Lisa's Cycling Thread

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o im getting excited...this morning my ammonia was 0 after 4ppm yesterday so i added ammonia up to 4ppm again today...my nitrites are still too high to read and my nitrates are high...i know i have test strips that are not reliable but i can afford to throw them so i have to use them up...my question is tomorrow if my ammonia is again 0 should i do a 50% water change or wait until my nitrites come down?
 
Hi Lisa! Ok, tomorrow skip adding ammonia. After another 24hrs, let us know if your nitrites have dropped at all & we will go from there! :)
 
ok so i skipped adding ammonia yesterday as you advised but my nitrites are still off the charts...do i do a water change today to get them down??
 
Dont worry! Your second set of bacteria (nitrite>nitrate) take twice as long to grow as the first set. They are not up to speed yet! Lets give them another day & let us know how things look tomorrow! Did you check your nitrates to see if they increased at all? :)
 
i did a 30% water change and checked after 30min and the nitrites and nitrates are still too high to read. i think ill wait til tomorrow and see what it is...should i be adding ammonia tday i did not test it yet but im expecting for it to be 0
 
Skip the ammonia today. Thats great your nitrates are off the charts high because it indicates your second set of bacteria are processing the nitrite. We just have to wait for them to get up to speed! :)
 
so this morning i tested and my nitrites are coming down and my nitrates are on the rise...this all seems great news to me, but what now???
 
also..im alittle confused on the ammonia thing i see places that says i should be adding ammonia to 1ppm to feed the nitrites...should i be adding ammonia or no? i thought i wanted nitrites to fall, not feed them to make them grow? am i missing something or way off base?? also threw out the strip test and got api master kit and it doesnt test for hardness..now do i need another test for that? im worried also about my ph...ph=7.6...high ph=8.4....what is this high ph? the first time i heard of it was when i brought home the test kit..im sorry for all the questions. thanks tho for attempting to help me, my fish, when i get him, will appreciate you....
 
Hi Lisa! Yes, the amount of info can be a bit confusing & overwhelming! Ok, dont stress the all the details- just post your numbers every day & I can point you in the right direction. Your bacteria wont starve in one day or even 5 days so dont worry! Testing for hardness is not necessary unless you plan on keeping some exotic species of fish or plan on going high-tech- so, again, do not worry!

Lets, get a few details so we are both on the same page here. You did not add ammonia the last two days, correct? What are the exact numbers you are seeing for your tank today (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)? Make sure you really shake the nitrate bottles HARD & bang the bottles on a hard surface for atleast 2mins before testing- this test is finicky! Let me know how everything looks!

Next, we need we need to figure out your taps ph. Test your tap water straight from the faucet for ph & high range range ph- post your numbers. Then, place a container of tap water out. If you have an extra airstone or bubbler, place this in the water. If you dont, just give the water a good stir every so often to help release gasses. In 24hrs, test the ph & high range ph of of this water. These numbers will be your actual ph. Let us know tomorrow how these numbers look!

Bit of explanation on the ph tests- the regular ph test only tests up to 7.6. A reading of 7.6 can indicate a ph of 7.6 or 8 or higher.- you will still see the same reading of 7.6 because this is the limit of this test. Let us know how everything looks & we can go from there!! :)
 
you are awesome...here are my #s today, and you are correct i have not added ammonia for 2 days now..high ph-8.4...nitrite-2.0...nitrate-5.0...ammonia-o..i will check the ph of my tap today and let you know tomorrow...thanks ssooo much
 
Ok, skip the ammonia for one more day. If your nitrite does not come down further by tomorrow, then you can do a big water change & redose ammonia. If it drops more on its own, then you can redose ammonia without a water change. :)
 
ok now im alittle worried with my numbers they are the same as yesterday..ph too high to read...high ph 8.4...ammonia 0...nitrite 2.0...nitrate 5.0...i tested my tap water after it sat for a day and the ph is too high to read and the high ph is 8.4...the same as whats in my tank...O NO NOW WHAT????
 
also i just noticed these white little blobs, kinda looks like eggs of some sort in the corners of my tank, and went i went to wipe them off the were yellowish against the white paper towel and the smell like pond water...o no
 
Hi! Are there any snails in the tank? It may be snai eggs. If not, just wipe off any of the blobs you see. Strange stuff can grow in a tank but the fact that it smells like pond water is perfectly normal (earthy type of smell). Ok, your ph is not insanely high but a tad on the high side but it also reflects your tap water ph so theres nothing out of the norm. If you want to consider lowering it a bit, you can add driftwood and/or some peat moss to your filter. For right now, I would not be concerned with it because your tank is cycling & theres no fish.

Ok, your numbers havent changed from yesterday so when you have the time, do a big water change (as in close to 100%). Make sure you temperature match the new water to your tank water and propery condition it (dose water condit to your tank size). Wait 15-20mins & retest your numbers & let us know how these look. The water change should drop your nitrites down. Then use the calculator I posted & add ony enough ammonia to bring it up to 2ppm (change the 'ppm' on the calculator to 2ppm from 5ppm). If you dont know the % of your ammonia, you will need to add 1/2 the original dose it took to get to 4ppm. Hope this makes some sense! :)
 
Your nitrite have some down some so that's great and you have nitrates which means some fo the nitite was converted to nitrate, another great sign! I'd dose ammonia to 2-3, no need for a water change yet IMO. Then test again in 24 hours. As for the blobs, can you post a pic? Are they hard, soft, cottony? Do you have driftwood in the tank? Any live plants? Snails? Did you add fish food at all?
 
well before i noticed your posts o did a 60% or so water change and waited and checked my nitrites and nitrates and my nitrites are at now 5.0 after the change and my nitrates appear to have risen to 10 or 20 ppm, the colors are so close to each other its hard to tell but they are definitely higher then before the water change...this makes no sence to me...now what should i add ammonia or hold off...i havent added any for 4 days now i think
 
Thats a bit odd. Have you tested your tap water for ammonia, nitrite & nitrate? How do these numbers look? Just add 2ppm of ammonia for today.
 
ok i tested my tap water and everything is 0 there...i added ammonia yesterday and today its at 0..my numbers are about the same as yesterday except my nitrites are even higher...high ph-8.4, ammonia-0...nitrite-5.0 (yesterday it was at 2.0)...nitrate-5.0. i should do a large water change?? like a 90%?? is my cycle stalled?? i read something aboout that but it mentioned a low ph when that happens and i certainly dont have that problem..i absolutely have no clue what i am doing..loooool
 
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