Fishles cycle, ammonia falling incrdibky fast?

[Banana mouse]

Know it's good but is it normal that iv had my fish tank running for a few days and the ammonia is falling so fast, the ammonia was at 4ppm this morning now it's fallen down to 1ppm in 9 hours. The no3 has spiked to 100 but no2 is at 2 or 3 ppm.
My tank temperature is at 29c and iv managed to seed the filter, I stole some bio max and 2 small sponges (she don't know )

So I know that's good but is it normal? It's been running for about 3 days thanks
Also what's next?

 

[jlk]

Looks great! The seeded media is really helping! Just continue to dose ammonia once a day & check your levels daily. Once your tank is steadily converting the ammonia fully to nitrate for a few days in a row, its safe to say your cycled!

 

[Banana mouse]

Really? Iv heard it takes weeks and iv only been doing it for a few days

 

[librarygirl]

Seeded media can do wonders. Don't question it lol Just keep dosing, only dose once in 24 hours though even if you check more often and ammonia is 0 sooner. You're waiting for your nitrites to drop to 0. Looks like there is some conversion going on if nitrates are rising. You're doing well!

 

[Banana mouse]

I thought no2 was meant to rise then no3 not the other way around

 

[jlk]

Its simply that you added established bacteria- they are processing the nitrite to nitrate quickly so you are seeing the nitrate increase steadily without seeing huge spikes in nitrites first.

 

[Banana mouse]

That explains it really well thank you, so is everything as it should be?

 

[jlk]

Yep, doing well! Keep us posted!

 

[Banana mouse]

Course I will I just one two question left

Iv been told to add fish food (a very small amount) to the tank so the bacteria has lots of nutrients is this true?

And

should I carry on doing what I'm doing for a week or two then doing a big water Chang then add my tiger barbs? (if everything is at 0ppm)

 

[jlk]

You can add a pinch of finely crushed fish food if you want. Thats it though or you will wind up growing stuff you really dont want on the food (such as fungus or mold). Keep us posted on your progress and we will advise you on what steps to take once you have hit the cycled mark!

 

[Banana mouse]

Oh yeah that's what I wanted to avoid, I think it encourages algae as well. Thanks for your help

 

[Banana mouse]

Okay I wanted to see what would happen so I put my ammonia upto 7ppm and in 8 hours it feel down to 0.50ppm so I know that's good but what's next? should I do a 50-60% water change so I'll try and get everything at 0ppm then should I add 6ppm of ammonia and if with 24 hours it's turned into no3 would I have successfully cycled my tank?


Ammonia is at 6ppm (just added some)
No2 is now at 4ppm (it's gone up a little)
No3 is now at 100ppm (it's gone up by 50ppm I think)

 

[jlk]

Watch your ph- your really over killing your bacteria with these huge doses of ammonia! Dose to 4 once every 24hrs. That's it! If your tank can process 4ppm ammonia completely to nitrate in 24 hrs and it steadily does this for a couple of days, your cycled! Right now, your risking crashing your cycle with these huge doses of ammonia which you don't want to have happen because everything is going very well.

 

[Banana mouse]

Okay I never knew that, can I still do a water change? Add the 4ppm of ammonia and see how long it takes to turn into nitrate? And do this for a few days?
Yeah I'm getting this stuff for my ph it's actually gone up to 8 and I want it to be at 7ish

 

[librarygirl]

Actually it's the nitrites that get turned into nitrates. One set of bacteria converts ammonia to nitrite; you already have plenty of those that can chew through 4 ppms of ammonia every 24 hours (just dose to 4; dosing higher can actually stall the cycle too). Then a second set of bacteria convert nitrite to nitrate; you're just waiting for the nitrite bacteria to be able to fully convert all of the nitrites to nitrate, then you're cycled when nitrites fall to 0. Why do you want your PH to be 7? I wouldn't mess with PH; most fish will adapt to your PH unless you're getting very sensitive fish like Discus. Messing with it can cause fluctuations which aren't good for fish.

 

[Banana mouse]

Oh my bad I get confused with nitrites and nitrates. I'm having tiger barbs I know they will be fine with the ph but I'm getting otts as well and i know there a sensitive fish

 

[Banana mouse]

Iv tested my water again and no2 is now at 0ppm it done that by its self no water Chang what's next? can I add fish

 

[jlk]

Ok, has your tank been steadily zeroing out ammonia & nitrite each day after adding a dose of ammonia? Has this occurred for a couple of days in row or is this the first day of all zeroes?

 

[BillD]

Once the nitrite stays at 0, you will need to do a large enough water change to get the nitrates down to 10 or less. You can change all the water, which is what I would do.

 

[Banana mouse]

Can I use like a nitrate remover?