My mother kept an aquarium when I was a kid and, while I remember the fish and the water changes, the occasional bouts of ich, and the one instance of dropsy (yikes!), for the life of me, I do not remember her ever testing the water, let alone pre-cycling the tank.
So, when I decided that I wanted an aquarium of my own, I was surprised when I found that every internet fish forum and resource pushed cycling the tank before adding fish. Whether we knew it at the time or not, the aquariums of my childhood did cycle, but at the expense of the fish. Since I'm set on doing things right this time, I suppressed my overwhelming urge to "add a fish and see how things go" and started down the long road of the fishless cycle.
Water testing with my
Master Test Kit is as close as I've come to playing scientist since chemistry class over a decade ago. Testing would be a lot of fun if it wasn't for my inability to differentiate between shades of green, purple and orange.
Before I officially started my cycle, I figured it was important to test my tap water parameters since that is what I would be using (conditioned with Seachem Prime, of course) to fill the tank.
Tap Water
| Test |
Result |
| PH |
8.3 |
| Ammonia |
0 ppm |
| Nitrite |
0 ppm |
| Nitrate |
0 ppm |
A good start, but seeing as bettas prefer a more neutral PH, the reading of 8.3 is a bit of a concern. According to my water service, PH readings last year were between 8.6 and 9.0 in some locations, so I consider myself lucky to have a relatively low PH.
 |
| on the first day of the fishless cycle (8/6) |
I officially began my fishless cycle on August 6, 2016 and I started it, thanks to a lost package, without the corner sponge filter I had ordered. While I waited for a filter to arrive, I added an airstone to agitate the water since I had read that was important for bacteria growth. I also added some plants: Java Moss, Java fern and anubias, as I read, and was told by a helpful Petco shopper, that they quite like the water conditions during a fishless cycle.
On August 6, I dosed my 5.5 gallon tank with 5 drops of Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride to get the cycle started.
Here's what the first week of cycling looked like:
| Tested |
8/7/16 |
8/8/16 |
8/9/16 |
8/10/16 |
8/11/16 |
8/12/16 |
8/13/16 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| PH |
8.4 |
8.4 |
n/a |
8.3 |
8.3 |
8.3 |
8.3 |
| Ammonia |
2 ppm |
2 ppm |
1 ppm |
1.5 ppm |
0.5 ppm |
0.25 ppm |
0 ppm |
| Nitrite |
0.25 ppm |
0.25 ppm |
.50 ppm |
2 ppm |
5 ppm |
5 ppm |
5 ppm |
| Nitrate |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
5 ppm |
5 ppm |
10 ppm |
20 ppm |
| Action |
dosed with 6 drops |
added almond leaf for PH |
dosed with 5 drops |
none |
dosed with 5 drops |
dosed with 5 drops |
dosed with 7 (oops) drops |
Note: Once nitrite values hit 5 ppm, the measurement is not actually accurate as it is bound by the limitations of the test kit. As I entered the nitrite spike portion of the cycle, water in my test tube would immediately turn a dark blue/purple as soon as I added the test solution indicating that nitrite levels were sky high and beyond the capabilities of the test.
I was surprised at how quickly I began to see nitrite results as I understood that it would be a bit before this would happen. I credit adding live plants and all the established tank bacteria they brought with them for the speed of this part of the cycle.
 |
| cloudy after rearranging (8/11) |
On August 11, I finally received and installed a sponge filter and upgraded my terrible heater to a more reliable, Eheim Jager which required me to rearrange the tank entirely, including the substrate. I was concerned that this would impact my cycle, however, according to the data, things seemed to carry on just as they had been.
One week of cycling and the tank was securely in the nitrite spike phase of the cycle, cultivating the necessary bacteria for a healthy tank. The plants were thriving, some algae had arrived (brown diatoms) and things were swimming right along!
