Seeding a 4g Aqueon

[fltcrew21]

Now that my 36g BF is cycled, I have been trying a fish less cycle on an unused 4g Aqueon.

Things started off FAST as I used Dr. Tim's and some gravel from my established tank. But the Nitrite to Nitrate BB seems to have gone backwards and I'm not sure why. Ammonia is converting to Nitrites and they were converting to Nitrates (up to 80 at one point this week).

I did some 50% WC this week to keep the Nitrites on the chart and I thought the cycle may have stalled because Nitrates were like 5.


ANYWAY, I decided to open my Canister filter today and rinse the media (in tank water of course) and while I was elbow deep in muck, I snagged some bagged bio media and put it in the back of my little 4g then I took a filter pad and squeezed into my tank.

The water was nasty for a couple of hours but seems to have cleared now.

I am HOPING that this will not only jump start my cycle again but finish it within a couple of days.

I also have to keep an eye on my Ammonia and nitrites in the established tank for a few days to make sure I didn't disrupt THAT cycle.

 

[Scottyhorse]

The seeded media should speed things up. Also, if nitrites get too high, they can stall a cycle.

 

[fltcrew21]

Stalled Cycle

Letting nitrites get too high and stalling the cycle is said to be a persistent rumor that many are passionate about dispelling.

I didn't really have a strong opinion either way. I just wanted to keep the Nitrites on the chart... Hence the 50%wc's.

But I had to do like three 50%wc's today (an hour apart) to get the nitrie reading to about 1ppm.

So the nitrites must have been like 15ppm to be cut in half so many times and still be like 1ppm!!

That info plus my nitrates stop increasing is, to me, fairly strong evidence to support your position.

Thanks for the reply and I can't wait to see what kind of numbers I get in the morning!!!

 

[Khuligirl93]

I believe the bacteria species that converts nitrite to nitrate grows slower than the species that converts ammonia to nitrite, perhaps giving the impression that when the nitrites are high the cycle is stalled.
Random fact- I also have a 36BF and a 4g aqueon evolve! Good luck!

 

[fltcrew21]

Thanks for the reply. I've heard that too about the Nitrite BB but my Nitrates were like 80ppm. Pretty high, then after I did some water changes to get the nitrites down so I could read them, the nitrates read a very low 5 and didn't climb again.

That seemed to me like a stalled situation.

I put a lot of media from my big canister filter in there and the nitrites were in the 40ppm range again this morning.

 

[fltcrew21]

Definitely Stalled

Well from now on when I read online that you cannot stall a cycle because of super high nitrites, I'm gonna roll my eyes and stop reading.

It 100% DOES STALL! I promise!

As written earlier in this thread, I seeded this small tank with LOTS of stuff from my canister filter and had immediate progress but not a compete cycle. Nitrates were as high as 80ppm I believe at one point and VERY EARLY.

Ammonia would go away reasonably quickly (not in 24 hours) so I kept dosing it to 4ppm (should have probably reduced it to 2ppm at this point so live and learn) Anyway, with this steady dose of ammonia and the bacteria converting ammonia to nitrites outpacing the nitrite>Nitrate bacteria, the nitrites started stacking up over the 5ppm scale.

I thought, "no fish, no problem!" This is so wrong!

My ammonia was still decreasing to zero throughout this process (even quicker as this stage was continuing to progress unaffected) but the Nitrates (after some 50% water changes to try and get the Nitrites on scale) were closet to 0-5ppm. By the way, I never did get them on scale at this point or for the last week.

So I Googled "Stalled Cycle" and found a thread by a lady giving direct back and forth daily advice to a novice about her stalled cycle, including daily readings, etc.

The woman told her to do a 100% WC and do only the Nitrite test and post the results. She did and within 3 days she was back on track and within 5-6 days she was done!

So I am believing that this applied to my situation. I do a 100% WC, wait an hour and I am still off the Nitrites Scale (as in the drops are purple before they hit bottom)

I do another 100% WC, same thing. Flash forward to this morning. In the last 24 hours, I had to do FIVE 100% WATER CHANGES to get my Nitrites on scale.
I guess they just get infused in the filter material (another lesson to illustrate how the water itself does not hold stuff like the filter itself)

So this morning I had:

0 ppm Ammonia (i did not dose it after the last WC but I put a dried brine shrimp in before bed)

.25 ppm Nitrires

20-40ppm Nitrates (this was 5ppm yesterday afternoon after about the 3-4 WC)


The tiny shrimp is still in there for trace nutrients and I re-dosed it to 2ppm.

