Cycling Question

[Twoapennything]

I'm a month into a fishless cycle and everything has been going along normally. For the past two days I've been having readings of Ammonia .125 to .25, NitrItes 0 and NitrAtes 0, so barely an ammonia reading at all. pH has been low, hovering between 6.0 and 6.8, but averaging around 6.6. Previously, I was getting solid readings of ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte, such as ammonia 1.0, Nitrites 2.0, NitrAtes 40-80, and these had been at these readings for about two weeks. So, I think I'm getting toward the end of my cycle.

The Fishless Cycle article says: "Watch your NitrAte levels. When they start to rise wait about 5-7 days and, if your nitrIte levels are really high (>10ppm), I'd recommend a large PWC to bring the number down into a readable range. This will not affect the cycle and will keep you sane as you can watch the levels vary. You might see the levels continue to go up as you will still have more ammonia converting bacteria, but if you watch the nitrAtes you'll know you're heading in the right direction. Several members on here have really been done (with?) the cycle, but because there was so much nitrIte in the tank they didn't know it! (Hint: I was one of them...)

So, does this mean to say that if you're getting 0 readings on nitrAtes that you're done with your cycle? And what do you think that last sentence means, about having so much nitrIte in the cycle that they didn't know they were done cycling the tank?

I'm unclear on this. What do you guys think?

I have all my fish in a 10 gallon QT while the 40 gallon cycles, but I've been struggling with slight ammonia levels in that tank too, not to mention that it's way too small for my two gouramis and Angelo my angelfish. The ammonia levels in the 10 gallon are running just a tiny bit higher than in the 40 gallon, so I'm wondering if I should move my fish over to the 40 gallon. I want to do what's best for my fish; I'm not in a rush to move them and I can definitely wait. It just seems that the big tank is basically cycled and if the slight ammonia levels are the same in both tanks, does it really matter which tank the fish are in?

Any responses are welcome. Thanks in advance for any replies

 

[krap101]

I'm worried about the 0 for the nitrates and nitrites. Unless you have plants in there, something has gone wrong, whether your test kit or something like that.

 

[Twoapennything]

No, no plants.

I don't know if anything has gone wrong. The goal is to get the tank to cycle 1-2 ppm ammonia within 12-24 hours, without residual ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates, if I understand correctly. I have been dosing the tank with ammonia to 1 ppm at the same time every day.

 

[taylorodw]

You're close, twoapenny. The goal is to have ammonia and nitrite processed to 0 within 24 hours, and have residual nitrate that you remove with a weekly (or so, most people recommend weekly) water change.

What is your ammonia source? If you are dosing ammonia from a bottle, what ppm do you add?

Within 24 hours this goes down to 0.25 ammonia, and what nitrites?

 

[Twoapennything]

Thanks for clarifying

I'm using pure ammonia (no surfactants) and I dose to 1 ppm. In 24 hours I'm getting 0 - .25 ammonia and 0 - .25 nitrItes. Until 2 days ago I was getting 40-80 ppm nitrAtes; now it's 0 ppm.

 

[Coyote5]

i would say your tanks just about cycled. but then again, what do i know

 

[krap101]

Until you find out where the nitrates are going... do you have alot of algae?

 

[Twoapennything]

No, no algae.

Why do I want nitrAtes? I'm unclear on that.

 

[adeebm]

You don't want nitrAtes, but they don't just disappear(usually). Unless you have a lot of plants or algae. But otherwise, if theres no nitrAtes then thats weird because ammonia turns to nitrites which turns to nitrates, so it means something is going wrong in the process.

 

[krap101]

If you can try to find a lfs that will test your water with a liquid test kit

 

[StuG]

What sponges, etc. do you have in your filter?

 

[Twoapennything]

If you can try to find a lfs that will test your water with a liquid test kit

I'm already using a liquid test kit.

 

[Twoapennything]

What sponges, etc. do you have in your filter?

