How Long Do You Think?

[Debbie_19]

I am currently fishless cycling my jewel 80l tank. I have added a small piece of mature fliter media into the jewel filter. I started cycling on Saturday (now Thursday) The ammonia is dropping from about 4/5 ppm to 2ppm in around just less than a day. I tested last night for nitrite and it is showing at 0.25 so just starting to build up. How long does it usually take for it to finish after you start seeing nitrite?

Tank

80l
Temp raised to 32 degress
Extra exceloration has been put in tank while temp has been turned up.
Small piece of sponge filter media was place in tank with new filter sponges.

 

[backtotropical]

It normally can take from 2-4 weeks. (The bacteria to convert the nitrite seem to multiply slower than the bacteria to convert the ammonia.)

This said, you seem to be doing everything right (raised temperature and adding matured filter media), so i wouldn't be surprised if you manage it in 1 - 2 weeks. Good luck.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

In my experience it normally takes about a week and a half for the ammonia to be fully cycled then about another week for the Nitrite to get cycled. The Nitrite cycle seems to take a lot longer to get going and normally doesn't seem to move for a few days but will then cycle rapidly over the course of a day or two.

These are on completely "fresh" tanks though so having mature filter media might not a couple of days off.

In short it normally takes between 2-3 weeks to cycle (at least for me).

 

[Debbie_19]

In my experience it normally takes about a week and a half for the ammonia to be fully cycled then about another week for the Nitrite to get cycled. The Nitrite cycle seems to take a lot longer to get going and normally doesn't seem to move for a few days but will then cycle rapidly over the course of a day or two.

These are on completely "fresh" tanks though so having mature filter media might not a couple of days off.

In short it normally takes between 2-3 weeks to cycle (at least for me).

I wonder if anyone can help me with this? I have been cycling my tank for about 8/9 days now and because i added abit of a mature filter sponge to the filter it seemed to kick start everything. My ammonia is dropping from around 7ppm to 2ppm in about half a day, i tested for nitrite the other day and was showing that there was a little in the tank around 0.25ppm. I thought from then on the nitirite would start creeping up but i tested yesterday and it has gone again, now back down to 0ppm.

Has anyone experienced this before while cycling? Could it be because i put part of a mature sponge in and there is already some nitrite eating bacteria in the filter that seems to be keeping the nitrite at bay or do you think i still have a large nitrite spike to come.

Thanks

 

[xxBarneyxx]

In my experience it normally takes about a week and a half for the ammonia to be fully cycled then about another week for the Nitrite to get cycled. The Nitrite cycle seems to take a lot longer to get going and normally doesn't seem to move for a few days but will then cycle rapidly over the course of a day or two.

These are on completely "fresh" tanks though so having mature filter media might not a couple of days off.

In short it normally takes between 2-3 weeks to cycle (at least for me).

I wonder if anyone can help me with this? I have been cycling my tank for about 8/9 days now and because i added abit of a mature filter sponge to the filter it seemed to kick start everything. My ammonia is dropping from around 7ppm to 2ppm in about half a day, i tested for nitrite the other day and was showing that there was a little in the tank around 0.25ppm. I thought from then on the nitirite would start creeping up but i tested yesterday and it has gone again, now back down to 0ppm.

Has anyone experienced this before while cycling? Could it be because i put part of a mature sponge in and there is already some nitrite eating bacteria in the filter that seems to be keeping the nitrite at bay or do you think i still have a large nitrite spike to come.

Thanks

Have you tested nitrAte as well? If this is going up then it means the nitrIte is being processed.
If the ammonia is dropping as well then there has to be nitrite being produced somewhere.

 

[Debbie_19]

In my experience it normally takes about a week and a half for the ammonia to be fully cycled then about another week for the Nitrite to get cycled. The Nitrite cycle seems to take a lot longer to get going and normally doesn't seem to move for a few days but will then cycle rapidly over the course of a day or two.

These are on completely "fresh" tanks though so having mature filter media might not a couple of days off.

In short it normally takes between 2-3 weeks to cycle (at least for me).

