Fishless cycle problems

[Slacksuperstar]

Hey all I started a fishless cycle on Sept 15 and here I am over a month later and cant seem to get it to finish. My ammo goes down to about .25 to .50 after being dosed to 2.0 ppm which take about a day and a half. My nitrites are constantly sky high over 5.0 ppm my nitrates are always at least 80ppm. Am ph hovers around 6.4 but lately has been dipping down to 6.0 it is about 7.6 from the tap. Its a 10 gallon with a marineland led hood a few small pieces of driftwood. And 3 amazon swords and 1 onion plant. I find myself doing water changes every other day to keep the ph from stalling the cycle. And to bring my nitrites and nitrates down to levels I can look at. I guess my question is am I doing something wrong what can I do to stabilize things so I don't have to keep changing water.

 

[nicolea]

Hey all I started a fishless cycle on Sept 15 and here I am over a month later and cant seem to get it to finish. My ammo goes down to about .25 to .50 after being dosed to 2.0 ppm which take about a day and a half. My nitrites are constantly sky high over 5.0 ppm my nitrates are always at least 80ppm. Am ph hovers around 6.4 but lately has been dipping down to 6.0 it is about 7.6 from the tap. Its a 10 gallon with a marineland led hood a few small pieces of driftwood. And 3 amazon swords and 1 onion plant. I find myself doing water changes every other day to keep the ph from stalling the cycle. And to bring my nitrites and nitrates down to levels I can look at. I guess my question is am I doing something wrong what can I do to stabilize things so I don't have to keep changing water.

I'm a rookie here but from the info I've gathered from AA, maybe your ammonia isn't spiking high enough. Mine spiked to 8 possibly higher, my chart only goes to 8. Than dropped within 24hrs and had few trites and trates left over week later, did a small WC and I was good. As soon as you change the water, I believe you are starting all over again by doing that. Check out the threads I've started people gave me some good info. Also 10g will be more difficult to keep accurate. Bigger the better ! Good luck!

 

[nicolea]

I'm a rookie here but from the info I've gathered from AA, maybe your ammonia isn't spiking high enough. Mine spiked to 8 possibly higher, my chart only goes to 8. Than dropped within 24hrs and had few trites and trates left over week later, did a small WC and I was good. As soon as you change the water, I believe you are starting all over again by doing that. Check out the threads I've started people gave me some good info. Also 10g will be more difficult to keep accurate. Bigger the better ! Good luck!

OOPS I thought this was saltwater. Disregard. I'm saltwater lol

 

[Cafrye]

starting a tank

What I have found to work best is to use some gravel from an already established tank. If you have a friend with a tank see if you can get some of his gravel to help jump start your tank.

I have also heard it can take a couple MONTHS to start a tank fishless.

Good luck

 

[shellieca]

Hey all I started a fishless cycle on Sept 15 and here I am over a month later and cant seem to get it to finish. My ammo goes down to about .25 to .50 after being dosed to 2.0 ppm which take about a day and a half. My nitrites are constantly sky high over 5.0 ppm my nitrates are always at least 80ppm. Am ph hovers around 6.4 but lately has been dipping down to 6.0 it is about 7.6 from the tap. Its a 10 gallon with a marineland led hood a few small pieces of driftwood. And 3 amazon swords and 1 onion plant. I find myself doing water changes every other day to keep the ph from stalling the cycle. And to bring my nitrites and nitrates down to levels I can look at. I guess my question is am I doing something wrong what can I do to stabilize things so I don't have to keep changing water.

How long have you had NitrItes? I did a fish IN cycle on a 10g, nitrites didn't hit until week 6 & lasted for 2 wks. Your cycle doesn't start over when you do a water change. I would think with a fish LESS you could do more than one water change in the same day to get your levels down. How big are your water changes? My understanding when doing a fish LESS cycle is you want to dose the ammonia to 4 & let it drop from there, when it hits 1 or less, dose back up to 4.

 

[jlk]

You need to start by addressing your ph first here. Once your ph drops below 6.5, your good bacteria slow down. At a ph of 6 or lower, they stop processing ammonia altogether. Do you have a decent lfs near you? If so, take a sample of your water to them & have them test your test Gh & KH and let us know how this looks. Also test your taps ph after it has gassed off- set out a container of tap water with an airstone/bubbler. If you dont have an extra, just give the water a good stir every so often to help release dissolved gasses. Test the ph in 24hrs & let us know how this looks.

Next, pick up either some crushed coral or argonite (sw section of lfs). You need to add 1-2 spoonsful of this in a mesh bag/piece clean pantyhose to your filter housing after a decent sized water change. Test your ph in 24hrs. It will be a bit of trial & error to figure out the right amount to keep your ph in a stable range. For now, keep your ammonia dose down (1ppm or less) until your ph is stable & your nitrites are being converted at a faster rate.

 

[Slacksuperstar]

My ph out of the tap is 7.6 so its dropping due to the toxins in the tank ammo niitrites and nitrates are all 0 out of the tap

 

[jlk]

My ph out of the tap is 7.6 so its dropping due to the toxins in the tank ammo niitrites and nitrates are all 0 out of the tap

It doesnt matter what your ph reads straight out of your tap. You need to do a test of your ph after it has gassed off (24hrs with aeration). As dissolved gasses leave your tap water, your ph may change, either dropping or increasing. I suspect that your water is lacking in KH and that your tap may gas off at a lower ph. _Please perform a ph test as I suggested & get your GH & KH checked at your lfs.

 

[Slacksuperstar]

Ok will do