Is my cycle on track?

[Bambithegirl]

Hi Guys,

Exciting times! today is the 7th day after adding 4ppm of ammonia and I tested this morning it was just below 1ppm. 2 days ago it was 3ppm.
So I tested for nitrItes and it was 3.3, almost off my colour chart. So I added another 0.5ml of ammonia to hopefully get it up to 4ppm again. Will do a reading when I get home.

I don't have a nitrate test kit so I will take a sample in to the pet store tomorrow to check that and PH.

What are my next steps in a nutshell?

 

[ashleynicole]

Keep adding the same amount of ammonia each day until ammonia and nitrite are consintently reading zero.

 

[rmiller]

Congratulations! You're well on your way. For now having the store test your nitrates is fine, but as you get to the end of your cycle you'll want your own test for it. Lots of great sales going on Amazon for the holiday season.

 

[Bambithegirl]

I tested my water early this morning again and ammonia was down again to just below 1. Nitrites were off the charts. Took a sample to pet store to test for nitrates and PH. Guess what, my nitrates are very high, approximately 70. My PH is 7 which they told me is fine.

So am I correct in saying I need to do the 50-60% water change now and keep adding ammonia each day up to 4ppm until the ammo and nitrites are 0?

Thanks for everyones input, I feel slightly naive, have done quite a lot of research but when actually doing it yourself its a lot more complicated!

 

[rmiller]

You are correct! A quick water change and continue testing. Keep in mind the nitrite part of the cycle takes the longest, so have lots of patience and keep us posted.

 

[Rivercats]

You may need to do a couple large WC's to bring nitrites down to readable levels. If levels of nitrites stay at unreadable levels it can actually stall the cycle. This will also help lower nitrates which you don't want getting too high.

 

[Bambithegirl]

A bit confused after testing my ammonia this morning. it was almost zero. nitrtites still very high. did 50% water change and added enough ammonia to get it back up to 4ppm.Nitrites are still off the charts but lighter than before the WC. DO i do another water change or just leave it as is and keep adding ammonia every morning to 4ppm? How will i know if my cycle has stalled?

 

[Masha]

This happened to me too. Sometimes it's necessary to do more than one water change to get nitrites into the readable range. Once I had to do 3 changes of more than 70% each.

Your cycle still sounds perfectly normal. This nitrite spiking stage often lasts longest, as the nitrite eating bacteria are so slow to duplicate themselves.

If the nitrite spikes are too stressful, with all the water changes, consider dosing only up to 2ppm ammonia. That's still a large amount of bacteria, and less likely to stall the cycle.

You are doing fine, everything sounds normal. It might be wise to test the ph of your tap and tankwater just for the record. Low ph (6.5 or lower) can stall a cycle.

Let some tapwater stand for 24 hours so all chlorine and other gasses escape, then test that so you know what the tap ph is. Then test your tank as well.

 

[Rivercats]

The reason your nitrites are very high again today is because you've built up enough nitrosomonas (bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite) to convert all or almost all the 4ppm of ammonia your dosing. So do another large WC or two if needed to get nitrites down and then as already mentioned only dose up to 2ppm ammonia.

 

[Bambithegirl]

Thanks everyone. Masha, I did test for PH at the pet store and it was 7 so that's good. I find it really difficult to read nitrites as the colou difference between 1.6 and 3.3-33 is so close I never quite know.

I did another water change last night, this morning my ammonia was back to 0.25 and nitrites still high but not as dark as yesterday.

Patience is a virtue.

 

[Masha]

Yes-
I sometimes think that getting a tank cycled is like a crash course in being patient. So many things in aquarium keeping is about patience!