Fishless Cycling Issue..

[Kawaipoon]

Hi,

Ive been fishless cycling my 30G tank now for over 4 weeks,

I have never seen nitrIte in my tank in these 4 weeks. My ammonia level has never gone down during these 4 weeks, recently the Ammo levels can drop from 2.0ppm to 0.50ppm in 48 hrs?

Is this a good sign? Is it possible to cycle tank without seeing any nitrIte through out?

Many thanks,

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Hi,

Ive been fishless cycling my 30G tank now for over 4 weeks,

I have never seen nitrIte in my tank in these 4 weeks. My ammonia level has never gone down during these 4 weeks, recently the Ammo levels can drop from 2.0ppm to 0.50ppm in 48 hrs?

Is this a good sign? Is it possible to cycle tank without seeing any nitrIte through out?

Many thanks,

Sounds like you're hitting the first stages of the bacteria. Look for no2 next as the ammo goes from 3-4ppm to 0 in 24hrs.

Keep the faith and good job

 

[Kawaipoon]

Sounds like you're hitting the first stages of the bacteria. Look for no2 next as the ammo goes from 3-4ppm to 0 in 24hrs.

Keep the faith and good job

Yeah hopefully this long wait will be worth it. First time i've seen ammonia drop in 4-5weeks. Lets hope for some no2.

 

[Ruth87]

I'm on my second lot of Ammo and havent seen nitrites or nitrates yet hoping to see some very soon and I've been cycling for 4 weeks

 

[Kawaipoon]

what do you mean second lot of Ammo? Seen it drop once?

 

[Kawaipoon]

Hi all,


As i said above, ive never seen any nitrIte in the 4 weeks ive been cycling, but my nitrAtes seems to be going up.

Test results today

Ammo: 1.0ppm
NitrIte: 0ppm
NitrAte: 40-80ppm

I think nitrAte in my tap water (in UK) is around 30ppm. Does my nitrAte being this high affect the cycle? or is this a good sign?

Ammo is slowly going down it looks (or im hoping it is).

thanks,

 

[carey]

Are you re-dosing your ammonia when it goes down? What are you using for ammonia source, shrimp, fish flakes or straight ammonia?

Have you actually tested your tap water for ammonia and nitrates? That way we can tell if that's affecting anything.

 

[Kawaipoon]

Im using pure ammonia, yeah when ammonia gets to 1.0ppm. I add a few more drops to get into 2.0-3.0ppm mark.

Tap water:
Ammo: 0ppm
NitrAte: about 30ppm

 

[carey]

The good news is you have nitrates so you have all the bacteria you need. The bad is that you don't have any nitrites. I read the whole post but forgot, have you gotten any trites at all yet? Thats the big first hurdle..after you get them it's just a matter of them dropping.

Are you doing pwc's, maybe that's slowing down the cycle?

I';m just trying to help, I'm OK at all this but when cycles get stalled or screwy I'm a bit lost. LOL

There are some EXPERTS on here with cycling, what we need is eco to catch this thread.

 

[Kawaipoon]

Thats correct, havent seen any nitrIte in tank yet. It's been 4-5 weeks now. I appreciate your help and advice

If there are any experts who can read this and help would be appriciated too.

 

[eco23]

Did I hear my name? lol How many days ago did the ammonia begin falling? There can be a lag time between this and the time the no2 will start showing up...I'd say 3-4 days is within reason.

My first thought would be a faulty test kit. If you haven't already, it might be a good idea to bring a sample to the lfs and have them double check your results. It's not unheard of for API to put out a bad batch of liquids (I think I remember that's what you're using).

Don't you also have a smaller tank you borrowed some media from? It might be a good idea to slowly start transplanting more of the media into the bigger one. I'd just take a small piece out every few days (maybe around 5% or a little more) and move it into the bigger tank. You just don't want to remove too much at once and throw the smaller one out of balance. It'll recover quickly and shouldn't mini-cycle as long as you don't pull too much out at one time.

Remember too that nitrAte is not actually bacteria, it is the byproduct of the nitrifying bacteria. So the fact that there is nitrAte present in the tap water will not help in cycling the tank...wont affect it negatively either. The fact that the nitrAte is rising is also leads me to believe that the nitrIte test is faulty. The first type of bacteria eats ammonia and excretes no2, then the second bacteria eats the no2 and excretes no3...so the fact it is rising should prove there is some no2 > no3 bacteria in the tank...I've gotta blame the test.

