cycling tank but no nitraites!

[Crippsy999]

hey, i just recently bought a 2nd hand tank off a friend, set it all up and i am now doing a fishless cycle.

its a planted tank, temp is set up at 28c, also i am using the old filter which was running all ok, thinking being it would be good 'seeding' material.

i started fishless cycle using ammonia on the 5/1/12 and now am seeing the ammonia go from 4-5ppm to about 0.5-1.0 ppm in about 24hrs. nitrates are at about 80-100, but no sign of any nitrites!!?

have i skipped this step some how??

water parameters 18.00 09/1/12:

Ammonia 2ppm
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 80ppm
PH 7.6

Any ideas!?

 

[jlk]

Looks good!!! Using the seeded media really did a good job of kicking this cycle into gear-it is very possible you may never see a nitrite spike because they are already being converted into nitrates! Just keep dosin your amm daily & watch for it to zero out completely in 24hrs (along with a large amount of nitrates). Once it does this for a couple of days steadily, i would say you are cycled!

 

[Crippsy999]

ahhh ok! once ammonia is converted to 0ppm in 24hrs for a few days am i right in saying i need 2 do a 90% water change??

let it settle and get to temp and then i can start stocking?? !!

 

[jlk]

Yes, once it steadily zeroes out with a large amount of nitrates, you will need to do atleast one 100% water change (possibly more than one) to get your nitrates as low as possible. Make sure you match the temp of the new water to your tank water so you dont shock your bacteria, use water conditioner dosed to the size of your tank, & adjust the heater for your fish. Research 'drip acclimation' for your new fish if you are not familiar with the process (check utube for how-to videos) & your good to go!!

 

[Crippsy999]

yer ive done some research into drip acclimation using airline tubing. thanks for the advise!!