Questions about my fishless cycle?

[ppo8820]

I have been doing a fishless cycle in my column tank and I am a bit confused on what to do next. I started with ammonia and it sat at 4ppm for a while, then it dropped to 0 like expected. I keep testing daily and it can process 15 drops (4-5ppm) easily in 12-24 hours. Now my Nitrites are off the charts and my NitrAtes are over 160ppm. Ive been feeding ammonia when it reaches zero, but the Nitrites are not moving at all.

There is live plants, the heat is at 80 degrees, and there is a new large piece of driftwood that has grown as white fuzz all over it. The fuzz is even pearling and releasing air bubbles which is gross, but cool.

What do I do now? Are my high nitrates and nitrites stalling the cycle? Should I do a water change and bring those down to reasonable levels or just wait it out? Thanks.

 

[Ruffers99]

I have been doing a fishless cycle in my column tank and I am a bit confused on what to do next. I started with ammonia and it sat at 4ppm for a while, then it dropped to 0 like expected. I keep testing daily and it can process 15 drops (4-5ppm) easily in 12-24 hours. Now my Nitrites are off the charts and my NitrAtes are over 160ppm. Ive been feeding ammonia when it reaches zero, but the Nitrites are not moving at all.

There is live plants, the heat is at 80 degrees, and there is a new large piece of driftwood that has grown as white fuzz all over it. The fuzz is even pearling and releasing air bubbles which is gross, but cool.

What do I do now? Are my high nitrates and nitrites stalling the cycle? Should I do a water change and bring those down to reasonable levels or just wait it out? Thanks.

Hey ppo, I cant comment on the white fuzz that you have on your drift wood, but in regards to your cycle, it is expected that the nitrites will rise and take a little while to fall after your ammo is being processed in a reasonable time.

From my experiences, it is possible for too high nitrites to slow down the process of growing the bb that is needed to consume them, so I would do a 60% wc to bring the levels back down to readable levels, then only dose ur ammo every time your ammo hits 0 to only 3ppm and see how it goes.

High nitrates shouldn't be an issue (as long as your fishless) or inhibit the growing or the bb.

good luck and hang in there, I nearly jumped out the window waiting for mine to turn..

 

[ppo8820]

Thanks. The wait is awful but I know it's worth it.


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[Mebbid]

The nitrite consuming bacteria just needs to catch up. Theres a huge backlog of nitrite that just needs to be taken care of. Its not stalling or slowing, the nitrite consuming bacteria just take longer to grow.

Just do a 100% water change and you will be able to track levels again.

 

[PNWaquarist]

Yep, nitrite spikes are normal. Nitrite-oxidizing bacteria grow much more slowly than the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria.

After doing a large WC, you'll still want to feed your ammonia-consuming bacteria to keep the colony strong. I'd dose 0.5 ppm ammonia every other day. That will also keep your nitrite at reasonable levels.