impact on your cycle, except diluting any ammonia if you are still dosing, but your fish will replace this anyway.
  2. That’s an interesting predicament I have not come across before. Off the top of my head, I am a little unsure what would happen, I believe that the bacteria would decrease in number as they are deprived of their food source, but I’m not sure to what extent. Are you able to add fish now? Most fish can go a week without being fed (a meal wouldn’t come along every day in the wild) Alternatively, a frozen shrimp in a nylon stocking (so it doesn’t break up in your tank) will break down and release ammonia over the course of a week. It’s how many people used to cycle their tanks (some still do) this could possibly be a replacement as an ammonia source while you are away? Just spitballing ideas here.
  Reply
  - Rick says
    April 24, 2019 at 6:27 pm
    Thanks. I’m going to move forward with 6-8 fish and enjoy them when I get back from vacation.
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      April 25, 2019 at 5:25 am
      If it were me, I’d only add a couple if it’s not a big gap between when you leave. You don’t know the health of the fish. Some fish are stressed out from transport and poor care at the pet shop and you may not have enough time to determine their health. Sometimes new fish die for factors outside of your control – you don’t want a dead fish in there mucking up the water for the remaining fish.
      Oh and don’t forget to acclimatize them before adding your new fish!
      Reply
Ron says
April 23, 2019 at 10:35 pm
Hi Ian,
It’s been over a month since we last spoke. Since our last conversation this is the progress of my fresh water tank with completing a fishless cycle.
Started Cycle: March 2 2019. Ammonia 4.0 / PH 7.0
March 2-11th – same readings everyday
March 12th – Ammonia level dropped to 1.0 but Nitrites or Nitrates, added more ammonia
March 13-14 – Ammonia 4.0, No Nitrites or Nitrates
March 15th – Added “Quick Start” to boost the bacteria growth.
March 20th – Water level was low, so I completed a 20% water change and topped off the tank. Added a little ammonia. I added “API Quick Start” to boost the bacteria growth since I read that “Quick Start” doesn’t work that well. Ammonia 4.0
March – 21-31 – Ammonia 4.0, No Nitrites or Nitrates.
April – 1st – 19th – Ammonia 3.0, No Nitrites or Nitrates.
April 20th – I have Nitrites and Nitrates. Nitrites – .25 ppm, Nitrates 4.0 ppm and I just added some more Ammonia to bring it up from .25ppm to 4.0ppm.
April 22nd – today (April 23rd) – Nitrites – .25 ppm, Nitrates 4.0 ppm and Just added some more Ammonia to bring it up from 1.0 ppm to 4.0 ppm.
So I am on my way to finally cycling my tank. So it has taken 50 days for my tank to start its cycling. So what I have learned about this process? To have lots of ‘Patience’. I will say that I did allot of worrying and wondering if I did something wrong, but everything I have read online, says that every tank is different and some tanks will cycle in one week or one month or two-three months. So I did just that; waited and continued to take my readings. My wife kept on bugging me to just add fish, but I had to continue to explain what would happen if we were to add fish now.
So anyone on Ian’s forum, take my advise and just be patience as the bacteria will eventually grow, but it will work on its own time, not yours 🙂 and listen to Ian as he is an expert with great advise. I will update the forum when we have added fish to the tank. It would be great to be able to post a picture with our comments 🙂
-Ron
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  April 24, 2019 at 4:48 am
  Wow, Ron. What a journey. I think this is getting close to the longest cycle I have come across in the last year. That’s not to say that it’s unheard of, but you are definitely unlucky with the amount of time it took.
  Thank you so much for detailing the order and time frames in which your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates moved. It does indeed look like you are so close to the end. Congratulations, a lot of people would have given up long before now. I commend you for your patience. I’m sure you are very excited to add fish.
  I would love an update once the whole cycling process has finished, so that I can see how long it took to the day. I want to use this as an example as for others who are getting frustrated after week 1.
  Reply
Ursula says
April 20, 2019 at 11:54 pm
Hello,
I am in the process of doing a fishless cycle. I started once and then had to leave town so the process stalled so I restarted the whole process. This time I decided to use Stability and Prime. I am on day 4. I am having problems keeping why Ph up. My readings have been:
Day 1
Ph 7.6
Amm 1
Nitrite 0
Day 2
Ph 7.6
Amm 0 I added ammonia
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
Day 3
Ph 7.2
Amm 0 I dosed it up to 4 ppm
Nitrite 1
Nitrate 40
Day 4
Ph 6.0
Amm .50 I added a small amount
Nitrite 2
Nitrate 80
My water level is getting low due to evaporation. Is it ok to top off tank?
How can I keep my Ph up. I have read to do a partial water exchange but will the affect my other readings? My tank is a 5 gallon with a heater and current temp is about 86 degrees. I have been adding a small amount of ammonia each day to about 2-4 ppm and level is down by the next morning. I hope I am doing things right! Bill is anxious for his bigger tank!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  April 22, 2019 at 2:27 pm
  Hi Ursula,
  Based on your readings, besides the pH, things look good. For the pH, it’s possible you have soft water (this does affect a few fishkeepers) I suggest reading my guide to Aquarium KH as it will provide advice on how to stabalize your pH (the two work hand in hand) It’s important you stabalize it as these swings can be deadly to fish.
  Absolutely you can do a water change, or ad water. Just be mindful that this will dilute your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate by the same ratio, so if you need to add more ammonia after, be sure to do it.
  Reply
  - Ursula says
    April 22, 2019 at 10:44 pm
    Hi Ian,
    Thank you for getting back to me. I did do a partial water change last night to bring the pH back up to 7.6. I tested ammonia to make sure there was still enough in the tank which there was. This morning I tested and these were my results:
    pH 6.0
    ammonia 1.0
    Nitrite 0
    Nitrate 40-80 (it’s hard to tell, they are so close)
    I am wondering why the Nitrites are 0 when I still have ammonia. Is this normal? I have read your page on Aquariam KH. I plan to get some of the suggested Alkaline Buffer to hopefully address the dropping pH. I have an established 2.5 gallon tank and the pH consistently stays at 7.6.
    I am curious…as I mentioned, I have a 2.5 gallon tank with one betta fish. I am moving him to the 5 gallon tank once it is cycled. If I were to empty the 5 gallon tank and move everything from the 2.5 gallon tank into this tank, and slowly add additional water to the full 5 gallon amount over say a week…would this work? Would this bypass the cycling process since I am using everything from a cycled tank?
    Thank you!
    Ursula
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      April 23, 2019 at 3:49 pm
      Hi again Ursula,
      If your pH is dropping that quick then it is almost certainly a buffering issue (KH)
      If your nitrates are still increasing while you still have measurable (but decreasing) ammonia, then this isn’t unheard of – it’s possible your nitrite eating bacteria established themselves quicker than the ammonia eating ones. A couple of 50% water changes will get the nitrates back down to readable levels, so you can see how fast they are climbing again (the gaps on between levels on your color chart are closer together at these low levels)
      Regarding the betta tank. This can speed up your tank cycle to the point where it is near instant, or a few days. It is also important to note that if it doesn’t happen instantly the ammonia can stress your fish out. However, you can use seachem prime to make this harmless (it’s commonly used in fish-in cycling) The most important thing to add is the filter as this is where the beneficial bacteria hides. However, the pH will still need to be fixed up first as if the pH get’s too low, it can kill the established bacteria.
      Reply
Annie W says
April 20, 2019 at 12:19 pm
Thank you so much for the wonderful explanation of how cycling a tank works! I do have one question though.
So I have 3 small red claw crabs (currently in a small temporary tank), and I have purchased and am planning on moving them to a 15 gallon, long paludarium. Due to the semi-aquatic nature of these creatures, there would only be quite a small amount of (brackish) water in the tank (I am currently trying to find a submersible filter for this small amount of water). Is it still necessary to cycle the tank, and if so can I do it with the crabs in the tank (I have heard of fish-in cycling)?
I hope this is not a stupid question, I am very new to keeping them and would like to provide the best possible care for these fascinating creatures (and hopefully get them out of the small tank ASAP!).
Thank you so much!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  April 22, 2019 at 2:22 pm
  Hi Annie,
  There is no such thing as stupid questions 🙂 Admittedly, I do not have a whole lot of experience with paludariums. Although they greatly interest me, I have only had aquariums for life. Thinking about it logically, you would still need to cycle the water as without this step, chemicals are going to build up that will be dangerous to your crabs. Whether or not you can do it “fish-in” style entirely depends on the sensitivity of red claw crabs to ammonia and nitrite. I don’t recommend it as even if it doesn’t kill them, it can lead to health problems and other issues in the future.
  Reply
Laura says
April 17, 2019 at 9:36 am
Hi Ian,
I found your site a while back and have been following your fishless cycle steps. This is what I have so far and am wondering if I even started it correctly.
I already had water in my 75 gallon tank, but I did a 50% water change because it had Prime and Stabalizer in it from the beginning. I’m wondering now if I should of taken all the water out before starting your steps. I did not know about this until I had my tank just running for 3 weeks with fish food trying to get it to cycle. Never did and that is why I cleaned the fish food out and 50% of the water. It was always cloudy too. I’ve been keeping record of everything I’ve done. Starting with zero on all tests….Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate at 0.0 PH 8.2 GH 19
On April 4th I added 3/4 tsp ammonia which brought my tank to test at 4.0
PH is 8.2 and took away all the cloudiness, completely. It was very clear water at this point.
I continued this until April 9th when it tested positive for Nitrite 0.25 Ammonia went to 2.0
So I added half the amount as you stated and the ammonia went back up to 4.0
It has been not dropped since. The Nitrite has not risen either. And PH is still 8.2
I have not added anything else to my tank. So I thought, wow..has it stalled? So I tested for Nitrates reading one of your other blogs gave me the idea to do so. Too my surprise it came back positive today April 16th at 5.0 PH is still 8.2 and has a tiny bit of cloudiness look to itbut not like it did before the ammonia I added.
Note: I used all the products only that you suggested in this article.
Did I start off wrong, or do I just need to be more patient, which I am..
Thank you so much for your blog, it is very informative and I do hope you can help me.
Laura
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  April 17, 2019 at 11:47 am
  Hi Laura,
  The beautiful thing is that unless you have really messed up the water in your tank, basic aquarium products shouldn’t have caused any issue.
  I understand following steps when you are halfway through but it actually looks like you are doing great.
  The first thing we want to determine is if the nitrate is there because it’s from the nitrite or because that’s the base level in your tap water. So take a sample of tapwater and test it for ammonia, nitrites and nitrate.
  If your nitrates come back zero, then it’s from the nitrites, which is good. Unfortunately, from here it is just more waiting, for say another week, to see if any of the readings move.
  I will add that 8.2 is on the high end for pH, just something for you to be mindful of with your fish.
  Reply
  - Laura says
    April 23, 2019 at 12:49 am
    Hi Ian,
    Thank you for your response. I did test the tap as you suggested and yes the nitrates were coming from the water source.
    Tested at 5.0
    I’ve been testing daily since then and it has not moved.
    Nitrite 0.50
    Nitrate 5.0
    Ammonia 4.0
    PH 8.2 I know this is on the high side. I will be keeping African Cichlids and will adjust with API down if needed for other fish. Could this high PH be affecting my cycle?
    I am low on water due to evaporation now and will add water today. I am worried to add water conditioner as it will dilute my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate which I can’t seem to get moving along at this point. Any suggestions?
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      April 23, 2019 at 3:57 pm
      I don’t believe a pH of 8.2 would have affected your cycle. If you are keeping African Cichlids then it’s not an issue at all. I only mention it as Cichlids generally are not a fish that beginners start with.
      Do you have a filter set up with biomedia (basically a home for the beneficial bacteria to live?)
      Another question, I know you said that you used existing water from the fishfood method, did anything else fall in or accidentally get added to the tank?
      This is most unusual because I would have well and truly expected to see some movement by now.
      If your water is evaporating then I highly recommend adding more. Once the water has settled (say an hour later) you would normally re-add more ammonia to top it up to 4 ppm to compensate for it being diluted. As for nitrite and nitrate being diluted, this is much less of an issue.
      Reply
      - Laura says
        April 24, 2019 at 10:49 am
        Hi Ian
        Thank you so much for caring and sharing your knowledge with us.
        I have a Fluval filter 110 with carbon, foam and bio rings.
        This mornings readings were:
        Ammonia 4.0
        Nitrite 0.50
        Nitrate 10 ppm
        I see a change in my last readings. But my tank was evaporated so
        I did a 20% water change and added API water conditioner and now my readings are:
        Ammonia 4.0
        Nitrite 0.25
        Nitrate 10 ppm
        I believe I have had a movement in the cycle.
        I did not add anything else to my tank. I have not changed a thing. I don’t see anything that has fallen into it either.
        I’m hoping this is progress.
        I actually am only new to the fishless cycle, however not of my doing.
        I like this way better. I am very patient and I know that’s what it takes.
        Thank you again so very much for your help.
      - Ian Sterling says
        April 24, 2019 at 11:38 am
        Hi Laura,
        It’s possible that the water change diluted your nitrite levels. Keep an eye on this as they may raise again. If they do, it doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. The whole process is darn slow. One of the comments below discusses how it has taken him almost 50 days and his cycle only just looks like it’s finishing. I have my fingers crossed that yours end much sooner and I am glad to see you have the right mindset 🙂
      - Laura says
        May 12, 2019 at 1:59 am
        Hi Ian
        Whoo Hoo!! After 5 weeks I believe I am in the final stages of my fishless nitrogen cycle, thanks to your expertise and wisdom.
        I’ve been keeping my records daily,
        This week I saw my numbers start rising.
        Record shows as of this morning test:
        Ammonia 1.0 ppm added 1/8 tsp will check in one hour
        Nitrite 2.0 ppm
        Nitrate 8.0 ppm
        Any advice at this point. I know I’m almost there 🙂
        Thank you so much for your knowledge and your blog, sharing and caring.
        Always my best to you,
        Laura
      - Ian Sterling says
        May 12, 2019 at 5:10 am
        Hi Laura,
        That’s so exciting! Just a little more patience and you will be done.
        As your nitrates begin to climb higher, you may need to do a water change to get them back down (it becomes harder to see them progress as the color chart ppm get further apart at higher levels) if you do this, keep in mind the water change will also dilute the ammonia so re-add as needed.
        But otherwise, continue as you are, it sounds like you are doing great. So close now!
Angela says
April 16, 2019 at 12:28 pm
Hello. Thank you for this article.
I have been cycling a 40 gallon freshwater for the past 6 months. Recently I noticed something. I added a dose of ammonia and checked on it the next day. Ammonia was between 0.5 and 1 ppm. Nitrite was 1 ppm. Nitrate was 5 ppm. The day after that I tested the same things again and all of it read 0 ppm. The ammonia was 0 ppm, the nitrite was 0 ppm, and the nitrate was 0 ppm. I am so confused. I tested it again and got the same results. Any ideas? Thank you again.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  April 16, 2019 at 1:15 pm
  Hi Angela,
  Cycling should well and truly be done by 6 months. The longest cycle I have seen when dosing correctly is 10 weeks.
  How big was the dose? I would add another 4ppm as nitrate should be the only thing to go up in a cycled tank. Ammonia and nitrite should remain at zero. I would suggest repeating this dosing over the next few days to see if your tests and see if this remains constant.
  Reply
  - Angela says
    April 18, 2019 at 11:59 am
    Thanks for replying,
    I added a dose of ammonia and the next day ammonia levels were at 2 ppm and nitrite levels were at 0.25 ppm and nitrate was at 0 ppm. The day after that ammonia was at 1 ppm and nitrites are at 0 ppm, and nitrates were at 0 ppm. I have no idea what is happening, it’s like the ammonia is disappearing. Do you know what is happening and what I might do? Thank you again.
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      April 19, 2019 at 4:45 am
      Hi Angela,
      Ammonia doesn’t just “disappear” it has to go somewhere. Either it is being converted into nitrites (which isn’t the case here) or it is being removed by chemical filter media such as zeolite.
      Are you sure you are following the instructions on your test kit properly? Is the test kit expired? It’s also possible, although least likely that you have a faulty test kit. Your local fish store should offer water testing to double check if you suspect this is the case.
      If the testing is normal, and you have excluded anything that removes ammonia from your tank, I’d keep redosing for the week. If ammonia keeps going down at the same rate then you should eventually hit your 0 nitrite + readable nitrate levels.
      Reply
      - Angela says
        April 20, 2019 at 2:10 pm
        Hello again
        Yes, I am following the test instructions exactly.
        The expiration date is 2023, so it’s not expired.
        Honestly, I don’t really trust my fish store because they tried to convince me you didn’t need ammonia to cycle a tank and you could put 10 goldfish in a 40 gallon tank.
        I tested again and all water levels are 0 ppm. I’ll do what you suggested and keep redosing the ammonia, and hope for the best. Thanks for your reply.
      - Ian Sterling says
        April 22, 2019 at 2:19 pm
        Hi Angela,
        I’m terribly sorry to hear about your local fish store. It’s hard if you don’t have a local supplier you can trust.
        Fingers crossed we see some movement soon, all that ammonia has to go somewhere.
Maria says
April 14, 2019 at 3:38 pm
Hi Jeff,
I have set up a 2nd tank.I put some new plants in it last week, transferred around 50% of water from my established aquarium with fish in it, and let the new filter to run in my established aquarium as well for 10 days before installing it into my new tank.
Now, can you tell me when I can transfer my betta fish into it? I have him currently in my 1st tank.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  April 15, 2019 at 6:43 am
  Hi Maria,
  Only you can tell that. You’ll need a master test kit and add 2 ppm of ammonia. Wait 24 hours and if it reads zero for ammonia and nitrite, then it’s ready. Otherwise, you’ll have to keep following the steps in the article above.
  Reply
Carley says
April 8, 2019 at 9:07 pm
Hey, thanks for all the great tips! Quick question: Let’s say during the first week my ammonia levels are going up as planned but then my ph drops so I do a 20% water change. Now will the ammonia levels have dropped as well? Do I need to add a little more ammonia? Thanks!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  April 9, 2019 at 4:23 am
  Hi Carley,
  Excellent question, a water change will also dilute your ammonia levels and you would re-dose appropriately. Using the test kit after the water change will let you know how much you need to add.
  Reply
  - Carley says
    April 10, 2019 at 8:48 am
    Thanks! I’m also just curious after looking at your chart – does the ammonia stay constant after the first dosing until it begins to drop when the ammo-eating bacteria appears? Your chart shows an increase of ammonia from day 0 to day 10 – was that fish in cycling or were you dosing with a little bit of ammo every day? Should I be increasing my ammo a little bit every day as well?
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      April 10, 2019 at 11:10 am
      Hi Carely,
      Well spotted, as I discussed with another commenter, this is actually a chart of my last fish-in cycle I performed. I understand it adds confusion, but I thought it would still give a good idea of how the cycle progresses. I couldn’t find the numbers I kept scribbled down on a piece of paper of my last fishless cycle. I should probably make some numbers up to give a better idea than what this chart shows.
      You are correct in that the ammonia stays constant until nitrites begin to appear, then it should slowly decrease.
      The other thing to keep in mind is that if you perform a water change then this will also dilute the ammonia levels and will need to be redosed.
      Reply
      - Sam says
        April 11, 2019 at 2:51 am
        Kudos to Carly and everybody else that commented.. although you’ve explained it a lot clearer then most sites I’ve been on, it is still way over my head. I don’t understand it at all. I am sure going to need help with this. I had fish for 30 years and never had to go through any of the cycling. I shut down my tank for a couple of years and now I decided to get it up and running again and make a cichlid tank. Ive had cichlids before with no problem, but I’ve never really had any fancy cichlids so I want to make sure I do the right thing. I am going to have a ton of questions so I’m hoping I’ll be able to email you and you’ll be able to reciprocate. Thank you
      - Ian Sterling says
        April 11, 2019 at 3:47 am
        Hi Sam,
        Unfortunately, I don’t give advice outside of these comments. I used to when the site was smaller, but I was soon spending over 4 hours of each day replying to all the questions asked so I had to bring it to an end. I can answer short individual questions here but a broad “I don’t get any of it” doesn’t give me any opportunity to help.
  - Carley says
    April 13, 2019 at 9:50 pm
    Hey Ian, really appreciate your help. Im in the early stages of cycling, no nitrites have appeared yet. Im having trouble with my ph, I test it every day and it seems to drop rapidly. For example, I did a 40% water change yesterday for low ph and afterwards it was about at 7.6 – good! But this morning its 6.0 or lower (the scale ends at 6!) Do you have any idea what’s going on or any recommendations? Ammonia is between 4-5 ppm. I have a hob filter with a 20 gallon tank, and sand substrate, 2 rock caves from pet store that were soaked before being put in tank at the beginning, 1 peice of mohave wood (is that the right word?) soaked in a bucket for a week until tannins were cleared before putting in tank and 4 small to medium aquatic plants – like anubis and java fern.
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      April 14, 2019 at 6:03 am
      Hi Carley,
      It’s very possible that you have a low KH. I would suggest reading about it more in my KH guide. Low KH is relatively uncommon so I don’t include it in my cycling guide. But if you are experiencing pH swings, then a low KH is likely the cause.
      Reply
JJ says
April 2, 2019 at 9:46 pm
Hello!
