Why Is My Cycle Taking So Long

[Just Another Fish Guy]

Hello all!!

I'm hoping you guys can maybe shed some light on why my cycle is taking so long. I started it March 26th; my setup is a 60 gallong FW with two Emperor 400 power filters (I am running all 4 bio wheels).

I originally dosed up to 5ppm of Ammonia and waited for it to drop down to around 1ppm before I dosed it back up to around 3-4ppm.

I realized I should have waited for it to drop down to 0ppm before adding more ammonia, so I made a change. The last two times I've dosed, I've only dosed up to 2ppm and waiting for it to drop all the way to 0ppm before adding more.

The last time I dosed was Sunday night (up to 2ppm). I tested this morning and it is around .50ppm. Also, my Nitrites are still above 5ppm.

Water temperature is at 80 degrees and I keep the water level high so the water fall from the filters is quiet.

Any ideas why my tank is taking so long to cycle? Could it be because I have 4 bio wheels to build bacteria on?

 

[Coryluv]

Nitrites that high can shut down the cycle. I'd do a water change to get the nitrites below 4ppm. I had the same situation when I was cycling. Getting the nitrites down is what allowed it to complete. Dosing the ammonia to 2 ppm is more than enough. From my experience 4 ppm is really too high, though I know it is often recommended.

 

[Just Another Fish Guy]

You think a 50% water change would be enough? After the water change, should I dose with Ammonia?

 

[yudhas]

I was in your shoes a few weeks ago where I dosed the ammonia to 4ppm every time it drops to 0. But then after a week I dropped it to only two. I started to realize that ammonia was going down to 0 in less than 24hrs but the nitrites was above 5ppm. I ended up stopping the ammonia altogether and did a 30% pwc everyday for three days.

It worked. It dropped my nitrites to 4ppm. And the next day my nitrite is at 0 with nitrate at 5ppm. I did a 3ppm dose of ammonia just to test my bacterias, and it went ammonia=>nitrites=>nitrates within 24 hours.

 

[Just Another Fish Guy]

I was in your shoes a few weeks ago where I dosed the ammonia to 4ppm every time it drops to 0. But then after a week I dropped it to only two. I started to realize that ammonia was going down to 0 in less than 24hrs but the nitrites was above 5ppm. I ended up stopping the ammonia altogether and did a 30% pwc everyday for three days.

It worked. It dropped my nitrites to 4ppm. And the next day my nitrite is at 0 with nitrate at 5ppm. I did a 3ppm dose of ammonia just to test my bacterias, and it went ammonia=>nitrites=>nitrates within 24 hours.

My ammonia isn't dropping that quickly. I got home on Sunday afternoon and I had 0ppm of Ammonia. So I dosed up to 2ppm and when I tested this morning, it's only at .50ppm. I would be happy if I could process 2ppm of Ammonia in 24 hours, but that's not even happening.

That's why I was wondering if it's because I have 4 bio wheels and just a lot of area for bacteria to populate. I also don't have any decorations in the tank...just water and a sand substrate. I was thinking of lowering the water level a bit to get more surface agitation since I keep the level pretty high now.

 

[Coryluv]

You think a 50% water change would be enough? After the water change, should I dose with Ammonia?

A 50% pwc will drop it to 2.5 ppm which is about right. Your ammo will be .25 ppm after the water change. Give it a day or so and then dose the ammo back up to 2 ppm. A couple of days with low or no ammo will not kill the bacteria you are trying to culture.

I forgot to answer your question about your bio wheels. The more the merrier on biomaterial in your filters. Actually the nitrifying bacteria will grow on just about everything in your filter. Your biowheel is just a more favorable environment that doesn't get changed when you change a filter cartridge. Since you have more than one filter stagger your cartridge changes.

I have a canister without a biowheel and I just rinse my filter media in tank water to clean it so it doesn't clog up. That preserves my good bacteria.

 

[Just Another Fish Guy]

A 50% pwc will drop it to 2.5 ppm which is about right. Your ammo will be .25 ppm after the water change. Give it a day or so and then dose the ammo back up to 2 ppm. A couple of days with low or no ammo will not kill the bacteria you are trying to culture.

I forgot to answer your question about your bio wheels. The more the merrier on biomaterial in your filters. Actually the nitrifying bacteria will grow on just about everything in your filter. Your biowheel is just a more favorable environment that doesn't get changed when you change a filter cartridge. Since you have more than one filter stagger your cartridge changes.

I have a canister without a biowheel and I just rinse my filter media in tank water to clean it so it doesn't clog up. That preserves my good bacteria.

I guess I'll do a 50% water change this afternoon and then test tomorrow morning and see what my parameters are at. With getting the Nitrites lower, hopefully it'll give the tank a kickstart again and get this cycle finished!

 

[Coryluv]

I guess I'll do a 50% water change this afternoon and then test tomorrow morning and see what my parameters are at. With getting the Nitrites lower, hopefully it'll give the tank a kickstart again and get this cycle finished!

