Fishless Cycle One Month In

[aquanub]

Hello everyone,

I have been fishless cycling my 55 gallon for nearly a month now. below are my api test kit readings. I did seed the tank with a handfull of gravel in a nylon stocking, a couple pieces of malaysian driftwod and a filter sponge from an established tank. I'm confused as to my results thus far.

Date: ammo added ammo ppm

3/18 +7 ml ammo 4 ppm ammo
3/19 4 ppm ammo
3/20 2-4 ppm ammo
3/21 2-4 ppm ammo
3/22 1-2 ppm ammo
3/25 +3 ml ammo 4 ppm ammo
3/26 2-4 ppm ammo
3/27 2 ppm ammo
3/28 2 ppm ammo
3/29 + 3 ml ammo 4 ppm ammo
4/1 2-4 ppm ammo
4/2 + 3 ml ammo 4 ppm ammo
4/4 2-4 ppm ammo
4/6 2-4 ppm ammo
4/8 2 ppm ammo
4/10 +4 ml ammo 4-5 ppm ammo
4/11 4-5 ppm ammo
4/12 4 ppm ammo
4/13 2-4 ppm ammo
4/14 2-4 ppm ammo
4/16 2 ppm ammo

As you can see my ammo is dropping off every few days. I dose it back up to 4 ppm then sure enough it drops off a few days later. The part that is confusing me is that I am not seeing nitrites yet.

I have been keeping my tank at a steady 81 degrees f and my ph has been steady at 8 - 8.2.

I have had to add water several times (probably 5 times total) to combat evaporation. I have been adding 1 ml of Nutrifin Aqua Plus per gallon to remove chlorine. Also, I added the appropriate amount of api aquarium salt when I initially filled the tank but have not added any since then.

This tank will be an African tank and is filled with white sand and black slate. I am using a Eheim 2217 and a marineland powerhead to keep the water circulating.

Should I simply continue down this road and hope my tank starts to show signs of nitrites or have I been going about this wrong? This is my first fishless cycle so any help, advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[George9]

Hmmm, no nitrites at all? Do you have any nitrates? It's possible you skilled the nitrite phase all together. But you should be seeing some nitrite soon if not, it will generally take 1-3 weeks for nitrites to show

 

[aquanub]

Thanks for the quick reply, George. I have no traces no nitrates either. It doesn't appear that I'm getting past the ammo>nitrites phase. I reseeded my canister filter last night with another filter sponge and turned my temp up to 85 degrees. Really hoping to see nitrites soon.

 

[jlk]

You dont mention your ph here. You need to keep an eye on this as well with daily checks. It is odd that that you are not seeing any nitrites or nitrates with your ammonia dropping. Have you checked the expiration dates on your test kit? I would double check the nitrate test as well- make sure you thoroughly shake & bang the bottles on a hard surface for a full 1-2mins before testing. The nitrate test can be very finicky. Its possible you are skipping the nitrite phase because you used some seeded media but you should still see some nitrates.

 

[aquanub]

Thanks for the reply. I did mention my PH (steady 8 - 8.2). I used the same API test kit that I purchased new at the beginning of the year when I setup a 6g fluval edge in which nitrites and nitrates registered fine so I am fairly confident that the test kit is okay. I suppose I could always bring my water into the LFS to have it tested to confirm my results though.

 

[jlk]

Sorry, I missed the mention of your ph! Double checking your numbers with the lfs is a good idea! Lets see if adding the additional media helps. For now, I would just continue on the as you have been doing & see if theres any change over the next week. I would skip any salt as well because its really not necessary in a fw tank. Keep us posted!

 

[Ram8349]

During the fishless cycling, you might want to remove activate carbon pad in your EHEIM filter. I have a 2213, so I know the stock filter media has a carbon pad. It might absorb a tiny amount of ammonia. Ammonia can also decrease on its own because it can be released into the atmosphere slowly.

You can further raise your water temperature to high 80s. The bacteria will multiply faster in higher temperature.
Turn up air pump too to increase gas exchange. The beneficial bacteria can use a lot of oxygen.

If you can get Tetra SafeStart, you can use it for more bacteria seeding for both bacteria species. It's proven working and can give your fishless cycling a huge jump start.

