cycling and nitrate issues

[lionheart]

i have been doing a fishless cycle for around 4/5 weeks and also wrote a post or 2 regarding that cycle
i am now cycled
i now have ammonia 0ppm nitrite 0ppm nitrate between 40 and 60 ppm i did do a 80percent water change to get the nitrate down but still got same nitrate reading after water change

now i also just set up 3 days a go a 55gal tank
i just filled it up added water conditioner connected a heater & old filter which as not been used in months and the filter media which was inside it 2 baskets of ceramic rings and 2 course sponges also i put in base of tank on substrate 2 used filter media out my establish tank which as been established well over 12months
so tonight after i got nitrate reading from other tank which as cycled
i decided to check the nitrate in the newly setup 55gal
and it was actually lower at around 20/40 ppm which i dont understand cos its from same water supply
so i then thought i would do a test on ammonia & nitrite before i start the fishless cycle in that tank
i.e start adding ammonia
but my readings came out at 0ppm ammonia 0ppm nitrite 20/40ppm nitrate
i dont think a tank can cycle that quick just by seeding with some old used media
so i am lost as to my next step should be
i know my API fresh water liquid test kit is ok
also apart from adding plants what else can i do to get my nitrate down as my reading from tap was 40ppm

 

[mfdrookie516]

Are you 100% sure the test kit is ok? have you checked to make sure it's not expired? Are you beating the nitrate test #2 bottle good (like forever)? Have you tested your tap for nitrates? Is there alot of gunk built up in the filter?

 

[lionheart]

the test kits are fine i recently bought another one as the old 1 was 12months old yet i got same reading with both kits
the filter i used was cleaned out 2months back and just left on side
the ceramic rings and sponges were just left inside it
only the 2 media placed inside on base of substrate have come straight out of my established tank
so i dont understand whats going on
i would of thought it would of took alot longer to seed the substate
ant idea's please
i was going to drop a bit of ammonia in just to see if it gets absorbed in next 24 hours

 

[lionheart]

well here i am again re-igniting this post
on 5th march i setup the 55gal
as it happens my initial readings was incorrect mfdrookie516
the day after my last post on this thread
i took another reading and it was far from being cycled
so basically i began the fishless cycle
i added ammonia till i got reading of 4 ppm and i have been checking twice / sometimes 3 times daily
now at the begining it was taking a good while for ammonia to be consumed and decrease
but i just kept adding ammonia basically when it was required to keep the reading around the 2 / 4 ppm
i checked for nitrites after week 1 the reading was off the scale dark purple in colour
i also in the 2nd week added a 2nd filter with fully established filter media into tank
so now 3 weeks down the line
i am having to add ammonia twice/ three times daily as it is consuming it like a hungry beast
i can dose it up to 4ppm and within 4/6 hours there is very little trace of it
nitrites have been falling rapidily this last week
i now have nitrite reading less than 0.25 but not 0ppm it's very very pale almost see through in colour after 5mins in test tube its almost a very light blue in the right light

today i have dosed ammonia 3 times
it has consumed it that fast
i am guessing i am very very close now to being fully cycled i just need the nitrites to drop that fraction to turn light blue in colour
ive tested for nitrates and that reading is 60 + ppm very red in colour
now once tank is cycled and ive done a water change
if i do not add fish within 24/48 hours
will i be correct in my asumption i will need to add ammonia to keep the nitrites alive
untill i do add my 1st stock
and depending on the time frame in which i do add some stock
perhaps do another water change prior to stocking

 

[mfdrookie516]

I would just continue to dose ammonia until you are ready to stock it, and the night before, do a 50-60% pwc, get the nitrate down to 20ppm or less, and then you should be good to go. It sounds like you're already cycled, the minute amount of nitrite should go away with a water change.

 

[Gmiked]

my 75 just cycled and i need to hold it for a week wile im out of town,, my son will dose 6ml of amm every day wail im gone to keep the process going. got to keep those little buggers feed

 

[mfdrookie516]

gmiked, you may want to make sure he knows how to test as well... you dont want to keep adding it and not testing because if something happens and it doesnt convert all 6ml one day, adding on to that could cause it to rise too high and kill the bacteria... just something to think about

 

[lionheart]

on my other 2 cycled tanks
when i test for nitrite after adding the 5 drops it instantly is light blue in colour both before and after shaking test tube showing 0ppm nitrites after the 5 mins wait it still the same so deffo no nitrite
now the 55/60 gal tank ive been cycling is as i said consuming ammonia really fast i can dose to 4ppm and within 4 / 8 hours it virtually 0ppm yellow in test tube but when i test for nitrite as soon as i add the 5 drops it goes purple/pink yet gets lighter and lighter as the 5mins time scale approches and by the time the 5mins are up it is light blue in colour showing 0ppm
i know the api liquid tests should be left for 5 mins to get a true reading
but i am somewhat confused as if i am truley cycled or am i jumping the gun a bit
as ive mentioned when testing other tanks they automatically go light blue and remain that colour http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/members/mfdrookie516-24638.htmli was told the trace nitrite should dissapear after doing water change when ready to stock but should i just go ahead and do water change now ready to stock or wait that little bit longer till the tests turns blue instantly
the reason i asked is its quite alot of water i have to carry by hand and i dont want to have to do it twice i think i am being little impatient but i guess thats cycling

 

