Cycle Newb

[Pickle]

OK guys i am a newb and i am in need of a bit of help. My tank has been set up now for over a week and has a fair amount of live plants. For the first week i did nothing untill my test kit arrived, when i tested it i got the following readings:
 
PH - 7.5
Amonia - 1.0 ppm
Nitrates - 5.0 ppm
Nitrite - 0.5ppm
 
I then added 1.26ml of 9.5% amonia to bring the amonia levels up to 3ppm. After leaving it for 48 hours i got the following readings today:
 
Amonia: 2ppm
Nitrates: 5ppm
Nitrites: 5ppm
 
I know im supposed to be looking for a spike and this looks spike like to me. Can anyone give me some advice?

 

[Ch4rlie]

Looks like you're on track so far
 
The nitrite spike at 5ppm seems to be happening now. Basically its now a waiting game for nitrite to drop.
 
Just keep what you're doing and test every 48 hours, and continue to read and follow the fishless cycle article

 

[Mamashack]

Might be worth testing your tap water for those parameters too - just in case it already has nitrates present - mine comes out the tap at 5 ppm before even adding it to the tank.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Reduce your ammonia dose from the normal 3 ppm to 2 ppm. Allow for a 15% reduction in your tank volume when you do the calculation for that 2 ppm. Plants should be doing a lot of the work if you have a lot of them. They are not real fond of nitrite but should like nitrate. You may need a blackout day or two to stave off algae. Plants can live longer w/o light than algae.

 

[Pickle]

Todays readings are:
 
Amonia: 1-1.5ppm
Nitrites: 5+ppm
Nitrates: 10-20ppm
 
Seems to be working slowly 

 

[DrRob]

Definitely getting there. The nitrite bit seems to be the slowest to complete.
 
I'd second the advice to test some tap water at some point. I generally leave a pint of water out for about 24 hours and then test it. My tap water runs with 0.5ppm ammonia and 20-30ppm nitrate as standard, so your 5ppm may well be coming out of the tap.

 

[Pickle]

If it is coming out of the tap what do i have too do to resolve it?

 

[Mamashack]

One way is to start using R.O water which shouldn't have anything in it.
Another way is to use a nitrate reactor - these can be bought or there are DIY reactor videos on Youtube.
There are also nitrate-removing substances you can add to the tank such as Tetra NitrateMinus. Though I'm not a big fan of adding chemicals for the sake of it. If there's another way I'd try that first.
Looking at your latest results tho the nitrate is rising which would suggest that it is due to bacterial activity rather than it coming from the tap water.
Still a good idea to test your tap water regularly just to know what's in there to start with.

 

[Pickle]

I tested today and got:
 
Ammonia: .25ppm
Nitrite: 2ppm
Nitrate:5ppm
 
So i looks like it is time for dose 2
 
The tap water all came back as 0ppm for all 3

 

[Mamashack]

Certainly looks like it's progressing nicely, Pickle!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

It looks to me like your plants have begun to kick in. Do not dose to 3 ppm, dose for 2 ppm.
 
Plants use ammonia and nitrate. They do not really like nitrite. The only way for your nitrate to have dropped (unless you did a water change you did not report) is for the plants to get them. The plants want the ammonia (as NH4) too.
 
Wait until ammonia hits 0 in this case to add the next 2 ppm and then test every day. I would expect you will see 0 ammonia by tomorrow if all is on track.
 
If you have enough plants you should cycle way faster and with different test results as in the article. I think that f you had waited one more week for the plants to settle in, your cycle would be going even faster. Given enough plants cycling is not even needed. And if one is willing to stock in several goes, a tank can be ready even sooner. The more plants in any give tank, the less need for bacteria there will be. Since plants have bacteria on them, you reach a point where all the bacteria you will need may be on the plants. The difference is that the bacteria go to work on ammonia etc. immediately while the plants may need some time before needing most nutrients.