6 Weeks and still no Nitrite drop?

[lighty]

Hi,

I have been fishless cycling for 6 weeks and not seen a drop in nitrites? My setup and routine has been as follows:

-200litre/55g
-84F temp
-Fluval U4 internal filter Venturi on with good circulation and agitation
-Substrate and No Fish / No plants
-Lights off
-Brand New In Date API Master Kit

Major events in Cycle:

Days 1 -3 = Dosed to 5pmm with Household ammonia (no additives)
Day 4 = scavenged half a cup of gravel from established tank and put loose on top of substrate in one corner under filter (internal)
Day 11 = Ammonia began to drop to 4ppm (had not redosed yet) Nitrites showed up and went 5+ (dark purple). Nitrates 100+ (dark red)
Day 12 = Ammonia 3
Day 13 = Ammonia 0.25 Redosed to 3ppm. Nitrites 5+
Day 15 = Ammonia 0. Redosed to 3ppm. Nitrites 5+
Day 21 = Ammonia 0. Nitrites 5+. Went grey after 20mins so did 25% PWC and redosed to 3ppm
Day 25 = Ammonia 0. Nitrites 5+
Day 30 = Did 2x 75% PWC to bring readings onto scale. Got Nitrites to 0 and Nitrates to 60 afterwards. Redosed to 3 ppm
Day 31 = Ammonia 0. Redosed to 3ppm. Nitrites back up to 5+ (not instant purple on bottom of tube though.)
Day 36 = Ammonia 0. Did 35% PWC. Redosed to 3ppm.
Day 38 = Ammonia 0. Nitrites 5+. Did not redose to allow Nitrite catch up (had read would not harm tank).
Day 39 = Ammonia 0. Nitrites 5+. Redosed to 1ppm
Day 41 = Ammonia 0. Nitrites 5+. Redosed to 1ppm. Added handful of seeded bio media inside bio tray in filter from well established tank.
Day 42 = Ammonia 0. Nitrites 5+

Note PH is 7.6 and has been consistent.
Nitrates tested intermittently since ammonia dropped and always 100+ or more.

Am I on track still or is something slowing things down, the Nitrites and Nitrates seem to shoot up overnight and stayed there other than a temporary drop after the odd PWC.

My patience is just about holding...

Thanks.
Lighty.

 

[threnjen]

Do you know anything about your water source? Can you look up your water quality report? I'm interested in whether your water is hard or soft.

I would say generally that things look "correct" although I agree it seems to be going on a long time.

 

[lighty]

I live in a hard water area, my friend has an aquarium of similar size on the same street and has been using tap water (with conditioner) for over 5 years without problems..

Would small daily PWC help things (bring everything into readable ranges) or should I just leave it?

Thanks for any help

 

[Caliban07]

I live in a hard water area, my friend has an aquarium of similar size on the same street and has been using tap water (with conditioner) for over 5 years without problems..

Would small daily PWC help things (bring everything into readable ranges) or should I just leave it?

Thanks for any help

I would just do 1 x 50% water change to replenish nutrients and leave it. Stop dosing ammonia for a while now until nitrites fall to 0ppm. When they do you can dose ammonia. Don't worry about not feeding the bacteria they will be fine. What are your nitrate readings?

 

[lighty]

Nitrate is consistently over 100ppm and has been from when ammonia first dropped

 

[lighty]

Just done 50% PWC. Nitrites around 2ppm and nitrates around 40-80 (very dark orange)..

Smashed a testtube cleaning it.. My thinning patience with this cycle is getting lower

How long can I leave it without redosing ammonia? What if it's 2or more days before nitrites go to zero?

 

[Caliban07]

Seriously don't worry about the ammonia eating bacteria. They will just go dormant. You have much better values now. Just leave it be for a few days.

We've all smashed a tube.

 

[ArtistGardener]

Caliban is right on. I also have very hard water and each time I cycled a tank, I had a stall at the nitrite stage. Once I did a 50% water change, it started converting to nitrates in no time. One of my tanks needed an 80% change to get things moving, but it turned out perfectly. I don't know why this happens with hard water, but I've read similar reports too many times for it to be coincidence. One of the more scientific members can probably explain it. At any rate, I would guess you are days away from a fully-cycled tank once you do some big water changes. Yay!

 

[lighty]

My Nitrites today are at 0.25 so have gone down from 2ppm overnight without adding ammonia.. indicating there is some life in the cycle...

But I have been researching my water quality in the area. Nitrates in my area had a mean average of 37ppm From the TAP!... I have checked this (why hadn't I done this already, doh!) and indeed it is the darkest of orange with a hint of red!..

What now?!..

P.S. Although as I said earlier, someone in same street used this tapwater and kept discus without any special treatment for 5 years..

 

[ArtistGardener]

The secret might be lots of plants--it is amazing how much nitrate they use. My heavily planted 20 gallon and 55 gallon tanks never go over 5ppm in nitrates, even the few times they went two weeks between water changes. Certain plants really seem to absorb nitrates well: floaters like salvinia, mini water lettuce (Pistia Stratiotes), hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum), water sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides), and wisteria (Hygrophila difformis) are all nutrient sponges. Perhaps including lots of these plants will help with the nitrates.

 

[lighty]

So Friday I did the 50% PWC which brought nitrites to 2ppm and added No ammonia. Saturday Nitrites at 0.25 and added No Ammonia. Sunday Nitrites at 0 so redosed Ammonia to 1-2ppm.

Today Ammonia 0 but Nitrites back to 5ppm from the ammonia yesterday..

Should I wait again for it to drop to zero before adding ammonia again?

 

[ArtistGardener]

You can wait a day in between dosings if you want, it won't hurt, or keep dosing ammonia to 1-2 ppm. At any rate, you now know that the tank is indeed cycling. Sometimes it just takes longer to convert to nitrates. Your nitrite level will get really high again first. At that point stop dosing ammonia for a few days and see what happens. If after two or three days your nitrites don't start going down and nitrates going up, you'll have to do another partial water change. I am guessing, however, that this time everything will work out just right. And when it does, don't forget to do a huge water change (80%) to lower the nitrates, then retest the whole cycle with 2 to 4 ppm ammonia. If all ammonia and nitrite numbers are zero the next day, you're fully cycled. Good luck!

 

[Just Another Fish Guy]

I remember when I did a fishless cycle with a 29 gallon back in college; it took quite a while to go through the cycle because the water was very hard. I'm going to start my cycle this week with soft water from the house. I'm curious to see how long it will take on my 60 gallon.

 

[lighty]

So it's 7 weeks now..

Been adding 1ppm ammonia and then waiting for both ammonia and nitrites before redosing. It's taking about 48hrs per dose at the moment.

Done another water change mid week

I've not had the quick nitrite drop at all... It's really dragging..

I'm guessing my very hard water 18Gh and Nitrates of 38 From the tap aren't helping?

 

[lighty]

Still taking 48hrs for nitrites to clear per 1ppm redose of ammonia... Will be 8 weeks on Friday


Any ideas peeps?

 

[threnjen]

I'm sorry That's the pits. It IS working though. It really sucks it is taking so long.

I think you are 2 days from clearing in 24 hours, then I would just do another 2 days of dosing 2ppm ammonia and it should be done.
I'm guessing you will be done within a week to 2ppm at least

 

[lighty]

Local water report....any clues??