Zero NitrItes!

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TangoTank

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
May 4, 2012
Messages
519
Doing a fishless cycle & I have a 15 gal column w/ a HOB, an 8" bubble wand, gravel substrate & NOT planted w/ heater.

I began my fish less cycle May 7th w/ no seeded media, so this is Day 61?? Got back from a 1 week vacation over a week ago, ammonia was zero when I returned. I redosed ammonia to 2ppm when I returned & it took 2 days to return to zero. Now I'm on Day #3 of ammonia dosed to 2ppm 3 days ago & now it's at 1ppm. I did two back to back WC's 3 days ago to reduce NitrItes to .25ppm & now I have NONE! Should I have any concerns? Or what can I expect?

Thanks!!

PH: 7.4
Temp: 84
Ammonia: @1ppm now--dosed to 2ppm 3 days ago (essentially this is the 4th ammonia dose since starting my fishless cycle)
-- took 2 days to drop down from 2ppm on the previous amm dose (the 3rd ammonia dose since starting FLCycle)
NitrItes: ZERO!! (was .25ppm 3 days ago after 2 back to back almost 100% WC's)
NitrAtes: 10ppm
 
Isn't it exciting?!

I felt on top of the world upon completing a cycle. :dance:

You may have some hiccups at first. Watch your params! What are you stocking?
 
Well, I think I'd be more excited if it seemed I were on the right track... w/ the ammonia reduction significantly slowed & low NitrAtes w/ ZERO NitrItes, seems like something is off??

As for stocking... I'm thinking 6 dwarf corys & 6 neon tetras, then I'm gonna try my male crown tail betta as a centerpiece but if he doesn't work out, I'll return him to his old tank (or maybe get him a Fluval Edge & try some other dwarf centerpiece fish. Thks for your reply!!
 
Eight weeks is definitely on the upper end of the cycling process. You've gone 2 months without having any fish in the tank? That had to be difficult.

If you aren't experiencing any pH fluctuations you could dose a little higher to see if things get moving again. One other thing I've noticed is that the API ammonia test isn't always spot on, so I'd keep that in mind also.
 
The water changes should have helped restore PH and any buffers/minerals in the water. It might have taken a bit of a hit from not being dosed for a week and then dosing again when you returned could have caused things to be slower, it should catch up though. Just keeep dosing to 2 when it drops below 1. Hopefully it'll speed up and then you can increase the dose to 3 and then 4. I wouldn't worry yet, my guess is the week of non-dosing slowed things some. Keep us updated. :)
 
Ok, Thks librarygirl!! That's probably why!! Makes sense.

My pH is stable. And yes JetaJockey, it has been an amazing feat resisting buying fish!! I joke that my kids have forgotten that we're ever gonna get fish. We have a clownfish sticker that we move around on the tank. People actually think we have a clownfish sometimes!! And sometimes somebody will put it belly up near the top of the tank. It's actually quite entertaining to see where somebody will move it to next, ya just never know. It really is the simple things in life... :wink:
 
Well, I think the NitrAtes are keeping the NitrItes down! That's exciting!!

PH: 7.4
Temp: 84
Ammonia: was .25ppm (just dosed it to 2ppm)
(I'm trying to figure out how many days it took the ammonia to go down this time)--I think I dosed it 3 days ago
NitrItes: .25ppm-.5ppm
NitrAtes: 20ppm-40ppm
 
*UPDATE*

Ammonia: 2ppm (dosed yest to 2ppm)
NitrItes: 1ppm (yest .25ppm-.5ppm)

librarygirl... seems NitrAtes aren't keeping up w/ the NitrItes as I thought. What do I do if the Ammonia flies outta here but NitrItes are high? Should I be thinkin' about a water change or let the NitrAtes catch up before I redose Ammonia?
 
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