Regular Member seheap Posted November 17, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted November 17, 2010 I thought I would start a thread on my own cycling experiences since this is really the first time I have ever cycled a tank (I usually just seed them with media from a previous tank) This time I am setting up a tropical 10g tank and have seeded it with only about 1/4c of old media that was just supporting one betta. So there isn't much bacteria on it. My hardware is: 10g tank (planted with fake plants and one live, also has driftwood to pull the pH down) Aqua Clear 30 (150gph) filter --ceramic rings (new) --poly floss (new) --1/4c of sintered glass media (seeded from betta) Stealth 50W heater set to 80*F Two days ago, upon the death (from old age) of my betta, I did a 100% water change and added 3 drops of ammonia just to keep the filter alive. Yesterday morning I took tests that read 0,0,0 so I added 6 more drops of ammonia and left the tank overnight. This morning I got these readings: Day 2 Amm. 1ppm NI: 0ppm NA: 0ppm pH: 8.2 temp: 80* I am hoping it will take a relatively short time to cycle this tank fully so I can get my fish! I'll take readings and update tonight. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member AMeyers Posted November 18, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted November 18, 2010 Sweet! I've never done a fishless cycle. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member seheap Posted November 18, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 18, 2010 Thanks, Grace! Neither have I. So far, though, it's paying off... I took readings last night and this morning. Here's what I got: Day 2 (pm): Amm: 0ppm NI: 0ppm NA: 10ppm pH: 8.2 temp: 80 I couldn't believe it! I thought for sure my test kits were wrong, but I decided to leave the tank overnight and check again in the morning. O and I also added a few more live plants. Day 3 (am): Amm: 0ppm NI: 0ppm NA: 5ppm pH: 8.2 temp: 80 I still can't believe it! Could it be that my tank is ALREADY CYCLED?? I decided to add 6drops of ammonia, leave the tank for a few hours and check the ammonia levels when I got out of class just to make sure my test kits are still good. I figure, if the test still shows zero ammonia after only a few hours, then they are definitely expired! So I just took an ammonia reading and got between 0.5 and 1ppm so I guess the kit's not expired! Which is good news because that means I have a mostly cycled tank, and I can get my fish this weekend! I didn't add any "cycle" or "beneficial bacteria" products, just a handful (or even less!) of very lightly seeded media and added pure ammonia. I am so shocked to think that this tank cycled in less than three days! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member AMeyers Posted November 19, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted November 19, 2010 Holy smokes! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member seheap Posted November 19, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 19, 2010 I know! I am so surprised! I guess this is the way to go! If you have the starter seed, of course! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin koko Posted November 20, 2010 Admin Share Posted November 20, 2010 This is the way I like to cycle a new tank with media from a good cycled tank... WHOOT 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member blackteles Posted November 20, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted November 20, 2010 Seeding your new tank with used media definitely is the way to go! Incredible, huh? Way to go Sarah! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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