fishless cycle ?

[redbelly]

I have an 86g tank that I have been tryin to do a fishless cycle on.
When I started I dosed the ammonia everyday and my nitrites came up to 1.6-2.0.
After about 5-6 more days the nitrites did not budge then all of a sudden they dropped to 0 and my ammonia went up a bit to around 3-3.5.
Is this normal? Keep in mind my tank is seeded with 2 mature filters and some gravel plus 5 plants.

 

[Zagz]

Your ammonia should remain around 4 ppm until you see nitrites, then you will see nitrates and you can do a pwc and be cycled. It is possible your ammonia got too high and actually caused the cycle to stall.

 

[redbelly]

I had a high reading on nitrates at first but now there about 5 ppm

 

[rich311k]

Did you change water at all? Nitrates should not go down. Any plants?

 

[redbelly]

no water change but I have 5 plants.

 

[Guest]

The plants consume Nitrite, and you may just have an ammonia spike, you can wait for the ammonia to fall or do a water change till it goes to zero. Regardless you want to add fish as soon as that ammonia reading is zero (and nitrite zero) so the bacteria doesnt die off.

Also, if your filter is seeded you can usually start off with one or two fish right away.

 

[sudz]

SO when i get my 44 gallon, if i use the filter material from my 10 gallon, i could, say put my cherry barb and 2 neon's in it to keep things going? as soon as its up to temp and de-chlorinated? or should i still wait a few days?

 

[Guest]

SO when i get my 44 gallon, if i use the filter material from my 10 gallon, i could, say put my cherry barb and 2 neon's in it to keep things going? as soon as its up to temp and de-chlorinated? or should i still wait a few days?

Yes that's definitely possible, but you would have to test the water religously... and you would only be able to add a few fish at a time (like 1-2 each week) So the bacterial colony can grow to take care of the wastes.

 

[redbelly]

Thanks, I'm just trying to be careful I've got 3 6" piranha that are due for some more room but I dont want to rush it and risk losing them!

So should I keep dosing with ammonia but half the dosage?
Where do I go from here?

 

[Guest]

I would just keep testing the ammonia until it goes to zero and when it goes to zero add fish, as long as you HAD nitrites, that went down to zero... and if you have Nitrates then as soon as that ammonia hits zero you should be cycled and can add fish.