1ppm of Ammonia

[adadkins1]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

Well, I have upgraded from a 20g to a 55g. I transferred the filter directly to the 55 and it is currently running. All the decorations and substrate was also transferred. The tank has Duckweed, Mermaid Weed, Anacharis, Java Moss, Red Flame Sword, and a Dwarf Lily. What can I do other than PWC's? I am currently at 1ppm Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, ? Nitrates (haven't tested yet). How long will this not so small mini-cycle last?

 

[Scouser]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

Well, I have upgraded from a 20g to a 55g. I transferred the filter directly to the 55 and it is currently running. All the decorations and substrate was also transferred. The tank has Duckweed, Mermaid Weed, Anacharis, Java Moss, Red Flame Sword, and a Dwarf Lily. What can I do other than PWC's? I am currently at 1ppm Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, ? Nitrates (haven't tested yet). How long will this not so small mini-cycle last?

Have you checked if the filter can handle that size of a tank?

Have you added more fish?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Where the only things you moved the filter and fish? You may have lost a big chuck if BB in the substrate. Or if you move the old substrate over you could have kicked up a whole lot of crud from it causing the spike. If your filter hasn't got enough flow for the tank it might not be circulating enough water adding to the problem. Did you remember prime?

 

[jlk]

I have to agree with everyone here- a filter from a 20gal (even a cycled 20gal) simply is not sufficient for a 55gal. You will need much greater amount filtration that will need to be seeded with bacteria-this may take a few weeks. Leave the filter from the 20gal on & add a new, bigger filter. In the meantime, daily water testing & big pwcs with a good water conditioner (such as prime) are the best way to keep your ammonia levels under control while your tank cycles.

 

[adadkins1]

I moved EVERYTHING from the old 20 substrate, filter, decor, and the fish. I have sufficient filtration: 2x Aqua-Tech 30-60 plus the 20 filter. Along with tons of plants. I may try moving some of the old media to the 2 bigger filters to get max bacteria distribution.

 

[jlk]

Sorry for any misunderstanding about what you moved! Moving some of the old media to the new filters is a good idea! Just keep up on daily tetsing & water changes while you wait for this cycle to run its course. I would really limit feeding to only once a day or even once every other day to help limit ammonia levels until things stablize. Good luck!

 

[Scouser]

I moved EVERYTHING from the old 20 substrate, filter, decor, and the fish. I have sufficient filtration: 2x Aqua-Tech 30-60 plus the 20 filter. Along with tons of plants. I may try moving some of the old media to the 2 bigger filters to get max bacteria distribution.

Hmmm I'm not sure how long it'll take to recycle then mate, great job moving all the media.

Sorry didn't know you had other filters too, my bad for not asking!

 

[adadkins1]

No problem . I have fed very sparingly. Thanks everyone for the help!

 

[adadkins1]

Well, Day 3 of the mini-cycle. I have managed to get Ammonia down to .25ppm and I think the plants are finally helping to keep it down. However I still do not see any nitrites. This is really stressing me out and I know the fish aren't too happy either. I'm hoping that this cant be a full fledged cycle, because this one seems like it may last a while.

 

[jlk]

Have you tested your nitrate levels? If they are increasing, then you getting nitrites but they are being converted before you are catching them on the test. If your not getting any nitrates/nitrites, then it may be awhile yet i am afraid to say. Keep us posted!

 

[severum mama]

I missed this thread the other day.

Don't worry about it. 1.0 to .25 in a couple of days is a big step in the right direction. I've started many tanks with less bio media than you did and had them cycle through in a matter of days. Most of the time I don't even bother testing but just do a few extra PWC's. The times I have tested, it's gone very quickly. Once, I tested daily and never saw ammonia at all, just a bump in nitrite and then it was over.

Keep testing, keep changing water, but don't panic. The biological filter is very resilient IME and should catch up shortly.

 

[adadkins1]

I missed this thread the other day.

Don't worry about it. 1.0 to .25 in a couple of days is a big step in the right direction. I've started many tanks with less bio media than you did and had them cycle through in a matter of days. Most of the time I don't even bother testing but just do a few extra PWC's. The times I have tested, it's gone very quickly. Once, I tested daily and never saw ammonia at all, just a bump in nitrite and then it was over.

Keep testing, keep changing water, but don't panic. The biological filter is very resilient IME and should catch up shortly.

Well, I sure hope it hurries up! I have cycled many tanks in just a few days, but this one seems as though it is taking exceptionally long. When I went from my 10g to my 20g tall it only took 2 days or so. This time I am on day 3 and still showing .25 Ammonia and 0 Nitrites. Thanks for the advice and reassurance.

 

[severum mama]

.25 isn't great but it isn't terrible. Your water changes will help and your tank should be on the way to normal soon. Keep us posted.

 

[adadkins1]

Okay, will do. Fingers crossed for nitrites soon.

 

[adadkins1]

Well, as you can see, I am still waiting.
I am still showing about .25-.5ppm Ammonia and 0 Nitrites. Guess I shall do a PWC and wait more. Guess I am just unlucky.

 

[adadkins1]

Day 5, still have Ammonia in the .25-.5ppm range while Nitrites are still sitting at 0. I added some filter media and mulm water from my ADF and Betta tanks. Fingers crossed this will kick start something!

 

[Jjensen187]

I may be overlooking it but I haven't seen you mention your nitrAte level. It may be the reason you have 0 nitrites.

I recently switched my established 29 gallon from gravel to sand substrate and completely discarded the gravel. I have one 30gal filter and a 50gal filter on it and it seems to have enough BB to keep me from going into a mini cycle. I did have .25 ammonia level for a few days but after a few PWC my tank seems to have caught up. I did lose a kuhli loach though

 

[adadkins1]

I figured that I shouldn't be showing NitrAtes since I have Ammonia. I may take a look and see what I get. Will report here in a few...

 

[librarygirl]

You might not get nitrites at all. Ammonia levels might just come down and then it'll be over. I just upgraded tanks and moved all of the media over from the smaller filter to a new larger one and completely changed the substrate and I didn't have a spike at all. Just keep doing water changes to keep ammonia down and hopefully it'll even out soon, that's about all you can do really. If you moved all of the filter media over though and you have enough filtration for the larger tank I'm not sure why you're having a spike but it should settle down soon.

 

[adadkins1]

Okay, I don't know whether to celebrate or scratch my head. My NitrAtes are at about 7ppm. So does that mean I should just keep doing PWC's to keep Ammonia low and it will be over or what. Geez this is confusing me!