I wonder if anyone can help me with this? I have been cycling my tank for about 8/9 days now and because i added abit of a mature filter sponge to the filter it seemed to kick start everything. My ammonia is dropping from around 7ppm to 2ppm in about half a day, i tested for nitrite the other day and was showing that there was a little in the tank around 0.25ppm. I thought from then on the nitirite would start creeping up but i tested yesterday and it has gone again, now back down to 0ppm.

Has anyone experienced this before while cycling? Could it be because i put part of a mature sponge in and there is already some nitrite eating bacteria in the filter that seems to be keeping the nitrite at bay or do you think i still have a large nitrite spike to come.

Thanks

Have you tested nitrAte as well? If this is going up then it means the nitrIte is being processed.
If the ammonia is dropping as well then there has to be nitrite being produced somewhere.

Yes i have tested for this a couple of times. It has went up slightly. First time i tested it was around 5ppm now i would say it is around 10-15ppm. Do you think i will see a nitrite spike or has it by passed this because of the mature filter media? I will leave it another couple of weeks and see what happens.

 

[Debbie_19]

In my experience it normally takes about a week and a half for the ammonia to be fully cycled then about another week for the Nitrite to get cycled. The Nitrite cycle seems to take a lot longer to get going and normally doesn't seem to move for a few days but will then cycle rapidly over the course of a day or two.

These are on completely "fresh" tanks though so having mature filter media might not a couple of days off.

In short it normally takes between 2-3 weeks to cycle (at least for me).

I wonder if anyone can help me with this? I have been cycling my tank for about 8/9 days now and because i added abit of a mature filter sponge to the filter it seemed to kick start everything. My ammonia is dropping from around 7ppm to 2ppm in about half a day, i tested for nitrite the other day and was showing that there was a little in the tank around 0.25ppm. I thought from then on the nitirite would start creeping up but i tested yesterday and it has gone again, now back down to 0ppm.

Has anyone experienced this before while cycling? Could it be because i put part of a mature sponge in and there is already some nitrite eating bacteria in the filter that seems to be keeping the nitrite at bay or do you think i still have a large nitrite spike to come.

Thanks

Have you tested nitrAte as well? If this is going up then it means the nitrIte is being processed.
If the ammonia is dropping as well then there has to be nitrite being produced somewhere.

Yes i have tested for this a couple of times. It has went up slightly. First time i tested it was around 5ppm now i would say it is around 10-15ppm. Do you think i will see a nitrite spike or has it by passed this because of the mature filter media? I will leave it another couple of weeks and see what happens.

 

[Debbie_19]

In my experience it normally takes about a week and a half for the ammonia to be fully cycled then about another week for the Nitrite to get cycled. The Nitrite cycle seems to take a lot longer to get going and normally doesn't seem to move for a few days but will then cycle rapidly over the course of a day or two.

These are on completely "fresh" tanks though so having mature filter media might not a couple of days off.

In short it normally takes between 2-3 weeks to cycle (at least for me).

I wonder if anyone can help me with this? I have been cycling my tank for about 8/9 days now and because i added abit of a mature filter sponge to the filter it seemed to kick start everything. My ammonia is dropping from around 7ppm to 2ppm in about half a day, i tested for nitrite the other day and was showing that there was a little in the tank around 0.25ppm. I thought from then on the nitirite would start creeping up but i tested yesterday and it has gone again, now back down to 0ppm.

Has anyone experienced this before while cycling? Could it be because i put part of a mature sponge in and there is already some nitrite eating bacteria in the filter that seems to be keeping the nitrite at bay or do you think i still have a large nitrite spike to come.

Thanks

Have you tested nitrAte as well? If this is going up then it means the nitrIte is being processed.
If the ammonia is dropping as well then there has to be nitrite being produced somewhere.

Yes i have tested for this a couple of times. It has went up slightly. First time i tested it was around 5ppm now i would say it is around 10-15ppm. Do you think i will see a nitrite spike or has it by passed this because of the mature filter media? I will leave it another couple of weeks and see what happens.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

In my experience it normally takes about a week and a half for the ammonia to be fully cycled then about another week for the Nitrite to get cycled. The Nitrite cycle seems to take a lot longer to get going and normally doesn't seem to move for a few days but will then cycle rapidly over the course of a day or two.

