Fish-IN Cycling - When will I see Nitrites?

[Coco1019]

You all have been such a help with my questions on my 10, I was hoping you might be able to advise me what to do for my non-planted 29. I have a whole thread, but don't want you to have to dig through it so I'll give the basics. Temp for this whole period has been 78 and I did have 9 guppies, 1 died a week later due to getting crushed between a sponge and the glass. They are fed small pinch of flakes in the morning and evening. Lights are on 8-10 hours a day,

On the 14th I started a fish-in cycle (this was after buying fish and then finding out about cycling when my fish got sick), tested and got:

pH - 7.6 (tap is 7.0)
Ammonia - .50ppm (tap has 0)
Nitrite - 0-.25ppm (the color was between the two)
Nitrate - 0

I was told to do a 50% water change and did. They (the helpful people on my thread) said to do at least 50% every time I saw ammonia of .25-.50.

10/15 - ammonia dropped to .25 and ites and ates were 0. Also added an airstone.

I was told about active sponges from Angels Plus and ordered one. Installed it on the 18th.

Parameters have basically never changed. The pH has settled at 7.4, ammonia .25, nitrites and nitrates 0. I do water changes every day usually 25% unless I'm getting into the gravel cleaning and it ends up around 50%. I have only skipped one day and when I did the ammonia went up to .50 from .25.

I have been advised to gradually increase my temp 2-4 degrees, but my heater sucks. It's not the kind that has the numbers, you just turn it and hope for the best. The next little twist I do increases it too much, too quickly to 86. I tried it when the tank was empty.

So we are on day 22 and no nitrites at all. Perfectly sky blue. I know it takes a while and I need to be patient, but when should I see some type of change?

 

[shellieca]

You all have been such a help with my questions on my 10, I was hoping you might be able to advise me what to do for my non-planted 29. I have a whole thread, but don't want you to have to dig through it so I'll give the basics. Temp for this whole period has been 78 and I did have 9 guppies, 1 died a week later due to getting crushed between a sponge and the glass. They are fed small pinch of flakes in the morning and evening. Lights are on 8-10 hours a day,

On the 14th I started a fish-in cycle (this was after buying fish and then finding out about cycling when my fish got sick), tested and got:

pH - 7.6 (tap is 7.0)
Ammonia - .50ppm (tap has 0)
Nitrite - 0-.25ppm (the color was between the two)
Nitrate - 0

I was told to do a 50% water change and did. They (the helpful people on my thread) said to do at least 50% every time I saw ammonia of .25-.50.

10/15 - ammonia dropped to .25 and ites and ates were 0. Also added an airstone.

I was told about active sponges from Angels Plus and ordered one. Installed it on the 18th.

Parameters have basically never changed. The pH has settled at 7.4, ammonia .25, nitrites and nitrates 0. I do water changes every day usually 25% unless I'm getting into the gravel cleaning and it ends up around 50%. I have only skipped one day and when I did the ammonia went up to .50 from .25.

I have been advised to gradually increase my temp 2-4 degrees, but my heater sucks. It's not the kind that has the numbers, you just turn it and hope for the best. The next little twist I do increases it too much, too quickly to 86. I tried it when the tank was empty.

So we are on day 22 and no nitrites at all. Perfectly sky blue. I know it takes a while and I need to be patient, but when should I see some type of change?

On my 10g fish IN it took 6 wks to see nitrites & they lasted 2 wks, the 46g around 5 wks & it was just a 1 day thing. I didn't have seeded filter media, I did however use Stability. I didn't do daily water changes, i went with the water change rule of if the ammonia or nitrites were .5 or higher which put my 50%+ water changes about every 3 days, I had both tanks fish IN cycling at the same time. I know it seems like an endless endeavor but it does end.

 

[Dreadz]

If you want to speed things up try tetra safestart or Dr Tims one and only. I used safestart when I was in a seemingly endless fish in cycle and two days later my tank was completely cycled. You may not even see a nitrite spike, I didn't.
Opinion isn't conclusive on here, some people report no benefit from using either of these products but safestart turned my cycle around much quicker than it would have progressed and also sorted out a mini cycle (caused by a substrate switch) in a day.
If you are going to try either product check the expiry date and only buy from a retailer you can trust to have followed the storage instructions properly as both are sensitive to temperature, and just follow the instructions on the bottle.
Good luck

 

[Coco1019]

So I'm pretty much just being impatient. I didn't realize this phase would take so long. Thanks!

 

[TOMatt]

I'm currently in the middle of my first fish-in cycle, with 6 Dwarf Spotted Danios in a 20g tank.
I started to see ammonia 4 or 5 days, but it may have been there earlier (i was using an old test kit that I didn't realize had expired, it showed 0).
The Nitrites appeared about a week after that, and the Nitrates maybe a week after the Nitrites.

I'm about 3 weeks in now, doing daily 25% PWCs, and have for the last few days my details have been:
Ammonia: between 0 and .25
Nitrites: steady at 5
Nitrates: between 5 and 10
Ph has been a steady 7.5.

If this helps at all...

 

[Coco1019]

I wonder if I could be doing PWCs that are too large?

I don't mind waiting it out. I still have a whole other tank to setup and cycle before I can add fish (fish that are in the 29 are going to a new 55) anyways. I'm just waiting on some ecocomplete to be shipped here before I can do that.

 

[librarygirl]

I'm currently in the middle of my first fish-in cycle, with 6 Dwarf Spotted Danios in a 20g tank.
I started to see ammonia 4 or 5 days, but it may have been there earlier (i was using an old test kit that I didn't realize had expired, it showed 0).
The Nitrites appeared about a week after that, and the Nitrates maybe a week after the Nitrites.

