3 week nitrite spike fishless cycle

[orandafan12]

Ive waited for 3 weeks for nitrites to go down. I am getting impatient. How much longer until it falls to 0 ppm?

 

[Flossie]

Ive waited for 3 weeks for nitrites to go down. I am getting impatient. How much longer until it falls to 0 ppm?

Where are they now??

 

[orandafan12]

Where are they now??

Maybe 5+. Its been like this since the first day of ammonia drop. Also i did 2 75% pwc. Not on same day though

 

[Flossie]

I've heard that high nitrites can cause a stall... I suppose u should just continue daily PWC. Someone more experienced
Than me hopefully will tune in soon... Keep the PWC coming for now

 

[dollabill420]

Search for "eco's (almost) complete guide on fishless cycling" all will be answered, a stall is rare but can happen, you should document it if it really is a stall I'd be interested in your readings of chems in the aquarium

 

[orandafan12]

Search for "eco's (almost) complete guide on fishless cycling" all will be answered, a stall is rare but can happen, you should document it if it really is a stall I'd be interested in your readings of chems in the aquarium

Yes i have already seen the guide and i will keep a calender of my tank water readings if you want.

 

[orandafan12]

Also when i did this fishless cycle their were already a high count of nitrites. 5+ ppm if i recall. May this have effected the super high notrites

 

[Chris22]

I'm having the same thing happen with my cycling, think I'm on day 27 now and I've had 5.0+ppm of nitrites for about 2 1/2 weeks now maybe longer, I've done 2 90% water changes over the last two weeks which gets the nitrites to around 0.50-1.0ppm for a day then it shoots straight back up. I even tried only dosing the ammonia to 1.0ppm for a few days to try let the no2-no3(think thats right) process catch up but no luck. I'm getting sick of the colour purple lol

 

[eco23]

Also when i did this fishless cycle their were already a high count of nitrites. 5+ ppm if i recall. May this have effected the super high notrites

Can you expand on that? Where did the no2 come from? Did you have fish in the tank before doing a fishless cycle? I assume it doesn't come from your tap, right?

 

[orandafan12]

Can you expand on that? Where did the no2 come from? Did you have fish in the tank before doing a fishless cycle? I assume it doesn't come from your tap, right?

Yes i actually left the tank running for a while with some common goldfish. But they all died because i did not know what i was doing. After thet died i left the tank standing for maybe a week or 2 with no ammonia.

 

[eco23]

Yes i actually left the tank running for a while with some common goldfish. But they all died because i did not know what i was doing. After thet died i left the tank standing for maybe a week or 2 with no ammonia.

The problem was leaving the tank without ammo, most of the bacteria probably would have died. Without bacteria, the nitrIte will never convert...so there's really no way to tell where you are in your cycle. The only way to have a good baseline of where you are is to do numerous water changes and get your no2 virtually down to zero. That way you can monitor it and find out how far into your cycle you actually are.

 

[orandafan12]

The problem was leaving the tank without ammo, most of the bacteria probably would have died. Without bacteria, the nitrIte will never convert...so there's really no way to tell where you are in your cycle. The only way to have a good baseline of where you are is to do numerous water changes and get your no2 virtually down to zero. That way you can monitor it and find out how far into your cycle you actually are.

So should i do a 100% water change?

 

[eco23]

So should i do a 100% water change?

I would get your nitrIte as low as possible...around .5 will be fine. There's really no other way to accurately know where you are in your cycle since it began with such extreme no2 levels.

 

[orandafan12]

I would get your nitrIte as low as possible...around .5 will be fine. There's really no other way to accurately know where you are in your cycle since it began with such extreme no2 levels.

I got to go buy some seachem prime first. I dont have any more declorinator.

 

[orandafan12]

I would get your nitrIte as low as possible...around .5 will be fine. There's really no other way to accurately know where you are in your cycle since it began with such extreme no2 levels.

So i found that i just barely had enough of my dechlorinator. I was able to get nitrites down to about 1 or 2. Good enough?

 

[eco23]

So i found that i just barely had enough of my dechlorinator. I was able to get nitrites down to about 1 or 2. Good enough?

The lower the better...but I'd say that's fine for now. At least we'll be able to see what it does from there. I'm sure the no2 was through the roof and probably stalled since you started cycling with 5+.

 

[orandafan12]

The lower the better...but I'd say that's fine for now. At least we'll be able to see what it does from there. I'm sure the no2 was through the roof and probably stalled since you started cycling with 5+.

If it gets high tomorrow should i do a water change?

 

[eco23]

If it gets high tomorrow should i do a water change?

I don't think you'll need to for a while. The key was to knock it down, see where you are get things moving. Let is know what happens

 

[orandafan12]

I don't think you'll need to for a while. The key was to knock it down, see where you are get things moving. Let is know what happens

I just did a test. Ammo is gone. Nitrites sky rocket up to 5+ppm. Now what?

 

[eco23]

I just did a test. Ammo is gone. Nitrites sky rocket up to 5+ppm. Now what?

Just wait it out now. That let us know where you actually are in your cycle...near the end