IFleshCouldCrawl
Aquarium Advice Newbie
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2011
- Messages
- 1
Ok so (and sorry about the long post have a lot of info) I am trying to cycle a 55G freshwater tank. It has been over a month and a half. I can put 2 ml of Ammonia in the tank and it brings my reading up to around 1-2 ppm (I am using the API test kit). The next day a little less than 24 hours I have 0ppm Ammonia. My Nitrites are and have been off the charts for a month if not more and my nitrates are stuck at 20-30ppm and do not move.
I have done 2 50-75% PCW because I have had the Ammonia part of the cycle stall on me and then after the water changes it would break down the Ammonia in less than 24hrs. But I do not know why the Nitrites and Nitrates have not changed after the 2 water changes. They will not budge I think I could do a 90% water change and still get the same readings for Nitrites and Nitrates. (No my tap water does not have any Nitrites or Nitrates in it) I am not using heater I want goldfish and I have an Eheim 2217 filter. Oh I am using a dechlorinator with all of my PWC and it does nothing else. I am not using any carbon. Water looks a little milky. Oh I have also started to add a very small amount of fish food to the water as well. I read that somewhere it helps the cycle.
So anyone have any thoughts on why my Nitrites and Nitrates will not change after some big PWC? Do I just need to keep doing water changes every day until they go down? Oh and ph is around 7.6 (not sure on the exact number but it is around 7.6 or something close to that.) Is my tank cycled? This is why I ask I read this on this site.
"Watch your nitrAte levels. When they start to rise wait about 5-7days and, if your nitrIte levels are really high (>10ppm), I'd recommend a large PWC to bring the number down into a readable range. This will not affect the cycle, and will keep you sane as you can watch the levels vary. You might see the levels continue to go up as you will still have more ammonia converting bacteria, but if you watch the nitrAtes you'll know your heading in the right direction. Several members on here have really been done the cycle, but because there was so much nitrIte in the tank they didn't know it! (hint I was one of them....)"
Again sorry for the long post but I have been reading everything I could find online about this and nothing seemed to match what problem I am having. Thank You All for your help.
I have done 2 50-75% PCW because I have had the Ammonia part of the cycle stall on me and then after the water changes it would break down the Ammonia in less than 24hrs. But I do not know why the Nitrites and Nitrates have not changed after the 2 water changes. They will not budge I think I could do a 90% water change and still get the same readings for Nitrites and Nitrates. (No my tap water does not have any Nitrites or Nitrates in it) I am not using heater I want goldfish and I have an Eheim 2217 filter. Oh I am using a dechlorinator with all of my PWC and it does nothing else. I am not using any carbon. Water looks a little milky. Oh I have also started to add a very small amount of fish food to the water as well. I read that somewhere it helps the cycle.
So anyone have any thoughts on why my Nitrites and Nitrates will not change after some big PWC? Do I just need to keep doing water changes every day until they go down? Oh and ph is around 7.6 (not sure on the exact number but it is around 7.6 or something close to that.) Is my tank cycled? This is why I ask I read this on this site.
"Watch your nitrAte levels. When they start to rise wait about 5-7days and, if your nitrIte levels are really high (>10ppm), I'd recommend a large PWC to bring the number down into a readable range. This will not affect the cycle, and will keep you sane as you can watch the levels vary. You might see the levels continue to go up as you will still have more ammonia converting bacteria, but if you watch the nitrAtes you'll know your heading in the right direction. Several members on here have really been done the cycle, but because there was so much nitrIte in the tank they didn't know it! (hint I was one of them....)"
Again sorry for the long post but I have been reading everything I could find online about this and nothing seemed to match what problem I am having. Thank You All for your help.