So glad I found your blog as I’m a complete novice when it comes to fish! I bought a Betta for my granddaughter and picked up a one gallon tank with filter, light but no heater. After doing some reading online, I was convinced that tank was too small and bought a 5 gallon Fluval Spec V plus a heater. Imagine my surprise when after setting up the tank, I couldn’t add my fish without cycling the tank first. I am a bit overwhelmed by the process but your step by step instructions is giving me hope. I didn’t have ammonia but added some food pellets instead as I read you can use food to start the cycle. It’s been a few days and my PH tested at 7.2 and ammonia at 1ppm. Would you advise I use ammonia instead and if so, how much do I add for a 5 gallon tank? Do you have a preferred ammonia source?
In the meantime, my Betta will be stuck in the smaller tank and I’m wondering how often I should do a water change to keep him healthy? Should I test the water first and what level of ammonia would require a change? What % of water change should be done? Should I remove him to do the change or can I do it with him in the tank? I want it to be the least stressful as possible. He is eating a few pellets once per day, I keep the light on for around 10 hours, his fins are open but he does seem to be darting around more. FYI:I use Seachem Prime to condition the water and was told to use 2 drops for my 1 gallon tank. (I used a half mL for the 5 gal tank)
Sorry for all the questions and my ignorance. I never knew keeping a fish could be so complicated. One thing I’ve learned is NEVER go to a chain pet store to buy or be educated about fish!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  April 3, 2019 at 4:56 am
  Hi JJ,
  Well done for identifying the need to upgrade, an appropriate sized tank is going to make anything that follows so much easier. Fish pellets, a frozen shrimp or anything else that decomposes can also be used to add ammonia to the tank. My biggest gripe with these is that you cannot add an exact amount of ammonia and record the rate at which it decreases, which makes it easier to chart what is actually happening in your tank. My preferred ammonia is Fritz, however you can use Dr Tims or any other “aquarium ammonia” which allows you to know exactly how much to dose relative to your tank. Alternatively you can grab “pure ammonia” from a hardware store but due diligence is required to ensure it’s free of fragrances and other additives as these can kill a cycle.
  As for your Betta, if you don’t plan on keeping him in the smaller tank, then you are essentially performing a fish-in cycle in the small one and a fishless cycle in the large one. I have a guide on performing a fish-in cycle which may be a better option – moving your betta to the larger tank, since he will have to suffer through what is a fish-in cycle regardless if you keep him in his own tank.
  You can perform water changes with fish in the tank. The fish-in cycling guide has more information on using water changes relative to chemical build-up.
  Don’t worry, we have all been here before. Unfortunately, chain pet stores just don’t train their staff well enough. I highly recommend local fish stores since they themselves are usually heavily involved in the hobby too and give some great advice. Chain stores are a beginner trap, you are not the first and certainly won’t be the last to experience this.
  Reply
  - JJ says
    April 4, 2019 at 5:02 am
    Thank you! I didn’t even think about the fact that I was doing a fish-in cycle in the small tank while doing a fishless cycle in the 5 gal tank to get it ready for my Betta. I moved him into the 5 gal tank after acclimating him to the temp and new water chemistry. The larger tank tested at 0 ppm ammonia at the time I moved him so I will keep testing every day and add the correct dosage of prime based on the ammonia level. Do I add the prime directly into the tank or mix it with water first? Then I keep testing everyday and dose with prime anytime it is over 0 ppm? Once the ammonia reaches 2 ppm, I do a 50% water change with fresh water that has prime in it. Do I also need to add a straight dose of prime even with the water change? Then I keep testing everyday waiting for the ammonia to start dropping at which time I test for nitrites? Then dose accordingly with prime based on the ammonia + nitrite level together. If the combined limit of ammonia & nitrites reach 4 ppm, I need to do another 50% water change, correct? After that keep testing everyday and dose with prime as needed. Is there any point in which too much prime becomes harmful? Once the nitrites start level off or drop, I test for nitrates and hope for my end goal of 0 ammonia & nitrites with what acceptable level for nitrates?
    One final question! Would you recommend I add Tetra Safe Start Plus as a safeguard? If so, can I add it directly into the tank when the fish is already in there? And if I go this route, will dosing constantly with prime harm the newly added bacteria?
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      April 4, 2019 at 6:20 am
      Sounds like you have your head in the right spot now, JJ!
      You have some good questions, let me elaborate:
      Prime can be added directly to the tank when being used to “bind” ammonia and nitrite. The only reason you would add it to water prior is if you were using it as a dechlorinator.
      Yes, you keep testing every day and react according to the test results (build up happens at different rates in different tanks) and dose with prime accordingly.
      Wen doing the water change, you add as much prime to the water being added that is needed to dechlorinate it. Then you add to the tank as much as is needed to bind the 1 ppm. If it makes it easier, think of it as two separate products. One that dechlorinates and another that treats ammonia and nitrite.
      Prime is tested safe up to a 5x dose (which would treat 5ppm), which is why I recommend stopping at 4ppm as it leaves a little room for error.
      As for the end goal, nitrates will continue to rise until you do a water change. Ideally, you would want to keep these below 10ppm, however, the upper limit for freshwater fish is generally round 40ppm, I have seen many tanks perform just find changing at around 20ppm. Observe your tank and perform water changes accordingly. Generally, you should be able to go a week between water changes in a properly stocked tank.
      Depending on who you ask, you’ll get a resounding yes or no on the Tetra Safe Start. I fall into the camp that isn’t convinced by them. Don’t get me wrong, I have seen quick cycles using these bottled bacteria products, but I have also seen incredibly slow ones too. I have seen the exact same without using these bottled bacteria too. The problem is, that these are living organisms inside the bottle. If they are dead, then they won’t do anything to help your tank. The problem is, you don’t know how this beneficial bacteria has been stored or transported, there is plenty of room for it to die. Then you move onto the argument of different brands offering different strains and it all gets really complicated. The long and the short of it is, adding it won’t break your cycle, but you might not see any benefits either. Yes, it can be added with fish and Prime won’t harm the beneficial bacteria.
      Reply
      - JJ says
        April 5, 2019 at 12:04 am
        Hi Ian-
        Thanks to your guidance, I think I’ve got this process down. My Betta seems so much “happier” in the larger tank! Tested ammonia today at .25 ppm and added one dose of prime. I’ll just keep going and let you know if I run into any problems. One final question: What do you do when you go on vacation with respect to feeding?
        I want you to know how much I appreciate you taking the time to explain the cycle and answer all my questions. I truly believe you saved my Betta!
      - Ian Sterling says
        April 5, 2019 at 4:11 am
        Hi JJ,
        That sounds really positive! Please, if you have any further questions around the cycle, ask away.
        Regarding vacations, it depends on the duration. Most fish can handle up to a week without being fed (a hand-delivered meal doesn’t come along every day in the wild)
        Longer vacations requires either someone you trust to feed them (pleeeease, measure out each feeding into separate containers, step-in carers are notorious for over feeding)
        Otherwise an automatic fish feeder. I have physically reviewed a wide range of them and I can only recommend one, check out the reviews section in this guide if this is the route you take for more pros, cons and how to correctly set them up – it’s a long guide but there is a lot to cover.
        Oh, and avoid “vacation feeders” or “Vacation blocks” or whatever they are called. These small slow dissolving cubes or triangles are a quick way to crash your cycle and kill your fish while you are away.
        Whatever you choose, a trial run is essential. For example, if you are skipping feeding, skip feeding before you go on vacation and see how your betta handles it. Similarly, set your automatic feeder up prior and observe how it runs – this way you are nearby to fix any problems should they arise.
Tessa says
March 30, 2019 at 8:58 am
Hi, so I posted a while ago asking for advice on my tank. Now, I have been testing my waters every few days and adding in ammonia once it gets to around 0.5. My tank has been for almost 4 weeks now and nitrites still have stayed at 2ppm the whole time and aren’t going down! Did I mess this up again?
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 30, 2019 at 10:25 am
  Hi Tessa,
  It’s hard to say based on the information given. I’d monitor your nitrates over the coming days to see if they are increasing. Make sure you test in natural daylight! If they are at the end of the color chart, a water change or two will get them back down so that you can calculate the rate at which they are rising. If they are rising, then the nitrite eating bacteria are there, just slowly growing. If your ammonia keeps decreasing, then it has to go somewhere. So the first step is finding where that somewhere is.
  Reply
- Chris says
  April 1, 2019 at 4:59 am
  Tessa, there is a chemical called tetra safestart plus, and another called stress coat plus, what you want to do since you are having a hard time is put some tank water into a bowl and clean your filters using tank water only. Then set the filters aside, drain the tank completely and refill with tap water. use safestart plus which adds the beneficial bacteria to the tank and add stress coat plus as it removed the chloramines to make tap water safe, wait for the temperature to adjust to the temp of the tank your betta is in and add your betta to this tank. Now Test the water in 2 days to look for elevated levels, more than likely they will be very low. At the end of one week regardless do a 10-20% water change and adding stresscoat plus, test it every other day, if any levels get to high do a 10-20% water change, tank should be cycled within a month going this route. Im new, did lots of research and had issues in the beginning but now this method had worked for me very easy and im not scared anymore. Fish need some of those bacterias, dont be affraid of a dirty tank, a clean tank can be much worse for your fish.
  Reply
CJ says
March 29, 2019 at 1:14 am
Wow, that was quick, Ian, day two and NI ( 0.5 ) and NA ( 5.0 ) are present and Ammo is down to 1.0 from 2.0 in day 2… there were zero readings for everything two hours after introduction of 2.0 ppm ammo.
I rinsed everything thoroughly but, in pre-conditioned water in buckets. I used paper towels to wipe down the entire tank and filter. I changed all filter media as well as used only hands and fingers to scrub decorations in conditioned water. The only thing I am thinking is that after double rinsing gravel from bucket to bucket back to tank in conditioned water, this is where all the bacteria present now were hiding…
Here is to a sped up cycle to continue!
Cheers,
CJ
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 29, 2019 at 3:22 am
  Hi CJ,
  Personally, I’m surprised the ammonia has dipped so quickly. The steps you took all sound positive. Let’s hope it’s smooth sailing from here!
  Reply
CJ says
March 26, 2019 at 12:36 am
Hello Ian,
Just writing to vent.
Cycle crashed… I don’t want to do this anymore!
I had 6 days of result were Ammo was 0 after 24 hours at 2.0 ppm Nitrites never showed signs of slowing Nitrates either. Both were off the scale on day seven of 0 ammo performed two 90% water changes to watch how fast NI and NA increase by the day end both were off the chart again. (after water changes and math, NI were about 30 and NA were over 200 then product change and water change)
I ran out of tetra aqua safe for beta (small bottle) had a coupon for aqueon water conditioner after the first use ammo stop metabolizing and NI and NA are totally still…
I want to give my son’s fish away and smash my tanks…
Meanwhile the fish is living quite well since Jan 15 2019 in a 1.5 gallon bowl with a jungle of aquatic plants.
Please talk me down. I am about to start my tank over with fish in… I am sure he will like it more than where he is now and with weekly water changes I am sure he will be quite happy.
I would still monitor water quality but just not have an empty tank that my in-laws and other relatives laugh at me for having an empty tank next to my tv in the living room for months, while the fish is living in another tank quite happy.
AAAhhh.
CJ
I am going to give my tank two days to show me the cycle has stalled and not crashed then I ditching it all.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 26, 2019 at 3:48 am
  Hi again CJ,
  I’m terribly sorry to hear that this experience has been frustrating. I’d be lying if I said I said that we haven’t all been so frustrated that we want to throw in the towel.
  If I understand you correctly, you are saying that your both your nitrites and nitrates kept going up and up over all this time? I have never come across an instance where nitrates kept going up exponentially, there has always been a ceiling before they drop back down. Even in the comments here, no one has reported such an oddity.
  I have no experience with Aqueon water conditioner, but I am incredibly doubtful this stalled the cycle. Did you use the appropriate amount of water conditioner when performing the water changes? I’m just checking as killing the beneficial bacteria with chlorinated water is incredibly common.
  Also, on the water conditioner front, I recommend using Seachem Prime, it’s ultra concentrated and will last soooooo much longer than Tetra Safe Start or any other water conditioner. It saves money in the long run.
  I’m sorry to hear about your family not “getting it” I’m also often questioned by new guests and family as to why there are empty tanks with no fish (in the cycling phase) I got tired of explaining that years ago and just now say “I have a rare fish on order, it won’t get here for a few months”
  Moving forward, if you do want to start your tank with a fish in it, then you’ll need to pay really close attention to the water parameters, it’s daily testing for a few weeks with either regular water changes or regular dosing with seachem prime to neutralize the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates before they balance out.
  Only you know what’s best for you here. I think you should give it another go, either fishless or fish-in. It would be a shame to see you give up on a hobby that is so rewarding just because the first step is a doozy. It definitely gets easier and more relaxing!
  Wishing youa all the best!
  Reply
  - CJ says
    March 26, 2019 at 9:37 pm
    Hello Ian,
    Thank you. I am trying. Probably harder than I should be?
    The problem is I am attached to the fish now. I would be sad to see him pass or give him away, but really in the end its one small fish. I am sure I will get over it. It is harder to get over taking care of a tank with invisible creatures that you can’t tell they are there and then you know they arrive after two weeks or more of time and patience. Then the colony grows bigger and you are right near the last few days only for the whole thing to get wiped out. I have spent about 50 days on learning reading and cycling a tank with no end product. Start over now and I will finish, LUCKILY, after 3 months or more, collectively!
    THIS IS MADDENING, I should have got my kid a cat like he asked for! (I am mildly allergic to cats, less pain and suffering than this)
    So, I am going to give this one more try then I really don’t care what happens… Oh and just so you know I do not put any of this on you, LOL in case you had any thoughts.
    Take 2
    What should I do?
    Should I empty the tank so that my NI and NA will read 0 (there are residual readings from the first colony)? Should I change my biorings and filter out? Rinse the decorations off?
    Or should I just leave everything as is and dose ammo back up to 2.0 and let sit until it starts to be metabolized again?
    Extremely frustrated,
    CJ
    Reply
    - Tessa says
      March 30, 2019 at 9:10 am
      I FEEL YOUR PAIN! I’ve messed up the cycle so many times and have been trying to cycle my tank for 10 weeks now, I’ve already messed up the cycle twice and I think I’m messing up for a third time! I have my betta in a temporary 2.5 gallon tank and have been doing 20% water changes (every. Single. Day. For. Six. Weeks. Now.) until I can put him into his 5.5 gallon tank because I’m terrified that the ammonia in his tank will get too high. I told my self before I went into the pet store that day that my tank was not ready and that I can’t get a fish. Well that worked out lol. The funny thing is that fish are supposed to be easy pets, but this is the most work I’ve ever done for a pet before. But I love my little guy so much so I just have to hang in there. Good luck.
      Reply
  - CJ says
    March 26, 2019 at 9:58 pm
    Oh, I meant to address some of your questions as well, sorry. My NI was over 5 after the third day of them being present. I charted them to grow up to 20-30 by the 7th or 8th day of arrival. I thought I would start to see them decline in the next 2-4 days based on your graph in this post. At this point I ran out of my tetra water conditioner. I then used aqueon water conditioner and dosed at 5ml per gal instead of 5ml per 10 gal. I think this is what did it maybe? Left the tank like this after a 4 gallon or 80-90% water change for one day. Then I did it again the same mistake for another day, 80-90% change at wrong dose. AAAHH. Then I realized what I did. Now I am hoping I stalled but testing today looks like a total crash!!!
    I am about ready to take the aqueon product back to the store or dump it and go back to tetra or try seachem prime like you said.
    Here is a secondary thought and issue.
    I have my betta in a 1.5 HEAVILY planted tank. It’s like a jungle. HE LOVES it. Every day he wiggles to meet me and have his meal. I even have him eating from my fingers. He blows bubble nests and flares when I show him pictures of himself.
    I test his water for Ammo every other day, and for NI and NA every week. I never get a positive reading ever for NI or NA since January 15. I might get .25 Ammo after 5 to 7 days, but generally I am doing 40-60 % water change every 4-6 days.
    The water is conditioned and left to sit out for a day or two so it is the same temp as his bowl (no heater, but house and light keep his water right at 70F). If I just clear everything out of the five gallon and place all his plants in there and monitor and test while doing weekly 50% water changes he would be living better and under the same chemical circumstance except with a heater and filter… wouldn’t this be better?
    I know the first thing you will mention is that the cycle will still happen, but at what rate? MONTHS? and with testing and maintenance can’t I prevent or push off the cycle, and or intervene to ensure the tank stays safe?
    Thanks,
    CJ (still Delta’s dad, for now)
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      March 27, 2019 at 4:51 am
      Hi again CJ, hopefuly Deltas dad for his natural lifespan!
      I’ll reply to both comments here. It will be easier for me to order my thoughts. let me know if anything needs clarification!
      I completely get where you are coming from. When things go bad, it’s mostly just waiting around to fix them. I never used to be this calm and patient, but keeping fish has forced me to be this way. cats, dogs hamsters etc. Are all considerably better pets for instant gratification.
      I understand it’s disheartening, it’s not just the waiting, but learning from scratch takes a lot of time and effort. You have truly done well to get this far – I’ll bet you know a lot more now than you previously did and it would be a shame for that knowledge to go to waste.
      And hey, I’m cool if you do blame me. Sometimes just having someone else to blame makes you feel better, right? I get that. Personally, I’d rather we be friends but I’m still happy to help you out regardless!
      It is possible that overdosing with Aqueon water conditioner was responsible for the crash, dosing anything at a 10x concentration in an aquarium is a recipe for disaster. Seachem Prime doses at 1 ml for every 10 gallons, although it can be dosed up to 5x stronger without issues. But even seachem prime at 10x would be problematic it also neutralizes nitrite keeping your fish safe here too (and not affecting the cycle)
      If you still have ammonia in the betta bowl then there likely isn’t anywhere for the beneficial bacteria to cling to. When I say the cycle will happen, they still need a home. The filter media (or even a small sponge filter) will rectify this. Without it, it’s possible that your tank will be perpetually uncycled, depending on the environment.
      If you do decide to start again on the big tank, I’d personally clean everything. We don’t know what caused the crash. If it’s a residual chemical left over, it could cause issues on the new cycle. While this might not be the case, I wouldn’t want to be waiting around for another 2 weeks if it is. I’d swap out the biorings and give everything else that comes into contact with the water in your tank a good clean. Rinse in freshwater before adding back to your tank.
      Hope this helps!
      Reply
      - CJ says
        March 27, 2019 at 5:40 am
        Thanks Ian… No, we are friends, dont worry. Or as much friends can be chating through a blog.
        I am going to start over complete tomorrow. I will rinse the tank filter gravel and swap out rings and filter sponge…
        Take two.
        I will check back in once my ammo declines and NI appear.
        Thank you sir and good night,
        CJ
      - Ian Sterling says
        March 27, 2019 at 6:16 am
        Thanks CJ,
        Haha, well maybe not friends but blog buddies at least 🙂
        I have my fingers crossed that this time is the charm. Also, I would advise rinsing the tank itself too – wipe down the glass on the inside of the tank just in case any residue has adhered here. Otherwise this is going to go back into the tank once new water is added.
        I’m here if you need any questions or concerns. Good luck!
  - Wesley says
    March 28, 2019 at 8:59 pm
    Hello Mr.Sterling.
    Im very new to fish tanks. i recently purchased a 20 gallon tank and i have a sponge filter and a aquaclear hang on back filter.
    i set this tank up about a week and like 1 or 2 days and ive done water test everyday but made the rookie mistake and not documenting it all.
    but after a week these are my readings and i had 2 of my family members do the same test without my help so i know the test is correct.
    ammonia- 0.25ppm
    Nitrite- 0.00ppm
    Nitrate-20 ppm
    I have been reading a lot on this cycle and its almost to good to be true that my tank is cycling this fast. is there anyway i can do a test to know if my tank is cycled? (i don’t mean water test lol) maybe like adding ammonia and seeing if the tank can control it? like i said i’m new to this so i’m not sure.
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      March 29, 2019 at 3:28 am
      Hi Wesley,
      Truth be told, everyone experiences the cycle at a different speed. I’d keep documenting daily to see what rate it goes down. If you are reading your tests under natural daylight (not indoor lights) and those are your results then I would trust them. I have outlined steps in the guide above, based on following those steps that will let you know if the tank is completely cycled.
      Reply
Ursula says
March 22, 2019 at 6:15 am
Hello!
First, I just want to say I love your instructions! They are so clear cut. Thank you!
I do have one question. I am in the process of setting up a new five gallon tank for my one Betta. I filled the tank yesterday, added the prime and waited the 24 hours. I just got the ammonia in the mail and an ready to add it to start the cycling process. I have an existing 2.6 gallon tank which I added a second filter to about two weeks ago. I would like to add this filter along with some substrate to the new tank to hopefully accelerate the cycling process. My question is, at what point should I add the second filter and substrate to the new tank or does it matter? Thank you so much!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 22, 2019 at 7:57 am
  Hi Ursula,
  Excellent question! It doesn’t matter when you add your “pre-cycled” filter and substrate, although to get the full benefits, you would want it there from there very start. This way, any beneficial bacteria in the added filter and substrate will spread to your new filter from the start.
  Reply
Elizabeth says
March 20, 2019 at 7:29 pm
Hello! I just wanted to stop by and thank you for this article. After months of researching and not being sure how exactly to cycle an aquarium, it finally clicked for me with these clear instructions.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 21, 2019 at 4:10 am
  Hi Elizabeth,
  I’m glad I could help, this is the exact reason why I created this guide. If you have any further questions or trouble following these steps, please leave a comment here and I’ll try help to the best of my ability!
