55g freshwater fishless cycle using food

[cat8]

this is kinda a question and a log of what my 55g freshwater tank is doing during the fishless cycle w food Ive been doing.......here it goes,
Set-up---------

55g freshwater tank
Eheim 200w submersible heater
Marineland C360 canister filter(carbon in)
Air pump w bulb wand attached
Black epoxy coated gravel 40#( have 20# more that i havent added)
temp- 79.5f right now.
Food----
used wardley tropical flake for first 2 weeks, then switched to cichlid crisps these last 2 weeks(didnt document when i switched food type, oops!)((also didnt measure exact amount of food i was adding, just tapped some into the lid, probably a mounded dime size at first for the flake, then a mounded quarter size when i started adding double the amount of food-with the flake only)

Tank up and running 3/27 added dime size amounts of food everyday but didnt start testing till 4/3
4/3-1xfood, a-0.50. ni-0
4/4-1x food, a-0.50,
4/5-1x food,a-0.50, ni-0, na-0
4/6.......
4/7-2x food, a-0.50~1.0, ni-0
4/8-1x food, a-0.50~1.0, ni-0
4/9-2x food, a-1.0, ni-0
4/10-2x food, a-1~2, ni-^0
4/11-2x food, a-1~2, ni-0~0.25
4/12-2x food, a-2~4, ni-0.25?
4/13......
4/14.......
4/15-2x food, a-2, ni-0.25, na-0
4/16-2x food, a-2~4, ni-0.25, na-0
4/18-1.5x food, a-2, ni-0.25, na-0
4/19-2x food, a-2, ni-0.25~0.50, na-0
switched food somewhere close to here
4/20-2x food, a-2, ni-0.25, na-0
4/26-2x food, a-2, ni-0.25
4/29-0 food,a-2~4, ni-0.50~1, na-^0
4/30-2x food, a-2~4, ni-5
5/2-0 food, a-0.25~0.50, ni-^5, na-20
5/3-0 food,a-^o, ni-^5, na-10~20
5/4-2x food,a-^o,ni-^5, na-10~20
5/7-2x food, a-^0, ni-^5, na-10~20

and that brings us to today. now do i need to do any pwc because im getting high amounts of nitrates now or what? i hope everyone can understand what ive wrote in my above testing log.I have also only tested my ph one time in the very begining and i never even recorded what it was.......help with advice on what to do now?????

*API master test kit being used

 

[threnjen]

Things are looking great. You are in the middle phase where the nitrite bacteria are being built.

 

[ScotJudd]

Hi. You're definitely getting there.
I do question why you are using food and not pure ammonia which is cheap, easy to obtain, easy to dose and therefore gives a clearer indication of the filters ability to process a given level of ammonia. I don't think I would be patient enough to use just food, but that might be my failing.
As for the nitrates I would only worry about doing a water change if the reading goes way off the colour chart, I like to keep mine about the 40-60 range. Obviously a huge WC is needed when the tank is cycled and before adding stock.
Do check the Ph, anything approaching 6.5 or less could halt the cycling.
Raising the temp to about 85f can also help to speed up the cycling process.
Good luck and let us know how it's going and what you eventually stock.


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