Hello everyone im in the middle of a fishless cycle at the moment, parameters have stopped changing for a while so im just here to check what others think.
Setup:
20 gallon/90l tank
Fluval U3 and Fluval heater
No airstones/aeration because the filters splashing the surface and theres a lot of bubbles already.
Started cycle 21st july, filled tank added conditioner and left running for a day on 20th, then added 1 bottle tetra safestart which i got free and dosed to 3ppm ammonia. The heaters running at 83 farenheit and ive been dosing with kleen off ammonia. Tap water ph is 6.6-6.8.
Was going well and testing usually daily, but a few nights i missed and tested next morning because ive been working 60hr weeks and have forgotten. The tetra safestart seemed to work and the ammonia was falling and i was re-dosing as i should until the 2nd august when i decided to test for nitrite, which was 0ppm, nitrate, which was 40-80ppm (cant tell very well with the api test because they are so similar) and ph was 8.2. This surprised me because i must have underestimated the time and missed the whole middle of the cycle.
Then things started to slow down, the 2nd august was the last time i dosed ammonia up to 3ppm, since then ammonia has not changed much, ph has dropped slightly to 7.8-8.0, nitrite has remained 0 and nitrate is around 20-40ppm. Has my cycle stalled and what should i do now?
TLDR:
Started cycle on 21 july
Ammonia dropping as expected
First tested for nitrites 2nd august (Nitrites never detected,think i missed them)
First tested for nitrates at 2nd august 40-80ppm (seemed to be there a while already)
Last ammonia dose was 2nd august
Since then no real change except ph dropping slightly to 7.8-8.0 from 8.2 and nitrate to 20-40ppm.
Any help appreciated.
Setup:
20 gallon/90l tank
Fluval U3 and Fluval heater
No airstones/aeration because the filters splashing the surface and theres a lot of bubbles already.
Started cycle 21st july, filled tank added conditioner and left running for a day on 20th, then added 1 bottle tetra safestart which i got free and dosed to 3ppm ammonia. The heaters running at 83 farenheit and ive been dosing with kleen off ammonia. Tap water ph is 6.6-6.8.
Was going well and testing usually daily, but a few nights i missed and tested next morning because ive been working 60hr weeks and have forgotten. The tetra safestart seemed to work and the ammonia was falling and i was re-dosing as i should until the 2nd august when i decided to test for nitrite, which was 0ppm, nitrate, which was 40-80ppm (cant tell very well with the api test because they are so similar) and ph was 8.2. This surprised me because i must have underestimated the time and missed the whole middle of the cycle.
Then things started to slow down, the 2nd august was the last time i dosed ammonia up to 3ppm, since then ammonia has not changed much, ph has dropped slightly to 7.8-8.0, nitrite has remained 0 and nitrate is around 20-40ppm. Has my cycle stalled and what should i do now?
TLDR:
Started cycle on 21 july
Ammonia dropping as expected
First tested for nitrites 2nd august (Nitrites never detected,think i missed them)
First tested for nitrates at 2nd august 40-80ppm (seemed to be there a while already)
Last ammonia dose was 2nd august
Since then no real change except ph dropping slightly to 7.8-8.0 from 8.2 and nitrate to 20-40ppm.
Any help appreciated.