NitrItes not going away

[Meave]

I'm on week 6 and it seems my NitrItes will never go away, here are my reading after doing my 4th 90% water change:

NitrItes: 5.0+ VERY purple
NitrAtes: 20ppm
Ammonia:2.0-3.0ppm
PH:7.8

I have to add ammonia daily to keep it in the 2-4 range, otherwise it goes to 0 in 24 hours. I have my temp set at 86, and plenty of bubbles from a lower water lever and the filters splashing.

Anything else I can do to speed things up, the wait is driving me crazy

Thanks!

 

[barterking85]

If your tank can go from 4 to 0 in 24 hrs and your nitrites are high and your showing a good nitrate level I would say your good to go
Big pwc and stock

 

[Polar]

If your tank can go from 4 to 0 in 24 hrs and your nitrites are high and your showing a good nitrate level I would say your good to go
Big pwc and stock

I thought it was ammonia 0, trites 0, trates alot in a 24hr period?

I'm only on week 4 meave but in almost the same position as you, 75% pwc dose ammonia to 3-4 range and the next day I can get ammonia to the .5 range in 24, trites off the scale, and trates showing up (don't expect trates up much after the pwc). The 30th will be 4 weeks for me so i'm just hanging in there.... Reading Ryan's post I'm now a little less confident about my understanding of the cycling process. Did you keep a log I'll show you mine if you'd like to compare them.
Please post your progress here because I'd like to follow it.

Wait, test, wait, test, ...wash, rinse, repeat, etc.... Ugh! I am so with you on the going crazy part, (I have dreams of a neighbor giving me a sack full of seed material)

P

 

[librarygirl]

If your tank can go from 4 to 0 in 24 hrs and your nitrites are high and your showing a good nitrate level I would say your good to go
Big pwc and stock

Nope, sorry Ryan lol NitrItes have to be 0 too.

 

[librarygirl]

I'm on week 6 and it seems my NitrItes will never go away, here are my reading after doing my 4th 90% water change:

NitrItes: 5.0+ VERY purple
NitrAtes: 20ppm
Ammonia:2.0-3.0ppm
PH:7.8

I have to add ammonia daily to keep it in the 2-4 range, otherwise it goes to 0 in 24 hours. I have my temp set at 86, and plenty of bubbles from a lower water lever and the filters splashing.

Anything else I can do to speed things up, the wait is driving me crazy

Thanks!

Wow, nitrites are still off-chart after doing 4 water changes? Holy smokes! lol You could try keep doing water changes until nitrites are readable on the chart (preferably <2). Then only dose ammonia to 1 for about 3 days (not longer) to let the bacteria catch up. Then start dosing to your normal 2-4 again and see if that helps.

 

[Clynnking]

LG- you have to be the most patient gal on the planet with all the cycling problems you went through. Been following your thread about Cycling II. How is that going?
I have not been waiting near as long as you but it feels like it. I have a 38 gallon FW and fishless. I have a few live plants. I used Dr Tim's One and Only. He states that you can add fish by day 11 but I didn't trust it so I have been following the Fishless Cycling promoted on this forum. I think I got the nitrites so soon because of the liquid BB from Dr Tim but I can 't the nitrites to come down.

I started on 8/13. I have had high nitrite 5 or > since 8/17. My nitrates have consistantly been climbing to 80 now. I have been adding ammonia daily and it drops to 0 in 24 hours. I just can't get the nitrites to come down. I have done a couple PWC of about 40% and they came down to 2 one day only and then when I redosed the ammonia it went back to 5.

Any suggestions? I think I am getting close.

 

[Ant329]

I wouldnt use anything.. Your tank will cycle on its own.. Just do frequent water changes and you will be good

 

[barterking85]

I know it not conventional it's just how I cycled my tanks

 

[Clynnking]

Do you mean adding bb from bottle is not conventional? Sorry if I didn't understand, Ryan. I have appreciated your advice on these forums

 

[barterking85]

Do you mean adding bb from bottle is not conventional? Sorry if I didn't understand, Ryan. I have appreciated your advice on these forums

No when trites spike I usually do a pwc and add fish but I also check my levels everyday and pwc as needed but I don't recommend anyone to do it

Bottled bb cycle ect I find very useless IMO nothing works better then filter media from an established tank this saves a big headache

 

[Clynnking]

Ryan--so you do a partial fishless and then move to fish in? Have you had to do a lot of PWC with fish in or are you pretty close to fully cycled by the time you add fish?
I just did a 70% PWC to get my trites down. I just rechecked they are 1. ammonia 0 and trates 80. I redosed with ammonia and will see what it looks like tomorrow. I am considering adding 1 platy or 2 neons to see what happens. I know that would be a small bio-load. I can still do the PWC's as needed.

 

[barterking85]

Ryan--so you do a partial fishless and then move to fish in? Have you had to do a lot of PWC with fish in or are you pretty close to fully cycled by the time you add fish?
I just did a 70% PWC to get my trites down. I just rechecked they are 1. ammonia 0 and trates 80. I redosed with ammonia and will see what it looks like tomorrow. I am considering adding 1 platy or 2 neons to see what happens. I know that would be a small bio-load. I can still do the PWC's as needed.

