Where Am I in this cycle?

[Aqualady40]

Where does these readings tell you I am in this fish-less cycle? Do I need to still wait, continue to test, any PWC yet, etc....Just want to know where I am in this process..here is a pic of water parameters

 

[Laser]

Are those nitrAtes from your tap water? It looks like you are at the point in your cycle where ammonia is being converted heavily into nitrItes, but the nitrItes are not being converted fast enough into nitrAtes. It's hard to say if you need a PWC without seeing your pH level, but my guess is that you don't need one. If there are no nitrAtes in your tap water then you are beginning to see the nitrItes convert into nitrAtes.

 

[Aqualady40]

Are those nitrAtes from your tap water? It looks like you are at the point in your cycle where ammonia is being converted heavily into nitrItes, but the nitrItes are not being converted fast enough into nitrAtes. It's hard to say if you need a PWC without seeing your pH level, but my guess is that you don't need one. If there are no nitrAtes in your tap water then you are beginning to see the nitrItes convert into nitrAtes.

Ph is 7.4, no my tap water does not have any nitrates in it, do I need to dose ammo back to 4.0, etc...or wait till it is 1 or below...it seems to be between 1.0-2.0 to me...unsure...what do you all see

 

[Aqualady40]

Well its been awhile and I have not gotten much feed back here so I did whatever I thought...so I did PWC to get trites down then 24 hours later I added 2 drops of ammo which here are the results half a day later...I hope some one will be nice to help me through this or I am probably going to give it up and just do fish-in...I really wanted to experience fishless successfully

 

[Cichlid Kid]

Let the no2 build till you start to see an increase in no3. Let the no3 build to at least 40-60 then do a pwc. Dose ammo to .5-1.0 after pwc of 50% and test 12 hrs later to see how quickly things convert to no3. If at the end of 12 hr period you see no ammo or no2 your cycled.

 

[blert]

Sorry to say, no one can really tell you where you are "at". When all of the ammonia is converted to nitrate in a 24 hour period you are done.

How much do the levels of ammonia and nitrite drop over a 24 hour period?

 

[Aqualady40]

Let the no2 build till you start to see an increase in no3. Let the no3 build to at least 40-60 then do a pwc. Dose ammo to .5-1.0 after pwc of 50% and test 12 hrs later to see how quickly things convert to no3. If at the end of 12 hr period you see no ammo or no2 your cycled.

First, I thank all that are trying to explain where I may be in this. I have never done fish-less in all my years so fish-in is all I know. I just completed my 55g fish-in and wanted to experience fish-less which makes me curious in what stages I maybe in/at.

Well, for the last couple days I noticed my ammo goes down to 0.25ppm-0.50ppm, 2-6 hours later, after being dosed (depending what I dose it to, 1-4ppm).

The pics are all from yesterday in testing order and the last one is this morning

Nitrates are 20ppm, and trites are off the charts. I have done a PWC one time, I think it was 2 days ago, when I thought I overdosed the ammo...I found out later that I didn't have enough water agitation so I was not getting a good water sample (took care of that, lowered water level).

So this is my reading as of now....I have been kind of doing this thing alone without much feed back so I guess I am suppose to dosey up ammo again????
Can someone be so kind that has done fish-less cycling before tell me do I wait till TRATES are in the red zones and ammo/trites are gone (btw my ammo will not 0 out my waater source has ammo and my other tank tests to 0.25 all the time) or are there other things or signs to believe I maybe cycled..Idk

 

[Bruna75]

I was clueless during my fishless cycle, thankfully the kind people here helped me through it I do know when my nitrites were off the charts I waited a couple days and if they didn't go anywhere I did a huge water change. I ended up doing about 4 maybe more total water changes. Lol. Them stinky nitrites wouldn't budge! But out of nowhere I woke up and everything zeroed out one morning my nitrates were off the charts for a couple of weeks before that happened though. My cycle was about 16 days total hope that reassures you I did initially over dose my ammo too :O but did a giant water change as soon as I did

 

[Aqualady40]

I was clueless during my fishless cycle, thankfully the kind people here helped me through it I do know when my nitrites were off the charts I waited a couple days and if they didn't go anywhere I did a huge water change. I ended up doing about 4 maybe more total water changes. Lol. Them stinky nitrites wouldn't budge! But out of nowhere I woke up and everything zeroed out one morning my nitrates were off the charts for a couple of weeks before that happened though. My cycle was about 16 days total hope that reassures you I did initially over dose my ammo too :O but did a giant water change as soon as I did

I am on day 14 now and was considering doing another PWC 50% to get trites readable then redose ammo to 1-2ppm...is this a good idea?