  Reply
Jennifer says
March 18, 2019 at 12:46 pm
Been following your blog for the past two weeks…Very much appreciate this thorough guide greatly!
Long story short: I’m on Step 3, Day 6. Ammonia level has dropped to 1 ppm after a few consecutive days of being in the 2-4 ppm range. Am I in the right- this is normal until day 8 and I begin testing for nitrites?
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 19, 2019 at 4:07 am
  Hi Jennifer,
  I have some good news for you: Everyone experiences the cycle at different speeds. You are likely further along than you think. If your ammonia is dropping, then it’s likely nitrites are already there. You can move to the next step!
  Reply
  - Jennifer Fouts says
    March 21, 2019 at 3:03 am
    Thanks….I’m still rolling along! Currently on Day 9…For the past 2 days, however, I’m getting a negative readout for nitrites. Is that normal? I know they’re bad too, just like ammonia, but I got the impression they are par for the course for stage 2.
    The ammonia had dropped to the point that I went ahead and added a small dose of ammonia on day 7 (half of the amount I put in originally – a fourth of a teaspoon) as I was concerned that the levels would go below 2 ppm and it looked like it was headed in that direction and didn’t want to throw the cycle off.
    But still getting the pale blue (0 ppm) for nitrites…Do I have to wait for them to show up eventually? Any advice?
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      March 21, 2019 at 4:42 am
      The truth is everyone experiences the nitrogen cycle slightly differently. For most, nitrites slowly build up over time. A few people, however, it will stay at zero while nitrate goes up and nitrates go down. I’d test your nitrates over the next few days to see what is happening there. If it’s increasing, then everything is progressing as normal.
      Based on the info you have provided, if ammonia is decreasing, I don’t see anything to worry about yet. Just more waiting. Hang in there!
      Reply
Holly B says
March 18, 2019 at 4:38 am
Hey Ian,
So here is a quick update on my 10g tank. I have had it for 8 weeks now and the cycle is STILL going. I check the levels daily. I am still stuck on my nitrites! My ammonia drops out every day now to 0 ppm, but for the last 2 weeks my nitrites have been at 5 ppm, making me think they are probable higher. We have done 3 water changes hoping to bring them down, along with the outrages nitrite levels we have an outrages nitrate level of 80 again (or higher as we had discussed before). We added some new filter media, the matrix because no one in our area sells ceramic rings or bio balls. I read your post about these very carefully before buying anything and did a lot of reading about matrix before buying it as well. I guess what I am getting at is that I am just stuck… I am so stuck as to why this will not progress. After water changed the nitrites do not come down at all, the nitrates do but about 5 days later we are right back up to that 40 to 80 range.
I might have also gone a little nuts and bought a new tank to drive myself crazy and start over with a brand new cycle….. This tank came with the imagitarium biological booster, I haven’t used it yet because I don’t know enough about it, and I have seen so many conflicting reviews. How do you feel about these products?
Thank you for your help!!!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 18, 2019 at 6:38 am
  Hi Holly,
  Good to hear from you again. Not so good to hear about your predicament. Although, I have a suspicion that your tank is actually cycled.
  If the ammonia nitrates are that high, then ammonia is indeed being converted to nitrates. Are you sure that the nitrite readings are correct? I’m beginning to think your test might not be right. If ammonia is going down and nitrates are going up, then everything seems normal besides the stuck nitrite reading. The fact that this reading isn’t even dropping even after a 50% water change is another clue that your tank might actually be cycled and it’s the test that is wrong. If I were in your position, the test is what I would zero in on.
  On the filter media, there is nothing wrong with Seachem Matrix. You chose well.
  On the beneficial bacteria boosters, I sit in the camp that doesn’t use them. That’s not to say I am against them. It’s just that I have never seen a product speed up a cycle 100% of the time. Or even 80% of the time. You see, beneficial bacteria are a living organisms and due to storage (say cold weather) they can be dead before they even reach your tank. Also, there are different strains of beneficial bacteria. Dr Tim’s and Tetra Safe Start (it’s the same stuff) claim to have the exact beneficial bacteria that forms in your filter. Other brands have different strains that they claim are better. Who is right? It’s hard to say. But until I see a 100% success rate at speeding up a cycle vs. going without, I don’t see a need to spend extra money on what is already a hobby that can blow out in costs.
  More specific to you, if it’s imagitarium, I’d personally avoid it. Based on my lifetime experience, and reviews of various products, imagitarium is always among the worst performing in any product category. Because of this, I don’t trust the brand as a whole.
  Reply
  - Holly B says
    March 20, 2019 at 9:57 pm
    Ian,
    I am at a loss again! Got a new test kit for nitrites thinking that I got this cycle thing down now, and we were tackling these weird problems! Did my daily test, EVERYTHING WAS 0!!!!! Literally everything! So I went ahead and moved on to step 6, dosed my tank with the same amount I used on day one. So at 24 hours later my ammonia was sitting at 4 ppm still, my nitrites and nitrates were still 0, my pH is 7.8. I checked again this morning (36 hours since it was dosed) and my ammonia is at 2 ppm, but still no nitrites and no nitrates. WHERE DID IT ALL GO!?!?!? I am getting so discouraged now, and I know my tank did not sit with 0 ammonia for more than an hour. Any advice on this crash?
    Thank you, Holly
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      March 21, 2019 at 4:38 am
      Hi Holly,
      I’m a little confused here, was this the first time you tested with the new test kit? And did you test with the old kit to compare?
      I only ask as Nitrates don’t just disappear. Like ammonia, it has to go to somewhere. Generally, the only way you could have removed nitrates is via a water change. If your nitrates were 40-80, and the only thing you have done is add ammonia, then the nitrates should still be there.
      Are you able to re-test and confirm?
      While it it certainly is possible your cycle has stalled based on the ammonia not going down, the fact that nitrates have disappeared shows that there are testing problems that we need to identify and fix first.
      As a last resort, many local fish stores also offer water testing services, to see what is actually going on in your water – but you’ll still need to address the testing at home.
      Reply
      - Holly B says
        March 21, 2019 at 5:42 am
        I bought a whole new kit. Compared the two, and am getting the same results. 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates, and 2 ppm on ammonia. My fiance now claims he did a 25% water change on 3/16 while I was at work but didnt write it down (because I track everything). I took a sample to my local fish store to test and they got the same reading I got on both my home kits. They basically told me to start over. I’m so discouraged right now and ready to give up.
      - Ian Sterling says
        March 21, 2019 at 6:02 am
        Hi Holly,
        I am stumped by this. A 25% water change should only drop the nitrates proportionally, in this case, lower them by a quarter. Something else is going on here. Did your fiance dechlorinate the water? Because chlorine will kill the beneficial bacteria.
        I can only go off the information you have provided but the summary from my point of view is that in three days, your nitrites and nitrates have dropped to zero and your ammonia has stopped decreasing.
        Both the nitrites and nitrates should still be at testable levels, even in a crashed cycle.
        I do have to ask, what else has happened since the ammonia stopped decreasing? Something has to have been added, removed or changed for nitrates to go from 40-80 to zero. This needs to be identified as if you are going to start from scratch, you don’t want this same incident to be repeated.
        Don’t give up! It’s certainly frustrating but we have all experienced extended cycles and crashes in the past. It sucks, but with determination, I am yet to come across an instance where it couldn’t be overcome.
      - Holly B says
        March 21, 2019 at 8:28 am
        The only things that have changed in the tank is on 3/14 we added matrix to the filter, he did the 25% water changed on 3/16 and did dechlorinate the water, I did add my flourish tabs when I got home from work not knowing the water change happened. We changed out lighting yesterday because out new hood came but that was after all this happened. Other than that I’ve done nothing differnt at all. The aquarium gods are mad at me for getting a second tank before finishing my first cycle I guess.
      - Ian Sterling says
        March 21, 2019 at 3:17 pm
        Hi again, Holly.
        Adding seachem matrix shouldn’t make a difference, unless you removed any filter media in order to add it (the beneficial bacteria can live in sponge, filter floss etc. too)
        Otherwise flourish tabs and lighting are harmless and won’t affect the cycle. Based on what you have said, I’m absolutely stumped as to what could have gone wrong here. I’m so sorry that you have had to experience this.
Kristin says
March 16, 2019 at 7:22 am
Hi Ian,
I have been following your instructions for a fishless cycle. Everything progressed as anticipated, until step 4. I have been waiting patiently for about 2 weeks now for the nitrites to drop, but they just won’t! The ammonia is getting metabolized rapidly, so I am adding about 1/2 dose daily. 24 hours later, the ammonia is 0.25 ppm (never zero). Once the nitrites appeared, they peaked at 2-5 ppm and have been there for ~2 weeks. Out of curiosity I’ve checked the nitrates a couple of times and they have been at 5 ppm. pH is 7.4-7.6.
Is there anything I should differently? Or just keep adding ammonia and wait it out?
Thank you so much!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 16, 2019 at 7:36 am
  Hi Kristin,
  I’d move on to check your nitrates. If these are going up, it’s possible that the nitrites are being consumed at the same rate they are being re-stocked.
  Also, are you checking the results of your test kit in natural day light? Lights from inside your house can make the colors look off, resulting in an inaccurate measurement.
  Reply
  - Kristin says
    March 19, 2019 at 6:55 am
    Hi Ian,
    Thank you kindly for your reply. I have checked my nitrates a few times over the past 1-2 weeks, and they are staying at 5 ppm. I’m essentially in a holding pattern, where the ammonia is getting metabolized rapidly but the nitrites are staying at 2-5 ppm and the nitrates at 5 ppm. I am checking the test kit in natural day light.
    Would you suggest that I do anything differently, or just keep giving daily ammonia and waiting?
    Thank you,
    Kristin
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      March 19, 2019 at 9:21 am
      Hi Kristin,
      A couple of follow up question, you have not performed a water change during this time either? Water changes lower the amount of nitrite and nitrate in the water.
      Next, do you have any nitrite or nitrate removing products in your aquarium? This could also be impacting your results.
      Next, are you shaking your test kit enough. Follow the instructions and when it says “shake” give it a vigorous shake for a minute. Re-test and see if that helped.
      Finally, can you test your tap water prior to adding it to your aquarium. 5ppm isn’t outside the realm of what some water sources contain. This will let you know whether the 5ppm is from your nitrites or whether it has been there from the start.
      The thing is, all that ammonia has to be going somewhere. So if it isn’t being removed by anything you have added or are doing, then it should eventually become nitrates.
      At this stage I would cross off the above in regards to troubleshooting and re-test over the next 3-4 days for nitrite and nitrate movement. While it is getting on, it’s hardly at the stage where you need to panic yet.
      Reply
Nicole Miller says
March 16, 2019 at 6:51 am
Hi Ian. Just about to start to cycle my 10 gal tank and I was wondering how I would go about cycling with fish food as I currently have no access to getting ammonia specified in the post?
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 16, 2019 at 7:32 am
  Hi Nicole,
  Just add a pinch and it will begin to break down, releasing ammonia. Measure with a test kit and add more accordingly as your ammonia decreases. Otherwise it’s a similar process, you just won’t be able to dose an exact amount of ammonia. Similarly, a raw shrimp in a stocking will also work.
  Reply
Hebe Alexander says
March 15, 2019 at 2:25 am
Thanks for this great article! I’m starting a 36 gallon tank and have been very nervous about the cycling process – your clear explanations make me feel more confident and I’m /almost/ eager to get started. My question is about water. I live in the country and have a well, which means no chlorine, fluoride or other additives. Do I need to test differently, and should I expect different results? Thanks in advance!
Hebe
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 15, 2019 at 4:13 am
  Hi Hebe,
  Yes, you will also need to check your KH (KH guide here as the hardness of well water will vary according to natural mineral deposits present. This in turn can affect your pH, read that article, it will get you up to speed here.
  Next, depending on where the water feeding your aquafier comes from, there could be elevated nitrate levels from agriculture, it might only happen after storms or it might always be present. For this reason, you should run base tests on your water before adding it to your tank, so that you know if the appearance of nitrate is due to the tank cycling or whether it was there from the start.
  Assuming there are no chemical runoff in the water, and you have done the above, the cycling process will be very similar to the above. If you have a local fish store, or know other people who raise fish in the area, they will be able to provide valuable insight here, since they are using the same water source as you. Good luck!
  Reply
whiskeychris says
March 14, 2019 at 4:09 am
Wow!! Ian you have a real knack for teaching. Thank you for all the valuable information. I’m 4 days in and dedicated to waiting till this new tank fully cycles. I have a smaller tank now and felt as though it was time to upgrade. How do you feel about introducing used filter media to my new system. Would that speed up or impede the process?
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 14, 2019 at 4:38 am
  Hi WhiskeyChris,
  Thanks for the kind words. Your thoughts are correct here. Introducing “used” filter media will absolutely speed up your cycle. It’s why many independent fish stores sell pre-cycled sponge filters, to kickstart the cycling process. Depending on what the used media is, I’d place it in a filter media bag, then place that on top of the new, uncycled media in the new filter. This way it can easily be removed. Then, once the tank is cycled, I’d remove it and fill up the rest of the space with more of your new media. The reason you should remove the old media, rather than leaving it inside is that it will deteriorate at a different rate. Ceramic rings, for instance, will eventually get old and crumbly. While this can take years, it’s easier to only have to deal with the problem once.
  As for how much quicker this will make the cycle, there isn’t really a clear answer here. It depends on the size of your tank, the amount of used filter media used, the amount of beneficial bacteria it contains, etc. The only thing certain is that it will speed up the cycle.
  Reply
Ron C says
March 13, 2019 at 9:25 am
Hi Ian,
I am competing a fishless cycling in a 45 gallon tank that holds about 40 gallons of water due to the rocks and decorations inside the tank. I am on the 16th day of cycling. My ammonia ppm is at 1.5, my water ph is at 7.5, my water temp is at 77 degrees and no nitrites yet. Should I add more ammonia to increase it to 4.0 ppm or just leave everything for now? I am just surprise not to see any nitrites yet, but I am trying to be patience 🙂
Also, on the 3rd day after cycling my tank water is cloudy and still is at this time, is this normal? I read this is do to the bacteria boom.
Thank you for all your help
Ron
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 13, 2019 at 12:13 pm
  Hi Ron,
  Did you start at 4ppm? If so, I would monitor your nitrates as well, to see if these are going up. Not everyone experiences the cycle in the same way. Sometimes it skips from nitrites straight to nitrates. So this is a possibility. If you didn’t start with 4ppm, I’d increase the ammonia to 4 just so you can monitor it decreasing, as this means progress is happening.
  At this stage, I would be leaning towards the white cloudy water as being bacterial bloom. This is normal and should go away on it’s own.
  Reply
  - Ron says
    March 14, 2019 at 3:23 am
    Hi Ian.
    Thank you for your reply. My nitrates are at 0ppm as of today and when I started my cycle, my ammonia started at 4ppm and my water ph started at 7.0. I did not test neither the nitrites nor the nitrates when I first stared the cycle two weeks ago.
    Thoughts or advise what my next steps should be at this time?
    Thank you in advance for all your help.
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      March 14, 2019 at 3:54 am
      If your ammonia has decreased, and you didn’t perform a water change or use an ammonia removing product, then it is possible that the cycle is further than you think. Ammonia doesn’t just disappear – it has to go somewhere.
      If you are not responsible for the ammonia decrease, then my first thoughts is the test not revealing you actually have nitrite or nitrate. What are you using to test your tank? I would double check that you are following the instructions and reading the test results in natural day-light. The lights inside your home can impact the colors shown. I would Also check the expiry date on your test kit, an expired test kit is the least likely cause, but you never know.
      Reply
      - Ron says
        March 14, 2019 at 7:48 am
        Hi Ian.
        I am using the API Master Test kit as you have posted in your forum. I checked the expiration date of my test kit and the solutions expire in 1/2023 so the test solutions are good. I went out and purchased another test kit (The test strips) and the nitrates came back positive, the nitrites came back negative, my water ph is 7.2, and zero chlorine. I added less than a 1/2 tsp of
        Fritz Pro Aquatics Ammonium Chloride (ammonia) and I will check all my readings again in 24 hrs and see what readings I get at that time. I will let you know what my readings are within the next 24-48 hrs.
        Thank you
        Ron
      - Ian Sterling says
        March 14, 2019 at 8:08 am
        Hi Ron,
        That’s unusual, If you are confident that you are using and reading the test kit (including shaking the bottles, shake them more than it says and vigorously too, for about a minute) then it’s possible that you have a faulty product, which is very unusual. I’ve been using this test kit for years without issue as have thousands of others. All cases I have personally been involved in where the tests didn’t work came down to user error. However, I have to trust your judgement here.
        If you have nitrates, then it’s possible that the bacteria that converts nitrites to nitrates has established enough that it is eating the ammonia fast enough that it reads zero. This is good. I have my fingers crossed that this is the outcome. Unfortunately, it will take a few days of waiting before you will know for sure.
Debbie says
March 13, 2019 at 2:37 am
I have a couple questions as I am perplexed and cannot find answers ANYWHERE pertaining to my situation.
I am a semi noob for freshwater. I left my last set up when I moved cross country- and 3 years later have decided upon a new one.
I understand (pretty much) how this process works, and I have set up to do a fish less cycle on a 55g freshwater tank.
Every thing is up and running.
I am 13 days in. My pre conditioned tap water runs at .50 ppm ammonia straight out of the tap, 8.5 ph, no nitrites or nitrates (I went ahead and fully tested my tap water pre set up)
Fully followed this guide, and everything was plugging along fine. Started this process 2/28.
4 days ago, (3/8) my ammonia dropped to 2, and my nitrites appeared at .25ppm.
I was hesitant to half dose ammonia at this point because the nitrites were just appearing, so I retested the following day (3/9)and had 2ppm ammonia and .50ppm nitrites.
I went ahead and half dosed the ammonia,double checked the readings after 1.5 hours to determine that a half dose did not take me over 5ppm, and the following day (3/10)when I tested my ammonia was at 4, my nitrites were ZERO.
So I tested Nitrates. They were at 20 ppm.
Same for yesterday the 11th, and today the 12th.
My ph has held steady through this whole process.
Am I on the right track? Or do I need to do/change something?
I’m unsure how i can have so many nitrates when my nitrite levels are at zero, and my ammonia level is holding steady at 4.
Is this a just wait it out approach (i have plenty of time that’s for sure.its not ready till its ready) or is there something i need to do to balance this out?
I forgot to add- i am using an API freshwater master test kit, and the ammonia is fritz pro aquatics ammonium chloride
Any advice will be helpful and appreciated even if it’s just wait it out, just to know I am at least on the right track.
Thanks!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 13, 2019 at 5:19 am
  Hi Debbie,
  It’s hard to say without more waiting. If you look at your nitrate test kit, you’ll see that as the numbers go up, the range increases. while there is just a5ppm difference on the low end, the next step up from 20 is 40 ppm. Just because your test kit reads 20, doesn’t mean it’s stuck there, it could read anything from 20-40. Also, I just want to confirm that you are reading your test kits in natural day light (inside lights can make colors look different.)
  While the lack of ammonia decreasing could be a concern, it would depend if any parameters or equipment or additives have changed at the same time. Simply adding more ammonia to 4ppm won’t stall a cycle.
  Reply
  - Debbie says
    March 14, 2019 at 12:08 am
    Thanks for the reply!
    No equipment jas changed, and I always read in natural light.
    I have no issue waiting it out provided that’s the recommendation at this point- as long as SOMETHING is happening in there it can take all the time it needs- I knew going in to this that it would take as long as it takes to start from scratch.
    I just wasnt sure if there was something I should be doing, or shouldn’t even at this point!
    I will keep plugging along, enjoying the sound of the tank and waiting for the day shes cycled and ready to add beauty too!
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      March 14, 2019 at 3:50 am
      Keep in mind that you cal always perform a 50% water change. This will roughly cut nitrites and nitrates in half, bringing them back to the lower range on your test kit, making it easier to keep track of progress day by day. Water changes do not slow down your cycle – the beneficial bacteria lives in your filter media, it is not free floating.
      Also keep in mind that a water change will also reduce your ammonia. So re-dose after any water change as per your test kit.
      It sounds like you are approaching this with the right mindset. I have my fingers crossed that it’s not too much more waiting now.
      Reply
Lori says
March 8, 2019 at 5:01 am
Hello! Newbie who just started cycling her 55 gallon freshwater tank, fish-less. I’ve added the ammonia as you suggested; I’m confused about this initial first week- do I have to keep testing the ammonia levels and DO anything if they aren’t a certain level, or just assume once I’ve done the initial dose of ammonia to get it to 4ppm that I’m good to sit around and wait?
Can’t wait! Thanks
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 8, 2019 at 7:18 am
  Hi Lori,
  I suggest daily testing, this will give you a greater understanding of how your specific cycle is progressing, to an extent, everyone experiences them differently. From here, you react according to your test results and go from there. I know that waiting sucks, but it will be worth it!
  Reply
CJ says
March 8, 2019 at 3:44 am
Ian…
Day 29… I have Nitrites and Nitrates… YEAH!
So, long story short, I was about to start the cycle all over because I just came home from a 5 day trip with no testing on the tank… low and behold MOVEMENT
So I am at 1.0 ammo; .50 NI; 5 NA; just under 8 ph; 78.1 degrees!
I just added pre-treated water to replace evaporation, and 2 drops of dr tims ammo and will test again soon to make sure I stay at 2.0 ppm.
