Is my cycle done?

[Dizzydea]

Great thanks that's what I will do and I will see if I can wrangle up some more plants

 

[librarygirl]

Hm, this is odd unless it's a very low percentage of ammonia. I know someone who had weak ammonia and he needed to add cupfuls of the stuff to get a reading. What brand of ammonia is it? Or can you post a pic of the bottle?

Also what test kit are you using? Brand name if you know it.

 

[Dizzydea]

This is the ammonia I'm using. It has no ingredients or percentage on the bottle. I use nutrifin ammonia test.

 

[librarygirl]

I did some searching and that brand seems to have 5% of ammonia (about half the amount that most of us use, so it's fairly weak). I plugged your info into the ammonia calculator and to reach 4 ppms of ammonia in a 55 gal tank you'd need to add 16.66 ml of ammonia (about 3.38 teaspoons). Have you been adding this much or no? If not, then that's the answser

 

[Dizzydea]

That much how often? I've definitely added more than that throughout my attempts to increase it. Thanks for finding that Info for for me btw

 

[librarygirl]

That much how often? I've definitely added more than that throughout my attempts to increase it. Thanks for finding that Info for for me btw

Oh. WEll adding that much all at once should bring your ammonia to 4 ppms /ml on the test kit. Odd that it hasn't. If the highest you can get it is 2-3 then that's good enough, IMO.

 

[Dizzydea]

I got angry and dumped a quarter cup in and now it's at 8.0 lol. Do I need to water change or will it go down on its own?

 

[jlk]

Oh boy! It's ok but you will need to do a water change. 8 is the test limit- so it may be 8 or 10 or 20... Hopefully, it's just 8!! A 50-60% wc should drop it to @4ppm. Wait atleast 15mins after wc before retesting. If it didn't drop, another wc. On a positive note, we know the ammonia does work!!

 

[Dizzydea]

Will this have killed any good bacteria that I had grown? Or my plants?

 

[jlk]

Hopefully everything will be fine! No guarentee your bb did not take a bit of a beating- you only can wait & see on this. Hardier plants definitely can withstand the ammonia but just keep an eye on finer stemmed plants- if you notice them turning translucent or a strange odd-colored darker green, they may have taken a hit. Once again, hopefully they are all fine!

 

[Dizzydea]

So I think I've messed up my cycle, I was getting impatient and added some prime because I read somewhere that it will speed up the cycle. Is prime bad for fish? I don't have any fish in my cycling tank right now but I have put prime in my other tanks. In my cycling tank I have crazy high nitrites and trates is this a good sign? They have been this way more than a week. I also have been adding baking soda because the ph keeps dropping. I just want to put my fish in my tanks been cycling since the end of april! So annoying!

 

[jlk]

Prime will not affect a cycle. Your cycle sounds like its right on track. I think its time for a big water change. Do as close to a 100% water change with temperature matched, properly conditioned water. You want to drop your nitrites down to a readable level (less than 2ppm, preferably close to or at 0). Then just dose to 2ppm ammonia & we will see how things look in 24hrs.

 

[Dizzydea]

Your the best! such quick replies and so much knowledge! I did about an 80 percent wc 2 days ago and still no changes in the nitrates and trites. I'm having a hard time getting a 2ppm ammonia reading it doesn't even show up half the time when I add it (from the combo of the bacteria and the prime I'm assuming?). I add about two small dumps from the bottle Id say its about 2 tlb spoons. You think if I do yet another massive water change the n02 and n03 will go down? Im very glad to hear I haven't entirely messed it up.

 

[jlk]

Ill post the calculator in case you dont have it. Just use the calculator & add the amount needed to get to 2ppm and dont worry about testing for 24hrs. It may take more than one big water change to drop your nitrites down to a readable level though, so dont be discouraged! Extremely high nitrite levels can stall a cycle as well as make it very difficult to be able to read results because the API test is limited to 5ppm. So, get your nitrites under control and we will be able to tell how quickly everything is being processed 24hrs from now. The water changes should also bring your nitrates down to an easier to read level so you will be able to see if they are increasing in 24hrs, too. Just make sure you temperature match & properly condition the new water!

Be careful with the baking soda, too- its a temporary fix and not a long term solution. If you continue to have ph crashing issues, using some crushed coral, shell or argonite in your filter will offer a more stability and better long term solution.

Calculator

 

[Dizzydea]

K gonna do my wc within the next 2 hours quick question once a cycle is stalled can you unstall it?

 

[jlk]

lol! Getting your nitrites under control & keeping them under control should help. The ph dropping is also having an effect on slowing your cycle. Using a more stable optionas I mentioned than baking soda should help as well.

 

[Dizzydea]

K so idid my wc last night and my levels are no3 20 no2 .5 ph 7 kh 120 gh 60 from me just testing it. My ammonia is 0 I'm gonna add another 2ppm now. Um so my heater glass broke in half and the inside of the heater was in the water. I removed it and I'm gonna skip uptown and buy another but will the possibly of water that has been electrocuted have an effect on my fish later or on my cycle, possibly my bacteria?

 

[jlk]

An electric current in the water right now wont effect fish in the future as long as the problem is fixed! Now, as far as your bacteria are concerned, I honestly do not know! I have never encountered this one before! A guess, its possible they were affected if there was electricity running through your tank. We will know by tomorrow though based on your numbers- if theres zero progress, then yes they were affected. If theres progress, then they werent. Wait & see on this one!

 

[Dizzydea]

I'm starting to think this new tank isn't ment to be

 

[jlk]

Have faith!! You just have had some bumps in the road! You will be a pro at this by the time your done!