cycling

[Da Squid]

Yeah, I told myself when I started adding ammonia that I wouldn't put any cycling questions on this board and that I'd just be patient and wait it out like everyone says.
Now back to reality! I have a 55g. The PH I've been getting is 6 (at least I hope so. That's as low as the test goes but it could be even lower) Every few days my ammonia reading drops from around 4 ppm to 2ppm but my Nitrites are still showing zero. I add a bit more ammonia and just keep waiting. I've got the temp at about 82 degrees and have my filter output angled to break the surface a bit. I've only been cycling for about 7 days now.

Is is possible to lose ammonia without gaining nitrites or am I just clearly reading the ammonia test wrong? I'm using the API drop kit and have gotten second opinions on all my readings just in case i'm going color blind .

Thanks for your time all.

 

[Da Squid]

bump bump bee dump

 

[Da Squid]

I thought perhaps some of the ammonia could be comming out with the usual evaporation? Still I wouldn't have expected any significant loss.

 

[CaptainAhab]

Keep dosing at 3-4 ppm. Raise you temp to 86 or higher.. Give it another week or so. Your doing it right

 

[ORayRay]

It takes time, today my nitrites finally spiked and im getting a good reading on my nitrates, just a little bit more time, im 2 weeks in

 

[asudavew]

It takes time, today my nitrites finally spiked and im getting a good reading on my nitrates, just a little bit more time, im 2 weeks in

Getting closer~!

Did you seed the tank with gravel or filter media from another tank?

That would make things happen even faster!

 

[ORayRay]

Nope started from scratch

 

[Da Squid]

Thanks all! I'll definately up the temp and keep dosing the ammonia. I was in the understanding that the ammonia would not decrease until the nitrites increased which is what threw me off.
Congrats Oray!

 

[Da Squid]

My water levels have been getting low due to evaporation and the loud splashing sound of the canister's output stream was starting to get on our nerves. i filled it up with tap water and then added some Prime to get the chloramines out. Could this set back my 9 day cycle? I had no Nitrites yet to speak of.

 

[ORayRay]

Ive heard i can a little bit because of the chlorine in the tap water can kill the bacteria.

 

[Da Squid]

I notice some dark beard/brush algae growing on my driftwoods in the the cycling tank. I yet have no light for this tank and keep all my window blinds shut.
I didn't think algae could grow in the dark! Its sort of a dark greyish color and perhaps a half inch long. It almost looks like a fuzzy mold. Is it the dreaded brush algae do you think? I'll try and get a pic of it this weekend.

 

[Da Squid]

Well, its just about 30 days now since I started fishless cycling and I'm still not seeing any nitrites. I added plants from an established tank 6 days ago but no changes. I know I should be patient, but a month seems a long time without seeing a drop of nitrite.
I'm trying to think of what could be going wrong here. I've seen a number of people in my community complaining about the water company's use of chloramines. Is it possible my water is so loaded with chloramine that the normal doses of Prime aren't doing anything? Could that potentially keep bacteria from growing? I'm just shootin in the dark here.

 

[blasterx]

Do you have any local source of RO/DI water you could use so you can rule this out?
Also I'm an idiot at planted tanks, every time I have tried it they always die but I am pretty sure plants need nitrates as a source of food You might want to dose some in there so they don't die off.

I think you could also try some stress zyme or something adding some live bacteria to the tank and some flake food to decompose might kick start it.

One last thing, is your test kit expired?

 

[Da Squid]

The test kit seems to be reading the ammonia levels well enough, but I'll look for an experation date on the package. I've been thinking about trying some of those live bacteria bottles. Not sure if I trust them, but It's better than nothing I suppose.
I'm rather unversed in the water area. RO is pure water right? I don't have any way of testing the chlorines unfortunately. Good point about the plants. I was hoping they would speed up the process and it never occured to me they'd be in trouble! I suppose I'll cut back my lighting time to slow their growth further.

 

[mgamer20o0]

whats your tap water ph?

 

[Da Squid]

I love the silent cycle idea, but my ammonia has stayed at around 2 or 4 ppm for the past month and has yet to drop. My plants are most of the basic low light ones. Perhaps the low light plants don't absorb as much ammonia?

My PH right out of the sink was 7. I then put some tap water in a glass and let it sit for a day or so and it tested in the low 6's. 6.2 I think.

Could adding an extra dose of Prime screw anything up right now? I'm starting to worry that doing nothing and waiting isnt the right course anymore.

 

[Da Squid]

Ok, adding more prime and I'll wait another week. After that I might do a few huge water changes to drop the ammonia and then put in a few hardy fish and try things that way.