First time cycling fishless aquarium

[CrashBandit05]

Hey everyone! I joined up yesterday but I've been reading/watching YouTube for several months trying to absorb as much info as I can! I have basic knowledge of the nitrogen cycle and started by dropping pinches of food until I saw the bacteria bloom. My tank has been milky for well over a week now but after testing twice my parameters are 0 to .25 ammonia, 6.6 pH, both nitrites and nitrates 0.

I went to my lfs to buy plants to help with the cycle and was advised to wait til the tank matures so ammonia won't hurt the plants. Also got a bottle of seachem stability that I've been dosing for about a week now.

I'm assuming the stability is boosting the cycle because I have algae growth on the corners and on the front glass. Everyone says algae (although unpleasant looking) is a good indicator that the tank is indeed cycling.

Do I need to do a water change? Can I clean the algae growth or do I leave ot?I have Fritz algae clean out but have not used it. Thanks for reading if you made it this far lol.

Last few pictures are the most recent*

[laritheloud]

Hi there! I'm not seeing algae growth on the corners of the glass. It looks like biofilm/fungus, which is a normal part of cycling your tank and getting it ready for fish. It will go away and never come back as the tank matures.

I would see it as a good sign that things are moving along, but keep monitoring those parameters and wait until both ammonia and nitrite cycle to 0 and nitrates become a measure amount. I usually add straight ammonia (to 2 to 4 ppm) as needed until both ammonia and nitrite levels clear to nitrate in 24 hours or less.

If you have another tank, you can always take some filter media from the established tank to hurry the cycle along, or squeeze bacteria-laden sponges into the new tank's water to get some seeding going. If not, then it's all about patience, and it can take up to a month or so to finish a cycle completely.

Regarding water changes, I leave everything alone until it's finished cycling, and only top off as necessary. The scuzz will grow back anyway. Just save it until the tank is ready for fish.

[ChemBob]

You can add plants right away, they will eat the ammonia. Most fertilizers use ammonia as the nitrogen source (root tab types, not the water column ferts though, Easy Root Tabs are the exception using a nitrate based source). Many of the YouTube videos, including Aquarium Coop, recommended planting immediately to help with the cycle. 

As far as eager changes, I'd let it ride. You want the ammonia present to feed the new bacteria. It is required to establish the cycle. If the bacteria have no food, they won't grow. I agree with @laritheloud, if you have another tank, add a bit of filter mulm. Another source of bacteria is rock wool in potted plants. So if your lfs has potted plants, put the full pot in for a couple of weeks before you transfer the plant to its final location. If they are emmersed grown, this also gives them a chance to transition to submerged form. 

Hope this helps! 

[KentFishFanUK]

To echo some of what @laritheloud said, when I was setting up my tank earlier this year I started trying to do it with pinches of fish food as per guides I had read online and I never managed to get much of an ammonia reading from it so it never really got going - I highly recommend using actual ammonia straight from a bottle, I gave up with the fish food method and ordered Dr Tim's ammonia solution from Amazon and it worked like a charm. 

[JoshStover]

Add some plants. They’ll help the process 

[Guppysnail]

If you buy plants from aquarium coop use rock wool pot and all they have gobs of beneficial bacteria. 😁

[Patrick_G]

I’ll echo what has been said above. Ammonia is fertilizer for plants so get as many as you can afford. 
I’d also do a big water change to help with the cloudy water. This page has info on cycling a tank with  plants. 
https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/fish-tank-cycling

 

 

Edited September 6, 2021 by Patrick_G

[CrashBandit05]

@laritheloud@ChemBob @KentFishFanUK thank you all for the insightful comments! I will look into dosing higher amounts of ammonia.  Should I keep using the seachem stability? I assume it'll help nonetheless.  I have plenty of time to let this tank ride it out and develop before adding fish, although the kids are always asking when it'll be ready!😁

I plan on buying as many plants as I can fit in the 9 gallon, hopefully in the next day or so.

[CrashBandit05]

@Patrick_Gthanks for sharing the link, I'll definitely be reading! @Guppysnail I'll be supporting my lfs, but I'll see if I can get some wool or something that has bacteria on it!

[KentFishFanUK]

On 9/6/2021 at 9:56 PM, CrashBandit05 said:

@laritheloud@ChemBob @KentFishFanUK thank you all for the insightful comments! I will look into dosing higher amounts of ammonia.  Should I keep using the seachem stability? I assume it'll help nonetheless.  I have plenty of time to let this tank ride it out and develop before adding fish, although the kids are always asking when it'll be ready!😁

I plan on buying as many plants as I can fit in the 9 gallon, hopefully in the next day or so.

I did, never tried it without seachem stability so maybe it would have worked either way but it doesn't hurt! 

Plants are fun (sometimes frustrating but still a fun challenge) as well as helping out. 

Post pics once you have it all planted up!