The next 24 hours should be interesting but this was an eye opener.

 

[fltcrew21]

Stalled Cycle

Well from now on when I read online that you cannot stall a cycle because of super high nitrites, I'm gonna roll my eyes and stop reading.

It 100% DOES STALL! I promise!

As written earlier in this thread, I seeded this small tank with LOTS of stuff from my canister filter and had immediate progress but not a compete cycle. Nitrates were as high as 80ppm I believe at one point and VERY EARLY.

Ammonia would go away reasonably quickly (not in 24 hours) so I kept dosing it to 4ppm (should have probably reduced it to 2ppm at this point so live and learn) Anyway, with this steady dose of ammonia and the bacteria converting ammonia to nitrites outpacing the nitrite>Nitrate bacteria, the nitrites started stacking up over the 5ppm scale.

I thought, "no fish, no problem!" This is so wrong!

My ammonia was still decreasing to zero throughout this process (even quicker as this stage was continuing to progress unaffected) but the Nitrates (after some 50% water changes to try and get the Nitrites on scale) were closet to 0-5ppm. By the way, I never did get them on scale at this point or for the last week.

So I Googled "Stalled Cycle" and found a thread by a lady giving direct back and forth daily advice to a novice about her stalled cycle, including daily readings, etc.

The woman told her to do a 100% WC and do only the Nitrite test and post the results. She did and within 3 days she was back on track and within 5-6 days she was done!

So I am believing that this applied to my situation. I do a 100% WC, wait an hour and I am still off the Nitrites Scale (as in the drops are purple before they hit bottom)

I do another 100% WC, same thing. Flash forward to this morning. In the last 24 hours, I had to do FIVE 100% WATER CHANGES to get my Nitrites on scale.
I guess they just get infused in the filter material (another lesson to illustrate how the water itself does not hold stuff like the filter itself)

So this morning I had:

0 ppm Ammonia (i did not dose it after the last WC but I put a dried brine shrimp in before bed)

.25 ppm Nitrires

20-40ppm Nitrates (this was 5ppm yesterday afternoon after about the 3-4 WC)


The tiny shrimp is still in there for trace nutrients and I re-dosed it to 2ppm.

The next 24 hours should be interesting but this was an eye opener.

 

[gilpi]

Now that my 36g BF is cycled, I have been trying a fish less cycle on an unused 4g Aqueon.

Things started off FAST as I used Dr. Tim's and some gravel from my established tank. But the Nitrite to Nitrate BB seems to have gone backwards and I'm not sure why. Ammonia is converting to Nitrites and they were converting to Nitrates (up to 80 at one point this week).

I did some 50% WC this week to keep the Nitrites on the chart and I thought the cycle may have stalled because Nitrates were like 5.


ANYWAY, I decided to open my Canister filter today and rinse the media (in tank water of course) and while I was elbow deep in muck, I snagged some bagged bio media and put it in the back of my little 4g then I took a filter pad and squeezed into my tank.

The water was nasty for a couple of hours but seems to have cleared now.

I am HOPING that this will not only jump start my cycle again but finish it within a couple of days.

I also have to keep an eye on my Ammonia and nitrites in the established tank for a few days to make sure I didn't disrupt THAT cycle.

From the beginning you should have just used a piece of media or squeeze some dirty water into your new filter and done deal.

 

[fltcrew21]

Nope

A LOT of filter media water did not work nor adding some media itself. That helps but apparently does not work completely.


I mean I got nitrites and nitrates fast but it has never cycled. i.e. converted 2-4 ppm ammonia to 0 and 0 in any amount of time, let alone 24 hours.


No.... this little tank and crappy filtration system is tricky. The Nitrites were pegged for a week and I don't think it ever would have cycled if I didn't get them out and it took 5 100% water changes.


I just don't know if the water is circulated enough through the built in filter reservoir thoroughly enough to make this work.

It is meant to use only their crappy carbon filled medium filter but I took that out and put in a Fluval polishing pad and some bio media. Some from the established canister (but only a few pieces)