Cycling - am I on the right track?

If its a bottle of pure ammonia, only a few drops will be necessary.
I had a 3 foot by 1 foot tank and a bottle of pure ammonia, and it took around 3/5 drops to get my ammonia up to 4/5ppm.
Id just add a drop every 15 mins until you get readings of 4/5ppm :D
 
So I did a little bit of renovation on my tropical tank and stole some of the old gravel that is replaced with new substrate. I kept half in the tropical tank to keep its cycle and the other half is now in my new cycling tank. Hopefully this will help the cycle a bit more. I have dosed the ammonia up to 4ppm.

No nitrite yet but hopefully I am on the right track now and it won't be long before the cycle gets off the ground. I will be sure of course to remove the gravel once the cycle is complete before my axolotls arrive :)
 
I just realised I have an old spare filter from a tank I no longer have. It has been sitting in the cupboard for ages but it works. I had completely forgotten that I still had it.

I don't know how much it will help but if I get it running in my cycled established tank for a while and then transfer it to my cycling tank, would this help with the cycling process? If so, how long should I leave it in my cycled tank for before transferring it to the tank I am trying to cycle?
 
A while back I upgraded one of my tanks, and in doing so I got a new filter. I put it in the tank with the old one for about a month and then took the old filter out.

I asked my LFS if they wanted my cycled filter, because I didn't have a use for it, and they told me to put it in a bag with enough water to touch the sponge (like the ones they give me my blackworms in), fill it with air, and leave it in a cool dark place. They said doing this will bring back my cycle quickly if I ever use the filter again.

Fast forward 2 months and I decided to start a second tank. I pulled that filter out of the cupboard and put it in my new tank. It still took about a week, but my tank cycled right up with the old filter that had been in the closet for a few months.

The moral of this story is that I do think you can use old filters in new tanks and start up the cycle again. But if I'm not understanding something I'd love it if someone would set me straight. I'm still new to axolotls, and it's been about a decade since I had fish or cycled a tank.
 
Finally! My tank has nitrite! Only a little, around 0.1 at the moment, but it is a start :D
 
Awesome :) I just started my cycle on the weekend hoping it doesn't take too long


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So I tested my tank today, ammonia was at 2ppm, nitrite was off the chart :) and nitrate is about 5ppm :D
 
Woohoo almost there :) I tested mine today nitrites just appearing now


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That is great Mandy :) Sounds like you are not far behind me at all! my nitrites rose so much more quickly than I was expecting and I certainly didn't expect to see nitrate already :)
 
Yep fingers crossed it continues to go well for both of us :)


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Where in aus are you? Skudo09


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Cool that's a couple of hours from me :)


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My nitrites are not moving they have been at about 0.50ppm for about a week I don't have nitrates yet ammonia is about 3ppm I am doing what the link above said but not much is happening :(


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MandyT84 said:
My nitrites are not moving they have been at about 0.50ppm for about a week I don't have nitrates yet ammonia is about 3ppm I am doing what the link above said but not much is happening :(


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Hmm. Someone here with more experience may have a better idea of what is going on but is it possible it is still cycling, just taking some time? Mine has had moments where nothing much has changed and then all of a sudden there is a significant difference and it is back on track. Have you got any seeded material from a cycled tank you could use to speed things up? What is the PH?
 
Knock you ammonia up to 4 or 5ppm, i think the nitrite is just maybe a tad too low to start turning to nitrAte, but cycling can also take anywhere from a few days to 12 weeks really! Patience is the key :D
 
Thanks guys I will push the ammonia level up a bit. ph is 7.8


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I tested my tank today and I am getting very excited! My tank is cycled! :D

I have a hectic week ahead of me though so it is likely I will be able to pick up my axolotls in one week's time :D. In the meantime, I will keep the bacteria happy and keep feeding a small amount of ammonia and then before I bring my axolotls home, I will do some water changes to get the nitrate down into a safe level.

This was my first ever fishless cycle! Thanks everyone for all your advice :)

Mandy, let us know how your tank goes. I hope things speed up a little more for you and you can get your axolotls soon as well. :)
 

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Yay how exciting for you :) have fun getting your axies. Will let you know how my cycle goes, I do already have my axies they are in a small tank which I did a fish in cycle when we got them, but now they are getting big I needed a new tank so hopefully the cycle will get moving


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