These are on completely "fresh" tanks though so having mature filter media might not a couple of days off.

In short it normally takes between 2-3 weeks to cycle (at least for me).

I wonder if anyone can help me with this? I have been cycling my tank for about 8/9 days now and because i added abit of a mature filter sponge to the filter it seemed to kick start everything. My ammonia is dropping from around 7ppm to 2ppm in about half a day, i tested for nitrite the other day and was showing that there was a little in the tank around 0.25ppm. I thought from then on the nitirite would start creeping up but i tested yesterday and it has gone again, now back down to 0ppm.

Has anyone experienced this before while cycling? Could it be because i put part of a mature sponge in and there is already some nitrite eating bacteria in the filter that seems to be keeping the nitrite at bay or do you think i still have a large nitrite spike to come.

Thanks

Have you tested nitrAte as well? If this is going up then it means the nitrIte is being processed.
If the ammonia is dropping as well then there has to be nitrite being produced somewhere.

Yes i have tested for this a couple of times. It has went up slightly. First time i tested it was around 5ppm now i would say it is around 10-15ppm. Do you think i will see a nitrite spike or has it by passed this because of the mature filter media? I will leave it another couple of weeks and see what happens.

If Nitrate is going up and Ammonia is going down then it would seem to be going ok. I would leave it a little while longer (at least 1 more week to make sure). It seems like it could be done and you just missed the nitrite part but leave it a little bit longer if you can and check regularly to make sure.

 

[Debbie_19]

In my experience it normally takes about a week and a half for the ammonia to be fully cycled then about another week for the Nitrite to get cycled. The Nitrite cycle seems to take a lot longer to get going and normally doesn't seem to move for a few days but will then cycle rapidly over the course of a day or two.

These are on completely "fresh" tanks though so having mature filter media might not a couple of days off.

In short it normally takes between 2-3 weeks to cycle (at least for me).

I wonder if anyone can help me with this? I have been cycling my tank for about 8/9 days now and because i added abit of a mature filter sponge to the filter it seemed to kick start everything. My ammonia is dropping from around 7ppm to 2ppm in about half a day, i tested for nitrite the other day and was showing that there was a little in the tank around 0.25ppm. I thought from then on the nitirite would start creeping up but i tested yesterday and it has gone again, now back down to 0ppm.

Has anyone experienced this before while cycling? Could it be because i put part of a mature sponge in and there is already some nitrite eating bacteria in the filter that seems to be keeping the nitrite at bay or do you think i still have a large nitrite spike to come.

Thanks

Have you tested nitrAte as well? If this is going up then it means the nitrIte is being processed.
If the ammonia is dropping as well then there has to be nitrite being produced somewhere.

Yes i have tested for this a couple of times. It has went up slightly. First time i tested it was around 5ppm now i would say it is around 10-15ppm. Do you think i will see a nitrite spike or has it by passed this because of the mature filter media? I will leave it another couple of weeks and see what happens.

If Nitrate is going up and Ammonia is going down then it would seem to be going ok. I would leave it a little while longer (at least 1 more week to make sure). It seems like it could be done and you just missed the nitrite part but leave it a little bit longer if you can and check regularly to make sure.

Ok thank you.

 

[rdd1952]

I think the reason you aren't seeing nitrite build is because of the mature media you added. It is able to process the nitrite as it is transformed from ammonia. SInce you are raising the ammonia to 5 ppm or so, it naturally takes a little while for that to be processed but the nitrite is being "added" so to speak very gradually so it can be processed as it's produced. Since you are seeing an increase in nitrate, it looks as if things are proceeding as they should.

 

[KiltedOne]

I have just finished a fishless cycle last week, it took me 11 days with no mature filter material. I would recomend testing twice a day, I found that the ammonia was being processed in about 8-12 hours and was adding ammonia morning and night, the nitrite spiked and then fell almost overnight after 9 days with the nitrates slowly rising after about 4 days. I had the heater turned up as high as it would go.

 

[rdd1952]

11 days is extremely fast. I've never had one in less than about 3 weeks. I guess you were fortunate enough to pick up a decent amount of bacteria very quickly.

 

[ebrcknrdg]

mine only took a week after showing nitrites but i had raised temp and a air pump