Fishless Cycle- Nitrite Phase

[idb]

Hi,

I've been cycling my 10G tank for 48 days (unseeded). My ammonia started returning to 0 with 24 hours on day 25, now I'm in the Nitrite phase. I am using a Nutrafin mini master liquid test kit and my Nitrites are reading 3.3ppm or more, this has been the case for the last 23 days.

I recently did a 90% waterchange and my Nitrite reading was still 3.3ppm. I have verified the test kit works correctly on tap water (zero reading).

My tank temperature is 29c and I have an eheim aquaball internal filter with the venturi nozzle on full open (to get maximum oxygen into the water).

I've also sufered some PH crashes prioir to the waterchange.

My wife keeps asking how much longer we have to have an empty tank and my 'as long as it takes' response is becoming old!

Doe my cycle seem normal? Should the Nitrites dropped by now?

Any help much appreciated.

 

[logansmomma1228]

The nitrites usually drop within a couple days after the spike. I do not know how much 29c is in F but if the temp is too high it can stall the cycle. Also, what, was your ammonia source? Did you continue to add ammonia? Too much ammonia can also stall your cycle.

I personally don't change the water in my tanks until the cycle is complete, but with nitrites that high it is probable a good thing you did. I would suggest doing 50% a day until you see them go down, and don't add anymore ammonia. (or source whatever you used)

Do you have Nitrate reading?

 

[idb]

Hi,

I'm using household ammonia.

Not tested Nitrate in a while but the last time it was off the chart. Will retest tonight and post my results.

29c is 84.2F

 

[Dr. Scroggins..]

your temp should be fine. i would keep dosing small amounts of ammonia every day or two, dont want that bacteria to starve. during my last cycle it took a while to build up enough of the nitrite eating bacteria to make a dent in my large amount of nitrite. water changes are okay as well. 48 days is a long time, but you should get back on track. if at all possible add some sort of seeding element. when i was at the same point you are, i added a small stump decoration from a friends tank, it seemed to jump start my cycle again.

 

[mommytron]

high nitrates stalled your cycle!!!!! happened to me too, i didn't think i needed to be testing nitrates as there were no fish. so my nitrates were 160ppm and it totally stalled out my cycle. i advise you to test them ASAP and do a water change to get them down to less than 40ppm. i did about 75% water change on mine and i was good to go. i added a little more seeded material after the water change, 3 days later or something the cycle was done! so yeah, high nitrates are my guess as to why your cycle has stalled. don't fret, just get them down and continue as normal. if you know someone with an established tank, ask for some old filter media or a couple of handfuls of substrate and it will kick start your cycle back into action. if you don't know anyone you can ask your LFS, they are usually willing to oblige.

 

[neilanh]

48 days isn't completely out of the ordinary considering you didn't add any seed material.

All good advice above. pH crashes aren't uncommon either during cycling, but when they occur you'll need to do a PWC to get the pH back to normal.

Continue adding ammonia to feed the bacteria.

Stalling during the nitrIte phase isn't all that uncommon either. Try adding a pinch of regular fish flake food. Grind it up as small as possible and add it to the tank. Some of the trace elements in there are beneficial to the bacteria as well.