Ammonia going down, no NitrItes?

[chesspupil]

Am I correct in guessing that with the API Ammonia test going from 4ppm to 1ppm in 12 hours and no nitrItes shown that the second stage bacteria are cleaning up the nitrItes really fast?

History:
Last night I did a water change of about 90% after a fishless cycle, (see those steps below) in preps for brining in the fish. Wanting to be sure that my new water did not make any drastic changes to the bacteria present, I added 10 ml of ammonia, a pulverized pinch of fish food, and a 10ml of PH 7.5 buffer solution to 29Gal be sure that the bacterai had the needed building blocks to multiply.

1 hr after adding the ammonia I tested ammonia at 4ppm + (less than 8)which is consistent for the 10ml dose of ammonia I did during the cycling.

12hrs later Ammonia tests at 1ppm, and I am suprised, the nitrItes are testing zero.

So to ask again:
With the new water change am I correct in stating that my test results support that the nitrIte eating bacteria are eating the nitrIte faster than the ammonia easting bacteria can process it? This is a good thing right?
-------------------------

Fishless Cycle steps:
History:
3rd week of fishless cycling with clear ammonia after a complete restart / HOT cleaning and bleaching and thorough rinsing to kill off some ICH. I have a HOB filter, 200w heater and a large air pump bubbling away the entire time. 88 deg to start. Fish have been in quanteen have been Ich free after 21 days at 90 deg temps with brackish water (salinity to less that .004) to naturally kill off ICH.

Added bacteria solution. Ammonia has been maintained at about 4+ppm, and NitrItes have been high after first week. The cycling stalled (ammonia would go down to near zero and NitrItes stayed high) and then I added a pinch of finely ground fish food and salt and dropped the temp from 88 to 85 and dropped the PH from a 8+ to a 7.5 with White Vinegar . Three days later the NitrItes started dropping off to zero. Then for good measure I added a small supply from another aquarium of some known good water and filter shakings to the tank to boost what I imagine is already a healthy bacteria bed. Every few days I stir up the substrate to get plenty of fresh surfaces for the bacteria.

week three I was expecting w/ regular 5ml-10ml doses of ammonia that kept being eaten up and the same with the NitrItes that my NitrAtes would be high doing as follows:

Daily or every other day I:

10ml Ammonia added to a 29 Gal tank which then reads about 4 PPM an hour after being added. (Messes with the PH to where the API HIGH PH actually reads RED.) 8 hours later the NitrItes are maxed out. About 24 hours later Ammonia and NitrItes read Zero

 

[eco23]

Am I correct in guessing that with the API Ammonia test going from 4ppm to 1ppm in 12 hours and no nitrItes shown that the second stage bacteria are cleaning up the nitrItes really fast?

History:
Last night I did a water change of about 90% after a fishless cycle, (see those steps below) in preps for brining in the fish. Wanting to be sure that my new water did not make any drastic changes to the bacteria present, I added 10 ml of ammonia, a pulverized pinch of fish food, and a 10ml of PH 7.5 buffer solution to 29Gal be sure that the bacterai had the needed building blocks to multiply.

1 hr after adding the ammonia I tested ammonia at 4ppm + (less than 8)which is consistent for the 10ml dose of ammonia I did during the cycling.

12hrs later Ammonia tests at 1ppm, and I am suprised, the nitrItes are testing zero.

So to ask again:
With the new water change am I correct in stating that my test results support that the nitrIte eating bacteria are eating the nitrIte faster than the ammonia easting bacteria can process it? This is a good thing right?
-------------------------

Fishless Cycle steps:
History:
3rd week of fishless cycling with clear ammonia after a complete restart / HOT cleaning and bleaching and thorough rinsing to kill off some ICH. I have a HOB filter, 200w heater and a large air pump bubbling away the entire time. 88 deg to start. Fish have been in quanteen have been Ich free after 21 days at 90 deg temps with brackish water (salinity to less that .004) to naturally kill off ICH.

Added bacteria solution. Ammonia has been maintained at about 4+ppm, and NitrItes have been high after first week. The cycling stalled (ammonia would go down to near zero and NitrItes stayed high) and then I added a pinch of finely ground fish food and salt and dropped the temp from 88 to 85 and dropped the PH from a 8+ to a 7.5 with White Vinegar . Three days later the NitrItes started dropping off to zero. Then for good measure I added a small supply from another aquarium of some known good water and filter shakings to the tank to boost what I imagine is already a healthy bacteria bed. Every few days I stir up the substrate to get plenty of fresh surfaces for the bacteria.

week three I was expecting w/ regular 5ml-10ml doses of ammonia that kept being eaten up and the same with the NitrItes that my NitrAtes would be high doing as follows:

Daily or every other day I:

10ml Ammonia added to a 29 Gal tank which then reads about 4 PPM an hour after being added. (Messes with the PH to where the API HIGH PH actually reads RED.) 8 hours later the NitrItes are maxed out. About 24 hours later Ammonia and NitrItes read Zero

I think you've got the right idea that the ammo > nitrIte bacteria is a stronger colony at this point than the nitrIte > nitrAte. What you should do is feed only enough ammo from now on to keep the bacteria fed instead of continuing to dose it up so high.

