Hit A Cycling Problem

[orange shark]

Hi All,
 
I've been cycling my Rio 180, and I am now on day 40 of the cycle. I feel like I was really close, the Ammonia was dropping in 24 hours and Nitrite in 48 hours.
 
I re-dosed yesterday, and have just tested and my Nitrite is 0...great! The problem is my Ammonia is sat at 1ppm, it has dropped to 0ppm in 24 hours 3 times now, why has it stopped processing it in 24 hours?
 
Absolutely gutted as my local aquatics group are having their annual auction on Sunday and it looks like my tank won't be cycled in time to take part
 
Just a few detail:
 
2nd full amount went in on day 18
Maintenance feed was on day 23
Does full amont again on day 32
Again on day 35
Again on day 37
Again on day 38 (tested after 24 hours and wasn't done, tested after 32 hours and was done)
And again yesterday (day 39)
 
Cheers,
OS

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Too much ammonia too fast I think. What were the nitrite numbers each time?
 
Try this. Do a big water change and test. If its very close to, or at, 0/0, then redose ammonia and wait 24 and test. There are a few things can can mess up an ammonia test. It might be that 1 ppm was not really there.

 

[orange shark]

Hi TTA,
 
I tried to follow the instructions that you wrote, I never added the full amount unless the Ammonia was 0.25ppm or less and the Nitrite as clearly under 1ppm.
 
Day 32 (first full dose)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
 
Day 35 (second dose)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
 
Day 37 (third dose)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
 
Day 38 (after 32 hours) (fourth dose)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
 
Day 39 (fifth dose)
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrite 0.25ppm
 
Results yesterday after fifth dose - Ammonia 1ppm Nitrite 0ppm
 
Thanks,
OS

 

[orange shark]

Just tested again this morning, and it is still showing 1ppm!

Will do as you suggested and do a big water change and re-test

Thanks,
OS

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Here was what i wonder about, When in the final stages of the cycle you should be testing every day.
 

 
After the maintenance feeding, whenever you test and ammonia is .25 ppm or lower and nitrite is clearly under 1 ppm, it is time to add a full ammonia dose again and test in 24 hours.
If ammonia and nitrite both read 0 ppm, you are cycled. Do a large water change, be sure the water is the proper temperature, and add fish. The odds are this will not be the case quite this soon.
 
If ammonia and nitrite do not both read zero, continue to test daily. Whenever ammonia is again at .25 ppm or less and nitrite is clearly under 1 ppm, add the full amount of ammonia and test in 24 hours.

 What are the results, day by day. What were the readings on days 33, 34, and 36.
 
My best guess at this stage is one of two things is at work. Too much ammonia which was handled fine but which resulted in too much nitrite and that killed off some bacteria which would explain the 1 ppm reading. However, there are a few things that can throw off ammonia results such as iron, high nitrate, cloudy water and dechlors that detoxify ammonia for example. That is why I suggest the water change, test and redose to see what is really going on in your tank.
 
One comment regarding the dosing you did. When you tested on day 38, that was fine, but the test at 32 hours is an issue as you added ammonia then, Ideally when you tested at 24 hours and it was not inline, you should not have test in 8 more hours but in 24. that would have allowed for the nitrite bacs to be working another 16 hours- that is just about enough time for them to have doubled unless they were overwhelmed.
 
If one adds 3 ppm of ammonia it will create about 7.65 ppm of nitrite on the API kits. If you add that twice in 32 hours, you have effectively put 15.3 ppm of nitrite into the tank. If there is already nitrite present, it is not hard to get to the 16.4 ppm danger level. It depends on how much nitrite converting bacteria one has. Considering the vagaries of the test kits, our ability to make mistakes etc. it is not hard to see how easily things can slip over the line before we know it is happening. Folks have a hard time understanding the bacteria are not animals/people and they do not rapidly die of starvation when they don't "eat." So we tend to overdo ammonia in our desire to keep the ammonia bacs well fed. It's similar to learning that our fish do not need to be fed every day.

 

[orange shark]

Hi TTA,
 
Day 33 - Ammonia 1ppm Nitrite 2ppm
Day 34 - I was away so didn't get to test
Day 36 - Ammonia 0.25ppm Nitrite 2ppm
 
With the 32 hour thing, I realised that was probably wrong but I was desperate to get the tank ready for Sunday for the local aquatics show and auction so thought I might be able to cut a small corner...ironically it was probably that which means it won't be ready now!
 
I'm about to do the water change now, will test later to see what the results are and hopefully if 0/0 will re-dose the Ammonia tomorrow morning.
 
Thanks for your response,
OS 

 

[orange shark]

So did a big water change, i'd say 60-70%, the Ammonia reading is 0.25ppm and Nitrite is 0ppm
 
My instinct is to wait til morning and test again, if 0/0 re-dose, not sure what I should do if it stays at 0.25/0, by the instructions I should re-dose but taking a bit of a detour now I'm not sure!
 
OS

 

[TwoTankAmin]

If its .25/0 the odds are that ammonia reading is a false one and you are cycled.

 

[orange shark]

So i'm good to add fish?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

If you started at 0/0, redosed and got .25/0, then its likely not a real ammonia reading. Consider that a colony of ammonia converting bacteri has sufficient ammonia present it will double in about 12 hours or so. So you put in 3 ppm and 2.75 ppm converts in 24 hours. How much time should it take for that colony to be able to handle an additional .25 ppm?