Ammonia drops slowly at Cycle end -> Partial Stocking? Other Advice?

[LizzyBeth]

I started a different thread on my first fishless cycle(s) but it seems to have died. It can be found ->here<-

I am running two freshwater tanks. One tank is 29g (large) and the other is 10g (small). I started up the small tank on April 19 and the large tank on April 18. I had no seeding materials. I've been using the Ace Janitorial Strength ammonia. And I'm using an API master liquid test kit. Both tanks are running at ~83-84 degrees. I've added declorinator (Tetra AquaSafe) at every step as well.

Original, baseline readings (both tanks, before adding ammonia):
pH 8
ammonia 0.25 ppm (likely due to chloramides)
nitrites 0
nitrates 0

As far as I can tell, I have technically finished the cycle(s). Ammonia dropped (and I would dose it back up), nitrites sky-rocketed, nitrates started appearing, nitrites have now been gone for ~2 weeks, nitrates have been increasing.

Current Readings:
Large Tank:
pH 8 (maybe a little less)
ammonia 0.5-1
nitrites 0
nitrates 80+

Small Tank:
pH 7.8
ammonia 0.5-1
nitrites 0
nitrates 80+

Questions:
My problem is, ammonia seems to drop only about 1ppm per day. It has not seemed to speed up in the last couple weeks (that nitrites were 0).

Seeing as my tanks can fully convert some levels of ammonia I would like to know if I can go ahead and partially stock my tanks? (I realize I need to get my nitrates down before this can happen.)

What would you all suggest I do to get my tanks to be able to handle larger doses of ammonia?

If I can partially stock my tanks, how many fish can I go ahead and get?

I just really need some advice I where I can go from here. Help!

 

[librarygirl]

Hm, well your PH looks stable, so that's not the issue. When was the last time you did water changes? It's possible the minerals in the water have been used up and need to be replenished. If you went through the nitrite spike though, I'd start adding some fish slowly. Did you have any particular fish in mind for either tank? There are a lot of options particuarly for the larger tank so if you have preferences of what you'd like to stock we can work with that and go from there.

 

[LizzyBeth]

I did 50% water changes on both tanks on 5/24. The most recent water change I did was on the large tank was ~75% on 6/6. I am planning on doing water changes tomorrow (takes a bit to get water ready).

And I definately went through the nitrite spike. The nitrites were unreadable for a bit. The small tank ate through all the nitrites. The large tank did too (with the help of a water change).

The stocking list(s) I settled on:
Large tank:
6 Zebra Danios
6 Peppered Corydoras
6 Cherry Barbs
1 Pearl Gourami

Small tank:
1 Male Betta
1-2 Nerite Snails

However, I was going to stock the larger tank slowly and quarantine things in the 10g before putting them in the 29g. I do want to go ahead and put fish in the larger tank so as to keep the bacteria going.

So how many fish could I start out with?

Also today I dosed up to 1ppm ammonia in both tanks. We shall see where they're at tomorrow.

 

[librarygirl]

You could start adding a school of something (the danios, corys or barbs), then test for a week and if levels are OK, add another school, test, repeat. Add the Gourami last. I'm suspecting the lack of a recent water change is the cause for the ammonia conversion slowing down. Why do you have to prep your water before you use it? Your larger tank stocking looks good but it will be at max; a 50% water change weekly is a good schedule to keep once you get fish.

 

[LizzyBeth]

As to why I have to 'prep' my water before I use it: I have to run cold water out of my tap unless I want to end up with all the stuff that's been sitting in the bottom of our water heater for years. Then I have to let the water sit in a barrel for a couple days to warm up.

I said in my last post that I dosed to 1ppm, that was inaccurate. I meant to say that I dosed up to 2ppm. So I checked ammonia levels today:
Small tank: .5ppm
Large tank: 1ppm

So yeah, I guess my small tank is processing a little bit more ammonia than the large tank.

I did a 60+% water change on the small tank today. I plan on doing a 50% water change on the large tank either later tonight or tomorrow. Also I'm going to measure my levels again later tonight.

So, I guess once I get my nitrates down to a good level (preferably 10 or less), I'll go get some Danios! Yay, I'm excited to finally be getting fish after 2+ months of waiting.

Question: As to adding the gourami last, why is that? Do they need it to be more established?

 

[librarygirl]

As to why I have to 'prep' my water before I use it: I have to run cold water out of my tap unless I want to end up with all the stuff that's been sitting in the bottom of our water heater for years. Then I have to let the water sit in a barrel for a couple days to warm up.

I said in my last post that I dosed to 1ppm, that was inaccurate. I meant to say that I dosed up to 2ppm. So I checked ammonia levels today:
Small tank: .5ppm
Large tank: 1ppm

So yeah, I guess my small tank is processing a little bit more ammonia than the large tank.

I did a 60+% water change on the small tank today. I plan on doing a 50% water change on the large tank either later tonight or tomorrow. Also I'm going to measure my levels again later tonight.

So, I guess once I get my nitrates down to a good level (preferably 10 or less), I'll go get some Danios! Yay, I'm excited to finally be getting fish after 2+ months of waiting.

Question: As to adding the gourami last, why is that? Do they need it to be more established?

You could purchase a separate heater and use it to heat up the water in the buckets so you won't have to wait 2 days for it to warm up.

Gouramis can be territorial (well, most fish really lol) and if he's added first he's going to see it as "his" tank and try to defend it against other fish. By adding him last you're making him the new guy, so there's less chance of aggression between the fish.