[lionheart]

well i took the plunge and went for it seen as my reading was as i posted above
now i'm back to square one
took me 5hours taking 35gal out and putting 35gal back in at same temp after adding dechol i made sure filters was still running heater still on done everything i could to maintain same temp conditions
now just finished took water reading ammonia 0ppm nitrite 2.0ppm nitrate down too 20ppm was amazed at nitrite reading so i did test 3 times still same each test
now i need to make a decision do i just add more ammonia now or should i wait till tommorow and check my nitrite again
i swear it really as done my head before i did water change ready to stock after waiting 5mins on nitrite test it was light blue 0ppm all ive done is change water
advice please start dosing ammonia immediatley or wait

 

[lionheart]

update on my position
as wrote in above post since doing water change too early i was basically back to square one after water change my reading was 0ppm ammonia 2.0ppm nitrite 20ppm nitrate

well since then ive been adding ammonia twice daily to keep levels up to 4ppm as it gets consumed quite rapidly within 12 hours
nitrite fell within 3days of previous post to 1ppm
but since then seemed to stall
i even added the cartridge of filter medium from my established tank into the filter as there same filters
still got no change still was 1ppm nitrite i checked the established tank as i swapped over cartridges and that was fine 0ppm nitrite so the substrate in the established tank was making up for me swapping over filter cartridges
so 3 days ago i checked nitrite again seen as ive been adding ammonia twice daily i thought surely i should see some movement now with established cartridge in situ
and there was improvement it was reading 0.25 nitrite
so since then ive continued to dose twice daily to get ammonia to stay around at 4ppm
ive just checked in last hour ammonia was in need of dosing back up to 4ppm so i did that i took nitrite reading still 0.25ppm i actually did a nitrate test this time as well 80+ppm so in a week nitrate as risen from 20ppm to 80+ppm nitrite as dropped from 2.0ppm too 0.25ppm ammonia still consuming 4ppm within 12 hours
it seems like ive been cycling for weeks i know i am close
but ive been here before remember so i really frustrated i aint cycled yet
given my readings how much longer would you anticipate to complete cycle
silly question i know, it will done when its done
but some people on here are very experienced with cycling issues
so if anyone as any idea's as to how i can speed this up please post

 

[mfdrookie516]

Just be patient... sounds like you're in the straight stretch to the finish line. As soon as you hit 0ppm nitrite, do a big water change and you'll be all set.

 

[mattrox]

Take some filter media from your cycled tank and use it in this tank.......

 

[lionheart]

mattrox
ive already used ceramic rings out of the established tank external filter
and i also used the internal filter cartridge with both sponges off a fluval 3+internal filter from established tank
into the tank i am cycling
i guess like mfdrookie516 said i will just have to be paitient

 

[lionheart]

DRUM ROLL
finally cycled
this morning it was still 0.25 nitrite
ammonia was consumed as always yet no change on the nitrite
so i dose back up too 4ppm ammonia
feeling frustrated etc
anyway just checked ammonia 0ppm nitrite 0ppm nitrate 80+ppm
YES AT LAST SUCCESS
TIME FOR A BEER
but first i dose ammonia back up to 4ppm
just to keep nitrite feeding
as i do not want too tackle a big water change at this time of night /early morning
anyway tommorow i will do water change and add some stock
but for now its more beers
JUST WANT TO SAY A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO GAVE ADVICE TO MY POSTS

 

[mattrox]

Glad it has finally happend. Pics of your tank stocked please... hehehe

 

[lionheart]

mattrox pics in next day or 2
well finally did water change and it was a nightmare
i changed 40gal as nitrates was 80+ppm
after water change tested nitrates again DISSAPOINTMENT still 60+ppm
so changed another 20gal still not much change between 40/60ppm
did another 20gal this time borderline 40ppm
did 20gal again finally nitrates 20ppm
i can live with 20ppm till plants establish themselves
anyway going to do 10/15gal water change weekly till i can get them reading 10ppm or less
now stocking well
i am still deciding on what i am going to put in so ive just put some guppies n guppy fry from my smaller tank
just to keep it trickling over
after all ive spent so much time cycling last thing i want is my bacteria to die off
so going out saturday or sunday to lfs when ive made my mind up what i want

 

[mattrox]

Remember if you do a 50% water change it will halve your nitrate (or ammonia or nitrite) reading. So if I every have to get nitrates right down, I just do a massive water change.

 

[lionheart]

yeah i changed 40gal of 55/60gal tank to begin with
it was just because cycle as took forever and nitrates were sky high
as i said in previous post i then did partial water changes
all told i had replaced 100gal before i got it to 20ppm
the tank is only 55/60gal capacity
my biggest bucket only holds 5gal so running back n forth carrying lifting emptying and filling tank really is exhausting and is very time consuming
plus i can not even attempt water changes till my young children are in bed
so by time i get round to it i am usually tired before i start
anyhow will post pic soon

 

[lionheart]

just a few pics to update progress
i still have to do more planting
and get my stock
so only guppy fry in aquarium at minute
i was unable to take pics with tank lights on got (bad reflections)
so i used nightvision and flash on cam
i will get camera setting correct
when i post completed setup when fully planted and stocked

 

[mfdrookie516]

my biggest bucket only holds 5gal so running back n forth carrying lifting emptying and filling tank really is exhausting and is very time consuming

you REALLY need to get a python (i say python, any brand will work just as good)... no buckets, no lifting, just hook it up to the faucet, drain, then fill