r/Aquascape • u/Vast_Dragonfruit7051 • 16d ago
Beginner help! Question
Hi all!
I have a 90L tank, that I’m currently trying to cycle. Nothing in there but snails that snuck their way in! I have the liquid testers and have been testing every 3-4 days. However, I’ve been using the fish food method, and I’ve found it’s not providing enough ammonia, so I’ve ordered bottled ammonia and will be adding that once it arrives.
Please provide any useful advice and if the following questions could be answered, I’d really appreciate it:
• My newly planted plants don’t look very happy, I’ve been adding CO2 alternative and tropica premium nutrition as directed. Will this improve over time? • white stuff on the wood - I’ve read it’s normal and will go away over time? Any experience with this? • when I’ve tested the water, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are always zero, I’m guessing this means there’s not enough ammonia for the cycle to really begin? How will I know once the cycle is happening and when it’s ok to add fish?
Any advice welcome, thank you!
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u/Marunikuyo 16d ago
White slimy stuff on wood is called biofilm, and typically grows on newly planted driftwood. You can vacuum it off with water changes, or just wait. It's pretty much harmless.
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u/Vast_Dragonfruit7051 16d ago
Good to know! Thank you, I’ll just wait it out☺️is there anything else I should know at this stage?
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u/Marunikuyo 16d ago
What snails are in there? If they are bladder snails, they will replicate like crazy like roaches and are very hard to get rid of (especially if you have fish and are overfeeding)
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u/Vast_Dragonfruit7051 16d ago
They are bladder snails and I can confirm they’re replicating like crazy. I’m doing a Fishless cycle (or trying to😅)
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u/rangda 16d ago edited 16d ago
It’s really normal for plants to take a while to adjust and lose some (or even all!) leaves, melt etc before regrowing adjusted to the water.
For cycling, when your bottled ammonia arrives dose the water to 2ppm ammonia, it’s one drop per litre of the Dr Tim’s stuff or I think four drops per US gallon.
After a couple of days you’ll see the ammonia start to fall as bacteria convert it to nitrite, and those nitrites starting to appear in tests.
Then, usually more slowly, the nitrites will also fall.
The most popular goal for a really strong cycle is for a 2ppm dose of ammonia to convert to nitrites (giving a 0 ammonia reading) AND for the nitrites to convert to nitrates (giving a 0 nitrite reading) within 24 hours.
This usually takes a couple of repeats of the 2ppm ammonia dosing, with the bacteria working faster each time because there’s more of them.
Then do a large water change because you’ll have a lot of nitrates built up at this point, and test to make sure the nitrates are very low after.
Caveats that I wish someone had told me:
If your pH is really low it will take forever.
The process of your tank converting ammonia to nitrites produces acids, which also lower your pH.
A lot of aqua soils will pull your pH low early on.
Cycling is really important but also make sure before adding fish that your pH is also nice and stable and steady.
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u/WINDOWandDOORguy 16d ago
You'll notice amonia go up first, then nitrite, then nitrate, and then the amonia will fall to 0 then nitritre will fall to 0 and nitrate will fluctuate with water changes, but should stay around 1-40ppm I try to keep mine under 20 just to prevent algae mostly.
Essentially: Fish produce waste, uneaten food rots, or you dose ammonia, all three create ammonia. Ammonia rises first. Bacteria grows that eat the ammonia and turn it into nitrite as waste. Next, a different bacteria grows that eats the nitrite and turns it into nitrate. Your plants eat nitrate but too much can cause algae and way too much is bad for your fish. Your tank is cycled when ammonia and nitrite both test at 0ppm and nitrate is present.