Does low kh slow cycle???

[Whitecloud09]

I am cycling a 10 gallon aquarium and I am using dr Tim’s one and only bacteria and it says it should take 5-7 days(I am using dr Tim’s ammonia too)not every time though…Kh is 40 is that too low?gh 60.Btw I a, on day 14!!So can this slow cycle?Ammonia is 4 and nitrite 2.Ph is 7.4 is this too low for gh and ph and kh??????first time cycling with bacteria which boosts cycle by a ton!So it doesn’t take a month.Can this also be becasue it’s a bigger tank?A 10????I NEED help!!!!It won’t cycle!Or am I not patient enough!😅

[Tony s]

dKh of around 2 and dGH around 3. both put you on very soft water. that honestly shouldn't do anything at all for your cycle. pH is mostly perfect. Are you getting any nitates at all. I think sometimes Dr Tims or Fritzyme7 takes a bit longer than advertised and always longer than we want. My lfs still does fish in cycle. and then fish returns after cycling. You could do that as well. but be ready with seachem prime and prepared for lots of water changes. There is another thing Ive had happened once. shipped bacteria from amazon and it froze and arrived dead. so, nothing left to create a cycle. but, possible more patience as well. maybe 1 more week. then the fun can begin

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Just be patient. Outside of having pre cycled sponge filters on deck and squeezing from other cycled sponges and media it just takes time. Cycling a tank is just a blip on the timeline of the tank. Remain patient and you’ll thank yourself down the line. 

[Lonkley]

Also the instructions say to keep ammonia at 2ppm

It takes longer for nitrite converting to nitrate. I Just cycled a new 10 and it took about a week after ammonia converted to nitrite before nitrite converted to nitrate quickly enough.

 

[Whitecloud09]

On 1/17/2024 at 4:42 PM, Tony s said:

dKh of around 2 and dGH around 3. both put you on very soft water. that honestly shouldn't do anything at all for your cycle. pH is mostly perfect. Are you getting any nitates at all. I think sometimes Dr Tims or Fritzyme7 takes a bit longer than advertised and always longer than we want. My lfs still does fish in cycle. and then fish returns after cycling. You could do that as well. but be ready with seachem prime and prepared for lots of water changes. There is another thing Ive had happened once. shipped bacteria from amazon and it froze and arrived dead. so, nothing left to create a cycle. but, possible more patience as well. maybe 1 more week. then the fun can begin.

I am seeing nitrates!!!!!!!nitrates are 10 ppm now!Does this mean cycle is almost finished ????And when ammonia and nitrite go to 0 do I add one more dose of ammonia?

[Tony s]

On 1/17/2024 at 5:39 PM, Colten OSteen said:

I am seeing nitrates!!!!!!!nitrates are 10 ppm now!Does this mean cycle is almost finished ????And when ammonia and nitrite go to 0 do I add one more dose of ammonia?

Almost done. for adding more ammonia, you can. and when ammonia gets back to zero go ahead and add a small number of fish. and keep checking for ammonia. you don't want to over run your bacteria colony. Be patient and stock it slowly. And yes, I agree, Patience is absolutely no fun whatsoever 🙂

Edited January 17 by Tony s

[Whitecloud09]

My nitrites are 2 though…….soooo does that matter????

On 1/17/2024 at 5:46 PM, Tony s said:

Almost done. for adding more ammonia, you can. and when ammonia gets back to zero go ahead and add a small number of fish. and keep checking for ammonia. you don't want to over run your bacteria colony. Be patient and stock it slowly

I’m testing ammonia currently…..

When I add fish,can I add 6 fishes???Because they are schooling fish

[Tony s]

not really, the key is you're converting nitrite into nitrate. But it still needs more time. and the whole cycle is going to rather fragile for a somewhat long duration. 

[Whitecloud09]

Ammonia is 4 still…….Do I add more ammonia????????I do NOT want to mess this up!

