Ask Questions About Cycling

[stanleo]

What's happening to the nitrate? I also haven't done an "actual" cycle for years but can only think of two things

1. The cycle is complete and something in the substrate is still producing ammonia
2. The cycle hasn't kicked in yet (but can't explain the appearance and disappearance of nitrite )

Why would ammonia come from the substrate? I might have used the wrong word, the bag said it would help establish the biofiltration.

I never did a nitrate test but now that you mention it I just did one. 0ppm as one would expect so maybe I am just being impatient?

 

[Reaeve]

This is an open thread to ask questions about cycling. Before you post please be sure to read this article on the nitrogen cycle, what it's all about, and how to get your tank to do it.

How can u tell if the cycle has stalled or if it's just slow? I've been cycling for almost 4 weeks and about a week ago I got 5ppm nitrates and has stayed there. I haven't seen any nitrites, it's always 0ppm. I've been dosing to 2ppm ammonia. I've done 5 supplemental doses and with the initial start dose thst makes 6 doses. I did use TSS but i switched to a new filter over a week ago bc my first one was crap.

 

[seangee]

If you have changed filters your cycle pretty much starts from scratch again as the bacteria live in your filter. I would say just be patient.

 

[Reaeve]

If you have changed filters your cycle pretty much starts from scratch again as the bacteria live in your filter. I would say just be patient.

Even if I switched over the media? Dang it. Lol thx

 

[seangee]

No switching the media should retain the beneficial bacteria. Does your ammonia drop to zero within 24 hours? If not it probably is still just a case of being patient

 

[Reaeve]

No switching the media should retain the beneficial bacteria. Does your ammonia drop to zero within 24 hours? If not it probably is still just a case of being patient

No it slowly drops to 1ppm over a couple days. It's so slow!
I probably didn't have a lot of BB to switch. I only had a carbon filter in it and I cut off as much of the floss bag (Whatever it's called) as possible. The other bio cartridge was just a plastic piece with big holes and bumps. Not good for growing BB.

 

[Reaeve]

No switching the media should retain the beneficial bacteria. Does your ammonia drop to zero within 24 hours? If not it probably is still just a case of being patient

Now I have a sponge, old floss from old filter, half a sponge (cut to fit QT filter), then seachem matrix.

 

[jash]

Thank you again for the help. Nitrites finally showed up last night after 23 days. 0.25 ppm, but I expect things to progress well now. I'll come back if anything goes askew, but the cycling directions provided here seem pretty solid.

So after the nitrites showed up 8 days ago, they climbed pretty rapidly and have been 5.0 ppm plus for the last week (API test kit only goes to 5.0). The nitrate level is now sky high, and has been for a few days (over 160 ppm). The ammonia went to zero so i provided a snack dose as per the cycling instructions. Should I just continue as the instructions state, waiting for nitrites to come down, or is this nitrate reading something indicating that a large water change is in order? I am not sure if you can have too much nitrate.

 

[fluttermoth]

High nitrate and nitrite can stall a cycle, so a large water change would be a good idea if things have slowed up

 

[jash]

High nitrate and nitrite can stall a cycle, so a large water change would be a good idea if things have slowed up

Did a 50% water change and things are looking good now. Nitrites are 2-5 ppm and nitrates are 25 ppm. I do have one more question. According to the cycling instructions, after the third ammonia dose, instructions state to wait until ammonia is under 0.25 and nitrites are under 1.0. What should I do if the ammonia goes to zero and the nitrites stay above 1.0 for more than a couple of days? Is another "snack" dose in order?

 

[Gruntle]

You should be right for a few days (maybe 5), if your nitrites are starting to come down, then they'll reduce at a faster rate as time goes on and the bacterial colony continues to grow (more bacteria = more processing ability). If there is no ammonia for the ammonia eaters, then they will start to go dormant, however they come back out of dormancy quite quickly if they've only been dormant for a short time.

 

[candrews999]

Hi all quick question I'm fishless cycling at the minute in a 55 litre cube tank just tested parameters for 2nd time ammonia has stayed at 1 nitrites have gone up to 2.0 from .25. How can ammonia stay the same if nitrites are going up??? [emoji848]
2nd question can I top up the tank while doing the cycle I have quite a bit of evaporation?
Thanks for the advice [emoji16]

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[Gruntle]

What sort of substrate do you have in your tank? There might be something in the substrate that is decomposing, causing ammonia. Other than that I don't know.

And yes, you can top up the tank due to evaporation, if it's only a small amount it won't affect the cycle in any noticeable manner.

 

[candrews999]

What sort of substrate do you have in your tank? There might be something in the substrate that is decomposing, causing ammonia. Other than that I don't know.

And yes, you can top up the tank due to evaporation, if it's only a small amount it won't affect the cycle in any noticeable manner.

Thanks for the reply the cycle is well on its way now[emoji16] starting to think about what I'm going to stock with [emoji848]

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[Charfield Blue]

Hi All - new to the forum and tropical fishtanks. A quick question. I added the snack dose 4 days ago. Ammonia level quickly dropped to 0 but nitrites still around 2-5 ppm (as much as I can tell with the API test kit) , so not yet down below 1ppm. If this is still the case tomorrow would I be wise to add another snack dose to keep my nitrosomonas happy? So what I'm asking is, at the snack dose phase what is the maximum number of days I can leave them unfed if nitrites haven't yet reached sub 1ppm?
Thanks in advance.