No guarantees, but it should. This happens a lot. You are not alone.

 

[Just Another Fish Guy]

No guarantees, but it should. This happens a lot. You are not alone.

Just finished the water change. This was my first time using the Aqueon water changer and I have to admit that it made things super easy. I removed probably a little more than half the water and before I refilled the tank, I dosed it with Tetra AquaSafe Plus for the volume of the tank (not just what I was refilling), let the water run out of the faucet until I got the right temperature and then turned the knob so the water would run into the tank. Took maybe an hour to do everything.

My fingers are crossed that this will help more than it hurts. I'm guessing I should probably wait a little while before I test, or can I test again now?

 

[Mebbid]

There is no evidence that nitrites will stall a cycle. It's common in a fishless cycle for the bacteria to run out of nutrients that are found in tap water (They need more than just ammonia) That's why it's a good idea to feed the tank some fish food in addition to the ammonia to keep the dissolved nutrients available for bacteria.

It's also a good idea to track your pH on a fishless cycle as a pH of lower than 6.5 will slow down the growth and activity of BB and a 6.0pH or lower will stall its growth completely.

It sounds as if your cycle is very close but if you were sick of waiting it should be safe to stock maybe 4 - 5 small fish and go from there adding a few more every other week or so.

 

[Just Another Fish Guy]

There is no evidence that nitrites will stall a cycle. It's common in a fishless cycle for the bacteria to run out of nutrients that are found in tap water (They need more than just ammonia) That's why it's a good idea to feed the tank some fish food in addition to the ammonia to keep the dissolved nutrients available for bacteria.

It's also a good idea to track your pH on a fishless cycle as a pH of lower than 6.5 will slow down the growth and activity of BB and a 6.0pH or lower will stall its growth completely.

It sounds as if your cycle is very close but if you were sick of waiting it should be safe to stock maybe 4 - 5 small fish and go from there adding a few more every other week or so.

Thank you for the reply Mebbid! I cycled a 29 gallon this way a few years ago and didn't have any issues. I think where my issues came from now is because I was dosing too much ammonia. I will see what happens after this water change and then go from there; I'd prefer to wait until everything is cycled before adding any fish.

 

[wyoredman]

I just finished a fishless cycle myself. Like you, it was my first. I read someplace that adding extra O2 with a good air pump would also help the bacteria establish themselves. I did, and it seemed to work. You might try that.

Also, in the cycle for my tank I noticed the pH drop from 8.2 before any detectable nitrites to 7.6 after nitrite started forming in the tank! I didn't need to adjust pH because my starting pH was so high. You may be experiencing low pH.

Another trick that really, really sped things up for me was I asked a friends daughter if I could snip a piece of her goldfish filter sack. I cut a small 1" square from the goldfish filter sock and placed it in my bio-ball filter. Amazing how fast those little bacteria colonized the plastic!

 

[AtHomeWithTwins]

Crank the heat up to like 85!

 

[Just Another Fish Guy]

I may go pick up an air pump and air stone and put it in the tank to see if that helps. I need to go test the parameters now and see exactly what changed after the water change.

 

[Just Another Fish Guy]

Just tested everything except Nitrates.

Ammonia - .25ppm
Nitrites - >5ppm
pH - 8.2

 

[Just Another Fish Guy]

Morning everyone!

I tested again this morning and Ammonia is still showing at .25ppm, Nitrites are still above 5ppm (dark purple), pH from the tank is 8.2 and pH straight from the tap is 8.0.

I'm going to give it a few more days for Ammonia to come down and see what happens to the Nitrites.

How long do you think I can go without dosing any Ammonia?

 

[Just Another Fish Guy]

Tested again this morning and Ammonia is still at .25ppm and Nitrites are at 5ppm; so nothing has really changed in the past 12 hours

I'm going to my LFS tomorrow and picking up an airpump and airstone to get more oxygen in the tank. Hopefully this helps speed up the process.

 

[Just Another Fish Guy]

Hey guys!

So I've raised the temp to 87 degrees and added an air stone. I came home tonight and Ammonia and Nitrites were at 0ppm and Nitrates were under 5ppm.

I dosed with Ammonia up to 1ppm, so if everything is at 0ppm tomorrow morning when I test again, I'll finally be able to get some fish!!

What do you guys think I should add first? Maybe a school of zebra danios and Coreys?

 

[Just Another Fish Guy]

Hello all!

I'm a bit confused on what's going on with my cycle. I dosed with Ammonia up to 1ppm on Saturday night and when I checked this morning, the Ammonia has dropped to around .25ppm, but Nitrites are still reading at 0ppm. How could Ammonia process, but I don't have any Nitrites? Do you think that the Nitrites processed that quickly to Nitrates?

If that's the case, why would Nitrites process so quickly, but Ammonia is taking so long to come down to 0?

I really thought I was close to finishing this cycle.