Day 27 fishless cycle

[StarterFisherman]

Ammonia .25 ppm
PH 7.8
NitrIte higher than 5.0 ppm
NitrAte 5.0 ppm

Should I wait until ammonia is zero before doing 90% water change?if not when? If not 90%, how much?

 

[fort384]

Wait till it is 0. Then dose ammonia up to 1 or 2 ppm again and wait till it hits 0 1 more time. You also need to wait until your nitrite is down to 0 as well. When the tank is cycled, you will have 0 ppm NH4 and NO2, and detectable NO3.

 

[StarterFisherman]

Wait till it is 0. Then dose ammonia up to 1 or 2 ppm again and wait till it hits 0 1 more time. You also need to wait until your nitrite is down to 0 as well. When the tank is cycled, you will have 0 ppm NH4 and NO2, and detectable NO3.

So when it hits 0ppm again for the 2nd time, is that when I do a water change? 90% right? (It's a 10 gallon tank)

 

[fort384]

Your nitrite and ammonia need to hit zero after a couple of ammonia doses. Then a big PWC and you are ready to go. 90% is fine.

 

[librarygirl]

Yep as Fort said you need to wait until your nitrite drops to 0. AMmonia should be 0 as well; what test kit are you using? Strips aren't very accurate and for the API Liquid test it can be hard to discern between 0 and .25; you can test some distilled or spring water and compare it to the tank's test and see if they match. Also how long have nitrites been 5+? Prolonged high nitrites can stall the cycle as well so if they've been that high for a while (over a week) you might want to do a large water change (it might take more than one) to get nitrites to a readable level on the chart, redose ammonia and go from there.

 

[StarterFisherman]

Yep as Fort said you need to wait until your nitrite drops to 0. AMmonia should be 0 as well; what test kit are you using? Strips aren't very accurate and for the API Liquid test it can be hard to discern between 0 and .25; you can test some distilled or spring water and compare it to the tank's test and see if they match. Also how long have nitrites been 5+? Prolonged high nitrites can stall the cycle as well so if they've been that high for a while (over a week) you might want to do a large water change (it might take more than one) to get nitrites to a readable level on the chart, redose ammonia and go from there.

I am using the APi master kit
I just started testing the nitrItes a few days ago

Can I/Should do a 90% water change tonight? Then test in 24hrs. Redose the ammonia (I use 2ml to get to 4ppm when I started), then retest a couple of hours after that and see where I'm at?

 

[fort384]

Not a bad idea. Give it more than a few hours though.

 

[StarterFisherman]

Great! Thanks guys.

I will do that and check in tomorrow w/ results

 

[StarterFisherman]

Yesterday I did a 90% water change


I just tested the water
Ammonia 0ppm
PH 7.6
NitrIte 0.25ppm
NitAte 5.0 ppm

 

[fort384]

did you dose the ammonia back up to 2ppm last night after the water change?

 

[StarterFisherman]

did you dose the ammonia back up to 2ppm last night after the water change?

No. I thought I was supposed to wait 24 hrs.

I will dose now. 2 or 4 ppm?

 

[fort384]

2 or 4 or anywhere in between is fine