[redmary51]

I am attempting to do fishless cycling.

I set it up with everything new 9 days ago and added a small (about the size of a bouillon cube) piece of frozen shrimp. The temp is 80 and I do not have lights on.

My well water goes through a softener and has a pH of between 7.4 and 7.6 - highest of regular pH test and lowest on high range pH test.

day 2 - pH was 8.0, ammonia 0

day 3 thru 6 - still no ammonia

day 7 - pH up to 8.4

day 9 - still no ammonia, pH up to 8.4, no nitrate

Am I being too impatient. Seems like there should be some ammonia at this point. I'm thinking of getting some ammonia to add or maybe some live bacteria.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Mark Fisher]

There should be ammonia by now, and lots of it.

How does the piece of shrimp look? Still visible, or has it completely broken down?

 

[ichthyogeek]

Agreed. Is your filter/form of water movement on?

 

[redmary51]

The water is moving very well. It is swirling and there is a bit of foam on top. The pieces of shrimp are just sitting on the bottom. I purchased a new API Freshwater Master Test Kit. Are test regents ever "bad"?

Day 10 - still no ammonia. Is it possible that my new API Freshwater Master Test Kit has bad regents?

 

[Darkblade48]

Day 10 - still no ammonia. Is it possible that my new API Freshwater Master Test Kit has bad regents?

While it is possible that the reagents expired, in my experience, they still tend to work even after the 'best before' date. You can check your reagents, as they print the expiry date on the sides of the bottles.

 

[Somefishguy]

Day 10 - still no ammonia. Is it possible that my new API Freshwater Master Test Kit has bad regents?

I have been using an API test kit that expired in 2010. I bought a new one and checked the results between the two and they were identical. So 10 years of using the API, it still works.

 

[redmary51]

I got tired of waiting and bought 2 small fish. The ammonia went up to .25 the very next morning. The shrimp just weren't doing it.