I don't have sponges in my filter. I have a Marineland Eclipse 3 tank with built in filtration (in the hood). I am using the filters that go with this filtration system, plus it has the biowheel. Because of the way the filtrationn system works, I cannot add additional material to the filter compartment, or else the water starts to spill over the back of the tank.

 

[Twoapennything]

FWIW, today's readings are:

ammonia 1.0
nitrites 0.0
nitrates 10

So now I have some nitrates again

I added some pH Down to try and kickstart the cycle and added a teeny-tiny amount of pulverized fish food. This was to ensure there is enough phosphorous for the bacteria.

 

[adeebm]

The readings look good, your tank is probably close to finishing the cycle. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think lowering the pH will cause cycling to take longer. And anyway, your pH is 6.5 so you really don't want it any lower. Plus, pH up/down won't change the pH because the buffers keep the pH constant. If you were to add enough to overcome the buffer, you would make your pH very unstable (fluctuating pH = dead fish).

--Adeeb

 

[Twoapennything]

Re; the pH Down, it was suggested in the AA article on fishless cycling to add a small amount of pH Down to the tank if a stalled cycle is suspected. I didn't add enough to affect the actual pH level, but just a tiny amount. The article states that a lack of phosphorous can stall a cycle and that a tiny amount of pH Down will provide the necessary phosphorous and that a teeny amount of pulverized fish food would take care of any missing trace elements that might also be contributing to a stalled cycle. I need to do a PWC anyway, so that should help balance the pH and bring it up again. Fresh water seems to always boost the pH for me.

 

[mommytron]

well it seems like your cycle is close to the end, but it is weird how the nitrates disappeared then came back. the only way nitrates will disappear is by PWC's, or plants/algae as they consume nitrate. have you been doing water changes on your cycling tank? that would explain the missing nitrates. even if your cycle stalled out, your nitrates would just sit there, they would not just disappear in to thin air lol keep an eye on your levels and don't add any more ammonia until it reaches 0 (or close to)

 

[bengoshi2000]

I've seen some odd readings on my cycling 29g. For the last 2-3 days my readings have been 0/5/80 (for NH3 / NO2 / NO3). Yesterday I got 0/5/20. I'm chalking it up to possibly mis-counting the number of drops on the NO3 test (hey, it was late ). I will be interested to see what tonite's readings are.

Maybe that happened to you?

 

[Twoapennything]

well it seems like your cycle is close to the end, but it is weird how the nitrates disappeared then came back. the only way nitrates will disappear is by PWC's, or plants/algae as they consume nitrate. have you been doing water changes on your cycling tank? that would explain the missing nitrates. even if your cycle stalled out, your nitrates would just sit there, they would not just disappear in to thin air lol keep an eye on your levels and don't add any more ammonia until it reaches 0 (or close to)

I sure hope it's close to being done! I'm looking forward to putting my fish in the big tank again.

I don't have plants or algae, although I anticipate algae once the fish go into the tank - it seems to always happen. I actually have not been doing PWCs with this cycle. I keep meaning to and then I get lazy. I'm pretty thorough with PWCs when fish are in the tank, though. I think I'll try and PWC and see if that cuts down on my ammonia (today it was 1.0, same as yesterday, with no additional ammonia added yesterday; nitrItes are 0 and nitrAtes are 10).

Thanks for your ideas

 

[Twoapennything]

I've seen some odd readings on my cycling 29g. For the last 2-3 days my readings have been 0/5/80 (for NH3 / NO2 / NO3). Yesterday I got 0/5/20. I'm chalking it up to possibly mis-counting the number of drops on the NO3 test (hey, it was late ). I will be interested to see what tonite's readings are.

Maybe that happened to you?

It's certainly possible. There are some nights where I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. I can see making an accidental mistake. There have been a couple times where I've put 10 drops in the tube for ammonia, instead of 8, and 8 drops in the tube for nitrAtes, instead of 10!