PereguineFalcon
Fish Crazy
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Did you check out that site yet? its great!
nitrites are taking over the world
- Thread starter panboy
- Start date
pendragon
Fish Crazy
Panboy,
I'm fairly new to the hobby, but I am very well-read and I can share my experience. I put fish in my tank on January 13, thus starting the cycle. Ammonia dropped and nitrite spiked somewhere around Day 20. I kid you not, today is Day 51 (!) and just today I've gotten my first nitrite-free reading! I'm so happy I don't know what to do. I had about decided the darn thing was never going to cycle, but I kept saying 'Be patient. Be patient. Be patient.' and I hung in there. People say that on average a tank cycles in 30 to 35 days, but obviously, that's an average. That means half of all tanks will cyle faster than that, and half will cycle slower. Yours (and mine) is cycling slowly.
What I learned: patience is the best medicine. If you've done it properly, your tank *will* cycle, just as surely as meat left out on the counter *will* go bad. It just takes time. However, I do think doing the fishless cycle introduces room for manual error, but I cannot speak from experience on that. My impression is you have to monitor your water chemistry frequently and meticulously to have success.
If I may offer some humble advice, I would encourage you not to do water changes until your cycle is finished. By removing the nitrites you are removing the "food" for the bacteria you are trying to encourage to grow. I know some people recommend water changes during cycling, but they seem counterproductive to me. You are not encouraging bacteria growth by eliminating the chemical(s) that attract them. And if you have no fish, there's no reason to reduce the nitrites anyway. Let them get as high as they want to. When the nitrite-eating bacteria eventually colonize, the nitrite level will plummet very, very quickly no matter how high it was.
Just don't rush. Be patient. The tank has to have time to reach biological and chemical equilibrium, and it will. Just remember, your cycle is completed (equilibrium is reached) when three things happen:
1. Ammonia is zero,
2. Nitrite is zero, and
3. Nitrate levels rise steadily
If you don't have all three conditions, the tank is not finished cycling. No exceptions. The nitrate level at this point is unimportant; as long as you still have either ammonia or nitrite, you don't really care whether you have nitrate or not. The cycle hasn't finished. Be patient, my friend.
pendragon!
I'm fairly new to the hobby, but I am very well-read and I can share my experience. I put fish in my tank on January 13, thus starting the cycle. Ammonia dropped and nitrite spiked somewhere around Day 20. I kid you not, today is Day 51 (!) and just today I've gotten my first nitrite-free reading! I'm so happy I don't know what to do. I had about decided the darn thing was never going to cycle, but I kept saying 'Be patient. Be patient. Be patient.' and I hung in there. People say that on average a tank cycles in 30 to 35 days, but obviously, that's an average. That means half of all tanks will cyle faster than that, and half will cycle slower. Yours (and mine) is cycling slowly.
What I learned: patience is the best medicine. If you've done it properly, your tank *will* cycle, just as surely as meat left out on the counter *will* go bad. It just takes time. However, I do think doing the fishless cycle introduces room for manual error, but I cannot speak from experience on that. My impression is you have to monitor your water chemistry frequently and meticulously to have success.
If I may offer some humble advice, I would encourage you not to do water changes until your cycle is finished. By removing the nitrites you are removing the "food" for the bacteria you are trying to encourage to grow. I know some people recommend water changes during cycling, but they seem counterproductive to me. You are not encouraging bacteria growth by eliminating the chemical(s) that attract them. And if you have no fish, there's no reason to reduce the nitrites anyway. Let them get as high as they want to. When the nitrite-eating bacteria eventually colonize, the nitrite level will plummet very, very quickly no matter how high it was.
Just don't rush. Be patient. The tank has to have time to reach biological and chemical equilibrium, and it will. Just remember, your cycle is completed (equilibrium is reached) when three things happen:
1. Ammonia is zero,
2. Nitrite is zero, and
3. Nitrate levels rise steadily
If you don't have all three conditions, the tank is not finished cycling. No exceptions. The nitrate level at this point is unimportant; as long as you still have either ammonia or nitrite, you don't really care whether you have nitrate or not. The cycle hasn't finished. Be patient, my friend.
pendragon!
PereguineFalcon
Fish Crazy
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Seriously panboy...check out this site...save you a lot of trouble and be so much faster! Others check it out also. I was skeptical at first but it is working great!! http
/www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_newtank.htm
/www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_newtank.htmBol
Fish Addict
panboy,
Grey is good.
It's tough to tell which test, if either, is correct. If you could get outside confirmation (like maybe have a LFS test the water), that would help.
If, in fact, you have close to 0 ammonia, .5-.7 nitrites, and 30 ppm nitrates, then you're probably in good shape, and it'll probably just take a little more time.
pendragon,
You do make some good points. And, in general, I would agree with not changing the water during cycling. However, this is my thinking about this particular case:
Panboy's situation doesn't seem normal at all. He had what seems to be over 50 pm nitrites and 250 ppm nitrates -- which seems abnormally high. While changing the water does seem counter-productive, I would think that at those high levels (that is, in this particular case), diluting the water wouldn't be much of a problem. That is, even though there would be substanitally less nitrites in the water, there would still be "plenty". I could, of course, be wrong.