 

[aquanub]

That is sage advice, Ram. I will remove the carbon pad tonight and bump the temp up to the high 80s. I really wanted to stay away from any quick start chemicals so hopefully these steps will prove fruitful. I do not have an air pump but my spraybar and powerhead do create quite a bit of surface agitation.. I hope this is sufficient.

 

[librarygirl]

Hm, I'd have expected more movement by now. You're not changing out filter media or anything right? Are you sure you're not overdosing ammonia? It can be difficult to read the greens on the API kit and if ammonia goes to high it can stall things. I'd do a 100% water change with temp matched, dechlorinated water and then turn filters back on and wait an hour, then test ammonia and see what it is. The water change can help re-add minerals and buffers to the water so it might help, can't hurt anyway. After the pwc, test ammonia and if there's any in there that means you overdosed and don't add anymore for a day or so and see what happens. Have you tested nitrate?

 

[Ram8349]

That is sage advice, Ram. I will remove the carbon pad tonight and bump the temp up to the high 80s. I really wanted to stay away from any quick start chemicals so hopefully these steps will prove fruitful. I do not have an air pump but my spraybar and powerhead do create quite a bit of surface agitation.. I hope this is sufficient.

Tetra SafeStart is not a chemical. It is live bacteria of both species (one convert ammonia into nitrite, the other convert nitrite into nitrate) required for aquarium nitrogen cycle. It is proven working with no ill effect.

You might want to get an air pump. Canister filter spray bar doesn't create enough the same kind of surface movement as air bubbles burst at the surface. Unless you have the spray bar above the water.

 

[aquanub]

Well I finally am seeing Nitrites after five weeks! Last night I saw between 0-.25 and tonight I'm seeing .25. Looks like things are finally moving! Thank you to everyone who has chimed in with advice! Unless I'm missing something, it sounds as if I just need to keep the ammo at 4 ppm until trites and trates are off the scale then do a 50% wc and continue until I can get 4 ppm ammo>nitrite>nitrate in 24 hours.

 

[Ram8349]

It is perfectly normal for nitrite first appear after many weeks into the cycle. Once you have nitrite reading, things will be going rather quickly. You do not need to change water until nitrate is too high, because the process of creating nitrate is acidic. Once the water buffer is gone, it might suddenly crash your water PH. Nitrogen cycle can be stalled at too low PH. So partial water change is needed to restore water buffer after nitrate start to appear in large quantity.

As for how much ammonia you need, it is entirely depend on how many fish you plan to put in there at once after the cycle is completed. If you plan a very light stock, then 2~3ppm will be sufficient. If you plan to add full stock of fish, you might want to aim at 5~6ppm ammonia being converted into nitrate daily.

 

[librarygirl]

Is ammonia dropping at all? Usually by the time nitrites show up, ammonia is falling to 0 within 24 hours of dosing. Wait a few more days, see what nitrites do, but if ammonia isn't falling faster I'd do a large water change to try to get things moving. I wouldn't dose ammonia any higher than 4; a tank full of fish won't put out anywhere near 4 ppms of ammonia (unless you have a very large shark maybe lol) so you can cycle the tank to 4 and fully stock it afterwards. Dosing ammonia too high can impede the cycle as well. Nitrates will rise as nitrite is converted, so that's normal. What you're waiting for is ammonia to fall to 0 within 24 hours and nitrite to rise and then fall to 0. Post here if you have any questions or if you get odd readings. Oh, and watch your PH too.

 

[aquanub]

Thank you, LG. I will contunue to keep a close eye on it.

 

[aquanub]

Almost two weeks since my last post. At that point, I was starting to see signs of nitrites and nitrates Yay!! then... then about three days ago the ammo stopped dropping. My nitrites dissapeared (went to 0) and nitrates peaked at 5-10 ppm. I have been checking PH daily and it has not dropped below 8.2. I am pretty sure that my cycle is stalled at this point

Last night I did a 50% wc and redosed the ammo back up to 4 ppm and brought the temp back up to 88 F. Hoping to see some some nitrates again soon.

Really want to see this through but am starting to lose faith