Cycling.. Need Help.

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ChristinaE12 said:
I'd actually prefer fish-less too. I only had put my beta in the tank for a day or two until I were to begin the actual cycle. Then all of this had happened. Which everything came to a halt.

@Eco23 - I already have read your article about fish-less cycle. Along with another that seems to be popular on here too. Which was the plan but as I said. When all of this happened it screwed with everything.

You didn't screw anything up :)

Just get your nitrAtes down with the thorough gravel vacuuming and water changes jeta suggested, and you're on the right track :)
 
Whichever you choose, we'll be happy to help. I tend to focus on helping with fishless obviously.

If you go fishless, just start with getting the right kind of ammonia. You can post questions here, on the guide thread or shoot me PM's. If you do send me private messages, just give me little reminders about your tank. All this fish stuff has destroyed my memory and I can get people's tanks mixed up...plus I have over 700 messages in my inbox. Time for some clearing out I think, lol.
 
Will do... Am gonna go to the store later and get a new 5 gallon bucket specifically and only for my fish tank and go from there.

Thanks again, all.
 
Okay.. Another question(s).

Since doing a PWC didn't bring down my Nitrates at all..Useless Nitrate at that. I just went and bought all new gravel for my tank. I'm too impatient and it appears it will only cause me problems anyhow.

Good idea or should I just be more patient and keep what I got?

Now if I switch out this gravel. Should I do a full water change or just a partial.

Any other suggestions??
 
It's the 8th. day since my gravel change and I'm finally seeing some freakin purple.. I almost wanna test again to make sure I'm not seeing stuff.

A couple days ago I noticed my Ammo. start to drop little by little and now I finally see purple (Nitrite). Although my Nitrate is anywhere between 20-40ish ppm. I hate reading that one as much as the Ammonia. But I added a bunch of seeded material and my HOB filter off my 10 gallon.

So I'll probably dose my ammo back up later and go from there. I just hope when I add my rock it doesn't screw anything up. Haha.

Sorry for bumping.. I'm just finally glad to see some purple.. And after my sons little 'escapade' earlier today this makes up for it, almost. haha
 
ChristinaE12 said:
It's the 8th. day since my gravel change and I'm finally seeing some freakin purple.. I almost wanna test again to make sure I'm not seeing stuff.

A couple days ago I noticed my Ammo. start to drop little by little and now I finally see purple (Nitrite). Although my Nitrate is anywhere between 20-40ish ppm. I hate reading that one as much as the Ammonia. But I added a bunch of seeded material and my HOB filter off my 10 gallon.

So I'll probably dose my ammo back up later and go from there. I just hope when I add my rock it doesn't screw anything up. Haha.

Sorry for bumping.. I'm just finally glad to see some purple.. And after my sons little 'escapade' earlier today this makes up for it, almost. haha

Congrats :). The funny thing is, in a couple weeks you'll hate the color purple and be begging for it to turn blue again, lol.
 
Congrats :). The funny thing is, in a couple weeks you'll hate the color purple and be begging for it to turn blue again, lol.

Yeah I know. That's the funny thing while reading this forum. Just seeing people begging for different colors.

Just tested again and my Nitrite jumped up to what seems like 5ish ppm from .25 just 16 hours ago. Is that normal? In that short of time span. Rest is testing the same.

Anyhow I'll add some Ammonia back up.
 
ChristinaE12 said:
Yeah I know. That's the funny thing while reading this forum. Just seeing people begging for different colors.

Just tested again and my Nitrite jumped up to what seems like 5ish ppm from .25 just 16 hours ago. Is that normal? In that short of time span. Rest is testing the same.

Anyhow I'll add some Ammonia back up.

How much and how fast is your ammonia dropping in a 24 hour period? One thing I've learned about the rules of how things normally occur during a fishless cycle, is that there are no rules about how things normally occur during a fishless cycle, haha.
 
From yesterday it may have dropped 1 ppm. If that. So not much. Tonight will be the real test. I'll make sure I get it up to 4ppm.
 
Good deal :). The best thing to do is to pick a time of day, and every 24 hours do your test and dose back up the ammo. That's the best way to really track where you are. A notebook to make a log is always a good idea too.
 
Have a quick question..

I'm currently putting in my rock and notice there is a light slimey film on stuff like my tubing. When I scrape it off it's just whitish/transparent film. Is this algae or beneficial bacteria or something other?

Just wondering...
 
ChristinaE12 said:
Have a quick question..

I'm currently putting in my rock and notice there is a light slimey film on stuff like my tubing. When I scrape it off it's just whitish/transparent film. Is this algae or beneficial bacteria or something other?

Just wondering...

It's your tanks bio-film. Your bacteria does like living there even though most of it is in your filter media. Be nice to the slime :)
 
Day 10 - Just tested again.

My Ammo is around .25 ppm. I dosed to 4ppm last night around 11ish. Looks like I will here again shortly.

My Nitrite is off the charts. It's a very bright purple. When I tested earlier my Nitrate's were like 80ish ppm. Didn't test that yet, again.

It seems like My Nitrite just came outta nowhere and Ammonia dropped out of nowhere.

Sound somewhat normal?
 
Seeded media does wonderful things :)

I'd continue dosing up the ammo every 24 hours and see what happens. Just keep doing what you're doing and keep us updated. :)
 
Just checked the parameters a little bit ago again. 14 hours after I dosed Ammo back up to between 2-4ppm. I had to test earlier in case I don't have time later and I won't be home tonight til late..

Ammo - 0 - .25ish
Nitrite - 5+ ppm. This is looking way off the charts.
Nitrate - 0-5ish ppm.
PH - 7.6ish.

Which brings me another question. Last night I added a piece of DW and a clump of Hornwort. I'm thinking is the reason my Nitrate dropped so suddenly. Which dropped from 80ish ppm. Sound alright?
 
Just checked the parameters a little bit ago again. 14 hours after I dosed Ammo back up to between 2-4ppm. I had to test earlier in case I don't have time later and I won't be home tonight til late..

Ammo - 0 - .25ish
Nitrite - 5+ ppm. This is looking way off the charts.
Nitrate - 0-5ish ppm.
PH - 7.6ish.

Which brings me another question. Last night I added a piece of DW and a clump of Hornwort. I'm thinking is the reason my Nitrate dropped so suddenly. Which dropped from 80ish ppm. Sound alright?

Are you 100% certain you're doing the nitrAte test right? (I may have asked you that before). If you don't shake the #2 solution for a full 30 seconds, then shake the entire solution for a solid minute...you get results that are all over the board. I'd test again to make sure. I don''t see plants dropping it from 80 down to zero overnight. I'm pretty certain either this, or the last test was faulty. Make sure you follow the instructions in the actual booklet...not just the bottles. :)
 
Yeah..I've been doing the the test as said.. I usually even shake the #2 bottle around a minute as well.

I actually did the test twice to make sure I didn't screw with something. I figured that is a lot of Nitrates gone myself. So I don't know.
 
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