I see….I will continue to wait until the ammonia and nitrite go to 0 and then add ammonia and next both are gone and nitrates are higher.Is this what I do?

[Tony s]

On 1/17/2024 at 5:48 PM, Colten OSteen said:

My nitrites are 2 though…….soooo does that matter????

I’m testing ammonia currently…..

When I add fish,can I add 6 fishes???Because they are schooling fish

you should be able too. the key is continued testing over time. and get a bottle of prime just in case

[Whitecloud09]

Ok.What does prime do?

On 1/17/2024 at 5:52 PM, Colten OSteen said:

 

I see….I will continue to wait until the ammonia and nitrite go to 0 and then add ammonia and next both are gone and nitrates are higher.Is this what I do?

[Tony s]

Prime is supposed to take the ammonia and change it into a less toxic form. It also helps dechlorinate the water when you're doing water changes.

most city water uses chlorine to kill bacteria. so when you do water changes you add the prime in to keep your cycle going. chlorine also damages fish.

follow directions on bottle. for 10 gallons it's 2 drops or 1/4 capful depending on the prime bottle.

 

i would wait to add fish until your ammonia and nitrite is at 0. maybe a couple of days. but, soon!!!!

[Whitecloud09]

Thanks sooooo much!I had no clue what to do.So guess I will add ammonia when ammonia and nitrite are 0 and next day it will be gone?just triple checking!!!!

[Tony s]

Rule #1 though.  You are going to mess up. I mess up all the time. Everybody who does this does. Everybody. It will be okay. You will learn and get better. Sometimes things will be absolutely great, sometimes horrible. You'll have a ton of fun and learn more about biology than is possible any other way. This hobby is great. but not always. I feel absolutely deflated when i lose fish, then i do better next time.

On 1/17/2024 at 6:06 PM, Colten OSteen said:

Thanks sooooo much!I had no clue what to do.So guess I will add ammonia when ammonia and nitrite are 0 and next day it will be gone?just triple checking!!!!

It should be, when it is you are ready for your small school!!! any thoughts? or like me, way too many thoughts.

On 1/17/2024 at 6:09 PM, Tony s said:

Rule #1 though.  You are going to mess up. I mess up all the time. Everybody who does this does. Everybody. It will be okay. You will learn and get better. Sometimes things will be absolutely great, sometimes horrible. You'll have a ton of fun and learn more about biology than is possible any other way. This hobby is great. but not always. I feel absolutely deflated when i lose fish, then i do better next time.

 

[Whitecloud09]

Yes I know that for sure!

On 1/17/2024 at 6:09 PM, Tony s said:

Rule #1 though.  You are going to mess up. I mess up all the time. Everybody who does this does. Everybody. It will be okay. You will learn and get better. Sometimes things will be absolutely great, sometimes horrible. You'll have a ton of fun and learn more about biology than is possible any other way. This hobby is great. but not always. I feel absolutely deflated when i lose fish, then i do better next time.

It should be, when it is you are ready for your small school!!! any thoughts? or like me, way too many thoughts.

 

I lost my first fish in the first couple weeks!😔I MESSED UP SO BAD!I will not go into that long story but u get the point!Thx for spending time to help me!That was a huge help!I will wait and add ammonia once both go down then done!I will get a bottle of prime too.I will make mistakes I know but I will try my best!

[Flipper]

On 1/17/2024 at 3:25 PM, Colten OSteen said:

I am cycling a 10 gallon aquarium

BTW, welcome to the forum!

Excellent videos for you.

Corey's video (owner of Aquarium Co-op

https://youtu.be/PWoiCqCvJco?si=MqiUJcXQHOz3R0yn


Irene  (used to be "Girl Talks Fish" she's awesome)

https://youtu.be/vur3JIfoEtk?si=yW3xOguQMkgIbRse

Good luck and have fun.  Always have patience with these aquariums.

