Newbie cycling help

[Young227]

First of all let me say that articles on this site on cycling are great.

Started a 36g bowfront on Monday. Used borrowed spongefilter from existing 10g.

Cranked up heater, added a few drops of Ph down, used tetra safestart for chlorine (even though I have a well). Oh and swished around filter from 10g but did not leave in the 36g as I didn't want to leave my 10g at risk of recycling. Dosed ammonia to close to 4 ppm.

Thru tonight it looks like Ammonia is down to 2.0 at most. Nitrite at 0 and nitrates around 10 and higher than baseline tap water. Oh and Ph at 7.4 (using high range test)

See pict. Could increase in nitrate be from safestart and spongefilter? Nitrite hasn't moved so I am assuming cycle has not even started yet but confused by increase in nitrates.

 

[jlk]

Hi! Swishing the dirty filter in the new tank in addition to the safestart is likely where the nitrate resulted from. However, I have seen multiple times with people using SS that nitrites never appeared, not even for an hour. SS tends to skew readings you may normally expect to see during a cycle's progression. I would not be too concerned and just continue to monitor your tank parameters.

It looks like you did the ph test with just the regular ph, correct? You need to double check it with the high range ph. I also strongly recommend not to add any more ph down products in the future. They are a very temporary fix (if they work at all) and can result in drastic swings in ph that can harm or even kill fish (and your good bacteria). Stick to what your tap ph is as 'most' fish are quite adaptable (within reason, of course) with proper acclimation. Hope this helps!

 

[Young227]

thanks... started seeing nitrites yesterday. up to 0.5ppm today and had to redose Ammonia up to 3.0ppm. Nitrates still haven't moved, but now I can see that the cycle has started.

 

[Young227]

Thanks for info on Ph down. I bought it originally cuz our water is on the high side 7.4/7.6. After doing some asking found out its better just to leave it then constantly try to adjust it.

Today's reading are nitrites off charts nitrates at 40ppm. Thinking I'll do a PwC tomorrow to bring nitrite and nitrate readings down and hoping I'm close to being cycled. Maybe by the weekend?

 

[Fishfur]

You can, if you wish, add more filter rinsings to the new filter.

Since you have one already established, every time you clean it, [ in tank water or treated water ], a number of BB wash off. So if you pour that into the new filter, many of those BB will take hold and grow in the new filter. Thus speeding up the cycle.

You already gave it a quite a boost, but in future, it works much better to pour rinsings into the new filter from an old one, than to swish it in the water of the new tank. I had a big nitrite spike going in a new tank, until I was kindly given rinsings, and the nitrite spike stopped dead in 36 hours, with zero, zero and 25ppm readings respectively by the end of the second day. Fully cycled, iow.

Direct pouring into a new filter puts the BB in the exact place you want them, more of a concentrated dose, which has consistently worked for me in every new filter I've started since.

 

[Young227]

ph dropped what to do?

Nitrite readings off charts, Nitrate readings close to top of chart, so I did about a 50% water change. retested water and noticed ph had dropped to 6.8, which is odd because our tap water is usually around 7.4. Didn't test ph before water change so it must have been much lower. Should I do another 50% water change to try and get Ph back up? I had already dosed the ammonia back up to almost 4ppm. I was hoping I was getting close to the end of cycle but concerned that this drop in ph will throw me off track.

oh i added a pinch of fish food as i read somewhere that might help, not sure if that was a good idea or not.

luckily the python water changer I purchased made the water change process a breeze compared to the bucket brigrade I deal with with the 10g tank

 

[Young227]

Nitrite readings off charts, Nitrate readings close to top of chart, so I did about a 50% water change. retested water and noticed ph had dropped to 6.8, which is odd because our tap water is usually around 7.4. Didn't test ph before water change so it must have been much lower. Should I do another 50% water change to try and get Ph back up? I had already dosed the ammonia back up to almost 4ppm. I was hoping I was getting close to the end of cycle but concerned that this drop in ph will throw me off track. oh i added a pinch of fish food as i read somewhere that might help, not sure if that was a good idea or not. luckily the python water changer I purchased made the water change process a breeze compared to the bucket brigrade I deal with with the 10g tank

Retested a few hrs later. Ph back to more "normal" levels. About 7.4. Hopefully I'm still proceeding on track. Nitrites down to 1.0 nitrates about 20. Will keep eye on Ph closely from now on.

