Super high nitrites during cycling

[Yanz]

So I'm fishless cycling my 55g. I dosed it up to 5ppm and let it sit for a week, then I read no ammonia so I dosed in 3mL (should put it around 3ppm). This was last week. Yesterday I put in 3ppm of ammonia and today its all gone.
The problem is that my nitrites are like 25ish ppm (1mL of tank water + 4mL of pure water reads 5ppm+). I did a 90% WC a few days ago and its still this high today. Other params are 7.4pH, nitrates 80ppm, temp 84 degrees F.

Do I have to do like 90% WC every few days? This seems a little ridiculous to me. Any suggestions?

 

[caitlynnanne9189]

Idk if we're going threw the same thing but my nitrites are extremely high. I'll dose the tank to 4ppm ammonia at 8am and at 5pm in down to .25. I had to do 2 50% pwc today just to get nitrites and nitrates readable. There at .5 and 10 now. I just had to do the exact same thing 2 days ago. In afraid it's all you can do. I started only dosing ammonia to 2ppm to see if that'll help per jlk on here!

 

[jlk]

So I'm fishless cycling my 55g. I dosed it up to 5ppm and let it sit for a week, then I read no ammonia so I dosed in 3mL (should put it around 3ppm). This was last week. Yesterday I put in 3ppm of ammonia and today its all gone.
The problem is that my nitrites are like 25ish ppm (1mL of tank water + 4mL of pure water reads 5ppm+). I did a 90% WC a few days ago and its still this high today. Other params are 7.4pH, nitrates 80ppm, temp 84 degrees F.

Do I have to do like 90% WC every few days? This seems a little ridiculous to me. Any suggestions?

Your getting nitrite conversion because of your high nitrates and your ammonia is zeroing out in 24hrs. This is good! Your through the first stage of bacterial growth (amm>nitrite). Its been my experience that when the nitrites get insanely high, they seem to slow down or stall a cycle. My suggestion would be to do a 90-100% water change to get your nitrites readable (@2ppm or less) then only dose the ammonia up to 2ppm for the next 3 days & see what happens. Go back to the higher dose after 3 days. Your second option would be to leave things be (no water changes) & keep dosing amm and wait it out. What can happen with no wcs though is that the buffer supply diminishes (used by nitr bacteria) & you may encounter a ph drop or jump which will stall your cycle as well. Good luck & keep us posted!

 

[FishyPhil]

Hi guys,

I'm currently getting high nitrites too! I'm currently on day 26 of my fishless cycle. The bacteria is disposing of 5ppm of ammonia within 12 hours, and I have been dosing back up again every 12 hours (as one guide said I should not leave the ammonia at 0 for long)

Is this bad? I'm now getting off the chart Nitrites, which I know to expect a spike anyway. But I did a 25% pwc yesterday and there was no change in the color of nitrites. I also noticed that my PH had dropped from 7 to 6.5, which worried me as I don't want a stall. Should I lower the ammonia dosing? And only do it once in the 24 hour period?

It's a horrible feeling to think I could slow things down after waiting so long this far! Should I do further water changes to sort out the PH?

Many thanks! Sorry to jump on this thread!

 

[caitlynnanne9189]

Last night I did 2 90% pwc to get my nitrites to a readable level and woke up this morning and bam! Way off the charts again. As I've been told pH change at all means time for a pwc. And it may take more than one as I've learned. I was also told never to dose ammonia more than once in a 24 hour period. Idk about your situation because your loosening so much so fast but id say stick with once per day and I've started dosing mine to 2ppm for 3 days to see if that has any change on the high nitrites.!

 

[blert]

Only dose ammonia every 24hrs. 5ppm ammonia is a bit high, try coming down to 4-2ppm for a couple of days. The bacteria that eats nitrites grows slower than the bacteria that eat ammonia. Do as many PWCs as needed to get the nitrites down to a readable level, it won't hurt or stall your cycle at all.