Pereguine,
Chuck's listed method seems sound (as it should, since it's merely a variation of the standard "cycling with fish"), but it assumes you want and have a fairly "high-tech" plant setup. It would also mean he'd have to "start over", and would probably take an additional 4-6 weeks to cycle.
Not a bad option, but if "starting over" is in the plan, then personally I'd go with BioSpira. But, that's just my opinion, and I know others' vary.
Grey is good.
It's tough to tell which test, if either, is correct. If you could get outside confirmation (like maybe have a LFS test the water), that would help.
If, in fact, you have close to 0 ammonia, .5-.7 nitrites, and 30 ppm nitrates, then you're probably in good shape, and it'll probably just take a little more time.
pendragon,
You do make some good points. And, in general, I would agree with not changing the water during cycling. However, this is my thinking about this particular case:
Panboy's situation doesn't seem normal at all. He had what seems to be over 50 pm nitrites and 250 ppm nitrates -- which seems abnormally high. While changing the water does seem counter-productive, I would think that at those high levels (that is, in this particular case), diluting the water wouldn't be much of a problem. That is, even though there would be substanitally less nitrites in the water, there would still be "plenty". I could, of course, be wrong.
Pereguine,
Chuck's listed method seems sound (as it should, since it's merely a variation of the standard "cycling with fish"), but it assumes you want and have a fairly "high-tech" plant setup. It would also mean he'd have to "start over", and would probably take an additional 4-6 weeks to cycle.
Not a bad option, but if "starting over" is in the plan, then personally I'd go with BioSpira. But, that's just my opinion, and I know others' vary.
alright, so i have some more questions
i tested the water, and the ammonia instead of being a yellow shade ( from white to dark yellow, its turning kind of gray with s slight tint of yellow... what does this mean. it doesnt turn grey when i use the 10g tank water.
good news is the nitrites are dropping noticable...
i tested the water, and the ammonia instead of being a yellow shade ( from white to dark yellow, its turning kind of gray with s slight tint of yellow... what does this mean. it doesnt turn grey when i use the 10g tank water.
good news is the nitrites are dropping noticable...
franky
Fish Fanatic
Ive got to agree with freshmike, i have a fuval4 plus in my tank and if they start to increase, i incease the amount of air passing through the water and this, how im not to sure, brings everything back in line, simple but effective!
Bol
Fish Addict
Good to hear about the nitrites, panboy.
Can't help you with the ammonia, I've never used the Red Sea ammonia test. There's always the "vial must've not been entirely clean" reason; happens to me every once in a while.
Can't help you with the ammonia, I've never used the Red Sea ammonia test. There's always the "vial must've not been entirely clean" reason; happens to me every once in a while.
GOOD NEWS, thanks to Bol's last idea. nitrites are completely gone.
however..... lol... i have couple questions.....
the nitrates are 30-40, should i do a water change, since i just did a 50% one 3 days ago?
ammonia is still a dark gray color when u measure it, however im sure its something with the water. cause i tested my 10g and tap water and its perfectly fine. should i just ignore it? or what?
however..... lol... i have couple questions.....
the nitrates are 30-40, should i do a water change, since i just did a 50% one 3 days ago?
ammonia is still a dark gray color when u measure it, however im sure its something with the water. cause i tested my 10g and tap water and its perfectly fine. should i just ignore it? or what?
Bol
Fish Addict
About the nitrates, I generally like to keep mine below 20ppm. 40ppm is generally considered "safe, but higher than preferred", from everything I've read. If it helps, I've had nitrates of 40ppm for two or three days before, and nothing bad appeared to have happened.
Can't help you much with the ammonia test, as I've never seen the Red Sea test.
Can't help you much with the ammonia test, as I've never seen the Red Sea test.
well i dida 50% waterchange.
and i found out what the grayish color is. its actually the dechlorinator, which i was just checkign that i put to much.
i found this out because after the water change, i did a test on ammonia, and it was even darker. so i was like waht the heck, then decided that maybe the dechlorinator was doing it, so i got 10ml of tap water and 2ml of dechlorinator and it was super dark, almost black.
so know that i know what it is, does to much dechlorinator harm bacteria or fish or alter something? thanks
and i found out what the grayish color is. its actually the dechlorinator, which i was just checkign that i put to much.
i found this out because after the water change, i did a test on ammonia, and it was even darker. so i was like waht the heck, then decided that maybe the dechlorinator was doing it, so i got 10ml of tap water and 2ml of dechlorinator and it was super dark, almost black.
so know that i know what it is, does to much dechlorinator harm bacteria or fish or alter something? thanks
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