Cycle Issues

[Dcannistra]

Hi!

I’m brand new to cycling and have been following the directions in the below link to cycle my 75 gallon tank. I got to the point where I saw nitrites present and cut in half the amount of ammonia I was adding. This is ammonia from tractor supply plus and does not foam up when shaken or have any additives. I continue to add the halved potion of ammonia daily but my levels are now over 8ppm ammonia and nitrite went from 2ppm to .5 and has been at .25 steadily. Should I wait on adding anymore ammonia until I see a noticeable drop? I started the linked process below on 4/19.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I also have 10 small live plants in this tank and my PH is testing at 6.2 currently.

http://rlearley.people.ua.edu/uploads/2/5/6/9/25693686/fishless_cycling.pdf

 

[rlederer]

I use a very basic method that seems almost too basic, but it works for me. Do nothing at all - no additives, nothing. It'll take six weeks or so but the bacteria will find their way into the tank and it'll cycle. Just test it once in awhile. Or put one or two fish in to speed it up. Slower but sure beats fooling with chemicals and constant testing.

 

[Dcannistra]

I agree, this process has been very time consuming. I didn’t add any additional ammonia last night so I’m going to give it 2-3 more days and do more testing to see if the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate change. I’ll have to keep this method in mind the next time I have to cycle a new tank.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Dont put ammonia in every day. Initially dose to 4ppm and when ammonia drops to below 1ppm dose it back upto 2ppm. Test daily and only top up if you have dropped to 1ppm or below. If you keep adding ammonia even when the last lot hasnt converted to nitritres your ammonia will just rise and rise until it is too toxic for the beneficial bacteria to survive. It will start to die off when levels are above 6ppm.

Do a 50% water change to get the ammonia down and see where it goes. You may have stalled your cycle by letting it get to 8ppm and will have to start over.

 

[Dcannistra]

Thank you this is very helpful! I will do a water change tonight to get it back to 4ppm and let the bacteria do the work to bring it down.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Do you have access to any established filter media or bacteria in a bottle (eg. Dr Tims one + only or Seachem stability) to speed up the cycle process?

Thank you this is very helpful! I will do a water change tonight to get it back to 4ppm and let the bacteria do the work to bring it down.

 

[Dcannistra]

I just ordered a bottle of Stability and it will be here tomorrow!

 

[Dcannistra]

Now once I start adding the Stability following the directions on the bottle, can I still add ammonia to keep it at 4ppm once I see it get at or below 1ppm? I just finished my water change and ph rose to 6.6. I will check all levels tonight to see what ammonia is at.

 

[Aiken Drum]

No. Just do an initial dose of 4ppm. After it has started to convert to nitrites only top up to 2ppm whenever it drops below 1ppm. The reason for this is every 1ppm of ammonia converts to 2.7ppm nitrite (and then to 3.6ppm nitrates). So once you are converting ammonia you dont want the nitrites to escalate. The general opinion is that if nitrites get too high then it can stall the cycle (although ive not seen evidence beyond anecdotal to support this).

If nitrites get too high to read on your test kit you might want to consider a water change to get them down to a readable degree. Alternative is to dilute the test, say 50% and then double the result. For me the most difficult part of cycling is the nitrite to nitrate phase and nitrite tests just showing dark purple day after day. So i like to bring it down to readable levels so i can see some progress.

 

[Dcannistra]

I appreciate the help here Aiken! I will follow these instructions and report back in a week or so on my progress.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Its a long slog. Dont expect overnight results. I would hope in a week to see some nitritres. Keep us informed. Hopefully its a good news story.

 

[Dcannistra]

Are there any concerns with PH while I’m cycling the tank. Once I did a 50% water change on Friday I saw my PH at 7.4 and this afternoon it is reading at 5.8. Wasn’t sure if PH impacts the bacterial growth or not but figured I’d check as it seems pretty low.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Something in your tank is causing the pH to lower. Its 6.6 prior to water change. 7.4 after the water change, so its safe to assume your water doesn't naturally have low pH. Now its dropped to below 6. Yes, pH below 6 can affect cycling. What do you have in your aquarium? Driftwood can cause this.

Apart from the pH, is there any progress on the cycling? Are you seeing any nitrites or nitrates yet?

 

[Dcannistra]

I tested the water this morning and I’m seeing 2ppm nitrite (.25 pre water change) and 4 ppm of ammonia. As far as the PH question I do have 3 small pieces of driftwood in the tank so I will take them out. I’ll test for nitrates tomorrow evening to see if anything is happening on that front.

 

[Dcannistra]

Would you suggest adding anything to raise the PH after I remove the driftwood?

 

[Aiken Drum]

I wouldnt do anything for now except let the tank cycle. As long as the nitritres are rising for now the pH isnt affecting anything. Let us know if you get any nitrates.

 

[Dcannistra]

So on Sunday I added the full dose of Stability for a new tank. Monday I added half the dose as suggested and will do that for 7 days. Last night my readings were showing:
Amm: 4ppm
Nitrite: 2ppm
Nitrate: 5ppm
Looks like some progress is being made hopefully! Just waiting now on the ammonia to start dropping. After removing the drift wood the PH is the same at 5.8

 

[Dcannistra]

I finished my last dose of Stability on 5/17 and my readings are below:
5/17 - Amm: .5ppm Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 100ppm
I then added a little ammonia to bring it up to 2ppm
5/19 - Amm: .5ppm Nitrite: 0
5/20 - Amm: .5ppm Nitrite: 0

Is there a reason for ammonia not going down to 0?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Try testing some bottled water for ammonia to compare your results with a 0ppm. If not read in good light on a white background a 0 result can look like a 0.25. If you really are only getting down to 0.5 try skipping a day of re-dosing or cutting the re-dose down to 1ppm to see if gets to 0.

 

[Dcannistra]

The color of 0 ammonia is yellow and the rest goes from light green to dark so this is definitely reading correct. It’s possibly .25 but definitely not 0. I’ve also only added ammonia once since I posted this and that was on 5/17. I’ll give it some time before adding more and see what happens!