Can't wait till day I see 0 AMM 0 nitrites.

 

[Young227]

stalled at nitrite spike?

started seeing nitrites on monday. next day they went off the API test chart and actually on 2nd day I noticed the drops turning purple as they settled in test tube. Nitrates got as high as 40+ppm and ammonia keeps decreasing so I am pretty sure cycle is working. I've done two 40/50% water changes, one yesterday and another again today to try and get "readable" readings. Keep redosing ammonia to between 2/3 ppm. Questioning if there is something else I should try or am I just being impatient

 

[jlk]

Have some patience! It actually takes 2-3x as long for your second set of bacteria to develop. I would honestly stop dosing ammonia for a few days and see if your nitrates increase. If they do, then do a wc and start dosing ammonia at very low amounts (.5-1ppm). As your bacteria get up to speed, you can gradually increase the ammonia dose by .5ppm over a week or so until your tank easily converts 4ppm in 24hrs.

 

[Young227]

18 hrs later....

Have some patience! It actually takes 2-3x as long for your second set of bacteria to develop. I would honestly stop dosing ammonia for a few days and see if your nitrates increase. If they do, then do a wc and start dosing ammonia at very low amounts (.5-1ppm). As your bacteria get up to speed, you can gradually increase the ammonia dose by .5ppm over a week or so until your tank easily converts 4ppm in 24hrs.

Thanks for input. This is only my second tank and my first attempt at fishless cycling. Trying to have patient, but it is harded to stare at empty tank than I thought, and even harder to keep explain to wife and kids why its still empty (funny, the kids are actually getting it more than the wife) Used more drippings from seeded filter material from my 10 gallon last night hoping to boost cycle if it was stalled.

Just tested water again. Converted close to 4ppm of ammonia to 0 in 18hrs. Nitrites above 5ppm but drops do not turn purple as they settle in test tube. Nitrates are 40+ppm. Cycle is working I believe, just that the nitrite converting bacteria aren't fully developed yet? could take another week or so till they colonize enough to get to zero?

With ammonia at zero should I redose the small amounts you recommend. If i redose with small amounts the ammonia will go to zero rather quickly correct? how long can i let it go with zero ppm ammonia before I risk that bacteria dying off?

Thanks for your help. This forum has been a great wealth of knowledge as I try to go through this process and get started in aquarium keeping

 

[jlk]

The longest I have gone without dosing ammonia so far is 10 days though I would not recommend doing this in newly establishing tank (a qt that's been cycled for years now). I would let things be for 3-4 days and see how things progress. Your first set of bacteria are well established so you just need to give the second set some more time to catch up and your tank will be cycled. Adding filter squeezings will definitely help, too!

 

[Young227]

Tested water again tonight. after dosing to 4ppm of ammonia yesterday afternoon, ammonia is at zero. nitrites off charts, nitrates at 80ppm. However, Ph has fallen to 6.6.
i think i have three choices...

should do a pwc to get the ph back up and then redose ammonia?

should i redose ammonia and hope cycle keeps progressing

should i just leave it sit

 

[jlk]

Nitrates have progressed which is a good sign but the ph crash is an issue as if you leave things be, it will continue to fall. I would do a wc and not add more ammonia. Wait to see if your nitrates continue to increase.

 

[Young227]

After water change. Ph back under control today. Nitrites still off charts. Nitrates over 40 again.

Leaving it alone for another day

 

[Young227]

after leaving it for two days, dosed ammonia to 1ppm yesterday around noon. This afternoon at noon ammonia =0, nitrite = 0, nitrate = 60 (between 40 & 80 on chart) and ph still at 7.3.

just dosed tank to about 1.5ppm anxious to see what results are tomorrow.

if 1.5ppm is converted to 0/0 tomorrow, should i consider doing PWC and adding fish or should i continue to gradually build up the ammonia dose until tank can convert 4ppm of ammonia to 0/0 within 24 hours.

 

[jlk]

If you see all zeroes tomorrow, increase the dose by .5. Then just keep increasing it over the next few days until your tank easily converts 4ppm steadily. Then your tank will be ready to stock fully. Your other option is to keep dosing low doses for a few more days then gradually stock over a few weeks giving the bacteria time to adjust to the increasing bioload. Really up to you!