# How long for nitrites/nitrates to form?



## Rohkey (Apr 25, 2011)

I recently set up a 29 gallon tank, starting adding pure ammonia to it yesterday (10 mL I think, which caused the ammonia tests to go to between .4 and .8 ppm). I have an Aquaclear filter with the 3 media it came with (sponge, carbon, bio). I haven't yet added material from an established tank, but I'm going to try to get some today or tomorrow. About how long should I expect it to take for NO2 to begin being produced? Also how long should it take for NO3 to do the same?


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## rtbob (Jul 18, 2010)

For fishless cycling using pure ammonia bring the levels up to 2-4ppm. You should start to see nitrites in 7-10 days. 

Anywhere around day 21-28 days for nitrate. The entire process can be done in six weeks or some have had it take 10-12 weeks.

Adding media from an established tank is the best way to speed up the process. An increase in temp to 85 F may speed it up also.

Good luck.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Concur. I kept my ammonia at 4ppm.

Did you get ammonia free of surfectants?


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Good morning Rohkey. Have never cycled a tank with ammonia before, just put in a lot of plants and ran the tank for a month. Anyway, the process would speed up greatly if you could find some media from an established tank. Gravel as well as some kind of decoration from a cycled tank would also work.

Just an alternative to think about next time.

BBradbury


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## Rohkey (Apr 25, 2011)

Thanks guys. And I'm working on getting established rock/filter media, but my friend uses an entirely different filter and has only decorative rocks (thus unlikely to have many useful bacteria on them). Would it be a good idea to ask the local petstore for some rocks, or would there be a risk of introducing negative substances in my tank if I took this route?

I added 5-6 small ferns (4 and 8 inchers). Does this hasten the process at all?

"Did you get ammonia free of surfectants?"

I bought the Great Value ammonia from Wal-Mart. While it isn't 100% pure ammonia, I did a little research on it and the consensus was it was perfectly fine to use this brand. One of the other chemicals in it was beneficial to the tank according to a few sources as well, so I gave it a go. I couldn't figure out the jug's ammonia %, so I had to guesstimate. Should I try lower my tank to 2-4 ppm of ammonia for the cycling process, or will sustaining the 6-7 ppm level not be harmful in any way?


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## rtbob (Jul 18, 2010)

Anything over 5ppm isn't recommended as it may prevent the bacteria from colonizing. Your plants may bring it down on their own.

There is always a risk of introducing unwanted organisms when using media from another tank. If your LFS has healthy fish and you trust them it's a risk worth taking.


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## ReStart (Jan 3, 2011)

I had a fully cycled 10g in 20 days using the old filter pad from my other 10g. I used some "everyday living" ammonia, which I now just realized has sufacants. I'm not even sure what that is or what harm it may have done.

I kept between 2 and 4 ppm, raising it everynight and checking it in the afternoon. Usually, it would go to nearly zero overnight. It only took me about 4 days to see Nitrites and about two weeks to see Nitrates. After three weeks, I could bring ammonia to 4 ppm at night and the next day it'd be a zero with 0 Nitrites and 0 Nitrates. I never did see very high Nitrates for that matter. edit to add: I also kept adding plants from that old 10g that had overgrown. It's pretty much planted now.

But having said all that, I have not put any fish into this tank, as I plan on using it as a backup, isolation tank. So maybe it's a mess and I don't know it. I put about 15 drops of this ammonia in every two days or so, just to keep the good bb going.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

It doesn't matter what the percentage is, just add until you hit 4ppm. Remember what the value was and add daily. Wondering where you went to ask about the ammonia.....

Most people don't try to go through a fishless cycle with plants. It's sort of competing interest. All the while you're trying to drive the ammonia to fairly high levels, your plants are using it up.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Just a thought.... don't know if this would work for you, but have you thought of adding some "Cycle"? It adds beneficial bacteria to the tank to help it cycle faster. You even continue to use it once the tank is cycled. (Add a bit after each water change and also when adding new fish). It's never caused any problems in my tank, and I thought it may help you cycle a little faster. Some people say it doesn't work, but I've had no complaints.


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## Rohkey (Apr 25, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> It doesn't matter what the percentage is, just add until you hit 4ppm. Remember what the value was and add daily. Wondering where you went to ask about the ammonia.....
> 
> Most people don't try to go through a fishless cycle with plants. It's sort of competing interest. All the while you're trying to drive the ammonia to fairly high levels, your plants are using it up.


I'll just adjust and add more ammonia then, I want to have my plants grow a bit and anchor into the tank as much as possible before adding fish that could potentially uproot/disrupt them. And I didn't go anywhere but here to ask about the ammonia, the research I did was merely a Google search of "Great Value Ammonia on fish tanks" and looking at a few of the pages.



holly12 said:


> Just a thought.... don't know if this would work for you, but have you thought of adding some "Cycle"? It adds beneficial bacteria to the tank to help it cycle faster. You even continue to use it once the tank is cycled. (Add a bit after each water change and also when adding new fish). It's never caused any problems in my tank, and I thought it may help you cycle a little faster. Some people say it doesn't work, but I've had no complaints.


I heard most of this stuff doesn't work, looked at some of the post on this forums, on other sites, and asked a couple workers at the petstore. Almost everyone agrees that the only stuff that works are the kinds that demand refrigeration and are difficult to find. On the offchance you do find it, apparently if the product wasn't refrigerated properly or if you don't follow the directions exactly, there is a high chance for the product not to work.


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## rtbob (Jul 18, 2010)

If you believe the scientist the appearance of bacteria on earth took about 1.2 billion years.

If you believe the bible it was all done in seven days. God must have had a bacteria in a bottle product that worked real well.


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