I thought it was odd last night, I thought I saw NI but tested at night so no natural light, so I thought it was just my eyes again. It must have been just about .2 NI and today .5!
But my NA is at 5. I just read your comment above. So, NA at five is ok with NI at .5 and ammo at 2.0???
I can see the light, Thank you!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 8, 2019 at 7:28 am
  Hi again CJ,
  That actually sounds incredibly positive. What a relief! If your ammonia has dipped, you have nitrites and nitrates are increasing, then your cycle is progressing, slowly, but it’s definitely progressing. Just keep topping up your ammonia as it dips and the rest is a waiting game. Hopefully it’s not too much longer now!
  Reply
Russell Casey says
March 5, 2019 at 12:38 pm
Ian,
I have a question I am saltwater but know cycling is similar. I don’t hold you responsible whatsover for your answer. Why do these companies like API, and many others tell consumers that they can cycle a tank and add fish in 24 hours? I know of no one (about 10 people) that have had fish survive much at all even using those products. As you stated, once you add the fish the ammonia starts right away (if it is day two). I think it is deceiving, perhaps it is possible if water changes are done daily.
You mention that when you leave the tank empty and no more ammonia that at the end of the day, the bacteria die off. I have left my tank for two weeks now after it cycled as I was waiting for some cash for fish. Should I possibly add a snail or two from another existing tank so that the bacteria can feed? If the tank is new (it took me 32 days to cycle with live rock). Will the snails have enough food to eat in a new tank as to me it is rather heartless if one starves them. As I won’t be home for the next five days or so.
Any thoughts are appreciated, I think this hobby is like crack. You start it and you just keep going and going. As for Seachem Prime it saved my tank (I learned about this product from you and used your affiliate link a couple months ago) I know I am saltwater but after research, it is the best on the market.
I had a five gallon nano tank with a auto top off. I just had a shrimp and four snails. I didn’t know it but the ATO was put in wrong by me, I tested it never in the aquarium (duh but it did work outside the aquarium) and put the sensor in the main part of the aquarium as opposed to the back with the filters. Anyhow I left five days, and set a feeder. I came back that the tank had 3 gallons of saltwater, saltwater spike from hell to 1.35. Yet, ammonia was 0. The water had evaporated and I had no filtration except the power nozzle. Before I went on my trip I put in the regular dose of prime and it is my true belief that it saved the whole damn tank, but I will never try on purpose as one of the snails was dead 🙁 which was on me and I pulled him out. I have no idea how long he was dead but the point was my ammonia in a little tank was showing zero :). As I reckon that the tank ran for two days with no filtration as the water went dry. How the creatures took the salinity spike I have no idea.
What was interesting and Randy I think his name is said in a forum where this transpired to someone else (salt creep) that higher salinity typically causes an algae bloom. Can I say that three days later the snails went on strike as the algae went nuts but were good now :). Just wanted to share that story as man I can’t believe I didn’t test the thing in the aquarium before I left and I would have felt terrible if I killed everything.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 5, 2019 at 4:48 pm
  Hi Russel,
  I can’t speak for companies like API or big chain pet stores, where these recommendations are common. One could speculate that in a world where no one wants to wait, and cycling is a slow process, that there is money to be made in promising an instant cycle to beginners who don’t know any better and won’t follow up by using a test kit to monitor their tank. Sadly, by many, because fish don’t show suffering in the same way that a dog, cat or similar pet would, they are seen as somewhat disposable. I and many others are of the belief that this is wrong, but it’s a trend that won’t seem to die.
  If you have left your tank alone for two weeks, it is possible there has been some beneficial bacteria die off. This will be easy enough to spot if you add ammonia and it doesn’t disappear.
  Adding a snail or two wouldn’t hurt. Admittedly, I am less familiar with snails than I am fish, but I would assume that like fish, snails could go some time without feeding. Most fish can happily last up to a week without a meal. In the wild, they wouldn’t get a hand fed meal each day, food would be far more difficult to come by and as a result had adapted to survive days without feeding. We spoil our fish compared to how they eat in the wild. You would need to research the exact feeding habits of your snails, as I cannot give you the exact advice here.
  I am really happy to hear you are enjoying the hobby. You are right, it’s addictive. I started with neon tetra and shrimp over 30 years ago and I’m still enjoying it as much now as I did back then. It sounds like you had quite the adventure with your nano, you did well to save it, that’s really awesome on your part.
  As for Randy, you are likely talking about Randy Holmes-Farley, he has been doing this for quite some time now, well regarded and I would trust his analysis.
  Thanks so much for your support. It seriously means the world to me!
  Reply
Holly B says
March 4, 2019 at 10:09 am
Hello. So I have been following all your steps to a T! But I am starting to see some strange changes in my water. I bought a little 10g tank about 3 weeks ago, decided on a fishless cycle, bought the Fritz and master water test kit suggested, among all the other starter things needed for the tank. My pH is currently 7.6 most days, I get an occasional 7.8. My ammonia has been riding at a 4.0 ppm and this week to a dive to a 2.0 and tonight is a 1.0. One week ago (2/24) I got the slightest hint of nitrites, and they have slowly been increasing, tonight I got a 2.0 ppm, but along with this 2.0 of nitrites I did a test of nitrates and got 40 ppm. Final read on the 3/3 test, pH 7.6, ammonia 1.0 ppm, nitrites 2.0 ppm, and nitrates 40 ppm.
I guess my question is, since my nitrites aren’t declining yet should I be adding more ammonia?
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  March 4, 2019 at 12:31 pm
  Hi Holly,
  That actually all sounds really positive! Congrats, your cycle is progressing well. I would add more ammonia as it gets depleted. You can re-dose to 2ppm for now if you wanted, and as it drops quicker increase back to 4. Or re-dose to 4 right now, it makes little difference. You just want to make sure there is ammonia for the first bacteria to feast on.
  Reply
  - Holly Bever says
    March 7, 2019 at 10:54 am
    This is so reassuring! This whole process gets me worked up since I am so new to it! I have since been re-dosing almost daily up to 2 ppm, last night to 4 ppm, but it still seems to drop to 1 every day, nitrites are still holding at 2.0 ppm, but I am just glad to know things are moving! Thank you for you amazing post, and your help!!
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      March 7, 2019 at 12:00 pm
      It can be a lot to take in but hang in there, it sounds like you are doing great. If your ammonia is decreasing then it’s going somewhere, and the fact that nitrites are testable is a good sign. You might want to test your nitrAtes, as well, just to see what is happening there. Not everyone experiences a linear progression through the steps, sometime it kinda all happens at once. From here it’s just patience. If anything seems amiss, drop a line here and I’ll advise to the best of my ability with troubleshooting. Good luck!
      Reply
      - Holly Bever says
        March 10, 2019 at 12:40 am
        So since I last replied I have been testing for NitrAtes daily. At first it was a just for fun and didn’t expect anything out of it, but literally 3/5 had 5.0 ppm with NitrItes of 1.0 ppm and ammonia at a 2.0 ppm. The following day my nitrAtes took a huge JUMP! They jumped up to 20 ppm with nitrItes of 2.0 ppm and I have had to add ammonia daily because by morning I am at 0.25 or 0 ppm (I keep it at a 2 ppm daily and test probably 3 times a day, ones first thing in the morning, once 1 to 2 hours after dosing and once when I test for everything else in the evening). My nitrItes have been holding at a 2.0 ppm since and have not moved. My nitrAtes have slowly moved up and are not sitting at an 80 ppm for the last 3 days (I know that is super high). Am I still just in the waiting game?
      - Ian Sterling says
        March 10, 2019 at 3:09 am
        Daily testing is more than enough, although there is no harm in doing it more frequently, I would still only be adding ammonia once per day, as if you were taking a single reading.
        Once nitrates start to climb that high, I generally perform a 50% water change to get the back down. When you say nitrates have been at 80 for three days, they haven’t really, they are climbing (hopefully) but the the next marker on the test kit is 160. So the result could actually be anywhere between 80-160. If you look at your test kit color chart, you’ll notice that the lower ranges are closer together, making it easier for you to determine just how quickly nitrate is rising.
        A 50% water change will roughly drop all chemicals (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) in half, which will allow you to better gauge what is happening. This water change won’t affect your cycle (don’t forget to condition the water before adding it) but you will need to re-dose with ammonia to reach the desired level after performing the water change.
        Otherwise, yeah, it’s still just a waiting game. Unfortunately, much of keeping fish just comes down to waiting. It’s part of what makes it such a peaceful hobby.
      - Tessa says
        March 11, 2019 at 9:06 am
        Hi- I didn’t see a button to comment regularly so I just decided to reply to a comment, so sorry if its in the wrong place. I also have a question about adding ammonia regurarly. I attempted to do a cycle to my 5.5 gallon tank, its been 6 weeks now and I somehow forgot to keep adding ammonia, so my cycle has been stuck at 0ppm ammonia and a super high nitrite reading. So I did a 50% water change today and added in some ammonia (2ppm), I still have some nitrites (1ppm) and nitrates(1ppm) too. (And some beneficial becteria I’m guessing) I’m not really sure what to do next since my cycle is already started, once my ammonia drops to 1ppm should I put in more to keep it at 2? Some more step by step would be great, and thank you for the article it is the least confusing one out there.
      - Ian Sterling says
        March 11, 2019 at 10:30 am
        Hi Tessa,
        I’m glad to hear that you found the guide useful. You are on the right path. You essentially follow the steps here still, since you are waiting for that first bacteria to appear. You are essentially at step 3 in the guide above. You now have to wait a week or two for it to start decreasing. I’d test daily so you can see what is happening and re-dose with ammonia to keep it at your original dosage. Unfortunately, there is still some more waiting for you before you can add your fish. But hang in there – you’ll get there!
CJ says
February 27, 2019 at 2:35 am
Hello Ian,
Just checking in…
My tank has been set up for 20 days now…
I am on Day 13 after learning how to read my tests properly and heavy water changes…
And I am on day 7 since removing all organic matter (Plants and bulbs)…
My ammonia is at 2.0 and the only time I add more is when I replace my evaporated water with pre-conditioned water.
My PH is right around 7.8 – 8.0…
Nitrites and Nitrates are zero and nowhere to be found…
My water temp is steady at 75 F…
So, I am keeping my happy nest making betta in 1.75 gallons with most of his plants. He seems to love it. He rests quite often on his plants and sometimes hovers right below his very large bubble nest. With the amount of plants temporarily sharing his bowl the ammonia levels rise very slowly. After a PWC it takes about 4-5 days to get levels above .25ppm. His tank does not have a filter or heater but the LED light puts out enough heat to keep his water at 70 F.
I am just bored and hoping to see movment in the 5 gallon in the next day or two. I am using Dr. Tim’s ammonia for doseing. I have the filter and heater running with substrate and a few small pieces of decor… I never seem to have to add ammonia. Is this a bad thing? I take it that it means nothing is eating the ammonia as planned.
I fixed the filter issues to aggitate the water a little more and the film no longer accumilates on the water surface. I added bio media. I removed the rotting bulbs that were spiking my ammonia readings (your right they were the ones called betta bulbs, although three of them have taken off and Delta really loves the biggest of the three to rest on and build his nest).
Not really looking for any other suggestions unless you have one. Just writing to share the misery of the nitrogen cycle…
Cheers,
CJ
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  February 27, 2019 at 7:02 am
  Hi Again CJ,
  Thanks for the upadate!
  If it were me, the only thing I would do differently is try and lower the pH slightly, to get it around low to mid 7. However this can be complicated and I generally don’t recommend messing around with pH too much if you are not familiar with it, it can make things exponentially worst as it bounces around. 7.8-8 is still within beneficial bacteria tolerance.
  If your betta is making bubble nests then that is a good sign he is happy. Stressed betta don’t normally make bubble nests – so that’s a relief. However, be mindful that betta temperature should ideally be a little warmer 74˚F on the low end. However, if your betta is thriving then this should be the least of your concerns. Just be careful when you add him to your new tank, as it will be warmer, he will need to acclimatize first to avoid “temperature shock”
  The ammonia not going down isn’t a bad thing. It just means the beneficial bacteria has not begun to form yet. At the end of 2 weeks, it would be a bad thing, as something is preventing the beneficial bacteria from appearing in your tank. At this stage it’s trial and error, making adjustments and removing things until it appears. This sucks. A lot. I have had to do it twice and don’t wish it on anyone. (in one instance the substrate was contaminated, the other was my biomedia appeared to be killing them and swapping it out solved the problem) I have my fingers crossed yours kicks off in the next few days 🙂
  Reply
Ben says
February 24, 2019 at 1:07 am
Hello Mr. Sterling. Just wondering, what is the best method that you prefer of acclimating new fish? I am planning on getting a betta fish soon. I have heard drip acclimation is good so is the float method where you add more tank water. Thanks! -Ben
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  February 24, 2019 at 8:33 am
  Hi Ben,
  I personally use the drip acclimatization method. It may be slower but it significantly reduces the chance of shock.
  Reply
Kevin says
February 21, 2019 at 10:40 am
Great article. Maybe you can help me with my stalled cycle. For reference this is a new 75g freshwater tank. I started out dosing ammonia to around 5ppm. Kept it that way about 2 weeks and no nitrites. I does a bottle of tetra safestart max and the next day I had readings on all 3. I continued to dose ammonia and now 4ppm goes away in 8 hours. My nitrites are off the charts and nitrates stay around 10ppm. A week of off the chart high nitrite readings and I performed a 50% water change. No change in nitrites. Two days later I did another 50% water change and still no drop in nitrites. I always dose prime on my water changes. During this entire time I have add some Seachem stability every other day or so. I’ve heard that extremely high nitrites can stall the cycle and also I’ve heard to not worry about nitrites and it will eventually work it’s way out. Should I continue to dose ammonia daily and just hope nitrites fall overnight. Also wondering if the Tetra SafeStart has my readings screwed up still with the nitrites and nitrates and my tank is actually cycled since the ammonia dissipates so quickly??
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  February 21, 2019 at 2:58 pm
  Hi Kevin, just to clarify, what you are doing, is your nitrite reading at the higest level? (5.0 on API Test kit?) If you are not noticing any movement when you do a 50% water change, then it’s possible that your initial nitrites exceeded 20. Let’s say it was at 30 ppm.
  1 x 50% water change would drop it to 15 ppm
  1 x 50% water change would drop this again to 7.5 ppm
  This would show as no change on your test kit for nitrites (it would still show 5 ppm. Could this be what has happened?
  I would work towards getting your nitrites down to a level where they show up on your test. It might take quite a few water changes for this to happen. Don’t forget to re-dose with ammonia as this is also diluted with each water change.
  Reply
james says
February 20, 2019 at 6:13 am
Hello Ian, I am on day 8 of following your guide. my ph levels are 7.6, ammonia level is 2ppm and has not yet started to drop. I used the API quick start on day and still no sign of ammonia dropping or any sign of nitrites. according to your guide, it says see you in a week. thhen on step 4 it says check for nitrites after a week(which I did with no sign of them). then it has steps on what to do when they show up. my question is what do I do if after a week I still have no signs of nitrites? do I do a water change or just keep waiting? thank you in advance.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  February 20, 2019 at 3:57 pm
  Hi James,
  Just to confirm, are you reading your test kit in natural day light? The lighting from indoor lights can drastically throw off the readings. If not, go outside in the middle of the day when you test to compare your results.
  Reply
  - james says
    February 20, 2019 at 11:03 pm
    yes, I am reading my results in natural daylight.
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      February 21, 2019 at 7:39 am
      Awesome, that’s a great start. Do you have biomedia, such as ceramic rings in your tank? Most filters come with this, but it can be purchased separately, it’s like a home for beneficial bacteria to grow in. If your filter just comes with a disposable cartridge, then there is less surface area for BB to grow. Also, throwing out these cartridges also disposes of the beneficial bacteria, and can reset a cycle.
      Reply
      - james says
        February 21, 2019 at 1:59 pm
        I am a beginner so I am not 100% sure what biomedia is. I do have a Marineland Penguin 350b filter. im not sure if its too late to add ceramic rings( I don’t even know where to put them) but I did research them and how it is useful in the future. honestly, the filtration was the only thing that slowed me down from getting into the hobby. so much confusion for a beginner. I know I cant just replace the replaceable filter cartridges. there is a empty slot behind each filter. im guessing when its time to change I put the old one in the back and the new one up front so some of the old bacteria catches on to the new filter. please share some of your knowledge on that aspect of the hobby. thank you very much Ian!
      - Ian Sterling says
        February 21, 2019 at 2:46 pm
        Sorry James,
        I often forget that others don’t have the same experience as me. Anything that sits in your filter and “filters” is a media. Biomedia is essentially anything that can be a home for beneficial bacteria that sits in your filter. Ceramic rings are an example of this type of media. This media contains hundreds of tiny spaces for the beneficial bacteria to cling too. Beneficial bacteria can’t cling to a smooth surface, it lives on rough, textured surfaces that contain pores.
        You should get your ceramic rings ASAP as it’s possible there isn’t anywhere in your filter for beneficial bacteria to set up shop, which may be slowing down the process. There isn’t a whole lot of space in Marineland Penguins for ceramic rings, so you may need to use fine sponge instead.
        To help me get a better idea of what else is going on, can you list:
        Water temperature (do you have a heater?)
        Ammonia
        Nitrite
        Nitrate
        pH
        Are you dechlorinating your water before you add it to your tank?
        What brand of ammonia are you using?
        Is there anything else you have/are adding to your tank?
        Is there anything unusual in your tank? (excluding gravel, fake plants)
        Are you on well water?
        Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this!
      - james says
        February 22, 2019 at 2:50 am
        yes I have a heater. water temp is 72-74
        Ammonia = 2ppm
        Nitrite = 0
        Nitrate = 0
        PH = constant 7.4-7.6
        I am using Ace Hardware Janitorial Ammonia as I researched it to be really good and pure. It was a brand new tank. I rinsed it out and let it air dry. I then placed the gravel, decorations and filled it up. then added filter, water pump, thermometer and heater. I then added API Safe start and TetraSafe Dechlorinator. 24 hours later I added ammonia. ever since then I am sitting at 2ppm. In my opinion, I think it has to do with the water temp. I have a Aqueon 100w and it struggles to keep the 36gal up to temp. I just got a 200w and going to crank the temp up 78. I am not on well water. my
      - Ian Sterling says
        February 22, 2019 at 11:00 am
        I have no experience with Ace Hardware ammonia, but if you are confident that it’s pure and doesn’t contain any additives, then it will be good enough.
        While 72 is on the colder side (the BB grows faster at higher temperature) it’s not going to stop your tank from cycling, it may go slower though.
        Everything seems fairly normal, Besides adding some type of biomedia, there doesn’t appear to be anything you have listed that is out of sorts. I’d crank the heat up and give it another week.
CJ says
February 19, 2019 at 11:38 pm
Hello Ian,
I am back earlier than thought.
So due to my misreading my tests correct the first time, I have been more scientific in my approach going forward.
I can say with confidence my Ammonia levels are right at 2.0. My ph is 7.4 to 7.8 and Nitrites and Nitrates are zero. It is day 12 since my set up has been running, but I will call it day 7 since my ammonia levels have been below 8.0 (or off the chart).
We eleminated the lighting issues that caused the incorrect readings and we got rid of the surface gunk (I have not lit the candle on the same table or put my hand in the tank, so not sure which it was).
But, being a first timmer here I did something that maybe you might have thought about or maybe something you might be able to propagate if you think it will help first time cyclers…
I took a known source of ammonia fee conditioned water and my test tank water with a medicine syringe from the drugstore and put 2.5 ml of tank water with 2.5 ml of ammonia free water and confirmed a reduced level reading. My all tank water test read 2.0-4.0 to me…. but I was not sure.
So, to be sure my eyes were not lying I did the second test. and sure enough I could visibly see a change in color without going in and out and in and out of the house to make sure…
My split water test came in about 1.0ppm, SO now I feel much more confident I am on the right path.
So, I am on day 7 like I said. if I do not see nitrites in the next 7 to 10 days I will be concerned.
In the mean time I have a few questions that have formed in my thoughts.
1) I want to introduce bio rings. is it ok to introduce them now? or should I wait until the tank is cycled? I dont want to risk interrupting the process again.
2) I bought some plant bulbs and they have been in the tank since day 1, nine out of twelve are not showing signs of growth. The bulbs have biofilm all over them. Should I remove them now or wait to see if they cause my ammonia levels to rise as they decay?
3) Since my water changes to bring my ammonia levels down I have not added water or ammonia. My water levels are going down slightly and my ammonia levels seem to be steady, do you recommend adding water to top off OR adding ammonia to bring my levels up from 2.0???
4) I did not have good luck with dr tims bacteria. but I do think it put something in my filter media… that being said I have a brown green looking slime and lots of stringy looking growths. IS THIS A GOOD THING? (but still no nitrites or nitrates)
Thank you sir, Have a great day,
CJ
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  February 20, 2019 at 3:32 am
  Hi again CJ,
  I’m sorry to hear your cycle is moving slower than expected. Not to worry, it’s not at the “something is halting my cycle” stage yet.
  Biorings should be introduced ASAP. These are essentially mini houses for your beneficial bacteria. This will allow them to “move in” during the cycle. biorings should be inert and have zero impact on how a cycle progresses.
  It’s possible the bulbs are rotting. Since you are controlling the levels of ammonia, anything else that could contribute to ammonia should be removed. At this stage I think it’s safe to say these are dud bulbs. If these are what are commonly referred to as “betta bulbs” then it’s common for a majority of them to fail.
