New tank cycling

TheDon · Feb 12, 2025

Hi, I need some reassurance that my fishless cycle is okay and I should let it do its thing! My first tank I cycled went smoothly and I used Dr Tim’s ammonia and niteout 2 for bacteria. I tested every other day and only added ammonia to 2ppm when it needed it. Tank cycled within 3/4 weeks and it’s still doing fine 5 months on.

Now my new 120l tank, I added niteout 2 and dosed ammonia to 2ppm, 2nd day ammonia was still at 2ppm so left alone and added bacteria. 3rd day I added ammonia 2ppm and bacteria, 4th day ammonia spiked upto 5ppm so left alone and added bacteria. I’m now on day 8 and ammonia is still high so I’ve just been adding bacteria!

So I haven’t added anymore ammonia for 4 days now but ammonia is still high, is this normal?

Maybe I’ve overdone it with ammonia and that’s why all 3 are high. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Many thanks

fishywishy · Feb 12, 2025

Don’t touch it anymore. Its normal that ammonia is still very high right now. Just let it do it’s thing and it should be cycled soon.

TheDon · Feb 12, 2025

fishywishy said:
Don’t touch it anymore. Its normal that ammonia is still very high right now. Just let it do it’s thing and it should be cycled soon.

I have some atm colony coming today, should I bang it in?

fishywishy · Feb 12, 2025

TheDon said:
I have some atm colony coming today, should I bang it in?

If you already bought it might as well.

fandaga · Feb 12, 2025

I used bottled bacteria from a couple vendors and added Dr Tim’s ammonium chloride to both my DT and QT. I didn’t see much progress until I also added some frozen fish food. The smell was pretty terrible, and fortunately I was able to go on a week vacation. Now when I need to reset my QT, I pull a few biological filter balls out my DT, and it’s instantly cycled.