Judge my quick cycle

[phoebekatee]

Hello.. Again!
My cycle is going really quickly IMO. I could be wrong, but my ammo is already dropping from 5 to 1ppm overnight! At the moment the nitrate I think is at 20ppm and I just added more ammo as it was about 1.5 when I got home today. The nitrites appeared for like a day and have gone completely now and I have only been cycling for 5 days. Is this ok?

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Hey there,
Did you add any seeded media? Were you dosing with ammonia?
I've never seen a tank cycle that fast. I would try to keep dosing with ammonia until it can be coverted from 4 ppm ammonia to nitrates in 24 hours or less. Still, something sounds a bit off.

 

[phoebekatee]

TONS of seeded media and yes, pure ammonia. I totally agree with you but the kit says what it says.. The nitrite is still neg..? What else can I do, or has it actually cycled since it has dropped so fast? It is a used tank anyway that I wiped out quite thoroughly with water, but I could have left the bacteria which can lead to an instant cycle

 

[bruinsbro1997]

TONS of seeded media and yes, pure ammonia. I totally agree with you but the kit says what it says.. The nitrite is still neg..? What else can I do, or has it actually cycled since it has dropped so fast? It is a used tank anyway that I wiped out quite thoroughly with water, but I could have left the bacteria which can lead to an instant cycle

I believe you have instantly cycled your tank, with lots of seeded media your cycle can go by pretty quickly.

 

[phoebekatee]

Wow, I was not expecting that! As I said I have only ever had one reading of nitrites :/ I will continue testing but please tell your friends to look at this thread if you can just to make sure because I don't want to risk future fishy lives :')

 

[stingrays4]

Hi if you have used seeded media then it could have cycled that quick but i would be cautious all the same. In other words if you get some fish only get a few and then leave for at least a fortnight before getting any more. I have done this myself and it can be this quick.

 

[eco23]

Seeded media is awesome . I'd say when your tank is consistently dropping 4ppm down to zero with zero no2 in 24 hours...go ahead and stock. I personally wouldn't be hesitant to add almost all your fish. One of the purposes of doing a fishes cycle at a high ppm of ammonia is to build a massive bio-filter which is capable of handling a fully stocked tank. If you have fish which are producing more than 4ppm of ammonia in a day...the tank is SERIOUSLY overstocked. I think you'll be good to go

 

[librarygirl]

I agree, given you have used filter media and substrate from an established tank. Just monitor the water after you add fish to make sure there aren't any spikes.

The night before you get fish, do a very large water change with dechlorinator (as much as you can do, 90-100% is best; one pwc should do it since your nitrates aren't that high, but test afterwards and make sure they've gone down, <10 is good, <5 is best) and turn down your heater. Don't add ammonia.

Good luck.

 

[phoebekatee]

So I am a bit confused: about 15 hours ago my ammonia got dosed up to 4ppm. I woke up and it is now 1ppm which is all good I think but when my nitrate was at 20ppm yesterday it is now 5 and I have done no water changes? Is this meant to happen? O__o

 

[Deckape]

Do you have live plants? That would be the quickest explanation to the nitrates issue.
If not, then make sure you shook the daylights out of bottle 2 for 30 seconds and the whole tube after adding both for one whole minute. Nitrate testing is the hardest to get correct in my opinion.

 

[phoebekatee]

Nope, no plants and done both. It showed up a tiny bit today but thats it

 

[Deckape]

Nope, no plants and done both. It showed up a tiny bit today but thats it

Are the ammonia and nitrites staying at zero? What is your ph?.

 

[eco23]

I agree with Deckape that there's limited possibilities. NitrAtes only leave an aquarium in 3 ways...plants absorbing them, water changes and denitrification (turns into gas). The third thing you will virtually never see in an aquarium because the nitrAte is produced much faster than it will ever be converted to nitrogen gas.

In 99% of cases it's a testing error. They're not joking when they say how much it needs to be shaken...otherwise you get crazy results. Make sure you follow the instructions exactly as they say in the booklet...not just on the bottles.

