still no sign of nitrites

[TASHANCRAIG]

i have been cycling my aquarium for 6 wks now and have had to do daily water changes as was cycling with fish and live plints to keep the ammonia down after the 6wks i am starting do see no ammonia at all on my tests and no nitrites but have had levels of ammonia and never seen any nitrites yet ??? is this normal is it my plants taking away the nitrites ??? is my tank cycled proper now
anyone else had this happen with their aquarium any pointers for me

 

[mgamer20o0]

any nitrates at all?

 

[Deep Seven]

Ammonia->NitrItes->NitrAtes
At this point I'd be testing for all three. Not sure what test kit you're using.

You said you haven't seen a nitrIte spike. It's therotically possible that the bacteria grew fast enough to keep nitrItes close enough to zero that you missed the spike, but if you don't see any nitrAtes at all I'd be worried.

If you have no ammonia and no nitrItes showing on your tests I'd stop doing water changes daily and start monitoring the parameters daily, and do water changes if you see ammonia or nitrItes starting to build. Hopefully your nitrAtes will start going up, which should mean you've cycled and you can switch to your normal PWC routine. If not, watch for ammonia and nitrItes like a hawk and start water changes before they get enough to be toxic.

 

[TASHANCRAIG]

hi am using tetra test kits the liquid ones more acurate in test just waiting on my nitrate test kit so can see if i have missed the nitrites spike ?? and my tank is cycled. but in my juwel aquarium it has a nitrate removal sponge inside so would that remove the nitrates and ill never see them too ??? i was only doin water changes every 3 days until ammonia started to rise quite bad so started doin them every day to get rid of it and now its down to 0 im all confused

 

[Deep Seven]

I'm not familiar with the nitrate removal sponges, but from what I've read they do indeed remove the nitrates and according to the manufacturer they reduce them to zero.

In hind sight I would have suggested leaving that nitrate sponge out until you're cycled. The problem is the sponge probably has some of your good bacteria on it now, so I'd lean against removing it at this point.

Eventually that sponge should stop working on the nitrates and you'll see them go up.

If it was me I'd probably move to weekly PWCs, and test the water once or twice a day for ammonia and nitrites, and do a PWC if either of those two start to go up. If they both measure zero after a week without a water change I'd conservatively call it cycled.

 

[Deep Seven]

Just realized I don't know what fish you have.

How many of what fish and what size are you using to cycle the tank?

 

[TASHANCRAIG]

any nitrates at all?

HI I HAVE JUST DONE A NITRATE TEST AND IT SHOWS I HAVE THEM ???? HOW MAD AND THEY ARE AT 12.5 WHICH IS GOOD SO DO YOU THINK I HAVE MISSED THE NITRITES ?????
MY AMMONIA WAS NEARLY 0 AGAIN TOO PH IS AT 7.5 ALLFISH DOIN WELL

 

[TASHANCRAIG]

just realized i don't know what fish you have.

How many of what fish and what size are you using to cycle the tank?

i have nitrates lol 12.5 mad ??? My tank is 180 l 48 gallons and i have 13 neons 7 tiger barbs 11 guppies 1 pleco catfish just added today 2 dalmation mollies and 2 dwarf gouramis tested all again and same results no nitrites 0 ammonia and 12.5 nitrates 7.5 ph
do you think im fully cycled now

 

[Deep Seven]

Looks good, I'd still keep an eye on nitrites watching for a spike, but if nitrates are going up then you're probably okay.

As for nitrates, I don't think they're angry. Hehe. They become harmful at 50ppm and deadly at 100ppm. Most people recomend doing 25%-35% PWC when nitrates hit 20-30.

 

[mgamer20o0]

plants will use ammonia when you have it. if you are doing wcs daily it could just have been you kept the water so clean you havent seen them yet. fishless cycle can take 6-8 weeks.... cycling with fish can take 8-10 weeks again ruff numbers.

i would still every day or two test just to make sure at least for the rest of the week or so.

nitrates in the aquarium isnt bad when the tank is cycled the plants use them.

 

[TASHANCRAIG]

Looks good, I'd still keep an eye on nitrites watching for a spike, but if nitrates are going up then you're probably okay.

As for nitrates, I don't think they're angry. Hehe. They become harmful at 50ppm and deadly at 100ppm. Most people recomend doing 25%-35% PWC when nitrates hit 20-30.

all was looking good and clear now nitrites have started they at 0.5 ??? suppose this is good sign my tank is finally cycling all fish are ok just couple guppies slamming into the gravel and swimming on ???? is this cause of their scales gettin nitrites on them ????

 

[Deep Seven]

Most people recomend you do a PWC and get nitrites down to 0.25 if you have fish in the tank.

 

[TASHANCRAIG]

Looks good, I'd still keep an eye on nitrites watching for a spike, but if nitrates are going up then you're probably okay.

As for nitrates, I don't think they're angry. Hehe. They become harmful at 50ppm and deadly at 100ppm. Most people recomend doing 25%-35% PWC when nitrates hit 20-30.

im now getting nitrites and ammonia at a low level nitrites keep trying to get high but keeping them down by wc how long does the nitrites spike take to clear and when will my tank by ever cycled haha ????? lost couple fish since this has happened too ??????

 

[Deep Seven]

If your getting your first real nitrite load on the tank, then it could be 1-4 weeks until it's fully cycled.

I don't know what to advise, but if it was me, I think I'd look at getting one of the instant cycle products to introduce the bacteria needed. If you use that route, do some research and check the manufacture date so you don't get something expired.

 

[swankyspoon]

I have read that most of those instant cycle products are not effective. So Caveat Emptor.

I have never tried them, but have seen lots of experienced people in the hobby dismiss most instant cycle products as useless or dangerous.

 

[Deep Seven]

Thats why I advised research. I don't have any personal experience with cycle products, and a lot of people have had bad experiences, but some people have claimed good success using certain brands. One key is making sure you get as fresh as possible. An old bottle could be in-effective because of age.

 

[novaheat]

I used Dr. Tim's One and Only to speed up the cycle process on my tank. My experience was following a post he references on his site until the Nitrites spiked well above 5ppm. After a partial water change everything went fairly quick. The site says you do not need to do a fishles cycle if you use the product but does give you ammonia when you place the order if you tell them you are going to use One and Only for a fishles cycle.

You can find my thread here.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/fishless-cycle-question-what-next-134674.html

NovaHeat