Hi there - Hoping to get some advice and suggestions on my attempt to cycle a new tank using the fish-less method. I am on day 17 and have been adding ammonia daily per the instructions I found on-line. I have kept the ammonia levels at 3ppm daily - as of last week, the level drops to zero in 24 hours. My nitrite level is off the charts and I am also seeing nitrates (don't know the exact number, but they are present. I did two 10-15% water changes when I noticed this last week - but the levels are still the same. My PH level is also very low - i have added PH increase (not sure what brand - but it doesn't seem to work in increasing it at all!!) I guess in sum, I am wondering if this is progressing properly?? Should the nitrites be going down? Should I do another water change to get the nitrites down??? Thank you in advance for the help!!!
Help With Cycle!
- Thread starter tonyt13
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Kingzilla
Aquarium Advice Regular
10-15% is a small water change and won't be effective in lowering a spike, even if done back to back. If your nitrites are off the charts, doing a 50% water change would cut them in half so if you had say 100ppm nitrites and did a 50% PWC, you would have 50ppm left, then you do another 50% water change immediately after, it will cut your nitrites down to 25ppm.
Based on that, you can understand why only doing 10-15% is pointless in resolving a spike as two 10% PWC would only lower the nitrites from 100ppm to 81ppm (100-10%=90 and 90-10%=81)
As for your pH, what is your tank, and what is the pH of your tap water?
Based on that, you can understand why only doing 10-15% is pointless in resolving a spike as two 10% PWC would only lower the nitrites from 100ppm to 81ppm (100-10%=90 and 90-10%=81)
As for your pH, what is your tank, and what is the pH of your tap water?
Kingzilla
Aquarium Advice Regular
Sorry, I missed some points there, yes you are progressing, you've passed the first stage of the cycle, the bacteria are turning your ammonia into nitrites. The second part of the cycle is the bacteria that turn nitrites into nitrates.
You want to get the nitrites down to a safe level but you do want some there to feed the bacteria. Like the first stage, you had to feed the bacteria with ammonia but keep it in a safe level, the same still applies.
Somebody more experienced needs to offer some more info here as I'm still new to this.
You want to get the nitrites down to a safe level but you do want some there to feed the bacteria. Like the first stage, you had to feed the bacteria with ammonia but keep it in a safe level, the same still applies.
Somebody more experienced needs to offer some more info here as I'm still new to this.
Kingzilla
Aquarium Advice Regular
Nope, the bacteria are in your filter media, the gravel, and on your decorations. Although some is in the water, it is very little and a PWC of up to 50% will not harm your cycle (of course, that's providing you use water conditioner as adding untreated tap water is always a bad idea).
Your pH issue, what are the pH levels of your tank and tap water?
Your pH issue, what are the pH levels of your tank and tap water?
Thanks again, that's what I thought! The PH levels last night were around 6 I think. I did add the PH increase that my wife bought from Pet smart - but it didn't seem to have any impact. About ready to go home now and will re-check and check to see what the level out of the tap is. I have read that a low PH can stall the cycle. I have read so much about this over the last several weeks that my head is spinning !! LOL!
OK if your PH is dropping you are going to need to do a large water change.
what was your PH originally and what is it now?
I would suggest a 90 - 100% water change. make sure you temp match and condition your water. this will gt you PH back in line. a PH drop is going to stall your cycle. when your tank is converting the nitrites to nitrates (the point where you are with the big nitrite spike) this is the part where you see the PH drops - this is also the longest part of the cycle. hang in there! do a large water change and monitor your PH daily at this point
what was your PH originally and what is it now?
I would suggest a 90 - 100% water change. make sure you temp match and condition your water. this will gt you PH back in line. a PH drop is going to stall your cycle. when your tank is converting the nitrites to nitrates (the point where you are with the big nitrite spike) this is the part where you see the PH drops - this is also the longest part of the cycle. hang in there! do a large water change and monitor your PH daily at this point
almost forgot tony - don't be adding the PH up - just do the water change to stabilize your ph. this is a normal occurance and should be fixed just with the large water change.
good luck - let us know how it goes from here!
good luck - let us know how it goes from here!
Kingzilla
Aquarium Advice Regular
a PWC will help fix the pH but you still need to know the pH of your tap water as a reference point as this is what determines the pH of your tank. If it's anywhere from 7-8pH, then you're set, this will be fine for most fish and make life easy but outside of that, you could have a problem like if your tap water is 6.5 then not only is it a little low but you will have more metals in your tap water then if you had a pH of 7.8 (the tap water in my area) as this pH is safer for pipes and very little metal will leach into the water. This all has effects on your tanks ecosystem.
I'm hoping your tap water is good because the use of pH up/down products is only a band-aid solution and can be dangerous to fish. Remember, pH consistency is more important then the actual number (providing of course that the pH is in a safe range).
(PS, sorry about asking pH again in my last post, your post about checking it last night didn't show up for some reason yesterday)
I'm hoping your tap water is good because the use of pH up/down products is only a band-aid solution and can be dangerous to fish. Remember, pH consistency is more important then the actual number (providing of course that the pH is in a safe range).
(PS, sorry about asking pH again in my last post, your post about checking it last night didn't show up for some reason yesterday)
Kingzilla
Aquarium Advice Regular
That's good to hear, you're welcome, and all the best of luck with your cycle. Remember, we're always here if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask
Kingzilla
Aquarium Advice Regular
pretty much yes, all water conditiones remove chlorine, but some conditioners like Prime will also detoxify ammo, and nitrites and other conditioners will have things like aloe to help fish heal
Kingzilla
Aquarium Advice Regular
It is great, I'm new myself to both fish and the forum. After extensive amounts of research, I was still lacking some key information that I was able to quickly obtain here and now I'm addicted lol
just did a 90% water change - PH is now 7.0. Nitrites still high at 5.0. Nitrates now at 0. I will dose ammonia to get that to 2.0-3.0 and continue to wait it out. Fingers crossed and thank you again!
After a second look - nitrates appear to be between 0 and maybe 3.0. Tough to be completely sure!!
After a second look - nitrates appear to be between 0 and maybe 3.0. Tough to be completely sure!!
ok - a few days have past and I believe that I am getting real close!! I tested nitrites last night and they were at approx 2.0 ppm. Tested again tonight and they were down to almost zero!! Tough to be completely sure, but it's real close!! Nitrates were at about 40 ppm. PH was about 7.5. I can't tell you how great it was to see the nitrites so low! Ammonina continues to break down within 24 hours. WIll test again tomorrow and hopefully the nitrites will still be hovering around zero. If that's the case and nitrates are at 40 ppm, is it correct to do a 75% water change and then ready for fish??? Hope so. Thanks again in advance for any feedback!!!
Similar threads