  Ideally you want to maintain your 2.0 ammonia. Topping off water is a good practice, if your tank is open topped, evaporation can happen quickly. While cycling, Any water you add/change should be followed up with a dose of ammonia as per your tests.
  On your filter, that slime/sludge isn’t your beneficial bacteria (you won’t be able to see the bacteria) it’s likely filtered detritus removed from your tank. This isn’t a bad or a good thing. Your filter is doing it’s job. Rinse the filtermedia gently in fresh, dechlorinated water if this starts to build up too much.
  Because these bacterial products contain live bacteria, it’s *possible* that they were dead on arrival. These bottles need proper storage throughout the supply chain and both heat and cold can kill what is inside. This is more common than I’d like. Don’t worry, this won’t harm your tank.
  I also noticed you didn’t list the temperature, are you keeping your tank warm enough?
  Moving forward, add your biorings ASAP, continue dosing and check back in 5 days after. If you have not seen any movement yet, I’ll help you go over your tank with a fine tooth comb.
  Reply
  - CJ says
    February 20, 2019 at 4:02 am
    Thanks Ian,
    I will add the biorings ASAP. my tank temp is pretty constant between 73 and 74 F… I did turn it up today to 75 as I read somewhere here in your blog.
    Mean while my poor little betta fish can only look at his new tank through his glass… He is dying to get to his new house (hopefully not litterally).
    I do partial water changes every 2-3 days and test his water every day for ammonia levels. He is still happily feeding and blowing bubble nests from time to time.
    Thanks
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      February 20, 2019 at 4:39 am
      Thanks for clarifying, everything indeed sounds normal and your betta sounds healthy. It’s just waiting now. I have my fingers crossed that you see some action soon.
      Reply
      - CJ says
        February 20, 2019 at 7:35 am
        Ian,
        I just removed the inactive bulbs and they smell like poo (I think they had to be decaying)… and I just added as many biorings as my little filter could handle.
        Thank you for your responses to my posts.
        So another thought came to me…
        If since I have not added ammonia to my set up since my water changes… It just dawned on me, there is no reason why my ammonia levels should have remained so constant. I did not add any ammonia and my plants are growing very well with the aid of said ammonia. If the plants are using the ammonia I am adding to feed I should have had to add ammonia, right?
        In the first few days I did need to add ammonia. Then it spiked off the chart. Then I rebooted but since then I have had a constant ammonia reading with no manual addition. This tells me there had to be some kind of exchange going on as well as some decay. Maybe the bulbs caused my ammonia to climb so high the first time around?
        The waiting is the hardest part – (Tom Petty)
      - Ian Sterling says
        February 20, 2019 at 3:56 pm
        Hi CJ,
        My apologies here, I assumed you were adding ammonia. Yes, these decomposing bulbs certainly would have been contributing to the ammonia spike, as does any rotting organic. Plants are considerably more tolerant of ammonia than fish. While they won’t use it to feed, it won’t affect them.
        Tom Petty had it spot on. Don’t worry, you are not alone. I have done this a hundred times over now. I still hate the waiting part.
Delta's Dad says
February 17, 2019 at 9:08 am
Hello Ian,
Thank you for your article and your very well constructed blog!
I am a new fish owner and completely new to the hobby. I recently bought a blue and red delta-tail male Betta for my soon to be 6yr old as a first pet. Needless to say I fell into many traps. I have since done more reading on proper fish care over the last few weeks then I ever thought I would do in a life time.
Bottom line is I got attached to the little guy, his name is Delta after his tail type and the fact that his coloration matches the Delta airlines tail (extra aside – my son love to fly on Delta and wants to be a pilot), and want to make a proper tank environment for him. For now, he lives in a 1.5 gal with no heater or filter. I do partial water changes every 2-3 days and test his water for ammonia levels every day.
Since bringing Delta home, I have already bought a 5 gal with a quiet flow 3 gal filter and a 100 watt adjustable heater, digital therm, 5lb gravel, Argentine Sword, Narrow Java Fern, Anubis Petit, assorted dormant plant bulbs, Asian lantern decor, a soft foam lily pad hammock, and countless other things needed. As you can see a lot of time effort and money is invested in getting things right…
I am on day 10 of my fishless cycle and no sign of nitrites or nitrates… like I said I fell into many traps, along with getting most things right eventually. I bought a bottle of Dr. Tim’s bacteria. I tried following the directions, but the bottle says add fish immediately. I did not, I bought ammonium chloride as well and dosed the tank as if a fish was in the tank. After 7 days of this and no sign of nitrites I rebooted the tank. My first attempt just had gravel, filter and heater and the filter was one of the ones that you call noob traps (indeed). But for 12 it is a great filter for Betta’s it has very low flow and is so quiet I cannot even tell its running. I am going to put ceramic rings in the very small open space it has but for now I have a bunch of cut to size floss in it to create lots of surface area for bacteria. I don’t think I will ever buy the filter cartridges I will just make my own, like you said you are asking for your tank to crash when you throw your spent filter out.
So, on to my next mistake. After the reboot I added the plants to the setup. All the plants are thriving and 3 out of 9 bulbs have almost out-grown the established plants that I added. During this reboot I found out on day 7 that my ammonia was off the chart. I finally found a reliable way to read my tests. I was having all kinds of trouble trying to match the colors as the test tubes bend light so much. I can say that now since day seven my ammonia has been higher than 1.0 and less than 4.0 I would say 2.0 steady.
I would say I am on day 4 after regulating the ammonia my ph is 7.4 and the temp 74 F. I still have no nitrite reading. My filter media has a healthy green brown glow (not bright white any longer) and there is a light opaque fuzz like coating some of my plants leaves, as well as a thin clear film on the top of my water. IS THIS OK? Should I stay the course?
My plants are thriving and my test reading seem like they are all were they should be if I were just starting a new cycle. Do you have any advice, concerns or questions? I just want to do this right and have never had the experience before.
Delta’s Dad
CJ
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  February 17, 2019 at 5:03 pm
  Hi CJ (Delta’s Dad)
  That’s a pretty funky name for a fish. I love that you can relate it back to your son too!
  I’m terribly sorry to hear about your experience so far. Trust me, it get’s so much easier from here on out. Hang in there! The good news is that you have already identified and fixed just about every error you have made. You should be proud of your research efforts here, you have done a great job.
  On the tests, if you read them outside in natural daylight, you’ll get a much more accurate result. Indoor lighting can often return an incorrect reading, especially under yellow/orange lights. If you take the tests outside in the middle of the day it will be much easier to identify the color.
  The light opaque coating on is perfectly normal on your newly added plants. It often appears on new plants or even driftwood and disappears on it’s own. Some people call this a “biofilm” others call it a white fuzz or transparent film. It shouldn’t be a cause for concern, unless it’s still hanging around after a month.
  The thin clear film on top of the water could be cause for concern. As to exactly what it is, This article will help identify and fix it but the short answer is that surface agitation (say from a bubbler or the outflow of your filter) should break it up. You’ll want it gone, it reduces the amount of oxygen that can enter your water. Since the beneficial bacteria are aerobic, it’s possible that reduced levels of oxygen could slow down the cycle.
  But besides that, based on what you have written, nothing seems out of the ordinary. You just have some more waiting to do, as nitrites appear within the first two weeks.
  Let me know if I can be of further assistance at all!
  Reply
  - CJ says
    February 17, 2019 at 9:50 pm
    Thank you Ian,
    You are a true gentleman. I have read a lot of your blog already and you are always speedy to respond and always offer an encouraging word even when some others come here seemingly just to refute your experiences…
    Thank you!
    Yes, the lighting was the issue for testing I actually change the bulb above the tank to white light and read all tests in the same place next to the window.
    So, I was thinking that the film may be limiting my oxygen levels. This makes sense. The film does not cover the complete surface of the water and the filter does break it up a little. I will use a paper towel and fish net to clear it up and I will try to reposition my filter to get more agitation out of it. Is there a way to test oxygen levels in my water? Thank you for the additional reading.
    As for the cause of the film, I cannot be sure but it could be my hand or the pump. But, I am also thinking that from time to time I light a candle on the same table and the residual burn off might be settling on the water??? There is no fish or reason for food in the tank.
    I was thinking about getting an air stone but I don’t know the first thing about anything. Everything is trial and error. Do you have a post on air stones? I think my goal is once I introduce Delta into his new habitat is to create a black water tank. I have a pretty piece of mopi wood and have some Indian Almond Leaves. I also don’t want to be buying things for the tank that are going to be useless later.
    Not that I am keeping score (but I am!!!). I have divided all my costs into essential and non-essential and my essential costs are near 180 dollars and about half of that. I can see that owning a fish is not a small investment as some people outside the hobby say.
    Happy Fish Keeping,
    CJ
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      February 18, 2019 at 3:56 am
      Happy to help, CJ.
      That’s a good idea on the lighting. Just be mindful that even “white light” isn’t truly white, the light it gives off is often blue. “Daylight lights” are around 5500 kelvin, but are not typically used in homes, they are more commonly used on photosets and other areas where true color matching are needed.
      The good news here is that if the water surface wasn’t completely blocked off then enough oxygen should be able to enter. Because of this, You won’t need to test your oxygen levels, they will be fine. The only time you might need to test your oxygen levels is if you overstock your tank (too many fish) but this won’t be an issue for you.
      It could possibly be your candle, it’s hard to say, the only real way to find the problem is through the process of elimination. Skip lighting the candle and if it comes back, then you can say the candle wasn’t the problem. If it doesn’t come back, then it was the candle.
      Truth be told, Betta don’t do well with moving current. They come from rice paddies and sloooow moving waters. Water movement from say a airstone can cause stress, which won’t instantly kill delta, but will make him more prone to disease (like how we get sick easier when we are stressed.) A bubbler is just another method of providing surface agitation, they don’t actually “inject oxygen” into the water. If you can achieve the same with your filter on a low setting, then that will work just as well.
      If you don’t mind having your tank “stained” a slight yellow/brown color, then Indian Almond Leaves anecdotally provide benefits since it closer emulates the natural environment of the betta. I personally like the look of blackwater tanks but plenty of fishkeepers pride themselves on keeping their water crystal clear. Fortunately if you don’t like it, you can remove the colors using water changes and activated carbon. Just be mindful that your driftwood will also leach color into your aquarium. This can be reduced by boiling it in hot water before adding it to your tank.
      It certainly is surprising how expensive this hobby can be. I am not as brave as you. I don’t think I could add up all the costs over the past thirty years, Some things are better left unknown. Just be thankful you don’t have a saltwater tank! Those things add up even quicker!
      All the best and please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any more questions!
      Reply
      - CJ says
        February 18, 2019 at 7:23 am
        No more questions, for now. I have been reading your blog which has a lot of answers.
        Just one last thank you, and until next time (probably if my tank does not show signs of cycling in the next week).
        Cheers,
        CJ
      - Ian Sterling says
        February 18, 2019 at 7:26 am
        No A problem CJ,
        I’m here for you if you need it. All the best!
  - Bobby says
    February 18, 2019 at 12:24 am
    Hi Ian,
    So I’m a bit confused, starting 3.5 gl Betta tank. I’ve had it set up for two weeks. PH at 7 – 8. Shows ammonia at .50, nitrites 0 and nitrates 8. Here lies my confusion, I have not added ammonia and my understanding is when cycling we are trying to achieve ammonia levels of 0 with the same for nitrites and under 40 for nitrates. So why would I add ammonia or do I need to at all?
    TIA!
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      February 18, 2019 at 4:04 am
      Hi Bobby,
      I’d suggest reading this article from top to bottom. The short answer is:
      While we don’t want ammonia in the tank, we need it to grow bacteria that will keep ammonia from fishfood and poop at zero once we introduce fish.
      If you are doing a fishless cycle, you will want to add ammonia, as per the instructions in this article.
      Reply
Ben says
February 17, 2019 at 2:41 am
Hello Mr. Sterling. I have taken everything out of my tank and so far my ph hasn’t dropped. There are still enough bacteria to eat 4ppm of ammonia in 24 hours. I went to the pet store and got silk plants and more gravel. I washed the plants and gravel throughougly without using soap. I just added all of they new things into my 5g tank. Is this bad? Should I have done anything different. Hopefully I won’t get another ph drop. Thanks! -Ben
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  February 17, 2019 at 6:57 am
  Hi Ben,
  That sounds really positive. If you added things cause a pH drop, you might have to trash them completely. But it sounds like you are on top of everything, which is awesome!
  Reply
  - Ben says
    February 17, 2019 at 8:19 am
    Ok sounds good! My nitrates right now have spiked to 80ppm. Should I do a water change? Will high nitrates affect my tank at all without a fish? I am waiting to see if the new decorations will cause any change in my waters ph before I get a fish.
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      February 17, 2019 at 8:59 am
      Nitrates should be kept as low as possible, ideally under 40, but 10 or under is fantastic. While they are not toxic, this is only true while they remain at low levels. I’d do a couple of water changes to get this down before adding a fish. Good call on waiting, the last thing you want is to experience pH swings while a fish is inside!
      Reply
Sara says
February 14, 2019 at 9:15 am
Hi there. I am just in my first week of trying to do a fishless cycle for the first time. Just wondering if you could help me with a few questions…
Should I be doing water changes, using a grave vac, or cleaning of any sort while cycling? If so, how often?
I am using the fish food method to get things started. The tank is starting to stink. Is this normal?
Is there a ph level that is too high while cycling? Ex, mine is 8 at the moment.
I have a fairly small, basic filter that just has removable cartridges, and some sort blue plastic insert. It says to change the filter every month. So, am I just losing all my good bacteria then? Or does the bacteria live in all parts of the fllter?… Gosh, this doesn’t make much sense, does it…
Anyways, thanks.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  February 14, 2019 at 12:15 pm
  Hi Sara,
  Depending on the fish food, yeah, this can be expected. I dislike using fish food for the reason that you are not adding a specific amount of ammonia to your tank. It can make the cycle less expected, but you’ll get there the same.
  If you are using fish food, you might need to clean. If you are using ammonia as per my method, there isn’t really a need to. The only time you would do a water change is to balance ammonia, nitrite or nitrate levels, if they seem exceedingly high, out of the range of your test kit.
  A pH of 8 would be on the high end, but you should still be able to complete a cycle here. If it goes higher, there may be cause for concern.
  I’d suggest moving to a filter that has room for biomedia, like ceramic rings. These are a home for your beneficial bacteria. Disposable filter cartridges are a newbie trap, if you throw them away you throw away your beneficial bacteria. They are one of the worst things to happen to fishkeeping.
  Reply
James says
February 11, 2019 at 3:10 pm
Hello Ian, I have a couple questions. I recently purchased(from a friend) a tank already set up. we had to remove 75% water for transport. I left all the gravel and ornaments and same filter in. How long before I should change filter(they had 3 extra filters for me) and is there any special way of doing this? Also, I just bought a brand new 36 gal bow front tank for my bedroom. Do you recommend that I used the filter from the already established tank to help with the cycling. and if so, how much time would this normally cut off the cycling process?
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  February 11, 2019 at 3:15 pm
  Hi James,
  These disposable filters are a bit of a scam. When you throw away the filter, you are also throwing away the beneficial bacteria that hides inside. If you don’t have any other biomedia, like ceramic rings, then you can crash the cycle resulting in all kinds of problems. I recommend buying a filter that allows you to install both mechanical (sponge) and biomedia, so if you dispose of the sponge, it won’t cause you any issues.
  If the filter dried out, the it’s possible the bacteria have died. As for how much time it will cut off? It depends. It could reduce the cycle by a day, it could reduce it by weeks. There isn’t really a way to measure this.
  Reply
  - james says
    February 15, 2019 at 4:58 am
    thank you so much for your quick reply. im new to the hobby so the only thing I know about filtration is the filters they sell. lol I have a 36 gal bow front setup and I got a marineland penguin 350 on it. I wanted a little more gph than standard. another question I cam across, I am on day 3 of the cycle(using your guide). my ammonia level is between 2-3ppm and my ph level is 7.6. my tank seems to becoming a bit cloudy. is this normal or should I do a water change? if water change, how much water should I change? I am thinking between 25-50% but what do I know? im a beginner. lol btw, thank you for your time on answering these questions to people. this world needs more people like you willing to help new and upcoming hobbyist.
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      February 15, 2019 at 6:44 am
      My pleasure, James.
      The cloudiness is actually a bacterial bloom. These often appear during the cycling process and go away on their own. Like the beneficial bacteria, these bacteria are harmless. If they have appeared, you may find that your tank will get cloudier and cloudier until one day it reverses, and get’s less and less cloudy. Generally, the cloudiness clears up once the nitrites start appearing.
      The only time you will need to do a water change during a fishless cycle is if either ammonia, nitrite or nitrate exceeds that of your test kit color chart. For example, if your nitrate is 300 PPM, you would never know this because the test kit only goes up to 160 ppm. You can use water changes to reduce the amount, to get it back down to readable levels.
      Reply
Kerry says
February 8, 2019 at 4:22 am
Hi I am cycling my new aquarium and I believe everything is on the right track, after a week, however something changed in my tap water and the pH went down from my tap which of course I have been putting in my tank. I have live plants in the tank, upon which a pond snail has been found and I don’t mind that he is there but he seems lethargic and I was wondering if the pH level dropping might have affected him and wondering what I should do?
Initial pH with tank set up from tap was 7.2
After checking the pH yesterday in the tank and from the tap it is now 6.4
ammonia levels are 2ppm
nitrites levels are 0.25 ppm
Should I add a pH buffer or just keep checking it and doing water changes? Should I remove the snail in an effort to make him healthy again or let him ride it out as well?
Thanks for the help, great website by the way
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  February 8, 2019 at 6:06 am
  Hi Kerry,
  If your pond snail is lethargic, it’s either the ammonia or the fluctuating pH. The pH is the bigger concern here because pH under 7 slows down the appearance of beneficial bacteria. I’d keep an eye on the pH and only use a buffer if needed. If the tap water is continually 6.4 then adjusting it upwards can help speed up the process. Although if the fish you plan on keeping tolerate 6.4 then it shouldn’t be a big issue either way. As for the pond snail, 2 ppm of ammonia is quite high. I don’t really have a solution here since keeping him alive would require you to switch to a fish-in cycle. And even then there is no guarantee the snail will it through.
  Reply
Brandon Mun says
February 6, 2019 at 4:05 am
Hello!
I received my Master Kit today and just ran my first test. I decided to test all my parameters since the tank has been running with all electronics on for almost a week. I have two Anubius in my tank with no fish. I tested my tank and here are my results:
pH:7.5
Ammonia: 2 ppm
Nitrite: .25 ppm
Nitrate: 20 ppm
I am kind of stuck and not sure what to do next. I have just ordered the ammonia chloride(amazon) but it won’t be in my hands for at least a week. What do you think is the best next step?
Thank you very much!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  February 6, 2019 at 5:08 am
  Hi Brandon,
  It looks like your tank is cycling already. Those are all positive measurements. Keep testing each day and see what direction each is moving in. You’ll need a few days of data here before you can make a judgement call but based on this, there is nothing to worry about.
  The only thing I would double check is your tap water, sometimes these chemicals are found in your tap water and can skew your readings. It’s always good to know what is in your tap water anyway!
  Reply
  - Brandon Mun says
    February 6, 2019 at 7:01 am
    Thank you for your quick reply!
    I just checked through the county reports and did indeed find that in the water quality report that there are the following:
    Fluoride: .8 ppm
    Nitrate(as Nitrogen): .8 ppm
    Chlorine(Free): 1.62 ppm
    Chlorine(Total):1.71 ppm
    Total Trihalomethanes(THMs): 38 ppb
    Total Haloacetic Acids(HAA5): 9 ppb
    I am currently using an Aquavitro alpha for reefs water conditioner. Do you think that is sufficient enough to condition my tap water for my tank or do you think I should purchase a different water conditioner? And also I believe my tap water could explain why I have some amounts of Nitrate. Is there anything I should watch out for?
    Thank you again
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      February 6, 2019 at 7:15 am
      I believe that water conditioner should work fine, however you are likely over paying for it (Aquavitro is Seachems overpriced in-store only brand) A bottle of Seachem Prime for your tank would be more than sufficient, I find it to be cheapest off amazon, so if your current conditioner runs low, order ahead. At the end of the day, both will work fine.
      Again, everything seems about what you would expect. I’d work towards maintaining your 2ppm of ammonia and monitoring what your nitrites and nitrates do. Depending on where you are at in the cycle, I would expect nitrites to go up before dropping down to 0 while your nitrates rise continuously. If your nitrates get to the higher end of the chart, a water change will dilute them to measurable levels. Just make sure you re-dose with ammonia as this will also be diluted.
      Reply
    - Time says
      May 27, 2019 at 10:19 pm
      Hi my names Tim I’ve lost 6 arowanas in the past week Advice I love thirst fish and are tired of digging holes for them please help
      Reply
      - Ian Sterling says
        May 28, 2019 at 5:36 am
        Hi Time,
        Not enough information to go off here. Check out this guide it covers all the most common reasons why fish die.
Jim says
January 26, 2019 at 9:43 am
Before I found a pure Ammonia source, we have been using Fish Food.
Water is 80 degrees, ph 8.0, Ammonia 4 ppm, Nitrite 0.25, Nitrate 0
Should I continue the fish food cycling or switch to Ammonia? Do you use any water conditioners/treatments during cycling?
