Nope nothing at all like that, I know it was really weird almost 3.5 weeks and no decrease at all the first time around. The second time around now its dropping but i still think its very slow but at least i am seeing some progress this time
Thanks
Fishless Cycling problem
- Thread starter viper20
- Start date
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Nope nothing at all like that, I know it was really weird almost 3.5 weeks and no decrease at all the first time around. The second time around now its dropping but i still think its very slow but at least i am seeing some progress this time
Thanks
There was a thread the other day that we were talking about this issue and basically what came out of it was while fishless cycling is often around 5-8 weeks every tank has it's own chemistry and sometimes the cycling is just slow for no obvious reasons. As long as your getting nitrite now and hopefully starting to get some nitrates you just have to wait it out. Also the nitrite phase of cycling usually takes the longest.
Ok i didnt check for nitrites/nitrates as of yet i figured it would be a waste until ammonia starts to drop a little faster. Am i correct about that or should i test for them now?
Thanks
Mebbid
Aquarium Advice Addict
Forget the fishless cycle and do it either fish in or a silent start.
I agree with Mebbid at this point. If your ph is good (which could cause a stall if low enough) then I'd seriously consider doing a fish in cycle. It would also be a good idea to get a bunch of fast growing plants, like water sprite and plant the tank with at least 80% substrate coverage and finish up your cycle.
Thanks for the responses guys. I have just added some baking soda to the water to bring the ph up to 8.4. Like i said i have 0 nitrites but when i did the nitrate reading it is at 20 that seems really odd to me to have a reading of 0 for nitrites but a reading of 20 for nitrates. I tested it 3 times to be sure i did not make a mistake
Lot of people on AA having been posting about the same type of odd readings but if you add 2 or 4 ppm of ammonia and within 24 hours you have 0 for ammonia and nitrites and you have increasing nitrates you can consider yourself cycled.
Hey Guys,
I decided to stick with the cycle for a few more days and to my surprise i believe i am now cycled its weird it seems everything happened all at once but for the last 2 days i added 4ppm of ammonia to the tank and 24 hours later my readings were 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites, i then redosed to 4ppm and 24 hours later same thing both levels were at 0 and nitrates looked to be between 80-100
So now my next question is I want to make sure i do the next steps correctly before i add the fish. It is my understanding that i will now do a huge water change something like 80-90% and then when i refill with water i will add seachem prime and turn my heater down to about 78 degrees, then 24 hours after i do this process i add in my fish am i correct with all of this? Did i miss anything? And finally since my cycle is complete after i add my fish what maintenance do i need to be doing like how often should i be checking levels once the fish are in, what levels are too high when the fish are in, how often should i be using the gravel vacuum, and how often should i be performing PWC's?
Thanks again guys!
I decided to stick with the cycle for a few more days and to my surprise i believe i am now cycled its weird it seems everything happened all at once but for the last 2 days i added 4ppm of ammonia to the tank and 24 hours later my readings were 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites, i then redosed to 4ppm and 24 hours later same thing both levels were at 0 and nitrates looked to be between 80-100
So now my next question is I want to make sure i do the next steps correctly before i add the fish. It is my understanding that i will now do a huge water change something like 80-90% and then when i refill with water i will add seachem prime and turn my heater down to about 78 degrees, then 24 hours after i do this process i add in my fish am i correct with all of this? Did i miss anything? And finally since my cycle is complete after i add my fish what maintenance do i need to be doing like how often should i be checking levels once the fish are in, what levels are too high when the fish are in, how often should i be using the gravel vacuum, and how often should i be performing PWC's?Thanks again guys!
Sounds like your cycled for sure. Do that huge WC so nitrates are at least 20ppm or below. Do a weekly WC of 50% and I usually check my levels right before a WC to see where the tank is running at weekly. When you add your fish which you can pretty much do right away since your BB is at a very high level, just check readings for a few days after adding to make sure nothing spikes, which it shouldn't. If ammonia or nitrites get above .25ppm at any time you need to do a WC.
Dlee13
Aquarium Advice Activist
Hey Guys,
I decided to stick with the cycle for a few more days and to my surprise i believe i am now cycled its weird it seems everything happened all at once but for the last 2 days i added 4ppm of ammonia to the tank and 24 hours later my readings were 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites, i then redosed to 4ppm and 24 hours later same thing both levels were at 0 and nitrates looked to be between 80-100
Thanks again guys!
Hey Viper20!
I was wondering how much baking soda you added to get your PH up and do you think that's what helped it get going again? I'm in a very similar position to you so I'm trying everything I can
Hello,
I am not sure if thats what helped to get things moving but i would personally atrtribute it to that because after i increased the ph level that seemed to really get the cycle going. As far as how much i added i did not really measure i just added a little bit then waited about 15 minutes and then checked the ph, i kept repeating this process until i was at about 8.4
Thanks
Hey Rivercats,
Thanks again for your help. Do i do that weekly WC even if the levels are ok if so is it still 50% or is it then 25%? And as always everytime you change the water you should add a prime dosage to the new water you add correct?
Thanks again!
Dlee13
Aquarium Advice Activist
Thanks for the adivce, I am definitely going to give it a try since nothing has happened in the past 5 weeks! I read somewhere to add 1 teaspoon per 5gal so I'll just go with that ^^
Thanks Again and congrats on finishing your cycle
OK so I drained about 90% of the water and refilled the tank and my nitrates are between 20-40 so my question is how can i get them lower do i need to redrain the tank again or is there another simpler way? I added 1 ppm of ammonia and i will let it sit overnight and check all the levels again tommorrow
Thanks
Thanks
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