Fishless cycling help please ;-)

[Nightstalker3188]

I thought I had the hang of this and was happy with what i was seeing, however even though my ammonia levels drop to 0 over 24 hrs my nitrites and nitrates are low.... Nitrites are .50 and nitrates are 5.0. That's using api chemical test kit, however using api test strips the levels are off the chart... So which one do I believe??? I thought if the ammonia is being broken up that the other levels would spike... For a 48ltr tropical tank which is on day 15 of a fishless cycle....
On another forum someone asked if i had live plants in my tank, I do, about 5 or 6 of them... Someone then stated to take them out as thy give a wrong ammonia reading....
I'm totally confused now as I thought i could cycle the tank with plants in it... Only now I don't know what to expect as I'm not getting the Nitrite spike nor a Nitrate one....

[jlk]

Yes, you can cycle your tank with plants- they will not give you an incorrect ammonia reading & they may even help things along. As you are only 2wks into a fishless cycle, you have will have to have some patience. You are just finishing the amm>nitrite conversion phase. The nitrite>nitrate phase is next & can typically take twice as long as the amm>nitrite phase. Continue to dose your amm daily to keep your first set of bacteria fed. Can I ask what you are using as your amm source? If its pure ammonia, how much are you dosing each day? Did you start with any seeded media? Some more info will help to figure out where you are at!

[Nightstalker3188]

Hi,
The tank I've got is a second hand one off fleebay. The media which came with it i discarded as i did not know what state the fish were in. So gave the tank a wash with warm salty water and rinsed out well. From day one I've had plants in the tank and also had a flow of bubbles in it. I've been dozing it with Homebase household ammonia up to 4-5 ppm, with equates to 3 pipettes (don't know the ml of that either way it pumps the amm to the desired level) As of yesterday though I decided on a partial water change... No cleaning except for glass using the filter - which has turned a creamy colour at the bottom and becomes more a brownish colour at the top - I dumped 20 ltrs, ammonia is being chomped nicely, the nites and nates haven't changed, ill keep on dozing the 4-5 ppm on a daily basis, just hope I can get this done by the 17th...otherwise ill have an upset 6 year old as ill have to postpone getting his guppies :-(

[jlk]

Thanks for the info! Its sounds like your right on track! Unfortunately, the nitrite>nitrate phase is the longest & takes the most patience. Typically, it lasts about twice as long as the amm>nitrite phase. Have you been checking your ph daily as well? This is important! The nitrification process uses up the buffers in your water in order to convert amm>nitrite>nitrate. If you notice your ph start to drop, you will need to do a big water change in order to re-establish buffers to prevent a ph crash. Just make sure you use temperature-matched, conditioned water for the change. Good luck & dont hesitate to ask if you have any questions!

[Nightstalker3188]

ph levels are around 6.5 to 7.5 going by the strips, haven't got the chemical ph tester :-( also didn't temp match water... Will do in future tho, doesn't seem to have dine any damage m, if fish were in there though they might have complained ....

[jlk]

Def keep an eye on your ph. The beneficial bacteria you are growing are sensitive to their conditions (they are living organisms) and can be shocked by altering the temps of new water just as fish would be. No big deal, just something to remember for future changes.

[Nightstalker3188]

Will do. Checked levels today and the ammonia didn't go to 0 this time but to .25. Doses back up to 4 ppm.
Nitrites are at 1.0ppm and nates at 5.0ppm. Ph is at 7 to 7.5..... Need to get test set for this... The strips are a pain... Oh does any one else here have issues I'd correctly id-ing the colours... They are all so closely matched :-(

[Nightstalker3188]

Well... I added some more aquatic pure balls to the tank... 10 of them to throw in more friendly bacteria... Then dosed the tank back up to 4ppm ammonia.
After 24hrs I had ammonia at 0, nitrites at .50 nitrates at 80 and ph at 7.5----
So i dosed the ammonia back up to 4ppm and this time thought I'll leave it 12hrs. My ammonia dropped to .25 nitrites were 1.0 and nitrates 80.
Should I dose the ammonia back up or leave it untill the 24hr Mark is up???
Also, am I getting these readings only because I added the aqua pure balls, and actually getting false readings? I would think that the bacteria in the balls would move on and get stuck in the filter as the water circulates??? Any advice welcomed.... Im trying to get this tank cycles by Friday so that our son can get his 4 guppies for his birthday....