Just to test that everything is stable... add 1ppm, wait 24 hours, and if your ammo and nitrItes read zero, you're definitely set to go. If you continue to dose it up so high it will just lead to huge nitrAte readings and is unnecessary at this point.

I'd also try to not mess with water chemistry as much as possible. The reason you're pH was rising is due to the ammount of ammonia being added. Ammonia is base, and if you were adding it up to 8ppm (way too high normally for a fishless cycle), that is what caused it.

PWC's are usually unnecessary during a fishless cycle, but if you see pH fluctuations or your cycle slowing down (like you said happened) a 50% pwc is the first order of business. That will restore the nutrients in the water and also restore the buffers to keep your pH stable.

Everything sounds good, but try to test with low levels of ammonia and see if you can keep everything at 0 instead of seeing any type of nitrIte spike.

Fish put in a slow steady stream of ammo instead of a huge blast at once, so you should be all set. But it's still a good idea to make sure it easily handles low levels without any numbers spiking.

And as you know, do another massive pwc before you add fish to make sure the nitrAtes are as low as possible. And don't forget the dechlorinator!

Good job!

 

[James_in_MN]

History:
Last night I did a water change of about 90% after a fishless cycle, (see those steps below) in preps for brining in the fish. Wanting to be sure that my new water did not make any drastic changes to the bacteria present, I added 10 ml of ammonia, a pulverized pinch of fish food, and a 10ml of PH 7.5 buffer solution to 29Gal be sure that the bacterai had the needed building blocks to multiply.

Added bacteria solution. Ammonia has been maintained at about 4+ppm, and NitrItes have been high after first week. The cycling stalled (ammonia would go down to near zero and NitrItes stayed high) and then I added a pinch of finely ground fish food and salt and dropped the temp from 88 to 85 and dropped the PH from a 8+ to a 7.5 with White Vinegar . Three days later the NitrItes started dropping off to zero. Then for good measure I added a small supply from another aquarium of some known good water and filter shakings to the tank to boost what I imagine is already a healthy bacteria bed. Every few days I stir up the substrate to get plenty of fresh surfaces for the bacteria.

I could be wrong, but I don't believe you need to play with the pH in order to fishless cycle a tank. The fishless cycling for dummies thread suggests ammonia dosing with a temp of around 82 degrees to promote bacteria growth, but not much beyond that.

Pet chain stores and some product pushers try to sell us on the notion that aquarists are also chemists with all of the buffers and pH adjustors on the market, but I don't think that's a good way to approach the hobby. The majority of posters on these forums will suggest to you that unmodified tap water will work just fine for keeping fish. My tap water has a pH of 7.8 with GH/KH numbers around 4-6º, and I don't have any issues using it for my aquariums.

 

[eco23]

I could be wrong, but I don't believe you need to play with the pH in order to fishless cycle a tank. The fishless cycling for dummies thread suggests ammonia dosing with a temp of around 82 degrees to promote bacteria growth, but not much beyond that.

Pet chain stores and some product pushers try to sell us on the notion that aquarists are also chemists with all of the buffers and pH adjustors on the market, but I don't think that's a good way to approach the hobby. The majority of posters on these forums will suggest to you that unmodified tap water will work just fine for keeping fish. My tap water has a pH of 7.8 with GH/KH numbers around 4-6º, and I don't have any issues using it for my aquariums.

I agree that in virtually all cases, whether it be fishless cycling or fish keeping, adjusting pH is unnecessary and can be detrimental. I'm guessing the OP is referring to an article where it recommends to add a few drops of pH down to add phosphates and nutrients to speed up and prevent the cycle from stalling. A 50% pwc will achieve the same thing and also prevent the pH from fluctuating or crashing at the end of the cycle. Adjusting pH is definitely a slippery slope.

 

[chesspupil]

LFS has a policy that if your ph is not 7.4-7.6 that they void the fish warranty... stupid I know. Out of the tap it is 7.8 or 8 depending on who you ask when you look at the API high PH test. The vinegar is only 1$ a quart so its not prohibitive and our water here is extremely hard.

 

[eco23]

LFS has a policy that if your ph is not 7.4-7.6 that they void the fish warranty... stupid I know. Out of the tap it is 7.8 or 8 depending on who you ask when you look at the API high PH test. The vinegar is only 1$ a quart so its not prohibitive and our water here is extremely hard.

If that's the case...and I hate to promote lying...add the ph down to the water sample, not the tank. You really have no need to adjust the tank pH as it is perfect coming out of the tap.

 

[eco23]

Hey guys, I just posted an article I wrote which will hopefully answer some questions.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html