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  January 27, 2019 at 3:09 pm
  Hi Jim,
  I don’t do the prawn/fish food method because you can’t dose a specific amount of ammonia. It’s much easier to identify what is happening in your tank through testing.
  That’s not to say you can’t do it this way. This is just my preferred method, allowing me to easily troubleshoot. Since nitrites have appeared, your cycle is well underway. In your case, I would continue doing what you are now, since you are comfortable with it.
  In a fishless cycle, the only thing you need is dechlorinator. Things like API quick start may help speed up your cycle, but there is no guarantee.
  Reply
Alan says
January 22, 2019 at 7:11 am
Mr. Sterling,
I added ammonia to my aquarium over 2 weeks ago. I conditioned my water and I have all my electronic components hooked up. As far as I can see everything is in perfect order, however, my ammonia levels haven’t budged. Nitrite levels remain at a hard zero.
PH 7.8
Ammonia 2ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Temperature is 78 degrees F
What could be wrong?
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  January 22, 2019 at 8:23 am
  Hi Alan,
  Have you made sure you are following the test kit instructions to the letter? It’s possible to make mistakes here and I just want to cross the obvious off the list.
  You should be checking your reading outside in natural day light – the glow from indoor lighting can can make your test look off-color.
  Next, have you tested your nitrate levels, just to see what is happening here?
  It’s highly unusual for a cycle for stall for 2 weeks given your testing.
  Reply
  - Alan says
    February 19, 2019 at 9:10 am
    Ok, I was actually misreading my ammonia levels due to indoor lighting, they were much higher than I thought. I did a water change to bring it down to about 2ppm. Almost immediately I started getting a positive reading for nitrites. Soon my ammonia was dropping fast enough that I had to add more every day, then all of a sudden, it stalled. After a few days I realized I needed to check my ph and sure enough it was at a low 6.4. Another water change fixed this but now neither my ammonia nor my nitrites are dropping. Maybe the ammonia is very slowly but it’s difficult to tell. Did my cycle start all over because of the period of low ph?
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      February 20, 2019 at 3:15 am
      6.4 is low, but it shouldn’t be low enough to cause a cycle to stall. Is there any other change you have made in this period? A sure fire way to test this would be to raise the pH (you can google the Sodium bicarbonate method) and if the cycle resumes, then that could have been the issue. Unfortunately, a lot of fish keeping is experimenting and finding what works for you.
      Reply
Liz Calderon says
January 21, 2019 at 7:32 am
M. Sterling ,
I have been following your guide in order to cycle my 10 gallon tank. I began cycling the tank on Dec 30, and everything seemed to be going as you mentioned until this week. Currently my levels are as such Temp 68 degrees , Ph levels 7-4 – 7-6, Ammonia 0 ppm , Nitrates 5 ppm ( water turns purple immediately ,) Nitrate between 10 – 20 ppm . I went ahead and did an 80% water change but the nitrites were still off the charts . What should I do , should I do another water change or just ride out the nitrite spike ?
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  January 21, 2019 at 8:22 am
  Hi Liz,
  I’m confused, what are your nitrite levels? A nitrite spike is normal, but if it’s outside your testing range, another water change won’t hurt. Just make sure you are using your test kit as per the instructions and reading it outside in natural light – orange lighting can throw off your results.
  Reply
  - Liz Calderon says
    January 21, 2019 at 10:18 am
    I am using the API freshwater master kit and the highest nitrite readable level is 5.0 ppm . I have been reading them in natural light I was just worried since the levels didn’t drop after such a large water change. I apologise it seems I typed nitrates instead of nitrites in my previous message .
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      January 21, 2019 at 10:29 am
      Oh, I understand what you are saying now. No need to apologize, I have made the same mistake a million times now.
      Because the card only goes up to 5ppm, it’s possible your nitrites exceeded 20 ppm. An 80% water change here would still put the nitrite in the water at 5ppm or higher. Try another 50% water change and see if you notice a difference?
      Reply
- Harris says
  February 4, 2019 at 10:57 pm
  68F is cold. Raise your temp during the cycle process to 85f to speed it up.
  Reply
Kay Sherretts says
January 17, 2019 at 8:55 am
I have been following your instructions for a fishless cycle on a 44 gallon tank in setting up for Discus. Thought I was there last nite.
Temp 83.7
PH 7.4
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 pm
Nitrate 40 ppm
KH 107.4 ppm
Redosed with ammonia at original amount. Tested 24 hrs later
Temp 83.7
PH 7.4
Ammonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrite 1.0 ppm
Nitrate 80 ppm
KH 89.5 ppm
What should I do? Water change? Add more ammonia (full or half dose?) and hope in 24 hours it and nitrites drop again to 0???
Also when I do get 0 readings again and they stay for a few days, how do I maintain my cycle? When I confirm cycled it will take 7-8 days to receive my fish. Thank you!!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  January 17, 2019 at 11:08 am
  Hi Kay,
  That all sounds positive. I’d keep adding ammonia and check again in a few more days – it needs to be zero within a 24 hour period. It sounds like you are almost there!
  As for when you get your fish, dose daily with ammonia. You want to be able to maintain the ability for it to turn your dose of ammonia to zero each day until your fish are inside the tank.
  Reply
  - Kay Sherretts says
    January 17, 2019 at 11:50 am
    Thanks Ian. I’ll do a half dose of ammonia again tonight and recheck tomorrow. Is it normal for ammonia to be zero and nitrites zero 24 hours after adding a half dose of ammonia and then to jump 24 hours after a full dose of ammonia? How many days of returning to zero do I have to have before I add another FULL dose of ammonia? And do I have to add a full dose of ammonia? Or can i just continue with half doses (confirming zero ammonia and nitrites) until fish arrive?
    Also you say to do a partial water change after tank cycles, since I’m not adding fish right away do I do a partial water change after I confirm tank is cycled or wait until I’m ready to add my fish?
    Thank you for your help.
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      January 17, 2019 at 12:19 pm
      Unfortunately there isn’t really such a thing as “normal” Due to the sheer number of setups, everyone experiences the cycle slightly differently. But based on what you are saying, I don’t see any cause for concern yet. If after another week the same is happening,then it’s time to investigate.
      At this stage you should continue to add a full dose of ammonia once it hits zero and continue to do this until your tank is cycled and your fish arrive.
      As for the partial water change, it entirely depends on your nitrates. I like to keep them on the low end as it allows me to determine the rate at which nitrite is converted to nitrate (as you may have noticed, your card has an upper limit after which it can no longer detect higher levels of nitrate) the excess levels don’t matter until you add fish though. So you can wait if you want.
      Please let me know if any of this needs clarification. I’m on my phone and my thoughts are a little disjointed.
      Reply
      - Kay S. says
        January 17, 2019 at 12:42 pm
        Will do. Thanks!
        Oh by the way. I just reran all my tests again four hours after the last one. I didn’t add any ammonia or change anything. My parameters are now
        PH 7.2
        Ammonia 0 ppm
        Nitrites are back to 0 ppm
        Nitrates 80 ppm
        KH 89.5 ppm
        Will add full dose ammonia and retest in 24 hours.
        Is it possible for things to change that quick? I’m sure I tested correctly before.
        Thanks again. Will keep you posted.
      - Ian Sterling says
        January 17, 2019 at 3:19 pm
        Yeah it all happens quick towards the end of the cycle. This is really promising and should reassure you that you are almost there. Just keep adding a full dose daily and it won’t be much longer now.
      - Kay Sherretts says
        January 19, 2019 at 2:27 am
        Hi again Ian. Ok my tank is cycled! Time for my water change. How much of a water change should I do? Remember I don’t have my fish yet so I do t gave to worry about stressing them. Thanks.
      - Ian Sterling says
        January 19, 2019 at 3:16 am
        Hi Kay,
        That’s awesome that you reached the end. Well done! Since you have no fish in your tanks, I’d aim to get your nitrates down under 20. 10 is ideal. I suggest doing daily water changes of 50%. This will roughly halve your nitrate levels each water change. Depending on how high your levels got, this could be a few water changes. Don’t forget to dechlorinate the new water beforee adding it. Also keep adding that ammonia. 🙂
      - Kay Sherretts says
        January 21, 2019 at 4:24 am
        Hi again Ian. I’m having a bit of a problem with my newly cycled tank. I’ve done a water change everyday. Last water change was 50%. Brought my nitrate level down to 20. Level is back up to 80 again today. Can’t seen to lower it and have it stay down. I even did a water change of around 80% two days ago. Nitrates keep bouncing up to 80. Any suggestions? I’m dosing daily with ammonia as I don’t have fish yet. Ammonia and nitrite levels are consistent with my additions. PH has increased to 7.6 from 6.0when tank was first cycled. I’m going to have discus so a low PH was preferable any suggestions how to lower nitrates and keep them down. I have a 44 gallon tank with an Eheim Professionel 4+350 canister filter and a Hydor inline heater.
      - Ian Sterling says
        January 21, 2019 at 4:33 am
        Hi Kay, is there anything else in your tank that could be breaking down and producing ammonia? If you suspect this is the case, give your tank a general clean.
        According to Salifert 1 ppm ammonia –> 2.7 ppm nitrite –> 3.6 ppm nitrate.
        So if you are dosing correctly, it shouldn’t be spiking back to 80 from 20 in a single day.
      - Kay Sherretts says
        January 21, 2019 at 4:43 am
        I’ve been dosing with ammonia daily. 24 hours later ammonia and nitrites are both at zero. So I dose again and in 24 hours both are zero again. I have 4 small sword plants and a couple small java ferns tied to a piece of Malaysian driftwood. Fluorite substrate with a layer of spectrastone gravel over it. Take water looks extremely clear and polished. I’m also running two air stones at a moderate flow.
      - Ian Sterling says
        January 21, 2019 at 6:21 am
        Hi Kay,
        Nothing really stands out there, unless your driftwood or ferns are rotting. Are you reading your tests outside in natural light. The day after a 50% water change bring nitrate down to 20, it shouldn’t be hitting 80. Not unstocked. If I was in your position, I’d get the nitrates down to 5 or even 10 and then record hourly, to see the rate of increase. The next step, unfortunately, is trial and error, removing things from your tank one at a time until you find the cause.
      - Kay Sherretts says
        January 21, 2019 at 4:59 am
        Just reran the nitrate year again. It’s at 80. And btw my tap water has these values
        PH 7.4
        Ammonia 0
        Nitrite 0
        Nitrate 0
        KH 196.9
        GH 53.7
      - Kay Sherretts says
        January 21, 2019 at 6:27 am
        Hi again Ian. I’m not sure but I might have found my problem but don’t know how to solve it.tge inside of my canister filter tubing is coated with some sort of algae or slime. Cannit tel what color it even is because tubing is black. Popped tubing from canister and tried to rinse it but it’s inpossible with the inline heater and the attachment for the canister. I cannot remove these things since they are really stuck on. Should not maybe use some type of additive to lower (or control) nitrates thus lowering algae?
      - Ian Sterling says
        January 21, 2019 at 6:58 am
        Can you swap the tubing out completely? Additives will lock you in to using them for life and won’t really help with your nitrate issues.
      - Kay Sherretts says
        January 21, 2019 at 7:39 am
        In my area I would have trouble finding replacement tubing and I really don’t think I can get it off without ruining the inline heater and the connector for my canister. Very frustrating considering everything is brand new and not cheap. Could this be why my nitrate numbers keep bouncing back up? It’s strange though cause I haven’t had any jumps in ammonia levels OR nitrite. What would happen if I ran tank a day or so with zero ammonia and zero nitrite?
      - Ian Sterling says
        January 21, 2019 at 8:19 am
        Hi Kay,
        If you cut back on ammonia, the beneficial bacteria will die off. How quick this happens depends on a variety of different factors. The ideal is not to do it. As per my previous post, I’d retest hourly before using the process of elimination and using the results here to take action.
      - Kay Sherretts says
        January 21, 2019 at 12:10 pm
        Hi again Ian. One quick thought. Can Discus Buffer which is phosphate based contribute to high nitrate levels? Thanks!
        Kay
      - Ian Sterling says
        January 21, 2019 at 1:07 pm
        Hi Kay,
        To the best of my knowledge, Phosphate as an additive does not have a correlation to nitrate spikes. If you are currently using it, you can discontinue it through your elimination process.
Gray says
January 17, 2019 at 12:43 am
I appreciate the step by step guide with specific product examples. This is one of the best guides I’ve seen.
I did have some questions about your chart. Shouldn’t your ammonia chart start around 4 ppm rather than slowly ramp up? Shouldn’t you keep it below 5 ppm? And once it starts dropping, shouldn’t it show how you added more to keep it from going to 0?
Thanks.
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  January 17, 2019 at 4:26 am
  Hi Gray,
  Excellent question – you are spot on. This is actually a chart from a fish-in cycle. I couldn’t find my notes on my last fishless cycle. I added this as an example as to how the different chemicals move over time. I am sorry if this added any confusion, I honestly thought this would be a good example to show. But I love feedback, do you think it should be removed?
  Reply
  - Gray says
    January 17, 2019 at 6:37 am
    Thanks for the clarification that the chart is from a fish-in cycle. That makes sense.
    Reply
Lezlee says
January 10, 2019 at 8:19 am
I did a water change 6 days ago when I moved the babies out of that tank. . . and the mother back into it. I’ll do another tomorrow and let you know the nitrate readings. I’ve never tested my tapwater for nitrates but I’ll do that tomorrow too.
Thanks again.
Lezlee 🙂
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  January 10, 2019 at 8:43 am
  I’d do a 50% water change or two and add tetra safe start. There may be some problems with the initial beneficial bacteria appearing for whatever reason, this may help boost it.
  Reply
  - Lezlee says
    January 10, 2019 at 9:22 am
    Ok will do. . . should I put a whole bottle of SafeStart in?
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      January 10, 2019 at 12:46 pm
      Hi Lezlee,
      I didn’t answer this yet. Just follow the directions on the packaging.
      Reply
Hans Jeremy says
January 9, 2019 at 9:58 am
Hi there!
I would like to ask a question about this topic. I started cycling 2/01/2019 and it’s been 11 days since I started. I constantly test my water parameters and my ammonia levels are about 2-3ppm but I don’t get any rise of nitrite levels in my test kit. I am kinda worried about this and I don’t know what to do, so if you could give some advice, that would be lovely.
– Hans Jeremy
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  January 9, 2019 at 11:35 am
  Hi Hans,
  Just some follow up questions, so I can better help you:
  1. What is your pH?
  2. Are you dosing with ammonia regularly or has it been 2-3 since you started and you havn’t added extra?
  3. Have you tested your nitrAtes if not, what do they read?
  4. Have you followed the instructions to the letter on your nitrite test kit (shaking etc.)
  5. What is the temperature of your aquarium.
  6. Is your filter set up with biomedia?
  Are yoHave you tested your nitrate levels? In very few instances,
  Reply
  - Hans Jeremy says
    January 10, 2019 at 5:17 am
    Hello there once again,
    I feel like I’m doing the wrong thing because I only have my filter running in my new tank since 02/02/2019. I’ve been putting fish food in my tank and waiting for it to decompose as it says in wikihow website. Yes, I tested the Ph, Ammonia, and Nitirites. The readings are Ph:7.6 (dark blue), Ammonia: between 2-4ppm (kinda hard to read), Nitrites: 0ppm (light blue). I’m starting to wonder if I’ve been doing this whole cycling thing the wrong way. Should I start all over again?
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      January 10, 2019 at 5:43 am
      Hi Hans,
      That wikihow article reads as though it is written by someone who has never kept fish, instead just copying information they found online. The instructions are vague to the point of being dangerous “perform a 50% water change” for instance may not get your nitrate levels down to a level safe for fish. If you are following their method, you should direct your questions there. Any advice I give relates to following this guide.
      I personally only use liquid ammonia, as per my guide. It’s only been a week, so no need to panic just yet.
      Also, you did not answer all my questions. I cannot properly advise if you do not answer all the questions.
      I now have an additional question, are you using a water conditioner?
      Reply
      - Hans Jeremy says
        January 10, 2019 at 10:14 am
        1. Ph:7.6 (dark blue) I took this today
        2. I am not using the pure liquid ammonia, I’m using fish food.
        3. Yes I tested my nitrites today and it’s still at 0ppm
        4. Yes I followed the instructions in the API Master Kit manual
        5. That is the problem I forgot to buy a thermometer for my Aquarium
        6. Yes my HOB has a biological media
        and I used stress coat water conditioner.
        It’s just been one week and two days since the cycling started. Gee where are my maths. Sorry about that.
      - Ian Sterling says
        January 10, 2019 at 12:53 pm
        Hi Hans,
        3. Is asking for your nitrAte level, not nitrIte. What does it read?
        As long as your temp is above 65˚F, ideally over 75˚F will cause Beneficial bacteria to appear quicker, I highly suggest buying a thermometer so you can keep track of this, it will help you troubleshoot when your have fish inside your tank too.
        You can grab a bottle of tetra safe start if you are having trouble, and giving it another week, testing daily.
Chris says
January 5, 2019 at 10:58 pm
Hi. Thanks for all the info. I am in my second week of cycling a 55 gallon freshwater tank. When cycling is done, what maintenance if any do I perform before adding fish? Water change, charcoal change, filter change or cleaning? I have a Cascade 1000. Thanks
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  January 6, 2019 at 3:23 am
  Hi Chris,
  Good question,
  You’ll certainly want to do a waterchange (or three) to get the nitrates back down to acceptable levels. This is probably the most important part.
  Otherwise, everything else is pretty much optional, such as wiping down the glass of your tank (if any gunk has started to appear) etc. If you were using pure ammonia, your mechanical filtration likely doens’t need cleaning yet, charcoal is there to remove either bad smells or tannins among other things unless you have problems with those, it’s an optional extra, You’ll know when that needs replacing because either the smell or tannins will return. A quick examine of your tank once cycling is done will clue you in to any changes you will need to make. If you are unsure, I am happy to clarify.
  Reply
greg says
January 4, 2019 at 8:45 am
Thank you for this information!! My wife and I are cycling a 29 gallon planted (soon to be) tank, and I am not sure where to go form here. My readings are:
ammonia about 1ppm
Nitrite about 1ppm
nitrates about about 40 ppm.. hard to tell the color
The water from my tap is:
ammonia .25
nitrite 0
nitrate 20
should I keep putting ish food in there to decay, or should I let it go, and see if ammonia and nitrites start to go down a bit?
thanks again
greg
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  January 4, 2019 at 10:45 am
  Hi Greg,
  You can substitute the recommended ammonia for fish food, although I recommend ammonia because it’s measurable. The instructions make it clear that you want to continue giving the first beneficial bacteria food (ammonia) through the cycle. Your problem is that fish food is going to consistently give off ammonia as it decays however, if your ammonia is staying constant at 1 ppm, then you still have a fair way to go in the cycle. If your nitrates exceed the color card, use a water change (or three) to bring it back to measurable levels – so you can see what is happening.
  Reply
  - Greg says
    January 4, 2019 at 11:19 pm
    I think I’ll vacuum it out tonight, and start with some ammonia powder. I am doing a 25% water change in my 60 gallon tonight as well.. So i can use that water, and borrow one of the filters from it. Patience is not a strong suit of mine 🙁
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      January 5, 2019 at 3:47 am
      If you can borrow a pre-cycled filter, you’ll dramatically speed up the cycle. Water on the other hand won’t help too much – the beneficial bacteria isn’t free-floating. It clings to surfaces. You’d be better off adding a cup of gravel to go with it. Yeah, this first step definitely requires patience, especially when you have your eye on some fancy new fish you want to add. But it will be worth it in the end!
      Reply
Lezlee says
January 2, 2019 at 7:59 am
That’s what I thought. While I was waiting for you to answer, we went ahead and did a second 50% water change. . .so we’ve done 2 changes today. I didn’t know what else would lower the nitrates. They still read at 40-50, it’s hard to tell the exact red. I read that Prime helps. . . is that something I should try tomorrow if another water change doesn’t lower them enough? Because Prime doesn’t remove the ammonia, just makes it safe for the fish and still leaves it for the bacteria, correct? And what level of nitrates would you consider safe?
We were all ready to move the babies. . . had everything ready and then the nitrate problem! So frustrating! I was looking forward to having only 2 tanks. Oh, well, hopefully tomorrow.
Thanks again, Ian.
Lezlee
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  January 2, 2019 at 8:37 am
  Prime won’t lower your nitrates, just “bind them” temporarily. Ideally you want them out. It’s no biggy. Just keep doing water changes as you get them down. In a perfect world, you’d ideally want them under 10. Lower is always better unless you have a planted tank. I go off 40 as the max upper limit for freshwater fish. However that’s not to say that 40 is acceptable, rather it’s the stage I’d panic and do an immediate water change kinda thing.
  It’s likely this nitrate has been left to build up as you have constantly been adding ammonia to keep the bacteria alive and this is the end result.
  While doing extra water changes is a pain in the butt, it won’t harm your tank. You are nearly there!
  Reply
Brittany says
December 4, 2018 at 8:10 am
Hi Ian,
We’re new to fish keeping and have been trying to cycle a 5 gallon tank for just under 2 months (starting 10/6). Ammonia just started to drop to zero in less than 24 hours 11/17, but nitrites continue to be off the charts. I add enough ammonia to get a 1.0 ppm reading every day.
After reading through your comments I saw someone had success figuring out nitrites with water changes, so I have done 3. The 2nd did get nitrites down to readable levels (2 ppm, which I figured out by doing half tap water and half tank water since 2 ppm and 5 ppm on the test are so similar). But the next day nitrites were 5+ again. We have well water, ph in the tank is 7.6, temp is 71.
