Page 2. The Fishless Cycle.
March 12 - April 17, 2001
5 weeks! (a bit longer than normal)
 

I knew I wanted to do a fishless cycle on this tank.
because it would prepare the biofilter for the fish without
going through all the mess and bother of using actual fish.
(and possibly harming or killing those fish in the process!)
I had never tried it before, but after reading a lot about it on the internet
I deceided it was definately the way to go.

See this article for information on fishless cycling.

The tank contains one large sponge filter (a hydro V)
and a whisper power filter. the sponge is meant strictly for biological
filtration, the whisper (later changed to an aquaclear) strictly for mechanical filtration.

I filled the tank with water on March 11, turned on the air for the sponge filter,
(the whisper was left off for the entire fishless cycle) and just let it sit for 24 hours.
(to dispell chlorine)
then on Monday, March 12, I began the cycling..
I added 1/8 Tsp ammonia, that brought the ammonia level in the tank to 0.25ppm
added another 1/4 Tsp, brought the level to 0.50ppm.
added more and more ammonia until the level reached 4.0ppm.
I squeezed out the filter media from my planted tank into this tank
to get those bacteria going..then tested.

conditions at the end of day one were:
ammonia 4.0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm.

then waited...I added no new ammonia at all during this first phase.

day 2, conditions the same..
day 3, the same..
day 4, still unchanged..
day 10..still no change *sigh*
day 18 STILL unchanged! grrr!
this was getting very frustrating! nothing was happening!

I was still adding filter squeezings now and then from the other tank, I cut some plants from the other tank and dumped them in..nothing was working..

finally, Day 23, April 3rd, 3 weeks since the start, a TRACE of Nitrite! 0.25ppm! woo hoo!
and ammonia had fallen from 4ppm down to 2ppm!

the next day, Nitrite even higher! 2ppm..and ammonia lower, 1ppm!
it was working!

now here is where I made a mistake..from all the reading I had done on fishless cycling I was under the impression that once nitrites appear and ammonia levels begin to fall, you must start adding ammonia again! because the bacteria are finally multipling and Eating the ammonia right?! made sense to me..so once nitrites appeared, I started adding small amounts of ammonia again.
I added 2 Tsp's ammonia on 4/4, 4/5, and 4/8..during this time ammonia stayed steady at 0.5ppm, and nitrite stayed at 5ppm...Nitrates also appeared and steadily climbed..but the mistake was adding more ammonia..by doing that, I was feeding the bacteria that were producing nitrites, and causing them to create much MORE nitrite than I needed to complete the cycle! Geoff and Dave C. , my friends from the freshwater forum, finally convinced me to stop adding ammonia..and it took another 7 days for the cycle to finish after that...so from the time nitrites first appeared to the final end of the cycle was 14 days! much longer than normal..adding ammonia when nitrites appeared probably prolonged the cycle by at least a week!

But finally, on April 17, Day 37, it was done!
 
 

 While the tank was cycling I played around with water change ideas.
this is a photo of my original set-up.
Inside the bookcase sits a 15gallon aquarium,
this was going to be the holding tank, I would fill it with water,
with a hose attached to the kitchen faucet (the kitchen sink is right
next to the tank) put in an air stone and a heater, let the water "age"
for 24 hours, then siphon out 15 gallons of old water from the main tank,
then  use a pond pump to pump the new 15 gallons from the storage tank
up into the main tank..then re-fill the storage tank and the cycle repeats.
this worked well, I used it for the first few weeks I had the fish, but I
had to drag out all the hoses and pumps each time..it was a pain..plus, with this system I was only doing waterchanges 3 or 4 times a week,,usually the fish would get a water change every second day. I simply didnt have the time to do a daily water change. I wanted a better way..

Talking with people on the internet some more..I found out about a great "drip system" you essentially drip water directly into the tank, and a PVC overflow removes old water..its fully automated! using this system my fish would get a 25% water change EVERY day! much better for them, and much easier for me!
Dave C. (thanks Dave!) e-mailed me plans he used to build his overflows, and I went out and bought the pvc tubing.
 
 
 

Here is my completed overflow. this contraption sits on the tank, water drains in at the opening on the upper right, then drains out at the long tube on the left (where the yellow date numbers are)..then a long tube extends down into the kitchen sink..the old water just drips down the drain! its a great system!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 And here is a photo of the "front end" of the system.
There is a valve right on the kitchen faucet, when the valve is pushed in, water flows to the tank, when the button is pulled out, water flows through the valve
for "normal" kitchen sink use, doing dishes and etc.
.the best way to install a system like this would be to "hard wire" it right into your
water line. but I live in an apartment and so was unable to modify any plumbing!

So I use it by turning on the water (cold water) at a trickle, almost no pressure, then push in the valve..water flows through the filter (which contains a carbon insert to remove chlorine) then out to a "dripper nozzle" which is rated for 1/2 gallon per hour. So I am dripping in 12 gallons of water per day. you can get nozzles in 1 gal and 2 gal ratings also. I got the filter at Home Depot, (you want a one-micron carbon insert) and I got the dripper from www.dripirrigation.com. If you hard wire the water line, you will also need a pressure regulator and other hardware..I control the water pressure manually, simply by turning on the faucet very low.

The water drips directly into the tank right on top of the power filter outflow, so it gets mixed right in immediately. the water goes in cold, but my heater has had no problems keeping the water at the proper temperature.
 
 

 
 
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