Need help cycling

[Tiwaz]

OK , I am in the process of trying to cycle a new 55g tank.

Previously when setting up a tank I have used a water conditioner added "cycle" waited 24 hrs and added fish. I have never lost a fish this way. However since joining here I have learned(somewhat) about fish-less cycling.

So here's what I have done.

Treated water and filled tank. Added the recommended amount of "cycle" for the 3 day new tank period. Tested water I had like .5 ppm ammonia and no traces of anything else. Added some crushed up flake food and another 10ml /10g dose of "cycle".

At this point I also removed a piece of Drift wood that was still leaching tannins.

Tested the water again a day later no change. I then did a 30% WC to try and get rid of the tea stained water. With this WC I squeezed out a sponge filter from another tank and added 1 gallon of water from that tank to it.

Tested again the next morning(this was may 12)
this time 0ppm ammonia, .5ppm nitrite, 5ppm nitrate.
Added some more crushed flake food.

May 13 the ammonia was back up to .5ppm everything else was unchanged.
that evening the nitrite had dropped to .25 ppm but nothing else changed. I then changed out another 20 gallons of water, once again using 1 gallon from the other tank( I should mention that it is only a 5 gallon tank).

May14 0 ammonia, .25 ppm nitrite and the nitrate had risen to between 5-10 ppm.
I added some more crushed flake food. and a tank decoration from the other tank.

May 15 I had no change in water conditions in the morning, I tested again that evening and Ammonia was up to .5ppm and there was no change in the nitrites , nitrates were back down to5ppm.

May 16 Ammonia had dropped to .25ppm and they was no other changes.
I noticed a thin milky film on the surface of the water, when I added some more crushed flake.

May 17 0ppm ammonia, .25 nitrites and 5-10 ppm nitrates.

I am at a loss as to whats going on.

 

[eco23]

Using the "instant cycling" products can cause some very odd levels and also tend to produce a very unstable bio-filter in my opinion. Most of the members on AA don't consider them a viable option in most cases. If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend checking out the guide in my signature to answer a couple of your questions you might have.

 

[Tiwaz]

So do I need to drain and clean the tank out to start over or can I just dose with Ammonia to restart this?

 

[rich311k]

I think you are doing ok. Your ammonia seems to be right about there and your nitrites are coming along. I would keep adding the food until you get consistent 0. You are pretty close, of course depending on the amount of flakes you used you may want to add fish slowly as I think you only have cycle established for a small bio load.

 

[eco23]

So do I need to drain and clean the tank out to start over or can I just dose with Ammonia to restart this?

I wouldn't say you need to drain it...just expect a couple wacky results. If you can get a hold of some pure ammo to finish up the process, it's much easier and safer than fish food, you can get some nasties in your tank by adding fish food or raw shrimp to cycle. Due to the cycling products being odd and not always effective, I would personally recommend making sure its cycled fully where you can add an ammo source and see 0 ammonia, 0 nitrItes and some level of nitrAtes. Personally the way I see if, if you're taking the time to do a fishless cycle, I'd wait until it's fully cycled before adding fish. Any level of nitrItes means the cycle is not done, and because you used the cycling products, I wouldn't know what to expect...it wouldn't surprise me at all if the no2 jumped back up.

 

[Tiwaz]

I forgot to add that there are some plants in it as well how badly do they mess with the cycle?

 

[eco23]

I forgot to add that there are some plants in it as well how badly do they mess with the cycle?

Plants won't hurt anything. Especially as lightly planted as yours is it'll have 0 affect. And it's actually beneficial for the plants to be in there during this. Great looking tank BTW.

 

[Tiwaz]

Great looking tank BTW.

Thanks,
So I think I will call this the new day one.
Did a 80% WC and dosed ammonia to 4ppm.
Everthing else came down to 0 water temp is 83.6

Lets see what happens now.

 

[Tiwaz]

Day 2

Ammonia 3ppm ......darker than 2 lighter than 4
NitrIte .25 ppm
NitrAte 0ppm
ph 6.6

 

[Tiwaz]

Day 3
No change
Replaced undersized heater
Added air pump with 2 air stones

 

[Tiwaz]

Day 4
Ammonia 2.0ppm
NitrIte 0.25ppm
NitrAte 5.0ppm
ph 6.6
Temp 84.2f

Should I be raising the temp at all or is it fine where it is?

 

[eco23]

Day 4
Ammonia 2.0ppm
NitrIte 0.25ppm
NitrAte 5.0ppm
ph 6.6
Temp 84.2f

Should I be raising the temp at all or is it fine where it is?

I'd say the temp is fine where you are. Just keep an eye on pH every few days and let us know if you see any significant drops.

 

[Aspencer]

I'd say the temp is fine where you are. Just keep an eye on pH every few days and let us know if you see any significant drops.

What does a drop in ph signify?

 

[Tiwaz]

I'd say the temp is fine where you are. Just keep an eye on pH every few days and let us know if you see any significant drops.

Thanks for checking in. I'll continue to monitor the pH levels. How much of a drop would you think is significant? Or is any change a problem ?

 

[eco23]

As the cycle progresses, the nitrifying bacteria puts out increasing amounts of acidic waste. It's normally not a problem, but I've seen a few cases recently where people's pH fell into the 5 ranges...and experienced a pretty significant stall.

As long as your water has good buffering capacity you'll be okay (the mid-cycle pwc should prevent it anyway), but it's something worth keeping an eye out for.

If you see the pH dropping just knock out an extra pwc to restore the buffers / alkalinity to the water

 

[Tiwaz]

Day 5

Ammonia 2.0ppm
NitrIte 0.5ppm
NitrAte 5.0ppm
pH 7.2??????>>>>what's happening here
Temp 84.2f

 

[Tiwaz]

Day 6

Ammonia 2.0ppm
NitrIte 1.0ppm
NitrAte 5.0ppm
pH 7.2
Temp 84.2f

I still am at a loss for the sudden increase in pH

 

[eco23]

What is the pH directly from the tap? It's possible the tannins from the DW were lowering pH and since you removed it the ph has climb due to your pwc's. Ammonia does have base properties, but not enough (IMO) to cause that type of swing.

 

[Tiwaz]

pH from the tap is 6.6
Same reading I was getting until two days ago.

 

[eco23]

What are you using as an ammonia source? I'm a little confused about your process. Are you constantly adding fish food? Pure ammo?