Help with fishless cycle

[King Fisher]

50% water change then add more ammonia

 

[Salmon26]

I've done that 3 times now lol

 

[Angellove78]

I've done that 3 times now lol

3water changes back to back @50%?

 

[Salmon26]

I'm doing one a day at 50% but can't get the nitrite down

 

[Angellove78]

Try doing 2@50% back to back.

 

[Salmon26]

Ok thank you!!

 

[Salmon26]

Ok so the photo I just took of my tanks results. Please excuse the broken test tube I broke it right before taking the picture so I just used what little was left for the photo. Two days ago I did a 90% water change and didn't add ammonia thinking that maybe the nitrate needed time to eat the nitrite. This morning I check the levels my ammonia was 0 the nitrite was dark purple and I only had 10 nitrates which was a large decrease. So I thought I killed my bacteria. So I added ammonia and waited a few hours and just tested to show what my take is doing... what am I doing wrong? The nitrate seems to only eat the ammonia but not the nitrite? I'm so confused and upset

 

[ZxC]

Ok so the photo I just took of my tanks results. Please excuse the broken test tube I broke it right before taking the picture so I just used what little was left for the photo. Two days ago I did a 90% water change and didn't add ammonia thinking that maybe the nitrate needed time to eat the nitrite. This morning I check the levels my ammonia was 0 the nitrite was dark purple and I only had 10 nitrates which was a large decrease. So I thought I killed my bacteria. So I added ammonia and waited a few hours and just tested to show what my take is doing... what am I doing wrong? The nitrate seems to only eat the ammonia but not the nitrite? I'm so confused and upset

You're smack dab in the middle of the cycle.

Ammonia is converted to nitrite which is converted to nitrate. The bacteria responsible for the Ammonia - nitrite portion is a different population than the bacteria responsible for nitrite - nitrate. Usually we won't see a detectable range of nitrites, it looks as if ammonia is going straight to nitrate.

So, keep ammonia @ 2-4ppm to feed the first population, when your nitrites eventually bottom out you should be nearing the end, so when you add 2ppm ammonia and 24 hours later you get 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and "some" nitrate you are set.

Only do water changes to keep nitrates in check, but if you leave them to 160+ppm so what, there isn't anything in the tank for it to hurt. The key is to keep ammonia present so as to not starve the bacteria you worked so hard to build up.

 

[Salmon26]

Doing a water change everyday to try to keep the nitrite down has become quite the hassle. I'll see what happens if I just add ammonia and wait thanks for all the replies! Hopefully I can buy some gold fish in two weeks lol

 

[ZxC]

Doing a water change everyday to try to keep the nitrite down has become quite the hassle. I'll see what happens if I just add ammonia and wait thanks for all the replies! Hopefully I can buy some gold fish in two weeks lol

Try keeping ammonia at 1 - 2ppm, nitrites shouldn't go too crazy at those levels. Then you wont have to worry about water changes to keep the nitrites in check. Try raising the temp of the tank, it should speed up microbial activity.

 

[Salmon26]

That's what I've been doing but I keep getting super dark purple for nitrite. I did a 90% water change yesterday and finally got a normal purple result today.

 

[ZxC]

That's what I've been doing but I keep getting super dark purple for nitrite. I did a 90% water change yesterday and finally got a normal purple result today.

How are you dosing the ammonia? Are you always adding the same 1-2ppm or are you maintaining the 1-2ppm in the tank? Because if all the ammonia is not used up, and you add 2 ppm, you'll be left with 2.2 ppm lets say. Do that over a week and you'll be at 3.4 ppm.... which is a recipe for nitrites to go crazy if done long enough.

If your nitrites were crazy high you would need to do loads of 75%+ water changes to get them down to readable levels.


This is why I don't cycle my tanks, too many variables and confusion/ trial and error lol.

 

[Salmon26]

Long story short I dose my tank up to 4 PPM of ammonia nothing happened for 3 weeks I went on vacation came back to 0 ammonia and completely off the charts nitrite and nitrate now I'm trying to fix it everyday I do either a 50% or a 90% water change to bring the nitrites down which I've had zero luck with and I keep the ammonia between 1 and 2 because water changes brings it down to like .5 PPM because my tap water has some ammonia if you don't mind me asking how do you not cycle your tanks

 

[Coralocean]

I tried pure ammonia for a month it never worked for me. I never got a nitrite or nitrate reading. I drained the tank and got some danios and a bio sponge from Angel plus. Problem solved.

 

[ZxC]

Long story short I dose my tank up to 4 PPM of ammonia nothing happened for 3 weeks I went on vacation came back to 0 ammonia and completely off the charts nitrite and nitrate now I'm trying to fix it everyday I do either a 50% or a 90% water change to bring the nitrites down which I've had zero luck with and I keep the ammonia between 1 and 2 because water changes brings it down to like .5 PPM because my tap water has some ammonia if you don't mind me asking how do you not cycle your tanks

Okay, so basically that's all you can do for now. Cut down to manageable levels of nitrite and dose a tiny amount of ammonia and wait, I would keep ammonia dosing on the lower end if its the nitrites you are fighting with. Have you looked into getting some cycled media/liquid bio product to help aid in bacteria populations? might be worth looking into, I apologize if I'm doubling up on some points on this thread, I haven't gone back and re read the previous pages.


As for my tanks, I plant every tank I have, so I do a "ghost" cycle. I plant heavily off day 1 and get my plants/fertilizer/light/CO2 balance in check, by that time (a month - 3 months for me usually) there is usually a small population of nitrifying bacteria so I can go ahead and add a few small fish, I watch my levels and if they are in check I'll go ahead and add some more a week later, repeat repeat until the tank is fully stocked. I'll always try and grab some media from other tanks to help out.

Plant residues will provide a carbon and nitrogen source for the bacteria, plants will also uptake ammonia and nitrate so by getting the plants growing really well, the tank cycles itself over the course of a month or two, sometimes three. Patience is the key to this method, and always test the water frequently the first few times you add fish just in case.

 

[Salmon26]

I actually added a whole bottle of tetra safe start plus not knowing that prime kills it and that's the only water conditioner I have. Also wow I bet your tanks are beautiful with all the plants! I don't have a green thumb lol

 

[Salmon26]

I'm so sorry to keep posting but I really feel like I'm doing something wrong. I do a 90% water change every other day to try and get my n itrites down but it never works. I only add ammonia when it hits 0 and i only add ammonia to 1ppm . Yes I have 40ppm of nitrate as well. Should I do two water changes in one day to see if I can lower nitrite? Or should I stop adding ammonia for 48hours to see if the nitrates can catch up to the n itrites? From what I've read online two days shouldn't starve the bacteria but I could be wrong.

 

[Salmon26]

Also to add to my terrible news I did a diluted test of nitrite and got dark purple so I have like 10ppm of nitrite even after 90% water change multiple times.... I'm at the point where I want to throw it at the wall

 

[ZxC]

Also to add to my terrible news I did a diluted test of nitrite and got dark purple so I have like 10ppm of nitrite even after 90% water change multiple times.... I'm at the point where I want to throw it at the wall

How are you performing the test?

 

[Salmon26]

Api master freshwater test kit. Now when I diluted I did half tank water half tap water since my tap water doesn't have nitrite in it