Update on Fishless Cycle

[njnauticalnut]

I have been swamped and unable to post for a bit, am catching up on some threads today...

I am currently on my 45th day of fishless cycling my 75 gallon tank. I got my first nitrite spike on June 23rd. The last day I saw any traces of amonia was June 27th. I am continuing to add amonia daily.

Here are the past 10 day's readings:

Day 36:
Amonia 6-7ppm, Nitrites 5 ppm, Nitrates 5 ppm

Day 37:
Amonia 6 ppm, Nitrites 5 ppm, Nitrates 5 ppm

Day 38:
Amonia 5-6 ppm, Nitrites 4-5 ppm, Nitrates 5-7 ppm

Day 39:
Amonia 0 ppm, Nitrites .5 ppm, Nitrates about 6-7 ppm

Day 40:
Amonia 0 ppm, Nitrites .5 ppm, Nitrates about 6-7 ppm

Day 41:
Amonia 0 ppm, Nitrites .5 ppm, Nitrates 15 ppm

Day 42:
Amonia 0 ppm, Nitrites .5ppm, Nitrates about 7 ppm

Day 43:
Amonia 0 ppm, Nitrites .5ppm, Nitrates 100ppm (only day this high)

Day 44:
Amonia 0 ppm, Nitrites .5 ppm, Nitrates 10 ppm

Day 45 :
Amonia 0 ppm, Nitrites betw .25 and .5 ppm, Nitrates betw 10 and 20 ppm

The nitrites may be beginning to drop per today's reading, but the nitrates only went up really high one day. I am not sure why they dropped again so suddenly. Any ideas?

Should I expect nitrates to soar before the cycle is over or can the nitrites drop without a huge increase in nitrates?

Since my nitrites have been holding steady at .5ppm, does that mean that most likely they will not rise again, but are on the decline?

I think stocking time is getting close, at least I hope so!

 

[canarsie11]

That is long cycle. What is temp of tank? What did you use for bacteria?

 

[luxum]

Once your nitrite converts it will spike your nitrate. Regarding the single 100ppm nitrate reading you got, i would attribute that to accidentally messing up the test somehow, did you confirm that reading? I had a similar false reading during my last fishless cycle when i accidentally combined the wrong reagents but the result was within the correct color family and i didn't notice until i got really weird readings in 2 of my test tubes.

You are almost done! At this point i would try a water change and then see if the tank can fully convert the maintenance dose within 24 hours.

 

[njnauticalnut]

Luxum,

No, I did not confirm the test results so it was probably a false reading caused by human error!

How much of a water change should I try? It would be so nice to see 0 amonia and 0 nitrites.

Canarsie,

At first I used no bacteria source based on some threads I posted and comments I received. Then I added sponge from another tank and bacteria starter. The tank is at 84 dregrees fahrenheit.

 

[luxum]

I'm thinking 20% should be sufficient, but change as much as needed to get it to test 0/0. Then add your maintenance ammonia dose and check the levels in 24 hours.

 

[njnauticalnut]

I did about a 20-25% water change and found my nitrites to still read at .5ppm. They have been holding steady for a week or more. I decided to add my maintenance dose of amonia and figured I'd check tomorrow and if nitrites were still up, I would do another water change. After I added the amonia, I decided to test for amonia and the reading was 0. Is this the expected reading? I have not been checking the amonia reading after I add it, but have been checking it about 12-24 hours after I add it and it has remained 0. Should it be 0 immediately?

 

[luxum]

You added half the dose that originally brought you to 5ppm, and checked immediately (i assume there was a bit of time for the ammonia to disperse?) and it read zero?

 

[njnauticalnut]

Yep, I added half of the orignal dose, waited a bit so it would disperse and it read 0.

 

[njnauticalnut]

I just retested, about 20-30 minutes or so from dosage and it remains at 0.

 

[luxum]

That is really odd. Check what happens when you put some ammonia into a separate container of water, to make sure your ammonia is still good. Have you been keeping the lid on it real tight?

 

[njnauticalnut]

Just added amonia to water in a container. The readings were off the chart so it is ok as is the test kit.

Should I add more amonia to the tank?

For informational purposes, why do you cut the dose in half once you get nitrite readings?

 

[njnauticalnut]

I've added some additional amonia and still no reading in the tank. I am going to add until I get a reading as the expectation is for the tank to convert it to nitrites.

The amonia readings in the tank prior to any nitrite reading was off the charts for a long while. I couldn't tell what my daily doses were or weren't doing specifically and once I got nitrites I cut the dose back and didn't check immediately after adding, never thought to do that. I am wondering if that is why I only got a couple day large nitrite spike and then it evened off at .5.

 

[njnauticalnut]

Yesterday I added enough amonia to get a decent reading. Today I had 0 amonia, 2ppm nitrites, 10ppm nitrates.

I added a larger dose of amonia than I have been adding as I think that I've got one really good colony of bacteria that is converting amonia to nitrites, but the second colony of bacteria is not large enough yet to convert the nitrites to nitrates. I actually feel better having a decent amount of nitrites as mine only spiked for two days. Eventually there will be a large colony to convert the nitrites.

I have learned that I actually have a lot of patience, which is a good thing as I have followed the process just about to the letter and it has been a very long wait. I just keep telling myself, good things come to those who wait, good things come to those who wait. It has been 6 weeks so I am hoping that by two months I will be able to stock the tank. In the greater scheme of things, this amount of time is just a drop in the bucket.