45 gallon fishless cycling

[Colin_T]

Wait a couple of days and then add a tiny bit of ammonia (0.5-1ppm) and see what happens. If the filter has established, the ammonia should be removed within a few hours and so should any nitrite. If that happens, do a 90% water change with dechlorinated water, wait 24 hours and get some fish.

 

[steelo]

Wait a couple of days and then add a tiny bit of ammonia (0.5-1 ppm) and see what happens. If the filter has established, the ammonia should be removed within a few hours and so should any nitrite. If that happens, do a 90% water change with dechlorinated water, wait 24 hours and get some fish.

Thanks Colin, I think I'm definitely getting close...when I did a 75% water change 2 weeks ago, the nitrites were still off the scale. After doing a 80%-90% water change last night, they were around 0.5 ppm.

I will give it until Thursday, add 0.5ppm ammonia and if nitrites and ammonia are at 0 by Friday do a large water change and FINALLY get some fish!

Thank you for all your help (and patience) this has been a very frustrating experience!

 

[steelo]

It appears nitrites have gone UP from 0.5 ppm to between 2-5 ppm. I am at a loss since I haven't added any ammonia since the 90% water change. Ammonia is at 0 right now and nitrates appear to be between 10-20 ppm.

 

[Colin_T]

Do you have chloramine in your tap water?
If yes, the ammonia from that would have been converted into nitrite.

What is the nitrate level in the tap water?

Nitrate test kits read nitrite as nitrate. If there is any nitrite in the water you will get an incorrect/ false reading when doing a nitrate test.

 

[steelo]

Do you have chloramine in your tap water?
If yes, the ammonia from that would have been converted into nitrite.

What is the nitrate level in the tap water?

Nitrate test kits read nitrite as nitrate. If there is any nitrite in the water you will get an incorrect/ false reading when doing a nitrate test.

Hey Colin, I do have chloramine but did add dechlor to the tank prior to adding the new water. The last time I checked, I did not have any nitrites/nitrates in the tap water. I'm confused though, I've seen a few posts where folks have posted both nitrite and nitrate readings? So, are you saying that if I have any nitrites that the nitrate test won't be accurate? Thanks!

 

[Colin_T]

You can post ammonia, nitrite and nitrate but if the tank is cycling and you have a nitrite reading, then you will get an inaccurate nitrate reading because the nitrate test kits read nitrite as nitrate.

If the tank has cycled and there is 0 ammonia, 1ppm of nitrite and 20ppm of nitrate then that is pretty close to what the water test is, but if the tank is still cycling then you don't bother testing for nitrates until the nitrites have gone up and come back down.

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You should be adding the dechlorinator to a bucket of water, aerating it for at least a couple of minutes and then adding the dechlorinated water to the tank.

 

[steelo]

You can post ammonia, nitrite and nitrate but if the tank is cycling and you have a nitrite reading, then you will get an inaccurate nitrate reading because the nitrate test kits read nitrite as nitrate.

If the tank has cycled and there is 0 ammonia, 1ppm of nitrite and 20ppm of nitrate then that is pretty close to what the water test is, but if the tank is still cycling then you don't bother testing for nitrates until the nitrites have gone up and come back down.

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You should be adding the dechlorinator to a bucket of water, aerating it for at least a couple of minutes and then adding the dechlorinated water to the tank.

I'm going to let it sit for another week before I worry about changing the water again...as of yesterday, the nitrites were around 5. I think the nitrites were at one point off the scale. I think it's probably a good idea not to add ammonia for at least a few days as I didn't realize chloramines would increase the nitrite readings.

I don't know how I'd be able to add the dechlorinator to a bucket, wait and then add to the tank when I'm changing out 30+ gallons of water...It would take a month to refill...LOL

 

[Colin_T]

Get a couple of big plastic rubbish bins (20 gallons each). Fill them with tap water, add dechlorinator and aerate the water while you drain and gravel clean the tank. Then use a small water pump like an Aquaclear 802 power head and a plastic hose to pump the water from the buckets into the tank.

 

[steelo]

Thanks, nitrites are now at 5 and holding. I added a tiny bit of ammonia last night to keep it fed - enough to get the ammonia up to 1 ppm. Just a waiting game, I don't know what I can do other than have lots of patience. I still have some Tetra prime, would it benefit the cycle at all by adding more bacteria?

 

[steelo]

Tested the water tonight and the nitrites appear to be dropping! I read around 1-2 ppm I know you said the nitrates would be inaccurate during cycling but they only appear to be around 10 ppm. Should I be adding a slight amount of ammonia? The cycling guide says not to until nitrites are clearly under 1 AND ammonia is under .25 (If I'm remembering correctly), but I think I've so far had a longer than usual experience. It's been about 1 week since adding any ammonia. I fear that the nitrites may just be dying off or going dormant due to lack of ammonia since the nitrates are still low. Thanks!

 

[steelo]

Tested nitrites tonight and woohoo, they're at .5ppm and ammonia is at 0. I'm almost there I think!

Added 1 teaspoon (5ml) to bring the ammonia up to 3 ppm and will test tomorrow. If the nitrites and ammonia are at 0, I'm cycled! If they aren't, the way I read the guide, I am supposed to keep adding the full dosage of ammonia and rechecking. Is that correct?

 

[steelo]

Tested nitrites again today and they appear to be at 0 (not even a hint of purple) However, nitrates only read around 5 ppm.

It took about 72 hours after adding 1 ppm ammonia for the nitrites to drop. My concern are the low number of nitrates. I'm going to test it in 24 hours, if the nitrites and ammonia are back to zero I guess I'll do a large water change and call it good, despite the low nitrate readings.

It's going on 3 months now and I'm almost giving up on ever adding fish...this has not been a fun process!