Hi everyone. Ok so to start I will say I screwed up my tank cycle in my new 55 gallon freshwater. I put my fish in too early and caused 5 to die. 5 others made it out ok as I have transplanted them to another established tank for the time being. Here is my dilemma…After removing all the fish which were in the tank for about 1.5 weeks i drained it 99.5%. I did not remove any gravel, rocks, wood or filter media. I refilled the tank and attempted to do a fishless cycle using ammonia and borrowed bacteria from a established tank. I filled the tank 85% so the pumps would air raid the water as much as possible. I also fired up my bubbler and put the water temp up to 82 degrees. I added the borrowed bacteria(filter media and some tank decor) into my pumps and also the tank itself. Next I added ammonia keeping track of how much it took to reach 5ppm. The guide I was following instructed to take a reading everyday for ammonia and nitrites. Continuing to add the same amount of ammonia daily until nitrites show up. At that point I was supposed to add half the amount of ammonia daily until both ammonia and nitrites were no longer present and nitrates arrive. Then at that point I am supposed to do a massive water (multiple if necessary) change to get rid of nitrates. Heres the issue…after only 1 day of adding ammonia and testing for it the ammonia seems to be gone. however both my nitrite and nitrate are super high. Like off my charts high. Obviously there is some bacteria present that is eating the ammonia. Could it be possible this happened so fast due to the week and half that fish were in the tank? Should I continue to dose half the ammonia or should I just drain entirely, clean everything and start fresh? I feel as though I messed this entire fish less cycle up by not draining completely, cleaning everything and starting fresh. Id love not have to strip everything down but if need be I will. Thanks for any help
Should I drain and start over?
- Thread starter FJ_M3
- Start date
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ScotJudd
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Hi there. I wouldn't strip down the tank. It appears that your ammonia to nitrite colony is good but your nitrite to nitrate is lagging behind. It IS present or you wouldn't have nitrates. I would WC to bring nitrites and nitrates to an easily readable colour on your chart. Bring ammonia up to 2 and recheck in 24 hrs. I suspect ammonia will be zero and nitrites and nitrates higher. WC to again reduce both to a readable level if required. Continue like this until an ammonia level of 2 is zero and nitrites also zero after 24 hrs. Nitrates will be high. When this is reliably repeated WC to bring nitrates under 20 and start slowly introducing stock. Check water readings regularly to ensure BB is processing ammonia and nitrite and WC as required to keep nitrate under 20.
Personally I think that once the tank is proven to produce nitrates, as yours does, upping the ammonia to 5 is too high. 2 should suffice.
Best of luck.
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Personally I think that once the tank is proven to produce nitrates, as yours does, upping the ammonia to 5 is too high. 2 should suffice.
Best of luck.
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Ok I will give that a try. I did assume bacteria was present due to the ammonia dropping but wasn't exactly sure how the nitrite and nitrate were so high. Happy to hear I shouldn't break down the tank. How much of a WC would you suggest to get the levels down before I bring the ammonia up to 2? Thanks for your help.
ScotJudd
Aquarium Advice Addict
Sorry for the delay in answering.
You need to water change enough so that nitrite and nitrate are about mid way on your colour chart. If it's off the chart then you can't determine the actual levels. When this is achieved check your ammonia and raise it to 2 if needed, it may not. When ammonia is zero check nitrite and nitrate and reduce down to mid scale and again set ammonia to 2. Repeat until ammonia and nitrite read zero after 24 hrs. Nitrate will be high. Bring nitrate down to below 20 and your done.
I dose my tank daily with ammonia to maintain the cycle if NOT starting to stock straight away. When I'm ready to add fish I ensure ammonia and nitrite are zero (should only take 24hrs) and then do your final WC to bring nitrates under 20.
I can't give percentage water changes because it depends on how high your nitrites and nitrates have risen. All tanks will vary.
Good luck, you'll get there and your fish will thank you for your persistence.
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You need to water change enough so that nitrite and nitrate are about mid way on your colour chart. If it's off the chart then you can't determine the actual levels. When this is achieved check your ammonia and raise it to 2 if needed, it may not. When ammonia is zero check nitrite and nitrate and reduce down to mid scale and again set ammonia to 2. Repeat until ammonia and nitrite read zero after 24 hrs. Nitrate will be high. Bring nitrate down to below 20 and your done.
I dose my tank daily with ammonia to maintain the cycle if NOT starting to stock straight away. When I'm ready to add fish I ensure ammonia and nitrite are zero (should only take 24hrs) and then do your final WC to bring nitrates under 20.
I can't give percentage water changes because it depends on how high your nitrites and nitrates have risen. All tanks will vary.
Good luck, you'll get there and your fish will thank you for your persistence.
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No problem on the delay. I went ahead and drained about 75% the other day. Tested ammonia and nitrite. Ammonia zero and nitrite was now readable on the chart. Since then I have added enough ammonia daily to raise it to 2 as you instructed. And as you said it would ammonia clears in 24hrs and nitrite remains. So at this point if I understand correctly just keep up this pace of adding ammonia daily until nitrites and ammonia are both zero. (WC if nitrites are off the scale)Then water change to get nitrates down below 20. I thank you for your help.
ScotJudd
Aquarium Advice Addict
You've got it! And you're welcome.
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It finally happened! Woohoo! Ammonia & nitrites read zero. However oddly the nitrates are also non existent. I did a few WC's early on to lower the nitrites but have not done a WC in about a week. Just been dosing ammonia to 2 daily and testing. Daily the ammonia would clear and nitrites would be up. But as of yesterday ammonia, nitrites and nitrates all basically zero. No need for a WC at this point correct? I will continue dosing ammonia daily until I introduce stock.
ScotJudd
Aquarium Advice Addict
Looking good but recheck your nitrates and follow the instructions to the letter. It's just a bit strange that you have no nitrates unless you are REALLY heavily planted. Nitrate check is the trickiest test and the most likely to give an incorrect reading (I'm assuming that you're using a liquid test kit and not test strips).
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UPDATE: As of today 0 ammonia, 0 nitrate and 5 nitrate. I let the nitrate test sit for a little longer and some did show up. To the best of my knowledge I think as long as nitrate is below 20 im good? I will wait the tank out a few more days just to make sure everything is smooth and then I'll add stock. Again I thank you for all your advice
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