 

[librarygirl]

I agree, check PH and see if it fell, which can stall the cycle. It would explain why ammonia didn't go to 0. Also, on the nitrate test, bang bottle #2 on a table; there is a reagent powder in there that can get clumped and cause false readings. Banging the bottle on a hard surface can help to loosen it. I also shake bottle #1 for a good number of seconds too even though the test doesn't say to do so.

 

[phoebekatee]

I never let my ammonia go to 0, I test it about 3 times a day since it is getting so fast and when the ammonia gets to 1 I add 4ppm. They cycle or results never stop changing, and my pH has always been 7, so I don't know what else.. Maybe the cycle has actually finished? I got a small amount of nitrIte today but went away about 3 hours later.

 

[librarygirl]

I never let my ammonia go to 0, I test it about 3 times a day since it is getting so fast and when the ammonia gets to 1 I add 4ppm. They cycle or results never stop changing, and my pH has always been 7, so I don't know what else.. Maybe the cycle has actually finished? I got a small amount of nitrIte today but went away about 3 hours later.

Are you adding ammonia each time you test? Ammonia should only be dosed once per 24 hours; even if you test more than once per day and the ammonia is dropping or is 0, don't redose until 24 hours. At the 24 hour mark, note the level of ammonia. If it's 0, that's good and an indication the cycle is progressing as it should; if it's not 0, then it's an indication of either an issue or that the bacteria need more time to form. It's hard to say whether the cycle has finished if we don't know whether ammonia is at 0 after 24 hours.

As for the nitrite, it's possible it's being converted already and you won't see a spike if you're using seeded media. But I'd keep an eye on it over the next few days at least to make sure it stays at 0 and doesn't spike; you definitely don't want to add fish prematurely and then have a nitrite spike!

As for the nitrate: you're using the API liquid kit, yes? Try banging the bottles (both of them) on a hard surface before and during shaking as i mentioned above. Shake bottle #1 too for at least 15 seconds even though the test doesn't say to do so. After you add #1 to the tube, cap and shake the tube for 5 seconds. Bang bottle #2 on a table a few times and shake vigorously for 3-45 seconds. After you add it to the tube, shake the tube vigorously for a full minute. The nitrate test is tricky and if it isn't done exactly it can throw levels off. I did it once and did it as I usually do it, and thought I did it correctly and timed the shaking, but the test showed 0 nitrate when the day before I had 40 (while fishless cycling). I redid the test and the nitrate showed. Also be sure you're not getting bottle #1 and 2 mixed up, as that will cause a false reading too.

Other than that I'm not sure; let's see what happens over the next few days.

 

[phoebekatee]

The bottles I get in the right order
I guess I could wait 24 hours but since my ammonia is dropping from 5 to 1ppm in about 8 hours:
A) I don't want to starve the bacteria if the ammonia disappears that quickly
B) If it does drop that quickly (which it does) I don't see the point of waiting the full time because I already know it will drop in that time

Sorry if I seem at all rude in any way but it honestly is dropping fast and I don't want anything bad to happen. I will test the nitrAte again though

 

[eco23]

The bacteria can go several days (closer to a week) before anything bad happens. I strongly advise only adding ammonia once per day. Otherwise it only creates more no3, can slow down your cycle...and is simply unnecessary.

 

[phoebekatee]

WOAH THERE..
Just shook for about 5 minutes constantly banging the bottles, and my NitrAte is 90 ppm.. THIS MAKES ME REALLY SAD
So, my cycle is now nowhere near as progressed as I thought?

 

[eco23]

WOAH THERE..
Just shook for about 5 minutes constantly banging the bottles, and my NitrAte is 90 ppm.. THIS MAKES ME REALLY SAD
So, my cycle is now nowhere near as progressed as I thought?

Phoebe..read over the guide again. There are parts of fishless cycling you're not understanding. NitrAtes are good, it shows your cycle IS progressing. It'd be worrisome if you DIDN'T have lots of nitrAtes.

It also tells me you're adding ammonia too often. Librarygirl is giving you great advice. My advice is to follow hers.