Everything you need for successfully fishless cycling

DrTim's Aquatics best-selling product, One & Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria is the ultimate nitrifying bacteria for use in fishless cycling.  Now you can put an end to "New Tank Syndrome" forever.

DrTim's Aquatics offers complete, step-by-step instructions on how to do fishless cycling using the products below at: DrTim's Quick Guide to Fishless Cycling. You can also learn more about the science of fishless cycling in the more comprehensive article Fishless Cycling at DrTim's information site.

Plus we have a guide, below, that you can download and print that will lead you thought the process step-by-step, day-by-day so your tank will be cycled quickly.

1. You need to get rid of the chloramine and chlorine in the tapwater/aquarium water before adding the One & Only Nitrifying bacteria.
1. Use our First Defense to condition your water.
2. Keep all the parts of your filter in your filter - this includes the sponge or filter pad, activated carbon, bio-balls, etc.
3. Turn you filter on.  Turn your heater on.  You can leave the light off.
4. You need substrate on the bottom of the tank.
1. Bare-bottom tanks do not provide enough surface area for the bacteria.
2. It takes longer for the bacteria to colonize filter blocks and ceramic media.
5. When fishless cycling reduce the calculated water volume by about 20% to account for water displaced by substrate and decorations.
1. For example, if you have a 30 gallon tank subtract 6 gallons (20%) so figure 24 gallons as the final volume.
2. Use 4 drops AND ONLY 4 drops per gallon - is this case 24 gallons * 4 drops/gallon = 96 drops or 1 tsp.
6. When adding drops follow the guidelines below (see infographic):
1. Hold the bottle vertically, don't press so hard that there is a steady stream of liquid instead add drop by drop.
2. Some conversions 1 tsp = 5 ml = 100 drops or 1 Tbsp = 15 ml = 300 drops.
7. If you are using a live sand product wait 24 hours after setting-up the tank and running the filter before adding ammonia drops.
1. Then measure the ammonia in the water before adding the ammonium chloride. 
2. Live sand products can add ammonia to the aquarium so you may find your water already contain ammonia and so you don't need to add ammonia drops or as many.
8. Do not use RO water for your freshwater aquarium.  RO water does not contain any hardness or alkalinity which the nitrifying bacteria need.
1. Using RO for your marine tank is fine as we assume you are adding a synthetic sea salt to the RO water.
9. Water with a low pH (under 7) and/or soft water will take longer to cycle because the bacteria do not grow fast in these conditions.
10. BE PATIENT - is can take a day to 3 days before you start to see results.
1. Do not expect ammonia to disappear in 15 to 30 minutes
2. The bacteria DO NOT need to fed ammonia everyday - this will just cause problems.
11. In many cases you will not see nitrite - that is because the product is working.
12. In most cases you will not see nitrate - this is because most test kits do not measure nitrate well when the concentration is less than 20 ppm.
1. Nitrate will not be 20 ppm and higher for several weeks (or several ammonia additions) so don't worry about this.

How to Setup a New Aquarium with Fishless Cycling