I'm about 3 weeks in now, doing daily 25% PWCs, and have for the last few days my details have been:
Ammonia: between 0 and .25
Nitrites: steady at 5
Nitrates: between 5 and 10
Ph has been a steady 7.5.

If this helps at all...

So you have fish in this tank and nitrites are 5? That's toxic levels; your fish would likely be dead or suffering from toxin poisoning. What test kit are you using? I'd do large water changes to get those nitrites down ASAP.

 

[librarygirl]

I wonder if I could be doing PWCs that are too large?

I don't mind waiting it out. I still have a whole other tank to setup and cycle before I can add fish (fish that are in the 29 are going to a new 55) anyways. I'm just waiting on some ecocomplete to be shipped here before I can do that.

You're doing fine. If ammonia or nitrite goes above .25, do a water change to get them down. Otherwise you're good. With the Angels Plus filter it's possible you'll never see the nitrite phase. It might be a bit too early to tell but it's likely. Also what test kit are you using? If its' the API liquid test, it can be hard to discern between 0 and .25 sometimes, depending on the light in the room. To be sure you could test it against some distilled or spring water. Just keep doing what you're doing and hopefully the cycle will end soon for you!

 

[Coco1019]

You're doing fine. If ammonia or nitrite goes above .25, do a water change to get them down. Otherwise you're good. With the Angels Plus filter it's possible you'll never see the nitrite phase. It might be a bit too early to tell but it's likely. Also what test kit are you using? If its' the API liquid test, it can be hard to discern between 0 and .25 sometimes, depending on the light in the room. To be sure you could test it against some distilled or spring water. Just keep doing what you're doing and hopefully the cycle will end soon for you!

Yes, I'm using the API kit.

I didn't do a change yesterday since it (ammonia) was at .25 and today it is still at .25. BUT, nitrates seem to be on the way. There was a touch of orange to the yellow today when it is normally just the bright yellow. Nitrite results were still lovely blue.

Good idea to test it against some spring water. I'll try that tomorrow.

 

[TOMatt]

So you have fish in this tank and nitrites are 5? That's toxic levels; your fish would likely be dead or suffering from toxin poisoning. What test kit are you using? I'd do large water changes to get those nitrites down ASAP.

Thanks for the warning, i wish I'd learned earlier!
There is lots of info for Ammonia and Nitrate levels, but I haven't been able to get much on Nitrites for some reason. I'm using the API Master Test kit.
After 2 weeks of Nitrites at 5ppm, the last 2 days have been:
Ammonia: 0, Nitrites: .5, Nitrates 10.


Knock on wood, I still have all 6 fish and they seem active and healthy. There are no funny marks or colourings on the fish, and I've seen them spawning, eating and swimming pretty playfully.
What warning signs should i be looking for? Sorry if this is leading to a thread hijack...

 

[Coco1019]

I don't mind hijacks in the least.

 

[Coco1019]

I tried testing the spring water today and now I'm wondering if I have had 0 ammonia for a while.

Here are the results from the tank and then the last two are the spring water. The spring water ammonia looks like .25 to me.

I'm not sure how to read the nitrite from the tank (first pic). Any advice?

 

[TOMatt]

If that first one is your tank, and as long as your lighting is good, that pic says that your levels are:
PH: 7.4
Ammonia: .5ppm
Nitrite: more than 5ppm
Nitrate: somewhere between 5 and 20ppm

 

[Coco1019]

Whoops...I posted the pic from my 10 gallon that's fishless cycling. No worries, my fish aren't in that water.

 

[Coco1019]

If that first one is your tank, and as long as your lighting is good, that pic says that your levels are:
PH: 7.4
Ammonia: .5ppm
Nitrite: more than 5ppm
Nitrate: somewhere between 5 and 20ppm

Thanks.

The ammonia one is looking darker in the pic than IRL. It's actually pretty spot on with .25. Everything else looks pretty much the same.

 

[librarygirl]

Thanks for the warning, i wish I'd learned earlier!
There is lots of info for Ammonia and Nitrate levels, but I haven't been able to get much on Nitrites for some reason. I'm using the API Master Test kit.
After 2 weeks of Nitrites at 5ppm, the last 2 days have been:
Ammonia: 0, Nitrites: .5, Nitrates 10.


Knock on wood, I still have all 6 fish and they seem active and healthy. There are no funny marks or colourings on the fish, and I've seen them spawning, eating and swimming pretty playfully.
What warning signs should i be looking for? Sorry if this is leading to a thread hijack...

If your nitrites are coming down without a water change that's good, you're probably close to cycled. If they get any higher though do a water change. Some signs of nitrite poisoning are red or brown gills, fading coloration on the fish, lethargic behavior, gasping for air. What size tank and what fish do you have? If nitrite levels were consistently at 5 for 2 straight weeks I would think the fish would be dead by now, so maybe it's a faulty test. Fish who endure cycling are often impaired in their immune systems, etc and often can get sick easier.

 

[TOMatt]

\What size tank and what fish do you have? If nitrite levels were consistently at 5 for 2 straight weeks I would think the fish would be dead by now, so maybe it's a faulty test. Fish who endure cycling are often impaired in their immune systems, etc and often can get sick easier.

I've been doing 25% water changes every day (occasionally twice a day) since the Ammonia first arrived. There are 6 Dwarf Spotted Danios in my 20g tank. I'm waiting until it's fully cycled before adding anything more.