Fishless cycle HELP!

[erniro]

Hey guys...

I'm doing a fishless cycle. I started on 8-10 and my readings were 4ppm ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate. Nitrites and nitrates stayed at 0 until 8-15 where it read 1ppm ammonia, .25 nitrite, 0 nitrate (ammonia did go down a little bit everyday). Then on 8-16 my ammonia was pretty much at 0 from what I could tell, so I added more ammonia to bring it back up to 4ppm. On 8-17 my readings were Ammonia 1ppm, 5ppm nitrite (or higher?), 5ppm Nitrate. On 8-18 my readings were.. 0 ammonia, 5ppm (or higher) nitrite, and my nitrate was kinda yellow with a hint of orange. I added more ammonia to bring is back up to 4ppm. On 8-19 my readings were 0 ammonia, 5ppm (or higher) nitrite, and the same small hit of orange on my nitrate. So again I added enough ammonia to bring it back up to 4ppm. Then on 8-20/8-21 my readings were the same as 8-19 (and I kept adding more ammonia to 4ppm). Today I got kinda annoyed that I couldn't read my nitrite so I did a 50% water change. Re-tested and still my nitrite was over 5ppm, so I did another 50% water change. Then my readings were 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and the same small hint of orange on my nitrate. So, again I added more ammonia...

I added the same amount of ammonia that I usually add to bring it up to 4ppm (about 40 drops and a 29 gallon tank) and when I tested it about an hour later it was only at about .25 ammonia and my nitrite was about 2ppm. Is this normal? Is my ammonia really converting to nitrite that fast or is something wrong? I'm confused!

Sorry about the really long post... any help would be appreciated

 

[eco23]

Looks good to me . Assuming the test results were accurate, you've got some awesome conversion happening. Now it's just a matter of dosing up the ammo and waiting it out.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html

 

[Deckape]

Looking good to me also. Keep up the good work and keep us updated. Welcome to AA.

 

[erniro]

Should I just stick with adding ammonia once every 24 hours... ?

 

[Deckape]

Should I just stick with adding ammonia once every 24 hours... ?

Don't let a clock dictate that action. Allow your tests to determine when and how much to add. When it completely is converted from ammonia thru nitrites into nitrates then you're done.

Edit: in 24 hours

 

[erniro]

Hey guys.... quick question

Yesterday I checked my nitrite and when I put the drops in it automatically turned dark purple in the bottom (no big deal, it has been doing that) so I shook it and let it sit for about 8-10 minutes. It started getting lighter and lighter and then after about 10 minutes it was supppppperrrr light green? I thought my light was making it appear green. After that I added about 4ppm of ammonia and let it sit for 24 hours. I just tested everything and it did the same thing? Thoughts?

 

[erniro]

Oh one more thing...

Is it normal for my nitrate to never exceed 5.0ppm?

 

[librarygirl]

Hey guys.... quick question

Yesterday I checked my nitrite and when I put the drops in it automatically turned dark purple in the bottom (no big deal, it has been doing that) so I shook it and let it sit for about 8-10 minutes. It started getting lighter and lighter and then after about 10 minutes it was supppppperrrr light green? I thought my light was making it appear green. After that I added about 4ppm of ammonia and let it sit for 24 hours. I just tested everything and it did the same thing? Thoughts?

That means it's crazy high, so high the test can't measure it. A partial water change might not hurt, although you did two a week ago, right? I'm not sure whether high nitrites can stall a cycle and how high they have to be to do so, but since yours are crazy high some pwc might not be a bad idea. Your nitrates should be rising, which leads me to think maybe things are stalled and some pwc wouldn't hurt.

 

[librarygirl]

Forgot to add that after you do the pwc and if you can get the nitrite down to a level that you can measure on the test, you could reduce the dosage of ammonia for a few days. So, dose it up to about 1 for three days, then go back up to the 4 ppm dose. A few days should be good enough to let the bacteria catch up.

 

[JimmyA]

It took me 35 days to do my cycle! It's all worth it in the end! It's all fun!

 

[erniro]

So, last night I went right to bed and then worked a 12 hour shift. When I got home I tested them again....

My Nitrite did the same thing (turned dark purple in the bottom) but after 5 minutes it was blue... the blue that is 0ppm on the chart? I'm confused lol I don't know if my nitrite is off the chart or 0? My ammonia is 0 and my nitrate is 5ppm (this never seems to change?)

I guess a water change won't hurt, but I won't be able to do it till Monday.

 

[librarygirl]

So, last night I went right to bed and then worked a 12 hour shift. When I got home I tested them again....

My Nitrite did the same thing (turned dark purple in the bottom) but after 5 minutes it was blue... the blue that is 0ppm on the chart? I'm confused lol I don't know if my nitrite is off the chart or 0? My ammonia is 0 and my nitrate is 5ppm (this never seems to change?)

I guess a water change won't hurt, but I won't be able to do it till Monday.

Still off -chart I think. From what I've read if it goes purple then changes to blue, grey or green it's crazy high. If it were truly 0 it wouldn't turn purple at all. Sorry man. lol.

 

[erniro]

So, an update...

I did a 50% water change on Monday and then my readings were 0 ammonia, 5+ nitrite, 5ppm nitrate. I've been adding about 2ppm ammonia everyday since then to see if the nitrite would go down. Today my readings were 0 ammonia, 5+ nitrite, 80ppm nitrate.

I have never had my nitrate reading over 5ppm so I got a little happy... and then sad. lol I tested the nitrate again about 3 hours later with a different api test kit. The readings were the same on the ammonia and nitrite, but the nitrate was only about 10-20ppm. So, I tested it again with my original kit and I got the same 80ppm. I don't understand why I'm getting different readings?

Thanks for all the help you guys have been giving me