Fishless cycle

[Harryhorse]

Been doing a fishless cycle now for 3wks just tested and amm 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 0.two questions 1 .I'm not ready to add fish so should I keep adding amm till I'm ready.2. Shouldn't I have a nitrate reading.I hav had a reading for the last week

 

[Terrance]

You got plants in your tank?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

It's unlikely your tank cycled in 3 weeks unless you had seeded media. Do you? What is the ammonia reading on the tank? What are you using to test?

 

[Harryhorse]

It's unlikely your tank cycled in 3 weeks unless you had seeded media. Do you? What is the ammonia reading on the tank? What are you using to test?

I have a API master kit I have been adding ammonia every day and testin everything everyday I can c were the ammo peaked.when the nitrite started an when the nitrate started have it all down in dairy

 

[Harryhorse]

You got plants in your tank?

No plants

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Have you done a water change?
Have you double checked the nitrate test?
You can keep adding ammonia everyday to keep it cycled if you don't have fish.

 

[Harryhorse]

Have you done a water change?
Have you double checked the nitrate test?
You can keep adding ammonia everyday to keep it cycled if you don't have fish.

Have not done a wc yet.just tested nitrate again about 4.0 I will keep adding ammonia

 

[Terrance]

You have a problem - all your nitrAtes have disappeared.

Are you sure you have had nitrIte and nitrAte readings in the past 3 weeks?

 

[Harryhorse]

You have a problem - all your nitrAtes have disappeared.

Are you sure you have had nitrIte and nitrAte readings in the past 3 weeks?

Yep for shore I keep a book an was testing and writing down everyday

 

[Terrance]

Do a large water change and restart your whole cycle over again. Then while you are cycling, change 50% of the water every week. See if that works.

 

[blert]

I see no reason to scrap it and start over again. Nitrates don't just disappear. The API nitrate test can be a little fickle. Test it again and really shake the stuffing out of the #2 bottle. Give it a couple good whacks also. There is a powder in there that clumps up sometimes.

 

[librarygirl]

Just to clarify:

What ammonia are you using (what brand) and how high are you dosing each time? Are you only dosing once in 24 hours or more than that?

How high is the temperature in the tank?

You said you had nitrIte readings; how long did you have them and how high did they get before they dropped to 0?

Have you tested your tap water for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? If not you should, just to get a baseline reading to see where you're starting from.