I am using the API Freshwater test kit and have tested our well water, which shows 0.25 ppm Ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 5 ppm Nitrates.
We’re trying to be patient but we’re coming up on the 2 month mark and we do have a betta fish (in a 1 gallon heated bowl) that we want to move into the 5 gallon. We didn’t do a fish-in cycle after reading about it and because he’s dealing with fin rot so we didn’t want to put him through the bacteria spikes. We do frequent water changes in his bowl.
What do you suggest? I appreciate any advice or insight you can provide. Thank you for your whole blog and answering comments!
Sincerely,
Brittany
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  December 4, 2018 at 8:22 am
  Hi Brittany,
  Well water can certainly make things interesting when cycling as it can have a whole bunch of other things dissolved in it that test kits won’t pick up. I’m not saying that this is the reason for the slower cycle, but it is possible.
  I can completely understand your frustration given you have a fish waiting to make the transition but given the bout of fin rot, I applaud you for not attempting a fish-in cycle with a sick betta – I wouldn’t have liked it’s chances of survival.
  With that said, everything sounds normal, although it’s possible you are having problems with the second bacteria forming slower than expected – the nitrite eating bacteria.
  The big question question I have for you is, what are your nitrates doing? Are they slowly growing in number on a day by day basis? Or are they halted at 5ppm? (the nitrate of your well water) You may need to keep checking for the next few days to confirm what it is actually doing. As the nitrate production increases, the nitrite growth rate will decrease. If you measure these side by side you may get a better idea of what is happening?
  Also, and I have no doubt that you are already all over this given your attention to detail so far, but don’t forget to raise the temperature of the tank once it’s cycled, betta love that warm water.
  Reply
  - Brittany says
    December 4, 2018 at 9:48 am
    Nitrates really haven’t shown progress at all, still 5 ppm. I have been testing in hopes of seeing change at that end to worry less about the nitrites still being 5+. Do you think we should just continue to test and wait it out, or is there anything else we can do?
    Thanks for the reminder about the temp. We’ll transition the heater over to the 5 gallon once it’s cycled. I was researching to confirm that the bacteria should be okay with the temperature increase. Do you think it will be okay? Additionally, the bio load from one fish should be able to sustain the cycle once it completes, is that correct?
    Thanks again!
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      December 4, 2018 at 10:26 am
      Were I in your situation, I’d give it another week before I started looking for solutions, continuing to do water changes to get the nitrites down to readable levels, so you can see what’s happening (whether they increase at the same rate or the increase is starting to slow). Unfortunately, the first step of fishkeeping is the most boring and much of it is just waiting around for something to happen.
      If the week passes and you see no results, I would consider trying a bottled bacteria supplement, although you could attempt this now if you so choose, it won’t slow down your cycle further. Just be mindful that if you live some place cold then the bottled bacteria could be dead before it reaches you, say due to poor transport or storage – it’s a bottle of living organisms and they don’t handle extremes in temperature well. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell if the bacteria you are adding to your tank is already dead. Throw in the fact that different brands offer different strains and you have my reasons for generally avoiding it. With that said, I won’t deny that some people do see success with it during an otherwise slow cycle.
      As a side note, do you know any other local fishkeepers on the same well water as you? How did they find the cycling process? Asking around could also shed insight into why your cycle is taking so long.
      The temperature increase should not impact the beneficial bacteria at all. The temperature you would keep your betta at falls well within the habitable zone of the beneficial bacteria.
      You are spot on regarding bioload. We generally try to “build” more beneficial bacteria than is needed during the cycling process. Once the fish is introduced, the bacteria “dies back” to a level that can be supported by the waste of your fish – since there are only so much ammonia and nitrite that can be fed upon.
      Reply
      - Brittany says
        January 10, 2019 at 1:46 am
        Hi Ian,
        Just wanted to follow up after all of your help before. I ended up waiting the week and then buying Tetra Safestart+. I was lucky and that helped; the tank started cycling ammonia and nitrites and I was able to get my Betta in after another week. So far so good. I’ve done weekly 25% water changes and will continue to monitor the water. It’s been a little harder to tell between 0 and 0.25 ppm ammonia on the test since my fish has been in the tank, but I’ll keep tracking to see the pattern.
        To address your side note, I found one other family with a tank in my town but it ended up not being much help as they don’t test their water (so I guess they did an fish-in cycle). Additionally, the local fish store is on city water and just said to use the instant cycle products.
        Thank you so much for all of your help!!
        Kind regards,
        Brittany
      - Ian Sterling says
        January 10, 2019 at 4:27 am
        Hi Brittany,
        That’s fantastic, I’m really happy to hear you found success! TO help with your ammonia, when it’s zero, it’s perfectly yellow. When it’s 0.25, it has a slight green tint. You’ll see this best if you look at the test outside, in natural light. The lights on your ceiling can make the two look a very similar color. Here is an example of the colors you should. Just make sure night mode is off on your phone, so that it’s a true representation.
        Oh wow, I’m sorry to hear about your difficulties in finding fishkeepers on the same water as you. That would have been frustrating. At least your cycling journey is over and you’ll have cut out many problems that people who skip cycling face.
Ben says
November 26, 2018 at 9:50 am
Hello mr. Sterling, I have a couple questions about my tank cycle. My first question is how do I permanently raise my ph? I have tried water changes which only incrementally raise ph but don’t help. I have added 1 teaspoon of baking soda which rocketed my ph to 8.4 from 6. (I have a 5.5g). My ph has dropped again to 6 and I am planning on adding more baking soda. Is baking soda safe for aquariums? I heard you shouldn’t use ph raisers found in stores . Lastly, my tank is almost cycled and I am planning on getting a betta fish. What is the best way of acclimating the betta? I have heard that you should transfer it into a plastic bag and float it adding water every ten minutes from your tank. I have also heard that you can just float it then dump it without adding any water from the tank. Should I keep the tank lights on or off during the process and if off then when should I turn them on? Thankyou!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  November 26, 2018 at 10:11 am
  Hi Ben,
  Congrats on making it this far through the cycling process, that’s awesome and will make things easier for you in the future 🙂 Make sure you keep an eye on the pH, low pH levels can halt your cycle. I’d hate to see you go backwards this far along, so it’s something you need to get on top of.
  The reason pH raisers are dangerous because beginners use them without understanding the relationship pH has with KH, leading to the pH bouncing around and killing their fish. It sounds to me like you should measure your KH, it has a direct impact on your pH, I have a guide on KH here I know it can seem like a lot to take in at first, but don’t worry, this gets easier!
  I highly recommend drip acclimatization. There are plenty of guides on this online – it will give your fish the greatest chances of survival. Depending on many other factors, a 10 minute float can shock your fish, same with adding your fish directly to your tank. These are not a good way to start your fish keeping journey, even if everything looks fine, it might stress your fish out to the point that it dies a few days later.
  As for the lights, it’s less of an issue if your fish is being brought home in a clear bag, from your local fish store. If you order your betta online, it will arrive in a dark box – the bright lights here can certainly shock your fish.
  Reply
amelia says
November 21, 2018 at 11:06 pm
I’ve already asked a question, but I have one more, sorry that it is in all-caps, I asked another form and there format automatically put it in all caps and it’s a lot of work to change it back 🙂
-WHICH PRODUCTS DO YOU RECOMMEND FOR CYCLING A FISH TANK QUICKLY? THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT OPINIONS, WITH DIFFERENT COMBOS OF PRODUCTS TO USE. I USE THE API STRESS COAT PLUS WATER CONDITIONER, AND I’VE ONLY ADDED THAT CONDITIONER TO MY WATER, AND KEPT MY FILTER AND HEATER ON FOR THE PAST FEW DAYS. I’M KIND OF STUCK BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW WHAT PRODUCTS TO BUY NEXT AND WHAT STEPS TO TAKE TO SAFELY CYCLE MY AQUARIUM, AND I WANT TO GET FISH ASAP, AS LONG AS THEY ARE SAFE. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND HELP!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  November 22, 2018 at 2:46 am
  Hi Amelia,
  Hands down the best way to cycle a tank quickly is with a filter from another aquarium. Failing that, a generous helping of gravel from another tank can help speed things up too.
  As for “bottled bacteria supplements” There are too many variables here. I know some people swear by them, but I have seen tanks cycle just as quick or quicker without the same bacteria added. It may speed up your cycle, but I’m not convinced it can consistently do so based on my own testing and observations.
  As for the steps and products, I have outlined everything you need to do to cycle your tank clearly in this guide.
  Unfortunately, cycling is just a process where you have to be patient. I know it’s not the answer you want, but it beats having your fish die in just a few days.
  Reply
- Angela says
  January 6, 2019 at 2:56 pm
  Hi, thanks for this article.
  I am currently cycling my tank but I am confused about the test readings.
  For ammonia, I got 0 ppm.
  For nitrite, I got 80 ppm.
  For nitrate, I got 160 ppm.
  The test readings stayed the exact same for pretty much a week. I drained about half the tank, and filled it back up and added a dose of ammonia just to be sure there was beneficial bacteria and to try to clear this problem. Sure enough, a couple days later I tested and the readings were exactly the same as the ones above. Do you have any suggestions for this? Thanks.
  Reply
  - Ian Sterling says
    January 7, 2019 at 3:51 am
    Hi Angela,
    Can you clarify that the max reading on the color cards are 80 and 160? If so, it’s possible that your nitrites and nitrates far exceed these levels. For example, they could be 400 or 800 and your test kit can only show the lower numbers. If this is the case, you’ll need to get these down to readable levels in order to see what is actually happening in your tank.
    Reply
Amelia says
November 21, 2018 at 10:12 pm
Hi, I purchased the API Freshwater Master Kit to test my water for my fish tank. The labels said to dispose of the chemicals in a chemical facility, but on online forums, people said they are just pouring it down their sinks and diluting it. Is this safe? I’m not sure if I have time to go to a chemical facility, I don’t even know if they will take these chemicals, and it would be much easier to just pour it down the sink — but only if it is completely safe. Do you have any ideas?
Thank you so much!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  November 22, 2018 at 2:38 am
  Hi Amelia,
  I’m not saying it’s good to dump chemicals down the drain, but the components of these test kits are things that we already dispose of via sinks and toilets. These chemicals are commonly found in toothpaste, drain cleaner and even urine.
  If you were disposing of whole bottles of the stuff, yeah better to do it at a chemical facility. But if you are talking about the test tubes after testing, everyone I know washes it down the sink. As to whether it’s right or not, that’s a whole other debate.
  Reply
  - amelia says
    November 23, 2018 at 7:29 am
    Okay thank you so much! My older sister has had a fish tank for 3 years now, and her tiger barbs changed colors: some of them have more prominent red fins and black stripes. Is this okay?
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      November 23, 2018 at 9:14 am
      Hi Amelia,
      This is either normal or a concern. Tiger barbs will often change color when they are ready to spawn (breed). This is normal and colors will likely change back once they are over this phase.
      Otherwise, color change is usually attributed to poor water quality and stress. If your water chemistry and quality are fine, then it’s possibly the first scenario.
      Reply
      - amelia says
        November 25, 2018 at 1:29 am
        They normally change at night, and then go back to normal during the day. We are waiting on the test strips to arrive so we can test the levels, but for now, she’s been using Seachem Prime.
      - Ian Sterling says
        November 25, 2018 at 2:59 am
        Hi Amelia,
        When you say normally change at night, are you saying they fade? Or do they get brighter at night? Does this happen when you switch on the light?
        Also, as an aside, Id recommend a test kit over strips. Strips don’t last as long and are more expensive in the long run. Also, based on my testing and observations, they are far less accurate. Given you should be continuing to test your aquarium with your regular water change and maintenance, a test kit is an essential tool for every fish keeper.
      - amelia says
        November 25, 2018 at 6:13 am
        They fade when it is darker, and I at first bought the API Freshwater Master Kit, but I really don’t feel comfortable disposing the harsh chemicals, so I’m getting the Tetra 6 in 1 strips and the Tetra Ammonia ones.
      - Ian Sterling says
        November 25, 2018 at 8:00 am
        Hi Amelia,
        Each to their own, these are arguably not harsh chemicals, they are everyday chemicals found in products like toothpaste, which we also put down our drains. While I commend you on not wanting to dump chemicals down the drain, these test strips also contain chemicals, but are inherently more wasteful, and they will end up in a landfill instead, where they will break down and enter the environment anyway. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t,
        I’m not trying to say either way is environmentally better, just giving you some food for thought.
        It’s possible your fish are fading because they are stressed from their aquarium light coming on. You can wean them into this change by turning the light on earlier (while it’s still daylight.)
      - amelia says
        November 25, 2018 at 10:20 pm
        Okay thank you. I might just try the strips first and go back to the other kit if it doesn’t work as well, there’s just all of these crazy warnings on the bottles, like genetic defects and stuff like that, yikes. And yes, she’s been letting the daylight light through the windows instead of the tank light to get them used to it, but they still fade at night. However, the next day, they’re back to normal. Could it maybe be hunger? She only feeds her 5 tiger barbs 2 tiny pinches in the morning, and an even smaller amount at night.
      - Ian Sterling says
        November 26, 2018 at 3:10 am
        It’s quite hard to say then, without seeing the tank in person. If all her water parameters are normal, as per the tests, and fish seem normal otherwise, then it’s hard to diagnose online.
        As for foods, try mixing up the diet. A combination of flakes and bloodworms (frozen or live) can sometimes improve coloration in certain fish. As for the amount of food, it sounds like thats enough food – it always surprises people just how little fish actually eat. Overfeeding is very common.
Alaa says
November 11, 2018 at 2:06 pm
High, thanks for taking time to help
I have been cycling my 40 G saltwater tank for over 3 weeks now with no luck. i dosed ammonium on 20th Oct and got reading 2ppm which dropped to 1.5 and then one by 26th. on the same day i added ammonia i started to add seachum stability. from 26th Oct the level stayed the same 1 with 0 nitrite and nitrate. other tank parameters pH 8.25 – 8.35, salinity 1024, Temp 78.5. running curve 5 skimmer and some activated carbon in the sump (to control Oder)
on Nov first seeing the levels were the same, i added ammonia again this time increasing to 4ppm and increased temp to 81. from 4th Nov ammonia level is steady at 1 ppm with 0 nitrite and nitrate. i also added a boaster dose of seachum stability just after i got my 4ppm ammonia reading. other tank parameters are the same.
the last thing is that i have pink coloring over my silicon line in the sump for over 2 weeks now with very thin coat (whitish) over that is easily removed. nothing in the display T. no water changes so far.
any ideas would be appreciated
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  November 12, 2018 at 3:58 am
  Hi Alaa,
  Ammonia doesn’t disappear. It has to go somewhere. Are you sure you are doing the tests right? I only ask because I have had seen three people now incorrectly administer their nitrite and nitrate tests. This was the reason their ammonia was dropping but they were not detecting nitrite or nitrate.
  Reply
  - Alaa says
    November 12, 2018 at 1:07 pm
    thanks for reply, i thought about that so i tested 3 different samples one from main tank and one from QT, and one from my RO. i got zero from RO, .5 from QT and still one from MD. all showed zero nitrite and nitrate. i also rechecked the test kt instructions and i’m following OK. my concern is why i’m having steady ammonia level at one for over a week now without any progress.
    thoughts:
    1- restart the whole process (really don’t like it),
    2-do partial water change and add fish, or
    3- add another course of seachum stability
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      November 13, 2018 at 4:23 am
      Hi Again Alaa,
      Good work! It sounds like you are all over the testing, so we can narrow that down.
      Are your salinity levels in order?
      Seachem Stability is just going to help balance out you your tank, If you test your water and everything is A-okay, you shouldn’t need to add more. You’d want to add something like Instant Ocean Bio-Spira, which can kick-start the cycle, this is essentially the beneficial bacteria in a bottle.
      I don’t think you’ll need to restart the process and I certainly wouldn’t add fish to this tank yet.
      Also, is the pink algae you are seeing corraline algae?
      Reply
      - Alaa says
        November 13, 2018 at 1:27 pm
        Hi, thanks for helping
        Salinity is 1024, pH 8.3, Temp 81
        My main concern is why ammonia is not going down below 1 ppm if it can go from 2 and 4 to one in a few days why just keep at one after that, may be all i need is more time
        Will add bacteria as advised.
        Pink algae ? are not easily scrapped but the thin white film over is fragile and easily removed, and limited mainly to the silicon lines, still nothing in the main tank.
      - Ian Sterling says
        November 13, 2018 at 2:58 pm
        Hi Alaa,
        The rate at which ammonia decreases is rarely linear. I’d stick at it for a little longer, and take daily readings to watch closely what is happening (make sure you write them down so you don’t forget them!)
      - Alaa says
        November 21, 2018 at 7:13 pm
        HI, Bacteria seems to be disappearing
        i add bacteria as advised and got my ammonia level to .5 then .25 within 36 hours, nitrite 0 but for the first time i got nitrate reading of 5 ppm, so i’m on the right track i though
        i raised ammonia back to 1 on 16th ans since the it stays there with no change and with 0 nitrite and barely there nitrate
        other tank parameters are still the same pH 8.3 (dropped to 8 for one day after dosing bacteria) salinity 1.024, temp 80
        can’t figure out what is wrong, do i need to add bacteria daily (instructions are for weekly dose) to keep the number increasing and since there is ammonia why the bacterial colonies are not growing
        i have around 35 B of dry rock in the DT, 2 marine pure blocks and some bio balls in the sump.
      - Ian Sterling says
        November 22, 2018 at 2:47 am
        Hi Alaa,
        I recommend posting your question on https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/ or http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/, they will be able to help you much quicker than us going through this back and forth trying to break down what’s wrong.
- Angela says
  November 22, 2018 at 9:51 am
  Hi,
  I’m currently cycling my 40 gallon tank. I added about 8ppm of ammonia on day 1. On day 2 the ammonia was 4 ppm, and it remained 4 ppm on days 3 and 4 also. Its not going up or going down, its just stuck at 4ppm. I know it will take a little longer to cycle because I added a little too much ammonia, but I’m getting a little worried. The ammonia isn’t moving at all. I tested for ph, and it read 7.6. I tested for nitrites, which read about between 0 and .25 ppm. Also, for reference, I have a hang on back filter with a sponge and 1 bag of ceramic filter media. (I don’t use carbon.) I have an air stone and air pump and a fine layer of bigger grained sand. It does get pretty cold, which might be the problem, but any suggestions? Thanks.
  Reply
  - Ian Sterling says
    November 22, 2018 at 10:22 am
    Hi Angela,
    Ideal temperature range is between 65-85 degrees Fahrenheit outside of this, growth can slow or stop completely. I’d suggest grabbing a heater if you don’t have one, as temperature swings can also stress and kill fish you add, even once your tank has cycled.
    Once your temperature is back on track, I’d give it a good week to see what is happening – make sure you follow the instructions in this guide!
    Reply
Jon says
November 10, 2018 at 7:13 am
I’m in my second week and at the part where I am testing ammonia and nitrites daily. My nitrites are at 2.0ppm and have stayed there but my ammonia has been dropping. I added a half dose of the recommended dose (1/2 tsp because it’s a 60 gallon tank) a few days ago, and I tested it again today and it now says it’s at 0ppm. Does that mean I have to start from step 1 again? Or do I keep dosing the half doses until the ammonia starts to rise again? Thank you so much!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  November 10, 2018 at 7:20 am
  Hi Jon,
  I’d dose with ammonia, wait half an hour, test and repeat. You want above 1 ppm in your tank so that the first beneficial bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrites doesnt starve.
  I don’t think you need to start again. Just keep dosing with ammonia so that it reaches readable levels. Every time it dips below 1 ppm add more.
  You should be testing ammonia daily to keep on top of this.
  Reply
Mytia says
November 8, 2018 at 12:18 pm
Thank you Ian!!!! Yes we did a fishless cycle for the initial set up. It took about 4 weeks. We didn’t have any problems after that until the algae bloom. I guess this is a process with a huge learning curve but I have got to get rid of that mildew smell!
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  November 8, 2018 at 12:30 pm
  Hi Again,
  Did you test your water parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH) with an aquarium test kit? This can often help narrow down the cause of problems, in this case the smell. If your test returns a reading for ammonia or nitrates, it’s possible swapping out the filters has caused your cycle to “crash” and you’ll have to try attempt a fish-in cycle if you still have fish inside your tank.
  There definitely is a learning curve, but don’t worry, it gets much easier! Adding activated carbon can help get rid of the smell, but it won’t fix the cause – once the activated carbon is “full” it will have to be swapped out – it generally lasts around a month.
  Reply
Lezlee Loftis says
November 8, 2018 at 5:54 am
Hi Ian:
Thanks for all this great info. . . I really appreciate it! There are so many conflicting opinions online that it’s hard to know what is correct. Anyway, I’ve been trying to cycle my 10 gallon tank (fishless). I’m following your directions above. I added enough ammonia in the beginning to get about 2ppm. . . is that correct? It’s been 17 days and the ammonia isn’t dropping. . . and no nitrites. I’ve been testing every day. the PH is good. I did a 20% water change a couple of days ago on the advice of someone who said maybe there’s too much ammonia in the water. Can you tell me what I’m doing wrong and what I need to do now to get it cycled?
Lezlee
Reply
- Ian Sterling says
  November 8, 2018 at 6:25 am
  Hi Lezlee,
  If it’s been 17 days since you initially added 2 ppm and have not added more then something is certainly amiss. Have you tested your nitrites and nitrates, just to check what’s happening there?
