cycling confusion

[holimoli23]

Hello all,

I have been cycling and following the links on this website to a tee. It has seemed like I was on pace to have a relatively quick cycle but a couple things has me confused.

First, I have a api master kit at my nitrate seems erratic at times. Again, I following instructions to a tee and every once in a while the level isn't what I expected. Two days ago I did back to back readings and there was a 40 ppm difference!

My tank is eating ammonia like a champ! It's taking down 4-5 ppm in 18 hours! My nitrate has seemed to rise good (despite the few erratic readings here and there) but my nitrite is sky high. I did a 50% pwc two days ago and two of them today. The nitrate is still 30-40 and the nitrite is still very bright purple.

The ph has been dropping little by little but it had a large swing last night. My water changes has restored it to the level of my tap (along with ammonia dose I'm sure) I feel like I'm near the end and I thought I did enough research but I'm unsure of what to do. Maybe a 90% pwc?

Please help! I want fish and I want them NOW!

 

[librarygirl]

HOw long have you had nitrite?

If you did a water change last night and the PH is still holding then no need for another water change tonight. What is your normal PH and what did it drop to?

The nitrate tests can be finicky. YOu want to shake both bottles (and #2 for 30 seconds) and bang them on a hard surface a few times; the second bottle has a reagent powder that can get clumped and cause false readings. Also be sure you shake the heck out of the tube for the full 60 seconds and then wait 5 minutes for the reading.

 

[Alkane]

HOw long have you had nitrite?
The nitrate tests can be finicky. YOu want to shake both bottles (and #2 for 30 seconds) and bang them on a hard surface a few times; the second bottle has a reagent powder that can get clumped and cause false readings. Also be sure you shake the heck out of the tube for the full 60 seconds and then wait 5 minutes for the reading.

Yeap I agree.

Shake Shake Shake! Esp. Bottle 2

 

[boadams87]

Yeap I agree.

Shake Shake Shake! Esp. Bottle 2

Beat it on the table alot then shake for 2 min.

 

[holimoli23]

The nitrite first showed up 6 days ago

 

[librarygirl]

The nitrite first showed up 6 days ago

Ok you're on track then. The nitrite phase is the longest and can take up to 3 weeks on average, but the good thing is that when the nitrites go to 0 on their own you're ready for fish

Just keep an eye on PH and do water changes if it drops. If it drops fast (daily) you may need to look into adding something like crushed coral or argonite to the filter to help buffer the water but for now we'll keep an eye on it. No need to do water change every time nitrites hit 5+, that's normal. If ammonia isn't dropping as fast or if nitrites are crazy high for a week or so then a 100% water change can help things along. You're doing well so far!

 

[BBradbury]

Tak Cycling

Hello holi...

In my humble opinion, the "fishless" cycling isn't as efficient or fun as putting fish in the tank from the start and just paying close attention to the water chemistry.

By putting fish in the tank from the start, you have the benefit of activity in the tank and enjoying the hobby.

I'd suggest getting a few hardy fish now. Get some Platys or Zebra Danios from the pet store and put them into the tank. Their waste products will start the cycling process. All you need to do is test the tank water daily. When you notice even a trace of ammonia or nitrites, then remove and replace 25 percent of the water to remove the pollutants.

Continue to test the water every day and replace it when needed. When you get several tests that show "0" ammonia and nitrites, then add a few more fish and simply follow the above steps until the tank is stocked.

If you like, add some floating stem plants like Water wisteria, Water sprite and Pennywort during the water changing routine. Plants will use the ammonia and nitrites for food and help keep the water clean, speeding up the cycling process a little.

Pretty simple.

B

 

[KaylNeko]

It actually is more efficient, although I agree it's less fun. But dosing so that the BB are numerous enough to take care of 4 ppm of ammonia in 24 hrs or less means you can stock your entire aquarium all at once instead of having to do it in small batches to give the bacteria time to catch up.

And if he doesn't want platys or danios, why get them?

 

[holimoli23]

So..today the ammonia is completely gone like the last past 5 days. I did a HUGE water change yesterday. My tap Ph is 8.2 and the Ph dropped from 7.8 to 6.8 in 24 hours. That's why I did the change. The Ph in my tank seems to be happy around 8.0. It hung out there during the start of my cycle. 8.0 is where it is today. The nitrate dropped to 2 ppm yesterday and is again extremely bright purple.

Everything sounds normal so far! Right? Please correct me if I'm wrong!

Here's the kicker tho. My nitrate dropped to 5 ppm after the change. Today it looks to be between 40 and 80. So my question is how in the heck can all these nitrates keep showing up when the nitrite will not stay readable? The article I read on here said once nitrates are showing up it's all down hill. I've had nitrates for a week now. They rose slow at first but now they are showing up as fast as the ammonia goes away.

 

[holimoli23]

Hello holi...

In my humble opinion, the "fishless" cycling isn't as efficient or fun as putting fish in the tank from the start and just paying close attention to the water chemistry.

By putting fish in the tank from the start, you have the benefit of activity in the tank and enjoying the hobby.

I'd suggest getting a few hardy fish now.

B

I appreciate your opinion on this but now that I'm in the middle of a fishless cycle, any fish I add will soon be a dead fish. Thanks anyway!

 

[KaylNeko]

Nitrates are showing up because the bacteria to convert nitrite to nitrate are doing their job. There just aren't quite enough to convert ALL the nitrite created by the ammonia to nitrate in 24 hours. Just keep going--from what I've seen, the way the nitrite phase works is you'll have high nitrite day after day and climbing....and then suddenly nothing one day. If you redose as usual and you have 0 the next day too, you're cycled.

(Most folks say once the nitrite is gone you're cycled, but I'm all skeptical and overly cautious and think an extra day to make sure is a good idea *lol*)

 

[boadams87]

Im with kay

 

[librarygirl]

What article does it say it's downhill when you get high nitrate? Nitrates are the end product of cycling; ammonia is converted to nitrite then nitrate. If you had a nitrate jump from 5 - 40+ then that means a lot of ammo was converted but not enough bacteria exists yet to convert all of the nitrite to nitrate. When you have fish, your tank should keep ammonia and nitrite at 0 but you'll always have some nitrates (although they won't be nearly as high as they are now unless you severely overstock the tank). Hope that makes sense. Nitrates will continue to rise so don't worry, it's normal.