Fishless Cycling problem

[KPhilly]

That's a lot of info!

 

[Hbbambislayer]

I think it was really 2ppm to begin with but 4 cap fulls of prime really messed up the test.

 

[viper20]

I think it was really 2ppm to begin with but 4 cap fulls of prime really messed up the test.

Hey Hbbambislayer,

I don't understand what you mean here, i never added 4 capfuls of prime. Initially after i drained the tank i added 29 fresh gallons of water and you originally said to add 1 capfull of prime to that water which i did. Then if you recall i added to much ammonia because it was at 4ppm so i drained 15 gallons of water and added three 5 gallon buckets of fresh water back in. Each of those buckets i added a couple drops of prime so they were not full capfulls. I am sure i did not properly clarify this before so i wanted to make sure we got it straight now. So should i just leave this thing be for now and not add anything more?

Thanks!

 

[Hbbambislayer]

I thought it was a cap in each bucket sorry. I asked for you to bare with it thru the weekend if youd like to wait a coupke more days it cant hurt if you want to jist switch to doing a fish in cycle I fully understand. If you do the fish in youll need to test every day and make sure the ammo stays at .25ppm or below if it gets above that you do water change to get it down.

 

[Hbbambislayer]

If you wanna wait a couple morw days to see if it drops than no dont add any more ammo. If you want to switch to the fish in cycle than youll have to do a water change b4 adding some fish.

 

[viper20]

nope i am cool with waiting i dont want to do a fish in cycle

thanks again

 

[Rivercats]

When doing a fishless cycle you want to keep ammonia dosed up to 4ppm whenever it drops to 1ppm. In order for the cycle to continue advancing you need to keep ammonia at 4ppm. If you go down to 1ppm ammonia and let it rest there your BB won't continue to build up to higher levels as it will at 4ppm. Fishless cycling often takes a longer time than expected. If you finally beginning to see nitrites just keep dosing ammonia to 4ppm until the day you can dose that amount and within 24 hours there is no ammonia or nitrite readings and all you have are nitrate readings.

If you haven't read this AA sticky article you might find it quite helpful.... The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice

 

[Rivercats]

I don't know if this was already mentioned since this thread is so long but also turning your heater up to 84-86 will help quicken the cycle.

 

[Hbbambislayer]

Post results tomorrow keep your fingers crossed.

 

[viper20]

When doing a fishless cycle you want to keep ammonia dosed up to 4ppm whenever it drops to 1ppm. In order for the cycle to continue advancing you need to keep ammonia at 4ppm. If you go down to 1ppm ammonia and let it rest there your BB won't continue to build up to higher levels as it will at 4ppm. Fishless cycling often takes a longer time than expected. If you finally beginning to see nitrites just keep dosing ammonia to 4ppm until the day you can dose that amount and within 24 hours there is no ammonia or nitrite readings and all you have are nitrate readings.

If you haven't read this AA sticky article you might find it quite helpful.... The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice

Hey Rivercats,

If you read my original post i had doesed the tank to 4ppm of ammonia. It stayed exactly that way for over 3 weeks and never dropped, thats why we drained the whole tank and restarted the whole process this time only starting off the cycle at 2 ppm. I have read that sticky and followed everything exactly

Thanks!

 

[Rivercats]

Cycling won't happen overnight and it can often take a lot longer than what is expected. Yes, only dosing up to 2ppm will cycle faster simply because not as much bacteria needs to grow thus quickening the cycle. A lot of bacteria needs to grow in order to process 4ppm of ammonia. It would have happened, trust me I've been in the hobby since the 70's. And if you think the ammonia cycle is long the nitrite cycle is usually the longest.

If you start showing nitrites at a 2ppm ammonia dosing this just proves bacteria was building up in the time you were dosing 4ppm. It just hadn't built up enough yet. Patience is the key to fishless cycling.

 

[viper20]

Hey Hbbambislayer

Just tested the ammonia levels and we are at 1ppm

Thanks

 

[viper20]

Cycling won't happen overnight and it can often take a lot longer than what is expected. Yes, only dosing up to 2ppm will cycle faster simply because not as much bacteria needs to grow thus quickening the cycle. A lot of bacteria needs to grow in order to process 4ppm of ammonia. It would have happened, trust me I've been in the hobby since the 70's. And if you think the ammonia cycle is long the nitrite cycle is usually the longest.

If you start showing nitrites at a 2ppm ammonia dosing this just proves bacteria was building up in the time you were dosing 4ppm. It just hadn't built up enough yet. Patience is the key to fishless cycling.

I understand what you are saying about being patient but like i said i originally dosed the tank with 4ppm of ammonia and 3.5 weeks later that level did not change one bit. There is no way it should take that long to see a drop in the ammonia levels hence which is why i drained the whole tank and started over this time with half the ammonia dosage.

Thanks

 

[Hbbambislayer]

Take it back up to 2ppm hopefully it'll drop tomorrow again than we will go to 3ppm

 

[viper20]

Take it back up to 2ppm hopefully it'll drop tomorrow again than we will go to 3ppm

Will do

Thanks!

 

[viper20]

I dont get it i dosed it back to 2 ppm last night and i just checked the levels now and its between 2 and 4 on the scale so i am going to guess its at 3. I will check it again tommorrow

Thanks

 

[viper20]

Hey guys,

My ammonia level just started to drop last night it is about 1.5 ppm now, so when it gets to one should i dose back up to 3ppm or 4ppm?

Thanks

 

[Rivercats]

Yes you should.

 

[Fishperson]

That's weird that you didn't see a drop for 3 weeks! Do you use windex or something, maybe it got in the water somehow?

 

[viper20]

Hey guys,

I just dosed the tank back up to 3 ppm yesterday, it was at .5 ppm before I re-added ammonia back to it. This process still seems to be taking a very long time. Do you think there is something with my tap water that it is not able to grow bacteria well?

Thanks