Nitrogen Cycle Gone Awol Again. Helpppp!

[gazb5590]

I am currently on my 2nd attempt of doing a full cycle and it was going really well until today. I tested the water about 36 hours ago and my ammonia was 0.5ppm, nitrite 2ppm and nitrate 7/8ppm. I was on the nitrite stage of the cycle as my ammonia had started to drop and my nitrite spike over a few days. I know my nitrite levels was quite high but I was using amquel+ every 24 hours to keep it detoxified along with the ammonia and I've had now casualties what-so-ever in the past few months since having the tank up and running. I've just checked the water now and it's saying my ammonia is at 0.5ppm, nitrite 0ppm and nitrate 0ppm. I've not got a clue what has happened at all and don't know what to do next Also my PH has dropped a little but only from around 7.2 to 6.9 so doubt this is significant.

So just to recap in the past 36 hours my ammonia has stayed at 0.5ppm, nitrite 2ppm to 0ppm and nitrate 8ppm to 0ppm.

 

[gazb5590]

??

 

[Tizer]

if either ammonia or nitrite get over 0.25, do a water change to dilute it below this value. then test and ensure they stay below it with further water changes. ignore nitrate, its not relevant with a fish in cycle, it will never get high enough to be a concern with all the water changes you are doing the same can be said for the PH. ensure you dechlorinate the water and attempt to make it the same temp as the tank, thats it, nowt more to it, no more blah blah needed.

 

[gazb5590]

if either ammonia or nitrite get over 0.25, do a water change to dilute it below this value. then test and ensure they stay below it with further water changes. ignore nitrate, its not relevant with a fish in cycle, it will never get high enough to be a concern with all the water changes you are doing the same can be said for the PH. ensure you dechlorinate the water and attempt to make it the same temp as the tank, thats it, nowt more to it, no more blah blah needed.

I was using water from the tap and leaving it in buckets for a few days before putting it in the tank but I wasn't using a dechlorinator so this could be what's caused it. To be honest I was happy to see the nitrate rise has I knew at this point the cycle was moving in the right direction but I'm rather worried now it's dropped down to 0

 

[Tizer]

Chloramines, dont gas off. depending on the size of the water change, this might night be an issue, but if you are changing large amounts, it can damage your fishies.

 

[doresy]

For what dechlorinator costs I just cannot see why people still think it's worth the risk in not using it.

It does a hell of a lot more than just remove chlorine.

I've know people that waste their hard earned on 'Cycle' (so called instant bacteria, mostly dead that is ) and then skip dechlorinator.......madness!

Oh well, lesson learned here hopefully as you may be starting again.

Remember peeps, chlorine etc. is added to our tap water to kill almost every bacteria (as well as other things) to make it safe for us to drink.......there is a clue in there as to why we don't need it going through our filters

 

[gazb5590]

For what dechlorinator costs I just cannot see why people still think it's worth the risk in not using it.

It does a hell of a lot more than just remove chlorine.

I've know people that waste their hard earned on 'Cycle' (so called instant bacteria, mostly dead that is ) and then skip dechlorinator.......madness!

Oh well, lesson learned here hopefully as you may be starting again.

Remember peeps, chlorine etc. is added to our tap water to kill almost every bacteria (as well as other things) to make it safe for us to drink.......there is a clue in there as to why we don't need it going through our filters

I was told that if I left the tap water in a bucket for over 48 hours it would be safe to add to the tank but I can only think that it would be this that has caused the problem. I have got amquel+ and API stress coat that can both be used as dechlorinators but because I wasn't adding the water straight to the tank and leaving it in buckets for a few days I thought it would just be a waste

 

[gazb5590]

Checked the water again today and it says my ammonia is at 1.5ppm, nitrite between 0.25-0.5ppm & nitrate 2-3ppm

 

[Tizer]

you should have been testing it every 12/24 hours, not every 2/3 days, what do you expect? the fish to hold their #105### in when your busy?

 

[gazb5590]

you should have been testing it every 12/24 hours, not every 2/3 days, what do you expect? the fish to hold their #105### in when your busy?

I checked it last night and the ammonia was around 0.5 - 1ppm, nitrite 0.25 and nitrate little over 1/2ppm. I just thought it would've been better to go of today's results

 

[Tizer]

So the old "if either ammonia or nitrite get over 0.25, do a water change to dilute it below this value. " advice went in one ear and out the other then. I'll leave you to crack on.

 

[gazb5590]

So the old "if either ammonia or nitrite get over 0.25, do a water change to dilute it below this value. " advice went in one ear and out the other then. I'll leave you to crack on.

Unable to at the minute due to work and not having the necessary dechlorinators until weekend so just have to keep using the amquel+ to keep it detoxified. Not unless you want me to add it straight from the tap