Fishless cycle not going anywhere

[TheWaterBoy]

I had the same problem and everyone told me to add more ammonia so I did and it did nothing. In fact what little change I was having quit when I added more ammonia. I definatly think you can add to much. Finaly I just dumped the water and started again with the ammonia at 4.0ppm and Im not going to add any more ammonia until the ammonia starts going down.

Im no expert so maybe it would have normaly helped to add ammonia everyday.

 

[tstenback]

Jiffy your tank is doing fine the ammonia should come down during the cycle but if it doesnt and everything else is good a few water changes later on will bring everything into line but for now stay the course...its working fine.

 

[jiffy]

Thanks for all the help everyone. It shouldnt be too much longer before the nitrites drop, I hope. They have been rising pretty quickly. Ive also noticed the tank is a little cloudy, which I think is just a bacteria bloom, and that is a good thing for now.

 

[jiffy]

Just a little update.

First, Happy 2 month birthday to my attempt at a fishless cycle.

Second, and more importantly, after adding ammonia everyday as recomended, I immediately saw a rise in nitrites. However, they seem to be stuck between 2.0 and 5.0 ppm. Also, Ammonia is still sky high. I am extremely frustrated with this and dont know what to do.

For your viewing pleasure, I have included a link to my updated log.

 

[tstenback]

Jiffy
I still think things are going fine. Having said that i had this type of thing happen in my first fishless cycle. What i would say to you now is do a 50% water change and continue with the 1/3 tsp. this should get rid of the excess ammonia caused by stopping the addition of ammonia in the beginning phase of this. Let us know what your readings are 24 hours after the water change. You are almost there in cycle time but with the nitrites as high as they are it will still take some time but it is progressing. Keep the chin up, be as patient as you have been so far and it will work out. By the way happy birthday

 

[jiffy]

SOMEBODY HELP!!!

UPDATE: I am still in midst of my fishless cycle. I was going to wait to do a large water change until my nitrites hit 0, because they had been dropping. As of yesterday they were still dropping but at .75 ppm.

Today I cracked. I did a 90% water change to get my ammonia under control. My ammonia is now at 4.0 ppm and my nitrites rose to 1.5 ppm.

Click here for my log

WHAT IS GOING ON???

 

[heresmike]

The 90% water change alone should not have caused the ammonia to skyrocket like that... Did you use dechorinated water? Did you add ammonia after the water change, and if so how much?

 

[jiffy]

Check out my log. I havent tested for ammonia in a while because it was skyhigh. I had only been testing nitrites recently, but as my log shows ammonia used to be at least 8.0 ppm.

When I did the water change today the ammonia dropped to 4.0 ppm. I had to do my water changes in 1/2 gallon increments. When I did this I accidentally added 1 gallon of water that I did not dechlorinate, but within 30 seconds of this I added dechlorinator to the tank. I had also added a little extra dechlorinator in some of the water I used before I forgot to add it on the 2 dumps. So there should have been enough dechlorinator in the tank.

EDIT:
My dechlorinator says to add 1/2 ml per gallon to remove chlorine and 1 ml per gallon to remove chloramines. So, as I was adding 1/2 ml for every 1/2 gallon of water, I forgot to add it to 2 batches of water I poured in. But, because I was dosing at least enough for the chloramines, there would have been enough dechlorinator left in the tank to remove at least the chlorine from the water I forgot to dechlorinate. There may have even been enough to remove the chloramines as soon as the water was poured into the tank.

Regardless, I added another dose of dechlorinator to the tank very very quickly after pouring the dechlorinated water in. Therefore, I think that doing this did not cause any harm.

 

[heresmike]

Sorry I didn't read your post correctly, nor did I read your log very well (bad Mike!!) ... I thought you meant that ammonia was 0 and nitrites were on the way down, which would be normal.

My opinion is that you've been adding too much ammonia and this is causing the nitrites to go crazy. I'd try to keep it at 4 ppm until nitrites spike and then fall to zero. That's what I always shoot for and it works the way it's supposed to. I see by your log you were doing it that way in the beginning..... I don't know what else to suggest because that method has always worked for me.

 

[jiffy]

You are correct that I originally had been trying to maintain ~5.0 ppm of ammonia. It was not going well, and based on advice from others and reviews of some fishless cycle recipies, I decided it was best to add the same amount every day.

Once I started doing that, my nitrites spiked and then started falling. I felt I was on track by adding the same amount of ammonia daily. Then things slowed down so I eventually did the waterchange I mentioned in my last post.

The strange thing is...once I changed 90% of the water, my nitrites jumped from .75 ppm yesterday to 1.5 ppm after the water change today.

I am wondering if people recomend that I continue to add the ammonia, or try and just maintain 5.0 ppm?

 

[jiffy]

Last night I added a very small dose of ammonia.

Today I tested my tapwater and dechlorinated tap water. In both tests I got 0ppm for nitrites and ammonia.

Then I tested my tank water. 4.0ppm of ammonia and 2.0 ppm of nitrites.

I dont get why my nitrites were .75 ppm before I did a water change and then they jumped to 2 ppm after the change??

 

[heresmike]

I can't explain that for sure either. I could suggest a theory that says the ammonia was too high for the nitrifying bacteria to properly form, so the ammonia stayed high and the nitrites low. Once you diluted the ammonia, the nitrites started showing up like they should. Again, just a theory.

Of course, what you want to see is the nitrites rise up to 5 or beyond, and the ammonia drop to zero w/i 12 hours or so of adding the ammonia. To get to that point, I would suggest adding enough ammonia to get the level to 4.0 or 5.0 ppm. That's always worked for me. I know you've tried this before, but I think it's worth trying that method again now that you're seeing the nitrites rise. Lastly of course the nitrites will drop to zero suddenly.

 

[Sky042]

I'm really thinking the problem here was an insufficient culture of bacteria.

 

[jiffy]

Ok...I think I am just going to do water changes until everythign is 0, then add some fish.

I was planning on having a dwarf gourami, neon or cardinal tetras, and some otto cats.

The gourami is the most expensive and can be territorial, so I think it is best to add him last.

Neons are not very hardy, so I dont think they would be a good choice to go in first.

That leaves the otto cats, which I do not know tooo much about.

What and how many do you suggest?

 

[tstenback]

otos are not a good fish to be the first in a new tank cycled or not. They eat algae and there is likely little of that in a new tank. Also they tend to be a little frail after shipping. When you do add them they like company so get 2-3 and really take your time acclimating them to the tank.
Out of all the fish you listed the gourami would be the best first addition as it would be the hardiest of the lot and can breate from the surface if the conditions in the tank get a little out of hand. HTH