cycling woes

[Sahabo]

So my first fishless cycling experience is turning out to be quite a headache! I've been at this since 9/17 and it's still not right...

This past week, I thought I finally got it right. I was dosing 1 drop of ammonia each morning which brought the level to .50ppm. The next morning it would be back to 0. Nitrites also 0 every morning. But I never saw a nitrate rise.

Then when I looked closely at the substrate yesterday, I saw a clear/grayish/whitish film all over the gravel. I figured it was safe to do a pwc to clean it up since the beneficial bacteria had been established. It was hard to get up because it stuck to the gravel and driftwood.

I cleaned up the tank and put in some new plants. Then this morning, I did a water test. Ammonia - 1ppm. Nitrite - 0ppm. Nitrate - 2ppm.

And I forgot to add ammonia yesterday. My fault. Is that why my ammonia went up? Did the bacteria die off in one night? Was I too thorough in cleaning the gravel? And why am I only now seeing nitrates?

Any thoughts??

 

[neilanh]

If you're doing a fishless cycle, usually we recommend dosing more ammonia then that, usually between 3 and 5 ppm. But, even at .5ppm it will work, so no worries there.

The white stuff all over the place is normal, and while I dont recommend doing a water change in the middle of a fishless cycle, it doesn't hurt anything, so no worries. Skipping a day of adding ammonia isn't going to hurt you either, as long as it was just 1 day. The ammonia most likely went up due to the water change, and it's probably chloramines from the fresh water that are reading on your test kit.

I'd dose it daily for a few more days, but I think you're pretty much done with your cycle. If you dose it in the morning and by the next morning you have 0 nitrites and 0 ammonia, you're good.

 

[Sahabo]

thanks neilan. i had been dosing at a higher level in the beginning, but then decreased it after about a month. what exactly is the white stuff? chloramines...ah right, that makes sense as I didn't add any prime to the new water.

thanks so much!

 

[neilanh]

When you were dosing higher amounts, you built up a bacteria colony big enough to consume those levels. When you dropped the amount you were dosing, there was only enough food for a portion of what you had before, so most likely you lost a good portion of your colony. I would dose higher for a few days and see what you get before adding any critters myself.

I've never been able to identify what that stuff is, I can tell you that it's easily cleaned up with vacuuming, and that it will go away, but just never was able to ID it. One of my really old threads has a lot of pics and discussion on it, but still don't know what it is.

Make sure you add prime with every water change. Chlorine is toxic to your bacteria the same way ammonia is toxic to your fish.

 

[Sahabo]

thanks again. part of the reason i cut back on the ammonia dosing is that the 10 gallon will only have one betta in it, a very small bioload. to what level do you recommend doing at this point?

 

[neilanh]

Well, if that's all you plan on putting in there, yeah that was a good call, .5 is more than enough.

 

[Sahabo]

well I'm about to add fish to my newly cycled 10 gallon. I've decided to add 5 ottos to it for algae control. Then after they are settled, I'll add the betta.

I've been adding barely a drop of ammonia a day to feed the bacterial colony. Lately, this teeny drop brings the ammonia levels up to 1ppm. It does go back to 0 but sometimes it takes more than 24 hours. What does this say about my bacterial colony??

 

[mwitha]

Im having trouble with my cycle too . Its day 5 and ammonia hasnt gone down at all - still 4ppm and nitrites at 0.25ppm. PH7.6

i've done everything to speed it up (heat, air bubbles, mature filter media, filter squeeze, mature substrate....)

I haven't been adding any ammonia, because mine doesnt appear to be going down at all. Is that ok?

 

[gzeiger]

It's not expected to happen in only five days. The stickied article at the top of the forum is a good reference guide. Typically expect this to take weeks, not days, to do it right.

You are correct to not add additional ammonia. Dose based on your test results to maintain around 5 ppm until you see nitrite rise and then go to zero, and then you're done.

 

[OldMan]

Sahabo, I would say that your cycle has not yet taken place. If your tank will not process 1 ppm in less than 24 hours you have some bacterial growing to do.
Once you do get the bacterial population up, you could put in the betta but not the otocinclus. A betta is hardy enough to survive in a marginal new tank but you will likely lose an otocinclus. They are not as tough when it comes to a new tank with a barely established cycle.