# Having issues cycling my shrimp tanks!!!



## harrythebat (Sep 30, 2012)

I have 3 tanks that I've been trying to cycle for 3 months now and seems as if its start over each time and i cannot get the ammonia,nitrite and nitrate at 0. When one of them are at 0 ppm, the others are not. 
I have 2 other Cherry shrimp tanks that are doing great and no issues whatsoever. Then i decided to get 3 new tanks and have fun with some other types of shrimps and no luck there at all. In Feb I bought yellow and snowball shrimps that all ended up dying because the tanks were not cycles and ever since then the tank hasn't cycled. 
They are all 40 Gallon breeder tanks and all with driftwoods, catappa leaves, 50 gallon aquaclear filter, 1sponge filter each,all with reglar black gravels+ black sand mixed, moss, Anubias, clay shrimp caves. since Saturday I've decided to keep track of the water tests that I've been doing daily now.
Saturday- tank 1
Ammonia 2.0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm

Tuesday- tank 1
Ammonia 2.0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm

Thursday- tank 1
Ammonia- 2.0ppm
Nitrate- 5.0ppm
Nitrite- 0ppm

Saturday- tank 2
Ammonia 2.0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm
Nitrite 0.25ppm

Tuesday- tank 2
Ammonia 2.0 ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
Nitrite 0.25 ppm

Thursday- tank 2 
Ammonia 1.0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
Nitrite 5ppm

Saturday- tank 3
Ammonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrate 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm

Tuesday- tank 3
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrate 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm

Thursday- tank 3 
Ammonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrate 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm

Thanks in advance of you guys who have more experiences with the hobby:icon_conf


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## Axelrod12 (Jun 28, 2013)

The goal of a cycle isn't to have all 3 at 0ppm. You want to establish bacteria that will process ammonia into nitrite and nitrite to nitrate. Nitrates are removed through water changes or by plants.

What is your ammonia source for the cycle?


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

So how are you introducing a supply of ammonia during the cycling?


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## bostoneric (Sep 7, 2011)

need some more info on what your cycling process consists of


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## harrythebat (Sep 30, 2012)

I did not add any ammonia or added anything but from somewhere i read that doing 10% water changes a day would accelerate the process. and clean the sponge filters once a week.


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## harrythebat (Sep 30, 2012)

But i did purchase an ammonia removed which i did use on all the tanks around 3 weeks ago and I also have a bottle of bacteria that i can use which I haven't yet.


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## bostoneric (Sep 7, 2011)

where are you getting your water? have you tried testing it before you put it into your tank?


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Here is the fishless cycle.

Cycle: To grow the beneficial bacteria that remove ammonia and nitrite from the aquarium.

Fish-In Cycle: To expose fish to toxins while using them as the source of ammonia to grow nitrogen cycle bacteria. Exposure to ammonia burns the gills and other soft tissue, stresses the fish and lowers their immunity. Exposure to nitrite makes the blood unable to carry oxygen. Research methemglobinemia for details. 

Fishless Cycle: The safe way to grow more bacteria, faster, in an aquarium, pond or riparium. 

The method I give here was developed by 2 scientists who wanted to quickly grow enough bacteria to fully stock a tank all at one time, with no plants helping, and overstock it as is common with Rift Lake Cichlid tanks. 

1a) Set up the tank and all the equipment. You can plant if you want. Include the proper dose of dechlorinator with the water. 
Optimum water chemistry:
GH and KH above 3 German degrees of hardness. A lot harder is just fine. 
pH above 7, and into the mid 8s is just fine. 
Temperature in the upper 70s F (mid 20s C) is good. Higher is OK if the water is well aerated. 
A trace of other minerals may help. Usually this comes in with the water, but if you have a pinch of KH2PO4, that may be helpful. 
High oxygen level. Make sure the filter and power heads are running well. Plenty of water circulation. 
No toxins in the tank. If you washed the tank, or any part of the system with any sort of cleanser, soap, detergent, bleach or anything else make sure it is well rinsed. Do not put your hands in the tank when you are wearing any sort of cosmetics, perfume or hand lotion. No fish medicines of any sort. 
A trace of salt (sodium chloride) is OK, but not required. 
This method of growing bacteria will work in a marine system, too. The species of bacteria are different. 

1b) Optional: Add any source of the bacteria that you are growing to seed the tank. Cycled media from a healthy tank is good. Decor or some gravel from a cycled tank is OK. Live plants or plastic are OK. Bottled bacteria is great, but only if it contains Nitrospira species of bacteria. Read the label and do not waste your money on anything else. 
At the time this was written the right species could be found in: 
Dr. Tims One and Only
Tetra Safe Start
Microbe Lift Nite Out II
...and perhaps others. 
You do not have to jump start the cycle. The right species of bacteria are all around, and will find the tank pretty fast. 

2) Add ammonia until the test reads 5 ppm. This ammonia is the cheapest you can find. No surfactants, no perfumes. Read the fine print. This is often found at discount stores like Dollar Tree, or hardware stores like Ace. You could also use a dead shrimp form the grocery store, or fish food. Protein breaks down to become ammonia. You do not have good control over the ammonia level, though. 
Some substrates release ammonia when they are submerged for the first time. Monitor the level and do enough water changes to keep the ammonia at the levels detailed below. 

3) Test daily. For the first few days not much will happen, but the bacteria that remove ammonia are getting started. Finally the ammonia starts to drop. Add a little more, once a day, to test 5 ppm. 

