one more cycle question.. :(

[epjan7]

After 7 weeks of my cycling not moving I have seen my ammonia move from 2ppm to .25-.50 ppm within 4 days. My nitrites are still at 0. And nitrates went from 5ppm to 20ppm.

The last time I tested nitrates was 2 weeks ago but it was at less than 5ppm.

This is a fishless cycle with pure ammonia. Is it weird that nitrites arent showing up? And should I add more ammonia to 2ppm or 4ppm??

Temp is at 86F. pH has been a steady 8.

 

[20cc]

do you see algae in the tank ? if you do your cycle is complete or just about . cycle goes ammonia spike>nitrite spike> nitrate spike - ammonia 0-nitrite 0-nitrate + . i ussually just buy a shrimp from market and put it in the tank when starting to cycle a new tank . raise the temp to 85 and let it sit in there until the readings are correct. i have never dosed ammonia into the tank . at 7 weeks your tank should have allready cycled

 

[jlk]

That's a bit odd but not impossible. Ok, let's start with some more info so we can get an idea of what's going on here.

Tank size? Water source (city or well)? Tap water parameters? Water conditioner/any other products added (ie, salt, bottled bacteria, ph products, etc)? Type/brand of ammonia? Filtration/filter media? Did you start with any seeded/cycled media? Any water changes yet? And, last question for now, when you test for nitrite, does the test stay blue the entire time or go from purple to blue?

 

[epjan7]

do you see algae in the tank ? if you do your cycle is complete or just about . cycle goes ammonia spike>nitrite spike> nitrate spike - ammonia 0-nitrite 0-nitrate + . i ussually just buy a shrimp from market and put it in the tank when starting to cycle a new tank . raise the temp to 85 and let it sit in there until the readings are correct. i have never dosed ammonia into the tank . at 7 weeks your tank should have allready cycled

Well not exactly. Really long story short for the first 2 weeks I did a fish In cycle. The fish died so I did like 2 weeks of fish flakes. But it made a mess and ammonia never got more than 1ppm. So on August 2nd I did a pure ammonia and raised it to 4ppm. Then I noticed a week after that pH was off the scales over 9 because of a coral in their. Took it out did a partial water change dosed it back up to 2ppm and two weeks later im at this. .25 ammonia 0 nitrites 20 nitrates. So I just dosed it back up to 2ppm-4ppm... and ill test it again tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be lowered down again so I can finally add some fish!

 

[epjan7]

That's a bit odd but not impossible. Ok, let's start with some more info so we can get an idea of what's going on here.

Tank size? Water source (city or well)? Tap water parameters? Water conditioner/any other products added (ie, salt, bottled bacteria, ph products, etc)? Type/brand of ammonia? Filtration/filter media? Did you start with any seeded/cycled media? Any water changes yet? And, last question for now, when you test for nitrite, does the test stay blue the entire time or go from purple to blue?

-Ok 20 gallon tank.
-85-86f water temp.
-2 filters (one aqueon quietflow 10 which I dont like its too small and no customization for bio material so 3 weeks ago I added a fluval c3 and used the biowheel things insted of carbon)
-I use tap city water. Out of the sink it is 7.6 or 7.8 pH after sitting for a day I believe. It does have 5 nitrates.
- I use prime as the water conditioner.
- I did multiple water changes the first few weeks of july. Another about 3 weeks ago because the fish flake fishless method made a mess. Then about a week ago water evaporated about 15% so I topped it off with a gallon or two of water.
- I used tetra safestart about 2 weeks ago. A big bottle. But I tested the water daily a few days after and its been 2ppm ammonia 0 nitrites and 5ppm nitrates. Until I checked today and ammonia was .25 and 20 nitrates.
- 3 weeks ago I added a very small amount of gravel from a VERY small godfish tank that is cycled but its a really small tank.
- I test for nitrites and look at it and its blue from the start no other color. Let it sit 5 minutes and its still blue.

 

[20cc]

i dont want to say whats up with your tank cause i dont want to be the one to give you wrong advice and then it was wrong . but i would suggest to stop dosing ammonia, do a 50% water change , drop the temp back to normal and let the tank sit for a bit and stabilize on its own .

 

[jlk]

Well not exactly. Really long story short for the first 2 weeks I did a fish In cycle. The fish died so I did like 2 weeks of fish flakes. But it made a mess and ammonia never got more than 1ppm. So on August 2nd I did a pure ammonia and raised it to 4ppm. Then I noticed a week after that pH was off the scales over 9 because of a coral in their. Took it out did a partial water change dosed it back up to 2ppm and two weeks later im at this. .25 ammonia 0 nitrites 20 nitrates. So I just dosed it back up to 2ppm-4ppm... and ill test it again tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be lowered down again so I can finally add some fish!

Thanks! Let us know how things look after dosing it back up. Based on the info in your previous post, I would say you really on started cycling the beginning of August. Adding the bacteria product likely helped a bit and I have seen before people experience no nitrites at all when using them. Once your tank is able to zero ammonia dosed from 4ppm fully to nitrate, its safe to say your cycled.

 

[Rivercats]

After 7 weeks of my cycling not moving I have seen my ammonia move from 2ppm to .25-.50 ppm within 4 days. My nitrites are still at 0. And nitrates went from 5ppm to 20ppm.

The last time I tested nitrates was 2 weeks ago but it was at less than 5ppm.

This is a fishless cycle with pure ammonia. Is it weird that nitrites arent showing up? And should I add more ammonia to 2ppm or 4ppm??

Temp is at 86F. pH has been a steady 8.

If your testing at 20ppms of nitrates now and hadn't tested for nitrites that you said you had 2 weeks ago then you actually missed your nitrite spike by not testing. That is why your not showing any now. You appear to be close to the end of your cycle.