Just be very diligent with water changes and make sure your levels ate safe before fish then I add but as long as you keep checking levels you will be ok I usually did one pwc everyday 30% to be safe until things plateau but if things are converting this fast for you you are pretty close I would finish fishless you might have 2 weeks left

 

[eco23]

Ryan, I love you man but I gotta disagree. If you're doing a fishless cycle, you might as well see it through to the end. A tank during the nitrIte spike phase is definitely a dangerous place to be, and I wouldn't stock at that point. You've basically got an imbalance of bacteria, and the tank will be cranking out no2 because the first colony is fully developed, but the no2 > no3 guys are not on the same page. It's pretty much a recipe for nitrIte spikes.

Daily pwc's (or as needed to keep toxins down) is fine...but if I was going to do water changes that often I'd just add fish on day one.

To the OP, you can do water changes as often and as large as you'd like to knock the no2 down. They don't hurt (and can potentially shave a couple days off), but again, it's the issue of it defeating the purpose of a "fishless" cycle if you're always breaking out the buckets.

 

[Clynnking]

Ok, I have decided to just wait this out. I added an ornament from my very well established 20 gallon and I also got the filter out from the 20 gallon and have it a few shakes in the new tank-then returned it to the 20 gallon. (my filter is starting to fall apart I noticed). I am a little worried I will disrupt the older 20 gallon tank bb. I am planning to put the fish from the 20 gallon into the new 38 gallon once established.
I have learned so much from all the advice here on the forums. I wish lfs had to tell people that its not just buy the tank, run it a couple days and have a nice life. It is work and patience and disappointment and head scratching but in the end worth it. I don't want to risk putting fish in there and then they get stressed and get ich and treat disease......just wait on these BB. No other choice.

 

[eco23]

Do you plan on keeping the 20 gallon up and running, or is it being taken down? If you're not planning on keeping fish in the smaller one, that is a situation where I'd go ahead and move over the fish with every single piece of filter media (and anything else from that tank you can). You'd still need to closely monitor the toxins for quite some time, because there will be residual conversion from what is already being converted...so chances are you'll still experience nitrIte spike for a while, but once the tank adjusts to the new bio-load and bacteria you're brining over which is already equipped to handle it...there shouldn't be much of a problem.

If you're breaking down the 20, I'd do a total water change in the new tank, and actually let it run empty for a couple days (don't add ammonia) and watch for spikes. If ammo and no2 sit at zero for a couple days, go ahead and transfer the fish and all the media over. Just keep an eye on it.

If you plan on keeping the 20 gallon running, just keep doing what you're doing and wait it out

 

[Clynnking]

20 gallon will be my QT-at least that's what I'm telling my husband!!

 

[eco23]

20 gallon will be my QT-at least that's what I'm telling my husband!!

Since a QT doesn't need to be kept cycled, I'd go for option #1 then. Drain out all the water, refill, don't add any ammonia, let it sit for a few days and see what the no2 does. I wouldn't be surprised if you see no2 spiking for a few days even though you're not adding ammonia, so that's why we want to wait it out a bit.

Once the ammo and no2 are both sitting at 0, I'd move the fish and every piece of media. If you're going to be using the 20 as a QT, the best bet is to move the entire filter and run it on the new tank. That way you've got 2 working filters, and if you need to set up a QT or hospital tank in the future, just pull the smaller filter off, throw it on the QT and you'll have basically an instantly cycled tank.

Of course....if there are other plans for the 20 gallon...we can always tell your hubby that both tanks need to be fully cycled at all times

 

[barterking85]

Since a QT doesn't need to be kept cycled, I'd go for option #1 then. Drain out all the water, refill, don't add any ammonia, let it sit for a few days and see what the no2 does. I wouldn't be surprised if you see no2 spiking for a few days even though you're not adding ammonia, so that's why we want to wait it out a bit.

Once the ammo and no2 are both sitting at 0, I'd move the fish and every piece of media. If you're going to be using the 20 as a QT, the best bet is to move the entire filter and run it on the new tank. That way you've got 2 working filters, and if you need to set up a QT or hospital tank in the future, just pull the smaller filter off, throw it on the QT and you'll have basically an instantly cycled tank.

Of course....if there are other plans for the 20 gallon...we can always tell your hubby that both tanks need to be fully cycled at all times

Yeah that's what I was saying it's hard to word things in a way that everyone will understand I ment if he runs the filter from his 20 on his 38 I would do a big pwc place the filter on the tank add his fish and moniter closely

 

[barterking85]

Yeah that's what I was saying it's hard to word things in a way that everyone will understand I ment if he runs the filter from his 20 on his 38 I would do a big pwc place the filter on the tank add his fish and moniter closely

No offense taken even friends will have different opinions sometimes

 

[eco23]

No offense taken even friends will have different opinions sometimes

Cool. I didn't know there was a second tank involved which had media that could be transferred from. I think we're on the same page now