4) Test for nitrite. A day or so after the ammonia starts to drop the nitrite will show up. When it does allow the ammonia to drop to 3 ppm. 

5) Test daily. Add ammonia to 3 ppm once a day. If the nitrite or ammonia go to 5 ppm do a water change to get these lower. The ammonia removing species and the nitrite removing species (Nitrospira) do not do well when the ammonia or nitrite are over 5 ppm. 

6) When the ammonia and nitrite both hit zero 24 hours after you have added the ammonia the cycle is done. You can challenge the bacteria by adding a bit more than 3 ppm ammonia, and it should be able to handle that, too, within 24 hours. 

7) Now test the nitrate. Probably sky high! 
Do as big a water change as needed to lower the nitrate until it is safe for fish. Certainly well under 20, and a lot lower is better. This may call for more than one water change, and up to 100% water change is not a problem. Remember the dechlor!
If you will be stocking right away (within 24 hours) no need to add more ammonia. If stocking will be delayed keep feeding the bacteria by adding ammonia to 3 ppm once a day. You will need to do another water change right before adding the fish.
__________________________

Helpful hints:

A) You can run a fishless cycle in a bucket to grow bacteria on almost any filter media like bio balls, sponges, ceramic bio noodles, lava rock or Matala mats. Simply set up any sort of water circulation such as a fountain pump or air bubbler and add the media to the bucket. Follow the directions for the fishless cycle. When the cycle is done add the media to the filter. I have run a canister filter in a bucket and done the fishless cycle.

B) The nitrogen cycle bacteria will live under a wide range of conditions and bounce back from minor set backs. By following the set up suggestions in part 1b) you are setting up optimum conditions for fastest reproduction and growth.
GH and KH can be as low as 1 degree, but watch it! These bacteria use the carbon in carbonates, and if it is all used up (KH = 0) the bacteria may die off. 
pH as low as 6.5 is OK, but by 6.0 the bacteria are not going to be doing very well. They are still there, and will recover pretty well when conditions get better. 
Temperature almost to freezing is OK, but they must not freeze, and they are not very active at all. They do survive in a pond, but they are slow to warm up and get going in the spring. This is where you might need to grow some in a bucket in a warm place and supplement the pond population. Too warm is not good, either. Tropical or room temperature tank temperatures are best. (68 to 85*F or 20 to 28*C)
Moderate oxygen can be tolerated for a while. However, to remove lots of ammonia and nitrite these bacteria must have oxygen. They turn one into the other by adding oxygen. If you must stop running the filter for an hour or so, no problem. If longer, remove the media and keep it where it will get more oxygen. 
Once the bacteria are established they can tolerate some fish medicines. This is because they live in a complex film called Bio film on all the surfaces in the filter and the tank. Medicines do not enter the bio film well. 
These bacteria do not need to live under water. They do just fine in a humid location. They live in healthy garden soil, as well as wet locations. 

C) Planted tanks may not tolerate 3 ppm or 5 ppm ammonia. It is possible to cycle the tank at lower levels of ammonia so the plants do not get ammonia burn. Add ammonia to only 1 ppm, but test twice a day, and add ammonia as needed to keep it at 1 ppm. The plants are also part of the bio filter, and you may be able to add the fish sooner, if the plants are thriving.


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## Ebichua (May 13, 2008)

This might be a silly question but what's the temp of the water? I made an attempt to cycle a tank without a heater in my frigid home a year ago. The water was really cold, like <66F and the tank didn't cycle at all! I guess it was just too cold for bacteria to reproduce.


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## harrythebat (Sep 30, 2012)

The temperature on the tanks are 76-76F and they all have heaters


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

How did you expect a cycle to be established if you don't introduce any source of ammonia ._. ?


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## harrythebat (Sep 30, 2012)

is shrimp food fine or fish food(flakes)?


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## Clarkkoi (Oct 7, 2013)

Also, what is your pH in the tanks? I didn't see it posted anywhere. Although very adaptable, nitrifying bacteria grow much more slowly at both very low and very high pH values. Heavy aeration will also accelerate bacterial growth.


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## harrythebat (Sep 30, 2012)

7.6 first tank 7.2 second tank and 7.8 third tank sorry just took a test to be more accurate.


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## Clarkkoi (Oct 7, 2013)

Shouldn't have any issues at those pH levels--just reference Diana's post and you should be fine


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## harrythebat (Sep 30, 2012)

But was wondering if i need to add any sort of food to the tanks since i do not have any source of ammonia


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## Axelrod12 (Jun 28, 2013)

harrythebat said:


> But was wondering if i need to add any sort of food to the tanks since i do not have any source of ammonia


I wouldn't say fish food is the best ammonia source but I guess some people report success with it. 

You're better off with some pure ammonia like you could buy at a dollar store or Ace. Or even a dead shrimp from the supermarket.


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

I would not suggest trying to cycle three 40 gallon tanks with food lol. Sounds like that would make such a small impact on a 40 gallon and would be a waste.

I think your best bet would be to buy a bottle of pure ammonia and have a good filter running to build up BB.

I usually add snails to speed up the process. Also, I think this would be a good time to start using your bottled bacteria to help speed up the process as well 

Just make sure you get it right the first time so you won't have to worry about spikes when you get livestock.


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## harrythebat (Sep 30, 2012)

Thanks all for help and i've decided to get 1 guppy in each tank, anyone think that it would be enough?


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## VJM (Feb 9, 2013)

No, and fish in cycling should really be avoided if at all possible. Ammonia, dead shrimp, fish food can all work. You are going to have the easiest time, with the best results, using ammonia.


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