Fishless cycling questions

[Bruna75]

I did a 75% water change and waited 45 min and tested and this is what I got
Ammonia .25
Nitrite .50
Nitrate 5
I didn't test the ph because I broke one of my vials but will test in a bit:/ so I don't know if I should dose with ammonia and if so what to dose it up to:/

 

[tiger terror]

Would only dose if you see your ammo drop to 0...stay with it until you see those double 0's in ammo&nitrites..

 

[jlk]

I think its ok to add a small amount of ammonia- since your tank is at .25 right now, add enough to bring it up to 1ppm. I know the waiting is hard but hang in there!

 

[Bruna75]

Ok going to dose it to one And your right this waiting is killing me! LOL. Luckily I had a busy day yesterday so I didn't go bonkers :O thanks for the replies everyone will let you know how it looks tomorrow

 

[Bruna75]

Ok so I dosed it to 1 last night and just tested it again
Ammonia 1 (didn't go down at all)
Nitrite 5+
nitrate 10
Ph 7.8
What I am not understanding is how did my nitrite go up and ammonia not go down at all? What do you guys think I should do next? Another water change to bring the nitrite down again?

 

[Botanica]

Ok so I dosed it to 1 last night and just tested it again
Ammonia 1 (didn't go down at all)
Nitrite 5+
nitrate 10
Ph 7.8
What I am not understanding is how did my nitrite go up and ammonia not go down at all? What do you guys think I should do next? Another water change to bring the nitrite down again?

Did you check an hour after you dosed the ammonia to make sure it was only at 1? I've made mistakes dosing the ammonia...it could happen...so maybe it was really at 1.5 or 2? Was it a full 24 hrs between dosing and testing?

 

[Bruna75]

I waited 45 minutes then tested and it was a 1:/ and I tested again in 24 hours and still a 1. I cut up my filter pad from my 20 and stuffed it In the baskets this morning, I started with gravel from there, rocks, 3 moss balls and now I added the cut up nasty filter hoping to speed things up:/

 

[Bruna75]

I thought since I started with some stuff from my other tank this would go by a lil quicker

 

[Botanica]

I thought since I started with some stuff from my other tank this would go by a lil quicker

It probably will be quicker...but your only like two weeks into cycle aren't you? . I've read of some fishless cycles taking months. Mine was 5 weeks I think...with seeded media. I think cycling is like gardening...patience required.

 

[Bruna75]

Yeah 2 weeks in. I am very impatient if you could not tell . I have never done a Fishless cycle before. I have never seen numbers like this. Lol! I always have done fish in with a lot of water changes. The last tank I cycled took 2 weeks with a lone platy. I was going to use it for a nursery tank but my son thought it would make a better home for one of the sad bettas at petsmart thanks for helping me through this and reminding me patience is a must

 

[jlk]

I thought since I started with some stuff from my other tank this would go by a lil quicker

It will help to seed your tank but it wont necessarily cycle it. Using seeded media is relative to the amount your using and the bioload it carries- if you moved all the media from a heavily stocked, cycled 75g to a 10g, it would like cycle instantly. Vice versa, if you moved the media from a 10g betta tank to a 75g, it will likely only have a minimal effect, if any at all. Hang in there- your doing fine!!!

 

[Bruna75]

Thanks! Makes sense one more question though should I do a water change to get the nitrites down today? I tested my ph a few minutes ago and it went down from 7.8 to a bright blue so I had to use the other ph test and it was a 7.6 I know it's not much of a drop but I don't know if it will go lower quickly or what. Lol. I surely don't want anything to stall:O
Thanks again guys for all your help and reassurance it's keeping me a lil bit more sane through this

 

[jlk]

Just keep an eye on your ph for now. If it drops further, then a wc is a good idea. Unfortunately, the nitrite>nitrate phase is the longest & hardest to endure. If there is no increase your nitrates/drop in nitrites over the next week, then it may be time for a wc as well. I would drop your ammonia dose down to keep your nitrites from reaching insane levels if they are not being converted yet.

 

[Bruna75]

Ok so my ph is back up to 7.8. Weird. I tested it last night and this morning and both times 7.8. Ammonia went down to .25 and nitrites are off the chart as usual. Nitrate a 10 or 20. I hate that nitrate test:/ I haven't dosed with ammonia again but am thinking of doing a huge water change to bring the nitrite down. Question is what do I dose to this time? .50? I don't want sky high nitrite again:/

 

[jlk]

Lets give your tank a day or two and see if the nitrates increase at all. Yes, the master kit nitrate chart is a pain in the butt. The lower numbers are basically the same color. Some individual tests have different colored charts that are easier to figure out lower numbers but the higher numbers look the same. Not sure why API does this... Hang in there!!!

 

[Bruna75]

Ok will do my husband will be relieved. Lol. I told him I was going to attempt the water change my self and he was a lil worried about the house flooding. I'll give it a couple more days thank you

 

[Bruna75]

Update! My tank finally finished on the 11th! I Got fish in on sat thanks guts for helping me out here are some pics

 

[tiger terror]

Looks great! Are those some rainbows I see? Only one more piece of advice I have is that you might want to raise the in takes for your filters as its almost impossible to keep sand out of the filter..can cut the life of the impeller drastically.. Again great start!

 

[Bruna75]

Looks great! Are those some rainbows I see? Only one more piece of advice I have is that you might want to raise the in takes for your filters as its almost impossible to keep sand out of the filter..can cut the life of the impeller drastically.. Again great start!

Thanks yes I have 5 bosemi or however you spell it rainbows in there we already cut the intake once and it wasn't enough. I will have him cut it again next water change thanks for the advice

 

[tiger terror]

Nice pic for fish..beautiful color as they mature..