 

[Bruna75]

How long have your nitrites been off the charts? I really am not the best to give advice seeing I relied on what the people here were telling me to do. Lol. But I know I was told to wait it out a few days and if nothing changed to do a water change. Also to keep an eye on my ph to make sure it didn't drop too much. so honestly I would wait till someone with more knowledge than me to offer some advice I was told a water change wouldn't harm anything also. Like I said I woke up one morning and I was cycled and was not expecting it. It was like an early Xmas present. So try not to go crazy like I did cuz you may wake up with an early present too one morning

 

[blert]

I would get the nitrite level back on the scale. Dose the ammonia back up every 24 hours.
When ammonia and nitrite are reduced to zero over a 24 hour period you are done.

 

[Aqualady40]

How long have your nitrites been off the charts? I really am not the best to give advice seeing I relied on what the people here were telling me to do. Lol. But I know I was told to wait it out a few days and if nothing changed to do a water change. Also to keep an eye on my ph to make sure it didn't drop too much. so honestly I would wait till someone with more knowledge than me to offer some advice I was told a water change wouldn't harm anything also. Like I said I woke up one morning and I was cycled and was not expecting it. It was like an early Xmas present. So try not to go crazy like I did cuz you may wake up with an early present too one morning

Yeah I got a present on my fish-in at 6 weeks and 5 days.....but my trites have been off charts for a good week and trates have been appearing/climbing for the last 3-4 days now...Ph is steady at 7.4 so far......

 

[Aqualady40]

I would get the nitrite level back on the scale. Dose the ammonia back up every 24 hours.
When ammonia and nitrite are reduced to zero over a 24 hour period you are done.

I am so nervous that I may overdose the tank again so when I add drops of ammo, how much time in between should I test before adding more?

 

[blert]

I am so nervous that I may overdose the tank again so when I add drops of ammo, how much time in between should I test before adding more?

Give it about a half hour to mix.
Try this calculator...
http://www.fishforums.net/aquarium-calculator.htm

 

[Aqualady40]

Give it about a half hour to mix.
Try this calculator...
Calculator

Thank you..... BTW not going to use the calculator that is how I overdosed the first time...it was definitely useful when no ammo was present (6ml got me 4ppm reading) UNLESS I don't know how to use it once ammo is present other than that I rather do little by little and test in between....

 

[blert]

Thank you..... BTW not going to use the calculator that is how I overdosed the first time...it was definitely useful when no ammo was present (6ml got me 4ppm reading) UNLESS I don't know how to use it once ammo is present other than that I rather do little by little and test in between....

Simple enough... If your tank is at 1ppm and you want to raise it to 4ppm then just calculate enough for 3ppm.

 

[Aqualady40]

Okay yesterday I kept having to redose my ammo to 1-2 and today I have dosed ammo to 1-2, now 1-2 hours later I have retest ammo and it is back at 0.25...what do I do???? The first pic is my results from first thing this morning after dosing ammo and second pic is after waiting 1-2 hours...

 

[Aqualady40]

doing a 50-75% PWC to get trites down, redosing 1-2ppm amm0, will add seeded filter media, will retest 30 minutes-1hr later

 

[blert]

Don't stress. The nitrite phase takes longer than the ammonia phase. Don't bother testing and dosing other than every 24 hours or you are going to run the nitrite up very high, your ammonia munching bacteria will not starve in this time. You can even skip a day if you want. Once you start to see the nitrite coming down you will be very close.

 

[Aqualady40]

Dosed ammo to 2.0 last night....my ammo is never 0 in my cycled tank being ammo is in my source which is 1.0 so my cycled tank stays at .25....here are my readings tonight...yeah getting closer...... trates starting to rise...just redosed ammo again...