Where did my nitrates go?

[TrishFish]

Hi there,
I am new to the forum, but have been reading some of the previous articles/postings and am attempting to do a fishless tank cycle with a 5 gal. tank so I can have a happy, healthy betta someday. (Soon I hope.)
I understand cycling has it's own time table, but I am wondering if I am doing something wrong.
The last few days I've dosed ammonia at 3-4 ppm with it dropping to almost 0 in 24 hours, with nitrites at 2ppm and nitrates sky high. I thought I was close to a completed cycle.
Today, ammonia at 0, nitrates 2ppm and 0 nitrates. So where did my nitrates go, and why?
I am using well water with a very low ph (6), so have added crushed coral 2 weeks ago to bring it up a little (which it has, ranging from 6.4-7.2).
My tank stalled out (I think because of the low ph) early on, so this has been going on since the end of February.
Is there hope for my tank to ever cycle? And should I be concerned about the disappearing nitrates?

 

[TrishFish]

Today, ammonia reading: .25, nitrites 2, nitrates 5.
Dosed up the ammonia again and will see what tomorrow brings.

 

[Alan26]

since your using well water (highly variable, generally unknown contaminants, and inconsistent make-up) with that low of a ph i would suggest a few things that are a little drastic for most people who are accustomed to having treated tap water...unless you want to buy a lot of water;

ro/di or distill your water
treat it with water conditioner and "cure it" in a holding tank with coral/limestone to raise the ph
then use that water for your water changes...

this will provide a stable consistant source of water that will not only be better for the fish, but your bb community which can be destroyed by such changes, resulting in small re-cycling cycles...which is what could be happening with your tank...

since this is only a 5 gal...store bought may be your best option...but when you get mts and want to go bigger, that can get expensive....

 

[TrishFish]

Thanks for your response and for the variety of suggestions. I am glad I am just starting out with my little 5 gal. tank!
I think I'll just have to give up on the well water for now and start hauling in a bucket of water from my office (city water) every few days.
Since I've already got some sort of cycling going on, do you think doing a 25 percent water change every day or two with the new (dechlorinated) water would be okay?
Again, many thanks!

 

[Alan26]

that would be fine...since you're doing fishless i would suggest starting with at least a 50% and then throw a little fish food in there to let it rot and start doing the changes 5-7 days...this will build up your bb faster and stronger...you only need to do frequent large pwc when fish in cycling because they can't handle the high ammonia and nitrite...with no fish you don't have to worry about that and can just let the growing bb population feast.

 

[TrishFish]

Cycling success at last! Thanks for your helpful advice. I brought home my betta a couple of days ago and he is happy and active. Even built a bubblenest already.
MTS on the horizon....