has my cycle stalled

[yaioa]

Readings today are- ammonia 4ppm (might be 3ppm ) nitrite and nitrate are still at zero and PH = 7. I am wondering if I'm measuring correctly. Instructions say to hold test tube on white area next to the chart. If I hold it close, as I have been doing, the colour is darker. Should I be holding it further away from chart?

 

[librarygirl]

Readings today are- ammonia 4ppm (might be 3ppm ) nitrite and nitrate are still at zero and PH = 7. I am wondering if I'm measuring correctly. Instructions say to hold test tube on white area next to the chart. If I hold it close, as I have been doing, the colour is darker. Should I be holding it further away from chart?

Nope, hold it right up against the card on the white area next to the color squares. Make sure the lighting in the room is good; natural light at your back is best but try different lighting areas to see how the results look.

 

[yaioa]

Readings today are- ammonia 4ppm (might be 3ppm ) nitrite and nitrate are still at zero and PH = 7.6. I added a small amount of fish food,is there anything else I should be doing? I have read somewhere that you can buy something called Angel plus active filters, don't know if they sell them in United Kingdom or if they even work.

 

[yaioa]

Todays readings:
Ammonia = 2-3ppm, hard to say as it might be slightly darker than 2ppm but definately lighter than 4ppm.
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = darker than zero but a lot lighter than 5ppm
PH = 7.2
I'm getting a bit frustrated now as nothing seems to be happening. Don't know whether to add ammonia today or not!

 

[yaioa]

Decided to add ammonia yesterday and took ammonia reading back up to 4ppm.
Readings today are - ammonia = 3ppm, nitrite = 0 and nitrate = 0 although might be just above 0, PH =7.6.
Everything has basically stayed the same except the Ph levels are fluctuating slightly.
I don't know what else I can do. Could it be the plants and should I take them out? The only other thing I have in my tank is CO2 for the plants, could this be affecting my results? Hope someone can help me as I have tried to follow the fishless cycling advice from this site to the letter and now seem to be at a stalemate!!

 

[wildroseofky]

Hi, I am pretty new to the aquarium stuff but I have been researching extensively over the last few months and have gotten lots of help from here. I started with a 10 gallon tank. I didn't find out about cycling until over a month in and after I added two mollies. It took 3 months for my 10 gallon to cycle. I also made the mistake of changing the filter a month in before I found out that you shouldn't change your filter until it is falling apart. I just started cycling a 29 gallon 7 days ago. Your readings sound normal to me. It seems to take forever for the nitrite to nitrate phase. I started with seeding material from my 10 gallon tank and I am just getting nitrite readings of .25 and nitrate of 5-10. Did you add any gravel or piece of filter from an established tank? It takes longer to cycle without a jump start. Keep your temps in the 80's but not higher from what I have read. Make sure you have your filter running a full force if it is adjustable. Lower the water level a little to get plenty of water agitation. Keep a check on PH and don't let it drop below 7 if possible. Don't put too much ammonia in the tank. up to 4 is best. Too much ammonia can overwhelm the process from what I have read. I came home yesterday to find my filter had almost stopped running and my water temps where down. My nitrite and nitrate reading had dropped to almost zero. I cleaned the filter and up the temp to 85 degrees and today they have gone up but the ammonia level hasn't dropped. Your plants shouldn't be a problem. Everything I read said plants will help the cycle.

Just be patient. It can take a long time and seem like forever but your tank will cycle if you follow all the rules. Check out the starting a freshwater aquarium article on here and read the fish less cycle steps laid out by Rivercats. There is a link the the first article to it. It answers all your questions.

 

[yaioa]

Thanks for your input. I have done everything you have suggested, filter running at fastest speed, heating up high, water level low enough to agitate the water, ph between 7 and 7.6. I added seed from established tank and everything was going well, just over a week ago I had ammonia levels dropping, nitrites rising and nitrates rising and then it all went down hill and although ammonia levels go down a bit most days the nitrite and nitrates stay at zero. I am getting confused and fed up!

 

[Bdonaldson]

Hang in there. My 20 gallon planted tank is 6 days into the fishless cycle and I just had to add more ammonia last night. The fishless cycle does take longer. You just have to be patient. I know it's frustrating because you just want to get through this stage so you can add fish. Keep up the good work. Just a thought - Have you considered adding some additional bacteria that you can get from the pet store? That may speed up the process a little.

 

[yaioa]

Tested yesterday and no noticeable changes.
Tested today and ammonia = 2ppm, nitrite = 0, nitrate = 10ppm, PH =7.8. I don't understand why my ammonia is going down, all be it slowly, but my nitrite is staying at zero and yet my nitrate is up to 10ppm, is this normal?

 

[Hholly]

Not sure why things stalled a bit for you. You didn't rinse anything or change water and forget dechlorinator, did you? Can you get any seeded material from a friend or fish store? Patience is definitely part of the process.

 

[yaioa]

I haven't rinsed anything and I did a partial water change on 18th Jan, but I added water dechlorinator. I can't get seed from anyone as I don't know anyone close by who has a tank. LFS don't give out seed material. Is it normal to get a reading for nitrate whilst getting no reading for nitrite? I have some new plants but I haven't added them to my tank as I'm worried they might have an adverse effect on cycle!

 

[Hholly]

Does your tap water have nitrates? Are you really shaking bottle number 2 of the nitrate test(try banging it on a counter top)?

 

[yaioa]

I did test my tap water, ammonia was .25ppm. nitrite & nitrate were zero, ph was 7.

 

[Hholly]

Weird. Don't know.

 

[yaioa]

Sorry, forgot to say in last post that yes I do shake the nitrate bottles, I didn't to start with but then I read about it somewhere on this site, so now I shake them both. I shake bottle no1 for 30 seconds and bottle no2 vigorously for 1 minute and tapping it on worktop before adding it to the water and I shake the tube for another minute, again quite vigorously.

 

[Hholly]

Could the nitrates be left from before things stalled?

 

[yaioa]

Don't think the nitrates were left from before the cycle stalled as for the last week, since the 19th Jan they have been at zero. On 23rd Jan nitrates looked as if they were just above zero, didn't test them on 24th Jan and today they are at 10ppm. Could it be anything to do with the plants?
I just tested the tap water again and ammonia is .25ppm, nitrite and nitrate were zero and PH was 6.8.

 

[Rare]

Do you have a KH&GH kit? It will be good to know where your KH are at right now

 

[yaioa]

I do have a kit, KH = 6°d and GH =8°d. Thanks for your input.

 

[molliwopp]

I haven't rinsed anything and I did a partial water change on 18th Jan, but I added water dechlorinator. I can't get seed from anyone as I don't know anyone close by who has a tank. LFS don't give out seed material. Is it normal to get a reading for nitrate whilst getting no reading for nitrite? I have some new plants but I haven't added them to my tank as I'm worried they might have an adverse effect on cycle!

Yes thats what you want, a reading for nitrate without any nitrite. If you can add ammonia and 24hrs later you get a nitrate reading without ammonia or nitrite, youre cycled. Ammonia to nitrite is quicker. Where the nitrite to nitrate bacteria take longer to colonise.