Started my fishless cycle!

[jlk]

The amm appears like its not dropping as quickly but its eating through 2ppm in 24hrs. Its jump from 2 to 3 (or to 4) ppm amm and your bb has to adjust upwards to compensate for the increased amm. This wont happen overnight. It may take a few days before they can consume the higher amounts. If amm stops dropping, then we may have to return to a lower dose (2), get you fully cycled at this level then start to increase the amm again. Lets see how things go over the next few days.

 

[Justme68]

Yesterday I dosed 2ml of ammo and today I have: ammo 2ppm, nitrites are rosy pink and nitrates are 20ppm. Am I stuck or doing OK?

 

[Justme68]

Yesterday I dosed 2ml of am on and today I have: ammo 2ppm, nitrites are rosy pink and nitrates are 20pm. Am I stuck or doing OK?

 

[jlk]

Hmm... when was the last time you did a water change?

 

[Justme68]

I did a water change on the 10th I did a 75% and trites were still high so i did a 90% three hours later.....

 

[jlk]

Thanks! Lets give your tank another day or two (no more amm) & see if the amm starts dropping again. If it doesnt, then it may be time for another water change. Has your ph remained stable?

 

[Justme68]

Yes ma'am! Its just a touch bluer than 7.6 but that's what it always is

 

[jlk]

lets see what happens over the next 2 days!

 

[Justme68]

OK, thank you!

 

[Justme68]

Here's my results today: ammo 1ppm, nitrites are still above 5ppm and nitrates are 10ppm definately lighter than the last couple days and Ph 7.6. I feel like I'm regressing

 

[jlk]

Maybe its time to reconsider getting that active filter! Ok- when you have the time (you dont have to do this today), lets do a big water change to get your nitrites readable. I think your nitrites are stalling your tank out here because your amm levels should have zeroed out since yesterday.

 

[Justme68]

I may consider it.......I'll get the wc done this afternoon. Should i dose ammo afterwards?

 

[jlk]

Yep- just to 2ppm once you get your nitrites down. I would like to get you cycled at 2ppm & then we can increase it bit each day to 4ppm hopefully without an issue. Hang in there!

 

[Justme68]

I'm hanging in there....lol! Thanks

 

[RedFlame]

Good job hanging in there, a month I would have I'll let the more seasoned guys chime in on how to get you out. My cycles all went relatively smoothly so I'm just as lost as you are. Good luck and hang in there.

 

[HeatherW]

just a side note here - just finished my 90 gallon cycle. i broke down and got me the active filter from angels plus - made HUGE difference. once I added it I was almost completely done! I would strongly encourage it. When I figured how much I was spending on everything else another few buck didn't make that much of a difference so I just went ahead and took the plunge - spent the bucks and now I am done!

good luck! this is so much fun!!

 

[boadams87]

just a side note here - just finished my 90 gallon cycle. i broke down and got me the active filter from angels plus - made HUGE difference. once I added it I was almost completely done! I would strongly encourage it. When I figured how much I was spending on everything else another few buck didn't make that much of a difference so I just went ahead and took the plunge - spent the bucks and now I am done!

good luck! this is so much fun!!

Good for you!!!

 

[Justme68]

Thanks guys! I've been patient so far but I may be starting to get a little anxious now. Definately thinking of that sponge Heather.....

 

[librarygirl]

Hm, I don't see anything that sticks out as having gone wrong. I'm not sure why things are slowing honestly. You're adding Prime with water changes, right? What size tank and what filters do you have?

The Caribsea instant bacteria could be playing some role; as I mentioned before some of these products contain the wrong bacteria which make it difficult for the correct bacteria to establish. I don't know if that's what's happening but it's possible. If you can, do a few large water changes to get nitrites <2 which will help get them down and see if that helps kickstart things. Dose ammo to 1-2 afterwards and let's see if we can get things moving.

 

[Justme68]

Hi librarygirl! I did a HUGE water change about 4 hrs ago...about 1/2 in above the sand. Re-filled a few gallons then I dosed the prime and finished filling then 15min later I dosed 2 ml of ammo and tested about 30 min later. The ammo was at 2ppm and the nitrites were between .5 & 1ppm. By the way, its a 29gal and i have an aqua clear 50