  Also, what is the ammonia reading since the water change – the water change should have diluted the ammonia levels.
  2 ppm isn’t too much ammonia to kickstart a 10 gallon tank cycle. I have personally used this amount for my nephews tank. Something else is amiss that is preventing your beneficial bacteria from establishing.
  Unfortunately, given the limited information you have provided, narrowing down the exact cause will be difficult.
  First, what are all your water parameters: PH, Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite?
  Next, is your filter set up correctly and does it contain filter media?
  Did you dechlorinate your water prior to adding it? Chlorine kills bacteria, good or bad.
  Next, what is the temperature of your water?
  What else is inside your tank?
  Finally, and this is perhaps the most unlikely point of failure, but I have seen it before – is your aquarium test kit within it’s expiry date?
  I generally reply to comments once a day so if you need a faster response I highly recommend posting your question in one of these friendly online communities with the information I asked for included, you may find someone has experienced the exact same problem as you and can give a quick solution.
  Reply
  - Lezlee says
    November 9, 2018 at 6:18 am
    Thanks for the response! So here is everything you asked for:
    Ammonia is 1.0. . . but I must not have gotten enough in the tank in the beginning. . . because it has read 1.0 from the beginning (18 days ago). Your directions said to put 1/2 tsp for 10 gallons to get ammonia to 2.0. But I ended up putting in 1 and a half tsp because it wouldn’t come up to 2.0 and then was afraid to put in anymore.
    Nitrites are 0
    Nitrates are 0
    PH 7.6
    Temperature is 80 degrees
    I did de-chlorinate the water before I put it in, and all water I add
    The tank has 2 fake plants, one fake driftwood piece, 1 ornament, larger gravel (looks like little stones), a heater, and the filter. The filter is an Aquelon that has a white meshy filter in it, as well as a long-ish rectangle grey looking thing that says it’s supposed to help remove ammonia.
    Oh, and I checked the expiration dates on the tests and they’re 2023. I just don’t know where to go from here. Thanks again for helping!
    Lezlee
    Reply
    - Ian Sterling says
      November 9, 2018 at 7:22 am
      Hi Lezlee,
      As per the article:
      If your ammonia readings are less than the above levels, add more ammonia and re-test.
      2ppm is the minimum level I recommend for a tank your size when first dosing to kick-start the nitrogen cycle.
      Even so, I would have expected at least some of that 1.0ppm of ammonia to break down by now. Based on the information provided, I cannot see anything wrong here.
      I’d try raising the ammonia to 2 ppm and keep testing. If that doesn’t work, I’d try using a shrimp in a nylon stocking to introduce ammonia, just in case there is something wrong with your batch of ammonia – this will eliminate the ammonia source as the problem.
      Unfortunately, when something does go wrong, you just need to keep narrowing things down until you find the problem.
      Reply
      - Lezlee says
        November 9, 2018 at 9:18 am
        Ok thanks very much!
      - Lezlee says
        November 14, 2018 at 11:11 pm
        Hi again:
        I’m so excited! I put more ammonia in the tank to bring it up to 2.0 ppm on Nov 9th, per your suggestion. This morning my ammonia is reading .25, and nitrites at 2.0 so it looks like it has started to cycle! My ph is 7.6 so that’s good too. I put in a half dose of ammonia, per your instructions in the article, and will test each day to see when the nitrites drop and continue to follow your directions. When it’s completely cycled and ready for fish, is one fish for 10 gallons enough to feed and keep the bacteria going? I have one fish in a 3 gallon tank, and I plan to put in the 10 gallon when it’s ready. The reason I have it in the 3 gallon tank is that I have lost a few fish because a pet store sold me a fish that turned out to have ich after a few days. Of course the other 2 I already had got it too, and the 10 gallon tank was infected with it. So now I want to put new fish in this smaller tank for a couple of weeks to make sure they are healthy before putting them into the bigger tank. (I did empty and clean out the infected tank before trying to cycle it). One last question, Will the small tank ever be cycled? I’m treating it with one dose of Prime every day for the little bit of ammonia it has (.50 ppm) but wasn’t sure if tanks that small ever cycle. Thanks again for your help!
      - Ian Sterling says
        November 15, 2018 at 3:21 am
        Hi Lezlee,
        Congratulations! That’s awesome to hear. Nothing like seeing some progress 🙂
        If you have somewhere for the beneficial bacteria to live, you can cycle a tank that small. It’s a similar process to larger tanks.
        The beneficial bacteria will adapt to the amount of waste your fish produces. The reason we try to grow more beneficial bacteria than is needed is so that the bacteria will “starve” and die back to the right amount rather than attempt to “grow” to the right amount, which can take time during which your fish will be exposed to these nasty chemicals.
        A single fish should be fine, but even so, it is recommended you keep an eye on your water parameters for the first week, just to make sure everything is Ay-okay. After that, you can reduce testing to your maintenance schedule.
      - Lezlee says
        November 15, 2018 at 5:57 am
        Thanks Ian!
      - Lezlee says
        November 21, 2018 at 6:43 am
        Hi again Ian:
        So my 10 gallon tank looks like it’s progressing, but the nitrites have stayed at 2.0 for 6 days. The nitrates went from 5 to 160 in 2 days. Yesterday I put in a half dose of ammonia and it read zero today, with the nitrites still at 2 and the nitrates at 160. The directions say when the nitrates show up you should add a half dose of ammonia every few days to keep it at 1.0 or more. Since my ammonia is 0, should I add the half dose every day now?
        Also, about my 3 gallon tank. (1 fish that’s been in the tank for 4 weeks and doing well). The ammonia reads .5 every day with no nitrites. So every day I put in one dose of Prime. Should I be doing any water changes at this point, and is having ammonia at .5 every day and no nitrites showing up normal?
        As always, I really appreciate your help. Your directions and explanation of the process are the best available on the internet!
        Lezlee
      - Ian Sterling says
        November 21, 2018 at 12:35 pm
        Hi Lezlee,
        I’d do a water change so you can see what is actually happening – since 160 is the highest reading on the card, you won’t be able to test any further movement. I’d perform a 50% water change, to get your nitrates back down to readable levels. I’d do one each day for two days. This should get them back down to 20. Make sure you dose back up with ammonia! I’d be dosing daily.
        The reason I suggest this is so that you can see exactly what is happening in your tank. As it currently stands, we do not know if your nitrites are still being converted to nitrates. Getting them back down to readable levels will help determine where the bottle neck is. If the nitrites are remaining at 2 but nitrates keep growing, then it should just be a matter of more time.
        As for the 3 gallon, your fish should be producing enough waste to have at least started the cycle by now. Is there any nitrates in the tank? There is even a possibility that your tank has already cycled – Seachem Prime converts ammonia (harmful) into ammonium (harmless). The problem is that this ammonium can still be picked up by test kits as ammonia. It’s not unheard of for seachem prime to give a false positive for ammonia with liquid tests such as API. If you are reading nitrates, but no nitrites then this tank is cycled. You can confirm this by waiting 72 hours and retesting for ammonia. Fingers crossed that this is the case!
      - Lezlee says
        November 24, 2018 at 5:21 am
        Hi again:
        I did a 50% water change 2 days in a row, like you suggested. My readings are now at 0 ammonia, 2 nitrites, and 5 nitrates. So it looks like there isn’t enough of the bacteria that eats the nitrites. . . ? Do I just keep daily dosing the ammonia and wait for the nitrites to go down?
        And my 3 gallon tank continues to be stubborn. Ammonia at .75 (kinda in between greens), 0 nitrites and I’m not sure if there’s maybe a trace of nitrates. . . it’s just a tiny bit darker than the palest yellow, but not orange-ish at all. I’m still putting one dose of Prime in every day and my fish is doing great. Do I need to be doing anything other than what I’m doing for either tank?
        Thanks!
        Lezlee
      - Ian Sterling says
        November 24, 2018 at 5:24 am
        Hi Lezlee,
        If all other water parameters are correct, there is nothing left to do but keep doing what you are doing and wait. Please update me in 5-7 days with what is happening!
      - Lezlee says
        November 24, 2018 at 6:31 am
        Ok, will do.
        Thanks!
      - Ian Sterling says
        November 24, 2018 at 7:29 am
        I got my fingers crossed for ya 🙂
      - Lezlee says
        December 13, 2018 at 3:18 am
        Well, It’s been 3 weeks since I last posted and I’m still struggling. This morning my 10 gallon tank readings were ppml ammonia, 5 nitrates and .25 nitrites.. The ammonia stayed at 0 for a while but rose to 1 for a couple of days and now 2. At one point the ammonia was 0 and the nitrites were .5, so close but it never got to 0 and 0. Then the readings started going up and down. . . nitrites anywhere from .25 to 5, and nitrates from 1 to 5. Clearly I’m doing something wrong. . . it’s been 7 weeks. How much and how often do you think I should be putting in ammonia now?
        Also, my 3 gallon tank sometimes reads 1 and sometimes reads 2 ammonia. Still no nitrates or nitrites. Have been putting in 1 or 2 doses of Prime every day and the fish seems fine. Seems like there should be nitrites by now.
        And one more question, please. My son has 1 betta in a 3 gallon tank just like mine. The ammonia is almost always 4 ppm, sometimes even 8. He puts the appropriate number of doses of Prime in every day. I just wondered if this amount of ammonia is normal for a betta. . . the fish seems fine. He does water changes, but maybe not often enough? My single fish never makes that much ammonia.
        Thanks again for all your help. . . I really appreciate it!
        Lezlee
      - Ian Sterling says
        December 13, 2018 at 3:39 am
        What is the pH and temp of the two tanks? Are you monitoring this as well? Could you confirm your testing, readings on nitrates generally don’t go up and down, not with what you have in your tank anyway. I still recommend keeping ammonia up at 1 ppm with a daily top up if it drops under until nitrites are 0. Are you able to get someone else to confirm your tests?
        Regarding your sons tank, IMO a 3 gallon is too small for a betta and without constant water changes, waste is going to build up quickly regardless. Another possibility is that your son is over feeding. The more food, the more poop, the more ammonia.
      - Lezlee says
        December 13, 2018 at 6:14 am
        Thanks, Ian. I’ve actually been out of town for 2 weeks so my son has been doing the testing for me (he’s 22, not a kid). I’ll ask him to test for PH on both tanks, and check the temps and let you know. 🙂
      - Ian Sterling says
        December 13, 2018 at 6:36 am
        Thanks Lezlee,
        I hope we can get to the bottom of this mystery. It would be great if you can return home to a cycled tank!
      - Lezlee says
        December 14, 2018 at 5:30 am
        Thanks…that would be great! But now I have another problem. Apparently the platy in the small tank has had babies….my son says he only sees 3 so I dont know if she ate some of them, because he saw her chasing one…looked like she was going to eat it. So he put her in a temporary (VERY small just for transit,etc) by herself. I told him to watch her to see if she has more babies. We don’t know what to do. Should we put her in the big tank alone and dose it with the appropriate amount of prime until it finishes cycling? I hate to lose all the babies, but I don’t want to lose the mother either….what should I do?
        Thanks!
      - Ian Sterling says
        December 14, 2018 at 6:16 am
        Hi Lezlee,
        Unfortunately, it doesn’t look good for your babies – fry are much more sensitive to water parameters adult fish. I couldn’t guarantee their survival in a fish-in cycle, much less the mothers. Are you able to take the fish to a pet store in the mean time?
      - Lezlee says
        December 14, 2018 at 6:30 am
        So you’re saying even if we continue to treat every day with the Prime the babies probably won’t survive? If I wanted to try to keep them, would I need to do anything special for them? Or do you think I shouldn’t even try to keep them alive?
      - Ian Sterling says
        December 14, 2018 at 8:10 am
        It’s hard to say, the fish-in cycle process is tough. I know it’s a heartbreaking thought and I wouldn’t wish your situation on anyone. They *might* make it through, but short of moving them to a cycled tank, there is no guarantee you can save them. The cycling process is tough, it’s why the old fashioned way used hardy fish, like zebra danios for a fish in cycle, and even these often wouldn’t make it through.
      - Lezlee says
        December 14, 2018 at 11:16 am
        Well my son went out and bought a 5 gallon tank to put Izzy in (the mother). We were afraid to put her back in the 3 gallon tank with the babies since she looked like she was trying to eat them. And the 10 gallon tank isn’t finished cycling, so we didn’t want to put her there. (It would take a lot of Prime every day). So, we’ll have to do the fish in cycling with Prime process, like I was trying to do with her original tank. When the 10 gallon tank finally cycles we’ll put her in there (which was always the plan), and the babies too when they get big enough. That is, of course if any of them survive. Izzy did very well with the Prime every day, so I’m hoping she will in this new 5 gallon tank as well. I’m worried about her because she was in the small transport box for a few hours today, then put in the 5 gallon tank, which is bigger than she’s ever been in. But my son did the best he could to make sure the temperature in the new tank was the same as the small transport box, and treated it with Prime. It has a heater and filter too. She has hung in there with me for 7 weeks in an uncycled tank so it will break my heart if we lose her.
        We’ve worked hard to get this far and we’ll try our best to keep them all going. I’ll let you know what happens. . . I really appreciate all your help and advice!
        Lezlee
      - Ian Sterling says
        December 14, 2018 at 12:46 pm
        Yeah, platy aren’t too bright and can try to eat their kids. It was a good move to separate them.
        I hear what you are saying, the whole process has been quite an ordeal for you and it would be amazing if she pulls through. I have my fingers crossed for you.
        It sounds like, given the circumstances, your son has done as well as he could. Hats off to him. How did he go re-testing your aquarium to confirm the bouncing nitrates? At the end of the day, this is the biggest issue, the lack of a cycled tank to place your fish in. It would be great to see some progress here.
      - Lezlee says
        December 15, 2018 at 5:01 am
        Yes, getting the 10 gallon tank cycled would be wonderful!
        Izzy and the babies made it through the night ok, and they all seem to be pretty active, according to my son (I’ll be home on Sunday, thank goodness, so I can help him. . . now we have 4 tanks to test every day)! He fed the babies flakes this morning that were extra ground up and he said he thinks one or two of them ate a bit. Do they usually figure out eating pretty quickly? Should we feed them a couple of times a day? We were worried about the filter sucking them up, so after looking online we decided to take a fish net, cut it, wrap it around the opening and secure with a rubber band. Hope that will work as long as we need it to. Will it take long for the babies to grow just a bit so they won’t be so tiny?
        He was doing the testing yesterday when he discovered the babies, so we both panicked and he stopped testing to go to the pet store for the 5 gallon tank once he saw Izzy try to eat them and we figured out what we should do. But he tested all of them this morning and here’s what he got:
        10 Gal: Ammonia 4 – Empty tank
        Nitrate 1
        Nitrite 1
        PH 6
        3 Gal: Ammonia 1 – (babies’ tank)
        Nitrate 1 or so. . . not orange but a tad darker yellow
        Nitrite 0
        PH 7
        5 Gal: Ammonia 0 – (New Tank with Mother)
        Nitrate 1
        Nitrate 0
        PH 7.6
        I don’t know what’s wrong with the 10 gallon, up to 4 on the ammonia again. What do you think about all the readings?
        His betta was 4 on the ammonia again, I told him to do water changes more often. The plan is now to move the betta into the 5 gallon when Izzy can finally go into the 10 gallon. I hope this isn’t confusing. . . too many tanks!
        Thanks again Ian!
      - Ian Sterling says
        December 15, 2018 at 7:40 am
        Platy fry will eat the same food as their parents, so he more than likely did see them eat. Ignoring the argument that it’s better to feed a varied diet with live food, they should be fine with this meal.
        Twice a day feeding should be fine, you need to remember that any uneaten food (and there will be lots with fry) can affect water quality, which is already balancing on a knife with your fish-in cycle. Any pieces of uneaten food that can be scooped out after feeding is a good thing.
        For readings I generally recommend creating a spreadsheet and adding the daily readings, so you can see exactly what each parameter is doing. There are plenty of free apps that will also do this. For this many tanks, it might be a good idea, making it easier to keep tabs.
        Adding so many tanks into the mix is making it difficult for me to keep up, although I have double checked my advice based on the comments and I believe we are on the same page.
        For the 10 gallon, a pH of 6 is acidic to the point where it can prevent growth if not downright kill the types of beneficial bacteria present in aquarium filters. We want to ideally keep the pH at 7 or higher. This will need to be adjusted and it’s quite a delicate process. Normally, a water change should be all that’s needed to raise the pH however, so if you test your tap water (after conditioning) and find that it’s pH is greater than 7, you can use this. Perform a water change and re-test pH and all other parameters. Based on your previous comments I believe a water change should be all that’s needed. (otherwise we have to go down the road of KH, but that’s a whole other conversation and at this stage I don’t think we need to add to the confusion.) I also want to confirm you are not using seachem prime in the empty 10 gal tank.
        A snap shot of the other tanks, everything sounds normal. Although I’m still of the impression that the 3 gallon should be cycled by now if a proper fish-in cycle was performed.
        You’ll need to keep up your daily recordings to get a greater understanding of how everything is progressing. I know this is hard while you are away from everything but hopefully we can finalize all this when you get back?
      - Lezlee says
        December 15, 2018 at 8:20 am
        Thanks for your reply. I thought the same thing about the 3 gallon. Over 7 weeks and not a single nitrite has shown up. About the Prime, no we aren’t putting that in the 10 gallon tank. . . just ammonia. But since it was 4 today I told him not to put any in.
        My son is graduating from college in the spring with a degree in Business Analytics and a minor in Computer Science. . . the reason I mention this is because he has been keeping a spreadsheet for a couple of weeks. . . guess he thinks that way too! You’re right, it’s the best way to keep track of all the tanks, especially since we now have 4.
        One thing I thought about the 10 gallon tank. We decided to take the heater out of it yesterday and put it in the new 5 gallon tank where the mother is, because the aquarium kit he bought came with everything except that and he didn’t realize it until he got home. So the empty tank was without a heater all night. . . he bought another today and installed it. The water cooled to about 72 overnight. Would that hurt the bacteria and cause the ammonia to go up overnight from 2 to 4?
        I’ll ask my son to do a water change to try to fix the PH. As I said, I’ll be home late Sunday and it will be good to be closer to the situation and know exactly what’s going on. I’ll post again a few days after I get home with an update.
        Thanks Ian!
        Lezlee
      - Ian Sterling says
        December 15, 2018 at 11:16 am
        Tempwise, 72 shouldn’t be an issue. Once it gets under 65˚F growth rate can slow considerably, but it won’t kill the existing bacteria. It’s good you were able to get on top of that so quickly. The temperature change shouldn’t have had any impact on the ammonia spike.
        Looking forward to the update!
      - Lezlee says
        December 22, 2018 at 6:04 am
        Hi Ian:
        Well, I’ve been home for 6 days now. . . Izzy (the mother in her private 5 gallon tank) and her babies in the 3 gallon tank are all still kicking and seem to be doing well! We discovered we don’t have 3 babies but 5!. They are a week old today. Their ammonia is 1 every day, and I put 1 dose of Prime in daily. Izzy’s ammonia is staying at 0 so far.
        The 10 gallon tank today is:
        Ammonia – 0
        Nitrites – 0..5
        Nitrates – 5
        PH – 6.6
        We’ve been putting 1 ml of ammonia in daily. I know the PH isn’t good. . . I did a water change a couple of days ago but it didn’t seem to do much. I guess I should do another one. . ? The temp is 80. There was actually 1 nitrite yesterday, so hopefully the end is near! Do you think I need to do anything different?
        Thanks Ian!
        Lezlee
      - Ian Sterling says
        December 22, 2018 at 6:51 am
        Welcome back Lezlee,
        Congrats on the larger than expected family. That’s awesome to hear they have survived.
        For the 10 gallon, Are the nitrates increasing? If so, it sounds like it’s almost there. 6.6 ph is on the cusp of two low, if you can increase that your cycle will progress much faster.
      - Lezlee says
        December 22, 2018 at 7:57 am
        The nitrates have been 5 for the last 4 days, and 1 for the 3 days before that. So they have gone up but not in the last few days. I’ll do a water change tomorrow to try to get the PH up.
        Thanks again.
        Lezeee
      - Ian Sterling says
        December 22, 2018 at 8:36 am
        Is it the water from your water change that raised the Nitrates to 5? or did the change happen outside of this? Just something to be mindful of.
      - Lezlee says
        December 22, 2018 at 8:01 am
        I was just reading online. . . a bunch of places say to add baking soda to raise the PH level. Is that a good thing to do?
        Lezlee
      - Ian Sterling says
        December 22, 2018 at 8:33 am
        Baking soda raises both pH and KH. If you are adding it to tanks with fish, go slooooooow. You don’t want the pH to increase too quickly. Add a bit, wait, test and repeat.
      - Lezlee says
        December 22, 2018 at 9:00 am
        I looked at the spreadsheet and the nitrates actually went up from 1 to 5 the day before my water change. I was thinking of putting baking soda in the empty 10 gallon tank to try to raise the PH in hopes of moving the cycling along faster.
        I’ll let you know how it goes.
        Thanks!
      - Ian Sterling says
        December 22, 2018 at 9:05 am
        Awesome, well if that’s the case then there is some slight cycling action taking place which is a good sign. Increasing the pH to an appropriate level should noticeably improve the speed that the tank cycles. Please let me know how it goes. I am hoping the next update is positive 🙂
      - Lezlee says