Fishless Cycle Going Very Fast!

[Livewire88]

Hi everyone, does this seem normal with a fishless cycle?

I set my new tank up around 3 weeks ago, I was not able to get hold of any household Ammonia till last week so I put a pinch of fishfood in the tank eack day whilst waiting for the ammonia.

Dosed the tank up to 6ppm last Tues and checked the level on the Thurs and it was still about 6ppm, I have been quite busy at the moment so I only then checked the levels again this Monday, Ammonia level was 0 so I dosed back up to 6ppm. Today I have checked and the Ammonia level is back to 0, so I have now checked the Nitrite level which is off the scale.

Again I have dosed the Ammonia back to 6ppm, and will check the levels again tomorrow morning, it seems to good to be true but can a fishless cycle go this fast?

On a side note it is only taking 5mm of household Ammonia to dose my tank up to 6ppm which seems a little low going by the calculator, which sugests I should be using around 10mm.

 

[Katch]

what strength % is your ammonia solution? should say on the bottle.

Try not to dose over 5ppm as it encourages the wrong sort of bacteria.

3 weeks is about right to be at this stage.

 

[Livewire88]

Ammonia Solution is 9.5%

I was surprised that 5mm dosed the tank to around that ppm level, so it was a good job I didnt just go straight in with 10mm like the calculator said!

So is it now just a case of keeping an eye on Nitrite levels whilst dosing the tank up with Ammonia when ever needed??

 

[Katch]

Hmmm very strange that it doesn't take the full dose. Anything else in the tank that could be causing it? Lots of decaying food, decaying plants, bogwood, soil substrate? Ammonia in your tap water?

What test do you use?

 

[the_lock_man]

A lot of people are recommending that you reduce the dose to 3ppm during the nitrite spike phase - keeps the A-bacs fed, but doesn't overload the few N-bacs that you've got. Once you've got Double Zeros after 24hrs, then dose back up at 5ppm until it's going in 12hrs.

 

[Livewire88]

Hmmm very strange that it doesn't take the full dose. Anything else in the tank that could be causing it? Lots of decaying food, decaying plants, bogwood, soil substrate? Ammonia in your tap water?

What test do you use?

Tank was brand new 3 weeks ago, and only has black aquairum substrate in the bottom which was fully washed beforehand.
Using API liquid master test kit, and tap water does not have any Ammonia present (just plenty of Nitrates)

The only thing I can think of is the food I was adding at the start is still decaying, but I cant see any decaying food myself.

 

[HayzH]

what are the tanks dimentions?

 

[Livewire88]

what are the tanks dimentions?

100 x 40 x 55cm

 

[Overload]

The only thing I can think of is the food I was adding at the start is still decaying, but I cant see any decaying food myself.

I would have thought this would be the cause, it might be very small particals you cant see that are breaking down

 

[BigbruiserAl]

A lot of people are recommending that you reduce the dose to 3ppm during the nitrite spike phase - keeps the A-bacs fed, but doesn't overload the few N-bacs that you've got. Once you've got Double Zeros after 24hrs, then dose back up at 5ppm until it's going in 12hrs.

 

[Livewire88]

Hey everyone,

I have lowered the Ammonia dosage to around 3ppm and my filter is now clearing that amount in under 12 hours, my Nitrite level is still off the scale.

Should I re dose Ammonia back to 3ppm every 12 hours or every 24 hours? (I dont want my new bacteria going hungry)

 

[lucasluke]

Only redose ammonia every 24 hours. If you do it more than every 24 hours you will mess up the cycle. Your bacteria wont go hungry - they can last around 48 hours without ammonia aslong as water is flowing through the filter.

 

[Livewire88]

Cool thanks for the advice.

I have a couple more questions;

When the cycle is finished I will be adding some plants, will I need to keep dosing the ammonia up intill I add fish? or will dosing the tank with Ammonia damage the plants?

Again when the cycle is finished I will be doing a 90% water change, will be ok to leave the filter turned off for the time it will take to do the water change? as its going to take a while doing a 90% water change and I dont want to risk killing off the bacteria in the filter, I guess as its a external filter it will still be full of water so the bacteria will not dry up and die?

Sorry for the noob questions, I want to do everything right first time if possible,

 

[lucasluke]

Adding plant's would be fine, but keep in mind they consume ammonia so maybe add a little more ammonia than normal until you get fish.

When the cycle is finished doing that will be fine the bacteria as I said can last about 48 hours aslong as they are kept moist and damp.

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Bacteria can last alot longer, your looking at a 12% decline per 24hrs if kept moist