cycle question

[jd99]

Does during the middle of the cycle the Ammonia and Nitrides go high all of a sudden?

Came home yesterday, and the aquarium was cloudy; up until now it has been dead clear, I checked the numbers and the Ammonia and Nitrites were sky high not off the chart but high. for the past couple of days it has been Ammonia 0 and Nitrites most of the time 0.25 to maybe 1.0, Nitrates have been steady at 20.

So I thought it was getting close to being done, and I thought I was going to have a quick cycle.

Both the Ammonia and Nitrites were a little lighter then the highest color and darker then the next to highest (I'm at work so I don't remember the numbers).

Did a 50% water change and it looked better this morning (3:00am), but it was still dark out and my lights don't come on until 7:00am.



Thanks
Danny

 

[Oscar98]

Ya its the ammonia spike that usually happens in the middle of the cycle

 

[Mike2112]

Maybe i've misread but, how are you cycling your tank? Pure ammonia? fish in? what size tank? how long has it been running?

 

[jd99]

this is a fish in (i couldn't get any ammonia that was pure so I put in some hardy fish to help create the bio load)
the tank is 70 gal (advertised at 60 but it takes 35 gal for a 50% PWC)

Been running for 3 weeks plus a couple days.

 

[Mike2112]

Ok well since your saying ammonia was 0 with .25-1 NitrItes/NitrAtes 20ish looks to me like your nearly cycled, as long as the nitrAtes coming out of your tap isn't high.

Have you noticed any dead fish (counted them)? Changed the filter? Rotting plants? Any reason why the ammonia may have spiked so suddenly?

I know of fish in cycles to be a little bit complicated and need alot of attention. When I cycled my 10 gallon fish in, I had the same problem in the middle, I didnt notice 1 of my fish had died, which then drove the tank into an ammonia spike/bacterial bloom killing most of my fish. For a 70 gallon though, i mean whatever change that happened would have to be incredibly drastic... like removing a filter, or adding more fish/dead fish/overfeeding ect..

 

[jd99]

I had one fish dead, and another dying and ended up dead (PWC didn't help it) but it was alive the day before (and that morning), and I attributed the spike in ammonia to killing the fish, and it's my fault for buying the fish because they weren't that hardy and I knew it was a risk. The fish I started the cycle with are all still fine and acting like nothing has happened.

Do you think the fish dying and being dead for just a few hours (8 at the most) could raise the Ammonia?

Oh and all my live plants look fine, actually they look better now then when I first put them in.

Going to clean the filters this weekend it's been close to a month and they are over due. I am running dual cascade 1000's so i know there is plenty of filtration.

Thanks
Danny

 

[Mike2112]

If the fish was like a danio or a guppy, something small, I couldnt see that driving the ammonia up to an almost unreadable level. Now if it was something a little bit bigger, maybe an angel or some type of cichlid, definately. With the new bioload (2 new fish) and a dead fish on top of that, i can see that being the cause of an ammonia spike, expecially when the bacteria isn't colonized to well.

Just keep the fish you currently have until you notice your ammonia/nitrIte levels at 0 for a week, then I don't see a problem in adding fish, just remember a little at a time. 1-2 tops really, maybe a small school of tetra's (3-4, 4 being TOPS) Everytime you add fish your bacteria has to play 'catch up' to adjust to the new bioload which can take.. few days/week. Just monitor your levels everyday, if you notice the ammonia at .25, I wouldn't freak out. Just let the bacteria catch up and do its job. Now if it starts getting around .5-1.0 I would do a small 20-25% water change.

Patience is the game here. Its hard, but if you don't have patience, fish die for sure, not to mention your wasting money, nobody likes to waste money right? Give it another week or 2 monitor your levels closely, like I said, when they are 0 (ammonia and nitrIte) wait about a week before adding fish to ensure your tank is ready and no more mishaps happen.

Edit: Make sure when you clean your filters, DO NOT scrub them or wash them in tap water. Only kind on swirl them around in aquarium water that you siphon out, 90% of your bacteria is living in your filter, and at this point, you don't want to lose any.

 

[jd99]

Thanks I'll keep an eye on it, I added the other fish on Sunday and the levels have been fine until yesterday.

Think I'll just wait now, until i know for sure the cycle is done, don't want to kill anymore fish .

I know about the cleaning of the pads and just swirling them in the same water that's in the tank. the only thing I'm going to do is add some purigen to the filters and taking the charcol out since it's not required unless I'm getting rid of meds

 

[Mike2112]

Np glad to help. Goodluck with your cycle!