# How close is my cycle?



## dhoch (Jul 14, 2014)

We decided about 3 weeks ago to start completely over and do the fishless cycle like the sticky in here said. Here are my test results...can anyone tell me if we are getting close?

We have been following the sticky to the letter and the Nitrites in the tank peeked on 8-17 at 5 ppm. They have been slowly coming down and on 8-22 the Ammonia was at 0, Nitrites was at 0, Nitrates was at 60ppm. We dosed back up to 4.0 ppm Ammonia. In 24 hours the readings were Ammonia 0.25 ppm, Nitrites 1.0 ppm and Nitrates 100 ppm. In 24 more hours we were at 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites. We again dosed up to 4.0 ppm Ammonia and tonight (24 hours later) we now have Ammonia 0.50 ppm, Nitrites 1.0 ppm. We are almost certain that tommorrow night when we test Ammonia and Nitrites will be at 0 (if it follows suit with what it did a couple of days ago). 

Are we close to a cycle completion? If we are, how do we calculate bringing down the Nitrates. The last time that we tested Nitrates (8-23-14) it was up to 100ppm. We have a 20 gallon tank and I know that they have to be under 20 ppm. How much water can we take out without hurting the bacteria? Do we do the water change over a couple of days or all at once?


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## chenowethpm (Jan 8, 2014)

Sound like you may be done, you only need half the dose every 4 days ones you see nitrites. If ammonia and nitrite zero out again then it will mean that it's cycled. You could change all the water in the tank and not hurt the bacteria. I would change like 80 to 90% and see where that puts nitrates and change more accordingly.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I'm with Matt!
I think you are all done.
The sticky says once you read any nitrItes to go to 1/2 dose(2ppm) every 4 days.
So I would do the huge change like Matt said and then add 1/2 the ammonia you have been adding just to be sure.
Changing like 75% will bring nitrAtes from 100ppm to around 25ppm.
The % of water changed(tank volume) is the amount nitrAtes should be reduced,so if you only change 50% then you would end up around 50ppm(with 100ppmas base).
Do the 75% water change dose ammonia to 2ppm watch ammonia and nitrite for 24 hours.If they go to 0 then you are all good.Then you could do another 50% waterchange and stock your tank.
DO NOT TOUCH THE FILTER FOR A WEEK OR TWO.


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## dhoch (Jul 14, 2014)

When do we vacuum the substrate the first time? I had read that you should never deep clean vacuum and change a filter at the same time. We are running two filters, just in case one breaks down we have one with healthy bacteria running. We are supposed to alternate filter cleaning between the two right?

What is a good cleaning schedule to follow?


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Many vacumm 1/2 the tank every week.Just switch sides like cleaning the different filters(you alternate).
You shouldn't need to vacumm from cycling fishless,it is more for removing waste and any extra food(really shouldn't be extra food).
I think you will only have to clean a filter every month or so .If this is true then I wouldn't worry about doing both vacumm and filter,especially if you are only doing one filter and half the tank.all should go well this way.
When you clean filter you don't replace the pad/media you just rinse/swish/ring it out in old tank water(bucket used for water change).If you use tap water you will harm the BB(the chlorine will kill some).


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## MriGuy85 (Aug 29, 2013)

I don't ever really completely vac my substrate. I spot vac it with the eheim quickvac pro every water change or if I see any detritus between water changes. Every once in a while I will stick the vac (without siphoning water) into the substrate just to churn it to avoid air pockets forming.


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## dhoch (Jul 14, 2014)

When you say vac 1/2 the tank each week, do you mean a deep vac that goes into the substrate and churns it up? Or just a surface vac?


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Like Mri said you need to go deep.
Alot has to do with how deep your sub is,if you are planted and whether or not you have fish or snails that will stir up your sub.
I only vaccum my bare bottom tanks(fry and breeders).
Any tank I have with a substrate is either completely planted or a reef.
When I vacummed my sub(before live plants) I used to go at least half way down.I know this is almost as contoversial as cycling with "fish in" but I never had any trouble.Until not so long ago all my tanks were also heavily overstocked so this may have been necessary or why I didn't run into trouble.
When you stick the vac into the gravel you'll know if you are doing the right thing(it is night and day sucking up stuff).


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