 

[librarygirl]

Hi guys,

I'm currently getting high nitrites too! I'm currently on day 26 of my fishless cycle. The bacteria is disposing of 5ppm of ammonia within 12 hours, and I have been dosing back up again every 12 hours (as one guide said I should not leave the ammonia at 0 for long)

Is this bad? I'm now getting off the chart Nitrites, which I know to expect a spike anyway. But I did a 25% pwc yesterday and there was no change in the color of nitrites. I also noticed that my PH had dropped from 7 to 6.5, which worried me as I don't want a stall. Should I lower the ammonia dosing? And only do it once in the 24 hour period?

It's a horrible feeling to think I could slow things down after waiting so long this far! Should I do further water changes to sort out the PH?

Many thanks! Sorry to jump on this thread!

Hi, it's best to just dose ammonia once in 24 hours. With a PH drop, I'd do a large water change (as large as you can) to get the PH back up; I"d also let the water circulate for 30 minutes and then test nitrite again; if it's still off-chart do another water change and try to get them to a readable level on the test kit, and then redose ammonia and check again in 24 hours. The nitrite spike is normal and can last 3 weeks on average so it takes some patience. Dosing twice in 24 hours is overkill on top of overkill though and can actually stall the cycle (dosing to 4 ppm of ammonia in the first place is designed to be overkill so that you can stock the tank fully when the cycle is done; the bacteria can go a while without "food" (ammonia), probably up to a week or so, so no worries there.

 

[librarygirl]

So I'm fishless cycling my 55g. I dosed it up to 5ppm and let it sit for a week, then I read no ammonia so I dosed in 3mL (should put it around 3ppm). This was last week. Yesterday I put in 3ppm of ammonia and today its all gone.
The problem is that my nitrites are like 25ish ppm (1mL of tank water + 4mL of pure water reads 5ppm+). I did a 90% WC a few days ago and its still this high today. Other params are 7.4pH, nitrates 80ppm, temp 84 degrees F.

Do I have to do like 90% WC every few days? This seems a little ridiculous to me. Any suggestions?

How long have the nitrites been high? The nitrite phase is the longest and can take up to 3 weeks on average. YOu shouldn't have to do water changes that frequently though. High nitrites may stall the cycle but I'm not sure exactly what the number is. Since yours is pretty high I'd do 1-2 water changes just to try to get them readable on the chart and then redose ammonia and we'll check again in 24 hours (just dose ammonia once in 24 hours even if you check more often and ammonia is gone before th 24 hour mark), but don't be surprised if they spike again (no need to do another water change if this happens, we'll just see how things progress from here).

 

[FishyPhil]

Thanks guys! I'll follow the advice when I get back home later.

It may be a good idea for someone to mention to the guy that did 'The (almost) complete guide to fishless cycling' to make an amendment, as he clearly states redose ammonia as soon as it hits 1ppm!

Luckily I haven't done it for too many days, so I hope I haven't made the nitrites too high!

Water changes aren't fun with a bucket, and I only have a 33 Gallon! I'll be investing in a larger container and a water pump I reckon!

 

[Hholly]

I had the same deal when I cycled my tank. I did 2 big water changes and backed off on the ammonia dosing to about 2 ppm. Added a pinch of fish food. Then just waited. One day it was suddenly 0. I noticed that prior to the water changes, when I tested the nitrites, the tube turned dark purple before I even shook it. After water changes, it stayed blue until I shook, but was still off the charts.

 

[Yanz]

Ah ok. Thanks guys, I'll change out as much water as possible and see what happens.
Would it be ok to use a smaller tank to cycle the filter? Like say a 10 gallon? It be easier to do those 100% water changes.

 

[jlk]

Librarygirl has sound advice as always, keep us posted everyone!

 

[Hholly]

Ah ok. Thanks guys, I'll change out as much water as possible and see what happens.
Would it be ok to use a smaller tank to cycle the filter? Like say a 10 gallon? It be easier to do those 100% water changes.

Get a water changer. It will change your life.

 

[Yanz]

Water changer as in a python?

 

[Hholly]

Water changer as in a python?

Yes or the Aqueon version. Makes life a lot easier.

 

[Yanz]

I have a ghetto version that involves a normal gravel vac to the tub and a facet adapter to the tubing.