fishless cycle question

[irdajoh]

Ive been following the http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/the-almost-complete-guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html and in the J section of #7 it says once NitrItes and NitrAtes are off the charts preform a 50~60% PWC. Once i do the PWC my NitrItes and NitrAtes are still high/off the chart.

I use API Tap water conditioner http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41zFxS8Dr5L._SY300_.jpg, i stir the water and let it sit for a few before adding to the tank.

Im sure the cycle has started to go because the ammonia goes from 4.0>about 0.25 in 24 hours. Any advice or information would be amazing!

 

[Hulka9]

Don't do a water change until all that is left is nitrates. Your readings should be ammonia 0 nitrite 0 and nitrate some really high number. And you would do the water change (100%) right before you put fish in.


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[Masha]

It's normal, if you are adding the high level of ammonia recommended in that guide, to have nitrites so high that you have to do several huge water changes to get them down to a readable level and not off the charts high.

Consider doing that, and then dosing only 2ppm ammonia, which is more than enough

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[Hulka9]

It doesn't matter how high the nitrates are if there are no fish in there...


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[Masha]

The Original poster said their nitrites are very high too. (or that is what I think they said?)

That can stall a cycle.

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[irdajoh]

Yes the nitrites and nitrates are high, but that should be normal at this point. The point of the post would be after a 50% pwc the nitrites/nitrate are high still.
If the ammoina is cycling nitrites should be very high, once nitrites start cycling nitrates go up? It's been 13 days since the set up so I'm sure I have more time to wait.

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[Masha]

At this stage, I had the experience of having to do 3 huge (70 plus) water changes before nitrites were lowered to a measurable level. That is why I suggest lowering the ammonia dose to 2ppm which should be more than enough to create the bacteria amount you need.

I've seen quite a few people query why 4ppm is recommended. I think you will find a lower ammonia dose at this stage will reduce those nitrite spikes. But it sounds as if your tank is very nearly cycled, if you are getting lots of nitrates

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[irdajoh]

So great to hear that. My last dose of ammoina was 2 days ago because the ammoina after the water change was around 1 ppm so I left it at that to see if it goes to 0. I'll follow your advice and do more pwc and lower the ammoina dose!

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[trennamw]

If you're getting both nitrite and nitrate you've got populations of the right bacteria, the question is quantity.

The suggestions from here vary a lot as you're seeing. At a certain point it's more art than science, as there isn't much more than anecdotal evidence for many of the cycling practices such as when to do the water change.

4 ppm is often recommended because that supposedly represents the ammonia load of a fully stocked tank. If you are going to stock gradually (a good idea anyway) then lower is fine.

If you're having trouble reading the tests, try adding .5 ml tank water and 4.5 ml distilled water then multiply your reading by 10. Those upper ranges of nitrite and nitrate are hard to read.




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[dalto]

I would try to keep your nitrites under 5ppm. If they get over this amount then do a water change. As others said, dosing less ammonia will help this.

4ppm/day of ammonia is a lot, even for a full tank. For reference, I had eight 4-5" Geophagus in a 20g tank and they were generating a little less than 1ppm per day.