[jlk]

Originally Posted by Nightstalker3188

Well... I added some more aquatic pure balls to the tank... 10 of them to throw in more friendly bacteria... Then dosed the tank back up to 4ppm ammonia.
After 24hrs I had ammonia at 0, nitrites at .50 nitrates at 80 and ph at 7.5----
So i dosed the ammonia back up to 4ppm and this time thought I'll leave it 12hrs. My ammonia dropped to .25 nitrites were 1.0 and nitrates 80.
Should I dose the ammonia back up or leave it untill the 24hr Mark is up???
Also, am I getting these readings only because I added the aqua pure balls, and actually getting false readings? I would think that the bacteria in the balls would move on and get stuck in the filter as the water circulates??? Any advice welcomed.... Im trying to get this tank cycles by Friday so that our son can get his 4 guppies for his birthday....

Hi! Only dose your amm once every 24hrs- every 12hrs is overkill. Your not getting false readings but i am surprised these balls made such a difference! Continue dosing your amm once a day & testing. If you get consistent readings of 0 amm & 0 nitrite for a few days in a row with high nitrate readings, your cycled & almost ready for fish! On the day you plan on purchasing fish, skip the amm & do a 100% water change with temp matched, conditioned water. You want to get your nitrates as low as possible. Check out U-Tube for how-to videos on 'drip acclimation' if you are not familiar with the process. Good luck!!

[Nightstalker3188]

So should the water levels only be checked every 24hrs, its just that I read somewhere that when your bacteria can turn ammonia to nitrites and nitrites to nitrates in a 12hr.period, then your cycled.... If your tank can do this in 24hrs is that good enough?

[librarygirl]

Originally Posted by Nightstalker3188

So should the water levels only be checked every 24hrs, its just that I read somewhere that when your bacteria can turn ammonia to nitrites and nitrites to nitrates in a 12hr.period, then your cycled.... If your tank can do this in 24hrs is that good enough?

Hi, yes within 24 hours is definitely good enough although if you tested more often I bet you'd find that it would zero out within 12 hours anyway. It happens pretty quickly once there's enough bacteria in there. We just say 24 hours b/c it's easier and so that people don't dose ammonia too often.

[Nightstalker3188]

Ok then... Checked me levels and git 9 ammonia 0 Nitrite and 80 nitrates... ph at 7.5.... So at what stage do i change the water now... Perhaps after a few days of keeping an eye on the nites becoming nates???

[Nightstalker3188]

Meant to say got 0 ammonia, not 9

[jlk]

Yes, dose your amm for 2-3 more days so you are sure amm/nitrite is steadily zeroing out.

[boadams87]

Originally Posted by Nightstalker3188

Ok then... Checked me levels and git 9 ammonia 0 Nitrite and 80 nitrates... ph at 7.5.... So at what stage do i change the water now... Perhaps after a few days of keeping an eye on the nites becoming nates???

Just dose to 4 until ur ready for fish then do a big wc.

[Nightstalker3188]

A set back????

Checked levels and git ammonia at .50 Nitrite at 0 and Nitrate at 80
Now I'm sure I sided ammonia to 4-5ppm last night.... Let's see what tomorrow brings... Got 3 days till fish day...

[jlk]

Keep us posted! Its possible you may have added a bit too much ammonia last night- i would keep it at 4ppm (no higher).

[Nightstalker3188]

You know what, I think I must have... Just checked the levels now and got 0 ammonia 0 Nitrite 80plus (not quite 160 but more than 80 on the colour chart) and ph is 7.6 used API kit in all measurements.... So this is pretty much 3 days in a row.... Have I DONE it ???????

[jlk]

Yes, i would say you are cycled!!! Congrats!!! Keep dosing your amm until the day you are ready for fish. On the day of fish-purchase (or the night before), skip the ammonia, do a 90-100% water change to get your nitrates as low as possible, & adjust your heater to the proper temp for your fish. When you do the water change, make sure you use temperature-matched & properly conditioned water. Check out U-Tube for how-to videos on 'drip acclimation' if you are not familiar with the process. Good luck with the new tank!

[Nightstalker3188]

Thanks
Took 21 days to cycle this one... Was fun... Now for the real fun stuff... Gonna get 4 guppies in Friday and hopefully some red cherry shrimp 2 for now... Then come 1 March its gonna be 4 tetra types...not sure which ones yet... The daughters gonna choose those.... And then in April our youngest can choose 4 small fish and that's it tank fully stocked then to watch the water quality drop...