[Tony s]

Also from YouTube. Both kgtropical and prime time aquatics have very good beginner level videos and tutorials. I find out of all the sites on YouTube, Jason and Joanna’s Prime Time Aquatics really speaks to me 

 

sorry I’d put links but have no idea how to 

Edited January 18 by Tony s

[Flipper]

I love Prime Time Aquatics and got to meet Jason at Aquashella.  For KG Tropicals, I'm going to be ugly; I just cannot stand his loud mouthed wife.  😆

[Tony s]

On 1/17/2024 at 7:28 PM, Flipper said:

I love Prime Time Aquatics and got to meet Jason at Aquashella.  For KG Tropicals, I'm going to be ugly; I just cannot stand his loud mouthed wife.  😆

I live between Indy and Chicago. I have been very tempted to go to one of their swaps, just to meet Jason. Going to Chicago Aquashella though.

If possible. My 8 yr old does dance team and gymnastics team. Weekends are not really a thing for us. 😉

[Whitecloud09]

Thank u everybody for all the help!I appreciate the time put in to help!😁I will check out those vids!

On 1/17/2024 at 6:44 PM, Flipper said:

BTW, welcome to the forum!

Excellent videos for you.

Corey's video (owner of Aquarium Co-op

https://youtu.be/PWoiCqCvJco?si=MqiUJcXQHOz3R0yn


Irene  (used to be "Girl Talks Fish" she's awesome)

https://youtu.be/vur3JIfoEtk?si=yW3xOguQMkgIbRse

Good luck and have fun.  Always have patience with these aquariums.

Thx!!!!!!

[Dria]

I just finished a cycle with Fritzyme7 and it took 17 days from start to finish according to my spreadsheet. 9 days to get to 0 ammonia and then a further 8 days to get to 0 nitrite. I didn't use ammonia, I just fed the tank so it probably took a few days to build up to decent ammonia numbers. So yeah, it can take a minute. If you're patient though it's really worth it. Since I got to 0 0 I haven't had a blip of anything, even adding several fish at a time and accidentally overfeeding on one day.

Edited January 18 by Dria
Faulty math :)

[Whitecloud09]

Thank u for the info.Yes,patience is key for cycling I am learning!

On 1/17/2024 at 9:09 PM, Dria said:

I just finished a cycle with Fritzyme7 and it took 16 days from start to finish according to my spreadsheet. 9 days to get to 0 ammonia and then a further 8 days to get to 0 nitrite. I didn't use ammonia, I just fed the tank so it probably took a few days to build up to decent ammonia numbers. So yeah, it can take a minute. If you're patient though it's really worth it. Since I got to 0 0 I haven't had a blip of anything, even adding several fish at a time and accidentally overfeeding on one day.

 

[Tony s]

Love Fz7. usually use fritz fuel and sometimes turbostart. I think it speeds up by a several days, I believe. Waiting is just torture, in a good way.

Now i have to figure out how to "not start" cycles 😉 . up to 12 tanks, 250 gallons scattered throughout my house.

[Galabar]

I used FritzZyme 7 and an ammonia source on a "sterile" tank and it took about 2 1/2 weeks.  So, that seems to be in line with what everyone else is seeing (maybe could be 1/2 the time with a nitrite source to start with).

I did exactly what you are proposing: I waited for the ammonia to hit 0 and then added more, allowing both ammonia and nitrite to hit 0.

You are doing your future fish a big favor by doing this fishless cycle and you seem to be doing it successfully (so far)! 🙂

[Lonkley]

On 1/17/2024 at 3:06 PM, Colten OSteen said:

Thanks sooooo much!I had no clue what to do.So guess I will add ammonia when ammonia and nitrite are 0 and next day it will be gone?just triple checking!!!!

Yes, except you should see that a few days in a row to make sure everything is somewhat ready. Then slowly add fish.  The idea is that the ammonia you are adding represents fish waste.  Your beneficial bacteria colonies are like invisible pets you have to feed to make them grow.