See if you can get it checked out and start moving some seeded media into the 30 gallon. Swish the media around in the water a bit, then stick it into the filter so it is the first thing the water contacts...make the filter you are trying to colonize the second thing the water hits and have them squeezing up against each other.

Keep us posted! Every tank will cycle...some just test our patience more than others, lol.

 

[Kawaipoon]

Hi Eco,

The Ammo was starting to drop id say about 2-3 days ago. So hopefully nitrIte will start showing. If its not a faulty test kit issue.

I have tried to donate some/most of the media from small tank into 30G tank. Been over a week with no luck. Ive also brought more media to put into small tank incase i need to put more into the 30G.

I will try and get the water tested by the lfs and maybe try to donate some more media soon.

Yeah, will keep updated. Many thanks,

 

[eco23]

Hi Eco,

The Ammo was starting to drop id say about 2-3 days ago. So hopefully nitrIte will start showing. If its not a faulty test kit issue.

I have tried to donate some/most of the media from small tank into 30G tank. Been over a week with no luck. Ive also brought more media to put into small tank incase i need to put more into the 30G.

I will try and get the water tested by the lfs and maybe try to donate some more media soon.

Yeah, will keep updated. Many thanks,

Okay, I think you're well on your way and you'll see no2 shooting up in a day or two. Seems like you were off to a slow start...but everything looks on track now. If you don't see no2 in another few days go ahead and get a second hand test done...but I expect you'll see it yourself.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Hi Eco,

The Ammo was starting to drop id say about 2-3 days ago. So hopefully nitrIte will start showing. If its not a faulty test kit issue.

I have tried to donate some/most of the media from small tank into 30G tank. Been over a week with no luck. Ive also brought more media to put into small tank incase i need to put more into the 30G.

I will try and get the water tested by the lfs and maybe try to donate some more media soon.

Yeah, will keep updated. Many thanks,

How is your LFS testing you water?

I'd highly recommend you get a liquid test kit (ie API FW Master test kit) and do your own testing.

 

[Kawaipoon]

Hi Mr Limpet,

Yeah i do already have API FW Master test kit. Just maybe my nitrIte test is faulty, so going to lfs to see if they have same results.

 

[Kawaipoon]

YAY =)

Over the last few days i've finally seen nitrItes showing

Test results 24hrs after dosing:

Ammo: 0.50 ppm
NitrIte: 0.25 ppm
NitrAte: Over 80 ppm

My Ammo is slowly decreasing and nitrite slowly increasing, which is a very good sign at the moment.

Would it be best to do any PWC to bring down the nitrAtes? Does nitrAte being so high delay/stall the cycle?

Thanks,

 

[eco23]

I'd say since we've got things moving in the right direction...I'd leave it be. I wouldn't worry about the pwc until we see the no2 shooting up a bit higher. However, if the ammo dropping or no2 climbing seems to slow down at all...go ahead and break out the bucket . Looks good though!

 

[Kawaipoon]

Yeah the no2 had been rising slowly everyday. Will go by your advice.

Thanks again

 

[Kawaipoon]

Hi again,

My NitrItes are rising slowing each day (today 0.50ppm), but Ammo still seems to be staying 0.5-1.0ppm. (Test results after 24hrs)

Is the cycling going fine? Will the Ammo start dropping to 0ppm soon?

Thanks,

 

[eco23]

Hi again,

My NitrItes are rising slowing each day (today 0.50ppm), but Ammo still seems to be staying 0.5-1.0ppm. (Test results after 24hrs)

Is the cycling going fine? Will the Ammo start dropping to 0ppm soon?

Thanks,

I'd just keep dosing the ammo every 24 hours. If it's dropping from 4ppm down to .5-1...that's fantastic progress. If it seems like the conversion slows at all, I'd go ahead and do maybe a 30% pwc to restore any nutrients (which your water might be lacking in) back into the water. Also, if you have fish food, it's a great idea to add a small pinch of FINELY ground up food into the tank. This will add tons of things into the water column that the bacteria love to consume. Just try to grind it into as fine of a powder as possible.