Fishless Cycling Help!!

[rjrossi88]

So I'm about 7 weeks into my cycle. I started reading nitirites about 4 weeks ago. Since then I've only had to raise my ammonia level twice and the last time was over a week ago. I've tested every day since and there hasn't been a change in ammonia or nitrite at all. I've read the article on here and added the micro amount of fish food and ph down that was suggested in it. It's been 2 days since and still no change. Any ideas as to what could be causing my cycle to suddenly stall now??

 

[Caliban07]

So I'm about 7 weeks into my cycle. I started reading nitirites about 4 weeks ago. Since then I've only had to raise my ammonia level twice and the last time was over a week ago. I've tested every day since and there hasn't been a change in ammonia or nitrite at all. I've read the article on here and added the micro amount of fish food and ph down that was suggested in it. It's been 2 days since and still no change. Any ideas as to what could be causing my cycle to suddenly stall now??

You need to change the water. Do a 50% change with dechlorinated tap water and wait for the nitrite to fall.

Dispose of the ph down. It's not needed.



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[rjrossi88]

I thought the water change was to bring the nitrAte down? Not the nitrIte? At least that's what it's said in everything I've read.

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[Patty1980]

It does lower ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites.

 

[Caliban07]

I thought the water change was to bring the nitrAte down? Not the nitrIte? At least that's what it's said in everything I've read.

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That's correct. It would be great if you could do a full fishless cycle without a water change until the end by in practice it is not always possible and depends on your source water. The high levels of ammonia dosing during the cycle puts a huge demand on the nutrients in your tap water. If you have relatively soft water (low nutrients) to begin with it is quite possible for these to become depleted


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[Caliban07]

Sorry I hit send by mistake and didn't explain that properly.

The bacteria require nutrients in order to process all the ammonia you add and grow and reproduce. When they run out the bacteria can't carry on. 7 weeks is too long for a cycle which leads me to believe the water needs 'freshening up' changing the water will replenish nutrients and the cycle should finish fairly quickly. Also every 1ppm ammonia that is nitrified 2.7ppm nitrite is created. The nitrite scale only goes up to 5ppm so you can imagine how far off the scale they probably are?


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[rjrossi88]

Yea, the color I'm getting in the test tube is not a color on the chart so I assumed it was way over lol. Well I'll give it a shot when I get home from work. Thanks for the tip!!

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[Caliban07]

Yea, the color I'm getting in the test tube is not a color on the chart so I assumed it was way over lol. Well I'll give it a shot when I get home from work. Thanks for the tip!!

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No probs. Be sure to update


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[rjrossi88]

Definitely will!

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[rjrossi88]

I stopped and picked up test strips for gh and kh. I wanted the test tube version but no one has it around me apparently. I tested it and the gh came out to 180ppm and kh was between 40 and 80 ppm. Is that good or bad?? I used aqadvisor as suggested on one of my other posts and according to that my recommended hardness for the community I want is 10-15 dh. 180ppm converted to dh is 10.1 so I'm in range of that. I'm still going to do the water change as you suggested. Just inquiring about my results.

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[Caliban07]

How much ammonia has been processed in total? Roughly?


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[rjrossi88]

I believe roughly 4ppm. I started with 4ppm. That dropped to around 2 twice and it's been stable at 4ppm for over a week.

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[rjrossi88]

Question before I do the water change, should I raise the ammonia level back to 4ppm after the change?

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[rjrossi88]

I did a 50% water change. Ammonia is now between 1-2ppm. Nitrite appears to have stayed the same. I won't add anything until I hear from you. Thanks for the help so far!

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[Caliban07]

I did a 50% water change. Ammonia is now between 1-2ppm. Nitrite appears to have stayed the same. I won't add anything until I hear from you. Thanks for the help so far!

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What was your ph? What is ph now?

You may need to do another 50% change.


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[rjrossi88]

Ph is 7.4ish right now. It was around 8 before but still in optimal nitrification range.

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[rjrossi88]

Does the actually percentage of ammonia in the pure ammonia I'm using matter?? I know most people go with 10% ammonia and I'm not sure what percentage mine is. I know it's definitely pure, just not sure how strong it is. I figured 4 ppm in my tank with this ammonia is the same as 4ppm with the bottle that's 10%. Just have to add more of this to get to 4ppm

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[Caliban07]

Does the actually percentage of ammonia in the pure ammonia I'm using matter?? I know most people go with 10% ammonia and I'm not sure what percentage mine is. I know it's definitely pure, just not sure how strong it is. I figured 4 ppm in my tank with this ammonia is the same as 4ppm with the bottle that's 10%. Just have to add more of this to get to 4ppm

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Yeah that sounds right. What's happening with the figures now?


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[rjrossi88]

Everything was the same as of last night.

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[rjrossi88]

Just did my test

pH: around 7.6
Ammonia: 1-2ppm
Nitrites: A color that isn't on the chart so not sure
NitrAtes: about 20

I believe my nitrAtes were a little higher last i tested them. What does it mean if they're dropping?