Advice on next move for fishless cycle.

[Lectron]

I have a 60 gallon that I started up about 3 weeks ago. I set it up and used prime when adding water. The 2nd day I started using Stability and dosed up to 3-4 ppm ammonia. I continued Stability for the 7 days as recommended per the bottle but did not double dose just followed as is. PH has stayed steady around 7.6-7.8 and I keep the temp at 80 F.

2 weeks go by and no changes at all. 3-4 ppm ammonia 0 nitites and 0 nitrates. At the end of the second week I decided to try Tetra Safe Start (I probably jumped the gun as I thought for sure it had been longer than 2 weeks lol)

Seems to be working though. 2nd day and I already saw the ammonia dropping. Now I am at a week on TSS and ammonia is .50 ppm heading toward 25 ppm. I am still showing 0 nitrites but am getting a reading between 10-20 ppm nitrates.

This is where I am confused on what to do next as well as not seeing nitrites.

Should I wait until ammonia drops below .25 ppm and dose back up to 2-3 ppm and see how everything reacts? Should I do a water change then dose back to 2-3 ppm? I guess I am mostly confused due to the lack of nitrites.

I am new back to the hobby and this is my first go at a fishless cycle so any advice will be greatly appreciated as last thing I want to do is goof it up and have to start from step 1 lol.

Thanks again

 

[FishGuest5123]

I would let it ride and not do a water change. Only do w/c if ammonia is getting really high. Keep doing what your doing and see how it goes for a while longer. It usually takes a several weeks for nitrites to appear. Is your tap water showing any nitrates in it?

 

[Lectron]

I would let it ride and not do a water change. Only do w/c if ammonia is getting really high. Keep doing what your doing and see how it goes for a while longer. It usually takes a several weeks for nitrites to appear. Is your tap water showing any nitrates in it?

No tap has 0 nitrates. Tank was at 0 until I added TSS. I did find a post saying with TSS it can skip nitrites and go straight to nitrates phase so I think you are right about letting it ride. I'll add ammonia when it hits .25 ppm and bring it up around 2 ppm. See where it goes from there.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[FishGuest5123]

No tap has 0 nitrates. Tank was at 0 until I added TSS. I did find a post saying with TSS it can skip nitrites and go straight to nitrates phase so I think you are right about letting it ride. I'll add ammonia when it hits .25 ppm and bring it up around 2 ppm. See where it goes from there.

Thanks for the reply!

Perfect! So many people freak out and do water changes which messes up the cycle. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Lectron]

Update on my cycle/ possible stalled cycle???
Need advise on next move.

Since my last post my testing results have stayed about the same since adding TSS. If I dose ammonia to 4 PPM it takes 5 - 7 days for it to drop back to 0-.25 PPM. If I dose 2ppm its down in 2 to 3 days. Nitrates staying between 20-30 PPM.

I got my tank up and running Jan. 23rd so I am coming up on 7 weeks now.

I am wondering if I should try a water change to try to jump start the cycle?

Should I not water change and maybe try to add another bottle of TSS? (I did notice the first big change after the first bottle of it)

Should I just ride it out and keep testing and adding ammonia as needed?

Since last post I have just been testing and adding ammonia when I get to 0-.25 PPM then test next day but have not seen the final drop I need....

This is my first fish less cycle and I have tried to read up on it as much as possible. Dont want to make a wrong move and have to start over though so any advise would be awesome!

Thanks in advance for any opinions on the matter

 

[FishGuest5123]

I would give it a little more time. The nitrite phase is the longest but you’re halfway there. Have you tested your tap water? My ammonia is always at .25ppm because of the chloramine in our tap water. It gives an ammonium level. However, the ammonium won’t hurt the fish like ammonia does so in my case, .25ppm is fine. I keep an ammonia alert on the tanks and it never moves out of safe zone. You may want to check with your city water Dept. to see if they use chloramine instead of chlorine in your water. Let it ride and it will eventually all catch up. If nothing in another week, we may have to do something. Another bottle of Safe Start + wouldn’t hurt.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Lectron...

You are doing fine.

1 - The ammonia test can give a reading (or appear to) give a reading of 0.25ppm at times with some lighting or Prime.


2 - The nitrite won't show up with TSS if its in proper ratios of the different bacteria strains.


BUT... you are dosing your ammonia higher than necessary. No higher than 3 ppm is needed. The bacteria actually thrive on the lowest concentrations of ammonia, so overdosing the ammonia can actually impede their growth rate.


I don't see a 'stall' in the cycle having occurred. But will ask, what is the current pH, and where did it start? A pH crash is one of the signs of a stalled cycle.