29 gallon fishless cycle!!

[Tyler3533]

It's a good habit to be in to turn off filters/electrical appliances when sticking your hands in a fishtank. Just don't take an extended lunch break in the midst of wc.

A thermometer definitely would help but using your hand is actually accurate within a degree or two. Have you noticed if your nitrates are starting to increase yet?

Yes I think they have. Last time I checked. They were barley visible

 

[Tyler3533]

Ok so yesterday I did a 80% water change. It lowered the nitrites to around 4ppm and then re dosed ammonia to 3ppm. Today the results are

Ammonia .25
Nitrite ??
Nitrate 50

What should I do as of now. Do water change to lower levels. Or just re dose ammonia to 2 ppm. 17 days into cycle

 

[Tyler3533]

Just tested my water. Ammonia level is .25 and nitrites are off the chart. Doing another big water change now. Why are my nitrites so high?

 

[Tyler3533]

So did a 100% water change. Hopefully that will stop the nitrites from being so high

 

[XimeD]

Like someone else mentioned, it's normal for nitrites to be high at this point in the cycle. You could dose to 2ppm of ammonia instead of 4ppm then as you notice the nitrites being consumed faster start increasing back up to 4ppm. How big each bacterial colony can be is determined by food availability so as you start dosing to 2ppm of ammonia some of your colony will starve out and then grow back when you increase the dose (the ammonia consuming bacteria divides every 24hrs so it shouldn't take more than a couple of days to regrow). Your choice, if I were you I would stick to the water changes when nitrites are off the chart but I wanted to give you the option in case you were really fed up with water changes.

Your tank is considered cycled when it can turn 4ppm of ammonia fully into nitrates (meaning 0 nitrites) in 24hrs.

Good luck you're almost done :$

 

[Tyler3533]

Just tested the water.
Ammonia .25
Nitrites are off the chart again
Nitrates 40ppm

I dosed to 2ppm ammonia yesterday. What should I do next?

 

[jlk]

Water change- try to drop your nitrites down to 1-3ppm then skip the ammonia & let's see how your nitrites & nitrates look tomorrow. Your amm>nitrite will not starve so don't worry!

 

[Tyler3533]

Water change- try to drop your nitrites down to 1-3ppm then skip the ammonia & let's see how your nitrites & nitrates look tomorrow. Your amm>nitrite will not starve so don't worry!

Just did a 75% change. Should I NOT dose back up too 2ppm. And let it sit tell tomorrow. But won't be able to check water tell 4pm

 

[jlk]

Just did a 75% change. Should I NOT dose back up too 2ppm. And let it sit tell tomorrow. But won't be able to check water tell 4pm

Check your nitrites & nitrates and see what they read now so you can compare it to tomorrows numbers. If they are .50 or higher, skip the ammonia. None.

 

[Tyler3533]

Check your nitrites & nitrates and see what they read now so you can compare it to tomorrows numbers. If they are .50 or higher, skip the ammonia. None.

Nitrites was at 3-4ppm nitrAtes where at 10ppm. Added very very minimum ammonia. Hopefully nitrites will lower by tomorrow. Should the nitrites lower since I added like to .25 ammonia

 

[jlk]

Your nitrites will likely be higher because you added ammonia. Let's see how your numbers look tomorrow & go from there!

 

[Tyler3533]

Your nitrites will likely be higher because you added ammonia. Let's see how your numbers look tomorrow & go from there!

Ok so just tested my water. The readings are.

ammonia .25
Nitrites off chart
Nitrates 30ppm

 

[jlk]

Leave everything be- do NOT add any ammonia. Lets see how things go over the next couple of days. No need for a water change either. Just make sure you keep an eye on your ph. Once again, your bacteria are not going to starve so do not worry!!! Relax a bit- your tank will cycle on its own terms, in its own time frame!

 

[Tyler3533]

Leave everything be- do NOT add any ammonia. Lets see how things go over the next couple of days. No need for a water change either. Just make sure you keep an eye on your ph. Once again, your bacteria are not going to starve so do not worry!!! Relax a bit- your tank will cycle on its own terms, in its own time frame!

Ok I will test again tomorrow afternoon. And update here. Thanks for the help!

 

[Tyler3533]

Ok so it's been 2 days since I last did anything with the tank. I have not added ammonia for 3 days. Levels are

Ammonia little less than .25
nitrite still off the chart
Nitrates 30ppm

 

[jlk]

So, the nitrates have increased a bit? This is a step in the right direction! Up to you- you can either give your tank another day & see if they increase more or do a water change to drop your nitrites down to a readable level then add a small amount of ammonia (1ppm) & see how things look tomorrow.

 

[Tyler3533]

So, the nitrates have increased a bit? This is a step in the right direction! Up to you- you can either give your tank another day & see if they increase more or do a water change to drop your nitrites down to a readable level then add a small amount of ammonia (1ppm) & see how things look tomorrow.

I will give it another day test again. Then do a water change to lower stuff. Then re dose to 1ppm. Sound ok?

 

[jlk]

Yep! Hopefully, those nitrates will be even higher tomorrow!

 

[Tyler3533]

Just checked my parameters.

Ammonia seems to be close to 0
Nitrites are still high
Nitrates closer to 40ppm

What should I do next PWC?

 

[jlk]

Thats good news! Ok, can you try a few dilution tests just to see how high your nitrites actually are? It will give a better a idea for what size wc to do. Start with 50% tank mixed with 50% tap (equivalent to a 50% wc) & see if you get a readable nitrite level. Then 25% tank-75% tap (75%wc). If you still cant get a readable number, 10%tank-90%tap (90%wc). If the nitrites are still unreadable at this point, then do as close to 100%wc as you can manage then redose ammonia to 1ppm. Hang in there!