cycling question

[caterpillar5]

im in my 25th day of cycling and my reading are as follows...
ammonia = 5+ppm
nitrite = very close to zero maybe 0.1
nitrate = havent tested as yet... didnt see the point until both levels are 0

Ive been adding ammonia everyday since i started and my ammonia has always been around 5ppm or more when i got nitrite after 14 days i cut down to a half dose... my nitrite levels started to go up since then, it got to around 10ppm. And today it just went down to around 0... how come i still got a ammonia reading of 5+ppm? shouldnt that have dropped already ? it has showed no sign of dropping tho.. what should i do. Thx in advance
Chris

 

[caterpillar5]

anyone??

 

[luxum]

This occasionally happens, i have no idea why. I'd continue to add the half dose and see what happens over the next few days. If, after a couple days, the ammonia colony still hasn't caught up but the nitrite colony has, then i'd do a water change to bring ammonia to 0, add the half dose, and see what the levels are like after 24 hours. Go ahead and test your nitrate so we can get a better picture of what's going on.

 

[cujo]

This is a little odd. Most cases if you got a nitrite spike you have ammonia eating bacteria since this bateria is what creates nitrites, and since your trites are going down you have that bacteria as well which should increase your nitrates. You may be adding a bit to much ammonia. Do you have live plants? This also helps with bacteria growth.

 

[caterpillar5]

thx for the help guys...
ive tested again today... havent tested for nitrAtes just yet they didnt have it in the store. But my readings are still the same..
should i do a water change?
If so, can i just top it up with water... cause a lot of it has evaporated already? or do i have to take some out and put some back in?

 

[caterpillar5]

still same results after 2 days without adding ammonia

 

[caterpillar5]

i topped my tank up with about 8 litres of dechlronated and finally got a test for nitrates. I tested it after i topped my 60 litre tank with 8 litres.
Ammonia : 5+ppm
Nitrite : 0ppm
Nitrate : 5-10ppm
whats going on?

 

[luxum]

Looks like you have a lot of ammonia that hasn't been converted. Try the water change approach i detailed in my last post and let us know what happens.

 

[caterpillar5]

I havent been adding ammonia for like 3 days now... did a 30% water change to try and bring down the ammonia. Test results are as follows:
Ammonia : 5+ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 40+ppm
hmmm...

 

[Medusa]

I am also having the same problem. I had an ammonia and nitrate reading of off the chart magnitude and decided I had added too much ammonia. So I did a 50% or more water change. I brought the ammonia down to a more readable level but the nitrate level is at 0. I think my mistake was adding water straight from the tap. The chlorine probably wiped out the bacteria.

But you said you added dechlorinated so that isn't the problem.

 

[tstenback]

Do a large water change 90% and make sure the level of ammonia is at zero. Then add the half dose like Luxum mentioned and test 24 hours later. Looks like you have excess ammonia but with the nitrates present you are probably cycled. The ammonia should be back to zero in 24 hours. If it is you are cycled. Good Luck

 

[caterpillar5]

i did the water change and added the half dose... the results are as follows
Ammonia: 2ppm
Nitrite: 7ppm
Nitrate: 40+ppm
Looks like im getting the nitrite spike again.. might take a while
what are your thoughts?

 

[luxum]

Mini cycle for some reason. Something must have disturbed the first colony, forgotten dechlor, power outage, i dunno.

Keep adding that half dose and getting data.