Cycling Question..is This Normal?

[LynnJ]

It seems like this is too quick.

I started to cycle my tank last Monday using a big piece of mahi mahi fish for the first two days and then I removed it{the smell was too bad}. I then added two extra large shrimps (about 9 cm each). Yesterday I finally found the pure ammonia and I put to 5-6ppm at 9pm and removed the shrimps out. Early in the morning when I checked it was down to 3-4 ppm. When I came home this evening I checked again at 9pm it went down to 0.

I was just wondering is this normal for the ammonia to go off that quick? According to the articles I have been reading here I was hoping it would take at least a week to start showing the sign of any change. I was hoping to do the "add and wait" method but if it is going off the chart I think it should be better to keep adding right?


I just put this again to 5-6ppm.



Any idea if this is okay? I don't want to ruin this again. By the way my tank is only 30 gal long, Rena Xp1 and 2X 100 heater, No bubbles or any air pump

 

[rdd1952]

Since you added the mahi mahi over a week ago, you would have most likely had enough bacteria develop to get rid of the ammonia that quick. Now if I misunderstood and you just added the mahi mahi 2 days ago then that does appear to be too quick. Have you tested the nitrite and if so, what is the reading?

 

[LynnJ]

Since you added the mahi mahi over a week ago, you would have most likely had enough bacteria develop to get rid of the ammonia that quick. Now if I misunderstood and you just added the mahi mahi 2 days ago then that does appear to be too quick. Have you tested the nitrite and if so, what is the reading?

I added the fish and shrimps last week and for the whole week I had those things in my tank. I think they helped to create some bacteria. I am just hoping to see this process normal now.

Yesterday night the results were
ammonia 0....I added back to 5-6ppm
ph 7.6
nitrite 0

Today this evening
p.h 7
nitrite is not that white like always. I saw some dark blue color on the bottom of the test tube starts to appear. Hopeful by tomorrow I will confirm if there is some sights of nitrite or not.
ammonia - 0, I just raise again to 5-6ppm

I am using this master test kit (aquarium pharmaceuticals) and to figure the color sometimes it is hard.

It is too hard to tell my niece what I am doing because the tank has been set up for over two months now and no fish yet in it.

 

[rdd1952]

If your ammonia is being processed, you should have nitrite unless you have some type nitrite an nitrate removal media in your filter. What type media are you using? Sponge, carbon, nitra zorb, neolite, etc.

 

[LynnJ]

If your ammonia is being processed, you should have nitrite unless you have some type nitrite an nitrate removal media in your filter. What type media are you using? Sponge, carbon, nitra zorb, neolite, etc.

It is very frustrating. I woke up in the morning and the readings were

Ammonia 0 (off the chat after 12 hours)
Nitrite 0
PH 6.6 (added two spoons of bicarbonate of soda) as I have read from other members

This is the second time I am doing this thing. The first time I used the wrong ammonia and at that time I had all those media you are asking in my tank but since then I have removed the entire nitrate remover and the other black charcoal things from my filter. Right now what I have is the sponge only.

Yesterday I added java moss, Amazon sword and another plant I don’t know the name but before that I only had java fern in my tank.

I don’t have the nitrate test yet so I don’t know how much nitrate I have in my tank.

 

[littlest]

Your using API right? Sometimes, if nitrite levels are very high, the test can go weird. If nitrite is actually zero, the test should turn pale blue straight away and stay pale blue. If nitrite is really high, sometimes the drops will turn purple as you put them in, then when you shake the test can turn clear or pale green.

Basically, if you see any purple (or any colour other than the pale blue) at any stage of the test, your nitrites are probably really high, not zero.

Btw, I think you are using the phrase "off the chart" in the wrong way. It means so high you can't test accurately but you seem to be using it to mean zero.(or am I wrong?) Just thought I'd point it out as it's a little confusing

 

[rdd1952]

The sponge will work but depending on the tye filtr you have, if you can add some ceramic media like Seachem Matrix, it would be better. As mentioned, the nitrite test can be odd if the nitrite is very high. And if you leave the test tubes too long after the test before comparing them to the chart (not looking at them for 30 minutes instead of 5 minutes later), you can get bad readings too, usually too high.

 

[LynnJ]

1. My filter is Canister RENA XP1

2. by off the chart I mean...it is all white again. I didn't know it means the other way around

3. I am using API kit

4. When I try to test the nitrite. I see the dark blue color on the bottom but it doesn't stay that much longer it turns to be white again.

 

[littlest]

From your description it sounds like your nitrite is very high. White does mean 'off the chart', but that means it is so high it cannot be read.
So at the moment you are processing ammonia into nitrite quickly, but the nitrite isn't being processed into nitrate yet (not quickly anyway).

 

[Slufa111]

From your description it sounds like your nitrite is very high. White does mean 'off the chart', but that means it is so high it cannot be read.
So at the moment you are processing ammonia into nitrite quickly, but the nitrite isn't being processed into nitrate yet (not quickly anyway).

just so you know if you use the wrong ammonia the water quality will be bad BUTTTTTT the bacertia is not BAD.

so if you cycled with the wrong ammonia for 5 weeks and then cleaned out the tank...you might be almost cycled.

 

[LynnJ]

This evening
ammonia -0 ppm
ph - 7.6
nitrite - 0 but now the color is not dark blue again is like green and then turns back to clear

 

[littlest]

nitrite - 0 but now the color is dark blue is dark green and then turns back to clear

Then it is not zero. If it was zero it would turn pale blue and stay pale blue. Turning green or clear means the nitrite is so high the test can't measure it properly.

I take it this colour-changing is happening within 5 minutes?

 

[LynnJ]

nitrite - 0 but now the color is dark blue is dark green and then turns back to clear

Then it is not zero. If it was zero it would turn pale blue and stay pale blue. Turning green or clear means the nitrite is so high the test can't measure it properly.

I take it this colour-changing is happening within 5 minutes?

So what should I do to reduce to normal?

When I put the nitrite solution it turns right away to green color now and stay that even f I shake it I can still see on the buttom and then will go back to a normal clear color

 

[littlest]

When I put the nitrite solution it turns right away to green color now and stay that even f I shake it I can still see on the buttom and then will go back to a normal clear color

That def sounds like very high nitrite to me,


well the only way for it to go to normal is for the bacteria to develop it to process it, and that involves waiting. It sounds like it is really high though so it might be worth doing a 50 per cent water change. After all, you only need bacteria to process a few ppm of nitrite, not masses. If you change enough water for the nitrites to register on the chart, then just carry on with the ammonia, and in time your nitrite will drop.

Turning the temp up will speed things up. And keep an eye on your pH. It's on the low side and low pH can stall a cycle ( I think about 6 is when the cycle tends to stall).

All it really takes is patience.

good luck

 

[rdd1952]

This evening
ammonia -0 ppm
ph - 7.6
nitrite - 0 but now the color is not dark blue again is like green and then turns back to clear

That is definitely an indication that it is very high. API kits will eventually turn to green and then clear when the level is super high. What is your reading for nitrate and how fast is the ammonia going back to zero after you add it?