Nitrites In 1 Day!? Bloom?

[FB333]

Hi all,
 
This is my first post on this forum, although I have been reading it for some time now.
 
I have recently purchased a 25l tank for a single male betta to live in.
 
I have planned to do a fishless cycle and have been reading about it for weeks prior to buying my tank.
 
I got my tank just 2 days ago. I set it all up, (gravel, few silk plants, some pebble ornaments, filter, heater, airstone) and then proceeded to fill it with my regular tap water. I then added Prime to the tank and left it for 24 hours to heat up and 'settle'.
 
The following day (yesterday) I noticed I had some Tetra SafeStart left over from my wife's tank, but it was only enough to treat 15l of water (just over 10ml left in the bottle), I poured it in anyway (for good measure) and then after 15-20mins I added just enough (0.8ml) of 9.5% ammonia to the tank to bring the ppm to 3. I verified this after 30 mins with my API master test kit. The green colour was exactly what I was aiming for.
 
It is worth mentioning that so far the water had been crystal clear.
 
Anyway, this morning I saw that the tank was insanely cloudy. I could only just see through the tank...
I immediatly took an ammonia reading, and to my surprise, it was 0 (yellow).
 
I added another 0.8ml of ammonia and verified after 20 mins. 3-4 ppm. I then went to work for the day.
 
On returning home, I was very suprised to see the cloudiness had increased. A lot. I can now only see maybe 1-2" into the water.
 
I had to find out what was going on in this tank so I ran a full test:
Ammo - 2ppm
Nitrites - 2-5ppm
Nitrates - 5ppm
pH - 7.8 - 8
 
Now on my wife's tank, I didnt see any sign of nitrites for approx 4 weeks. How can I be seeing nitrites after only 1 day. I even retested the nitrites to be sure and the result was the same.
 
I am not sure what my next move should be. I guess I should keep an eye on the ammonia levels and not let it hit 0 so the cycle can continue. But what of the cloudiness? I have read that this will likely clear after a few days.
 
I'm just so glad this is a fishless cycle, it would not be nice to be swimming in that right now, haha.
 
Any advice or comments would be greatly received.
Many thanks.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The cloudiness is normal in new set-ups.  Its (more than likely) just a bacterial bloom, no worries.
 
 
Keep testing it daily and watch what happens. 

 

[FB333]

Thanks for the reply.
 
Its not that I'm worried as such (I'm actually pretty excited to see nitrites so soon) its more confusion!
 
I hadnt planned on buying the betta for a month at the very least. Now it may well be sooner.
 
Its also worth noting that the safestart didnt have any noticable effect on my wife's tank, so the confusion ensues.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

How big was her tank?
 
 
There are a lot of variables in cycling... hard to be certain of anything.  But Safestart can make a difference.  Whether it made a noticable difference in your wife's tank or not isn't really going to be an indicator of what will happen in your tank.  There are reasons why it might not have worked in her tank, but works in yours. 
 
 
 
Just keep testing and we'll determine where we are after more data.

 

[baker360360]

Atleast your cycling your tank properly, a lot of us can't wait and do a fish in cycle. So well done

 

[FB333]

Her tank was a 45l Biorb...
 
I wonder if because my filter has no carbon in the filter (just foam) is why it is clouding?
 
I'll keep this thread updated as I take more tests etc over the following days.
 
Thanks very much guys!

 

[FB333]

Just a little update, with some more test results.
 
Its 5 hours on, the water is still very very cloudy.
 
I wanted to see if the levels had changed at all from earlier:
 
Ammo - 0.5ppm
Nitrite - 5+ppm (was a lovely deep dark purple, darker than the highest one on the card [5ppm])
pH - 8
 
It would seem the ammonia levels are going down, and the nitrites are going up. Would it be fair to assume that the ammonia is being converted to nitrites at this point? (And only after 24-36 hours - is that even possible?)
 
I also read that the nitrite level can get so high, it hinders the cycling process. Do I need to be thinking about a pwc at all, to prevent this?
 
I actually think the ammonia level maybe 0 again by the morning, if it is I will dose to 3ppm again. I have read that you shouldnt redose more than once in 24 hours, is that a good idea?
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

How much ammonia have you added total?
 
 
As long as the ammonia you've added is only about 6ppm, you should be ok... but on the verge of going too high.  A 50% water change wouldn't really hurt, and don't add any ammonia until the nitrite levels are back to being on the scale... preferably 1ppm or lower.
 
 
 
Its certainly possible that you are getting results this quickly using SafeStart. 
 
The fact that the previous tank was a Biorb could explain why it didn't seem to work.  I've not heard great things about those tanks... they have far less surface area than tanks really need.

 

[FB333]

I have added 6ppm total.
 
3ppm initially and then a further 3ppm after 24 hours (When I saw that the ammo level was at 0ppm).
 
I have followed your advice and changed 50% of the water this morning... The readings before the pwc were:
 
Ammo - 0.25ppm
Nitrites - 5+ppm
Nitrate - Not tested
pH - 8
 
After the 50% water change (water alot less cloudy now):
 
Ammo - 0ppm
Nitrites - 5ppm
Nitrate - Not tested
pH - 7.8 - 8
 
I am concerned that there is no ammonia in the tank now to keep feeding the cycle. However, I understand that the bacteria can survive for a few days (?) without an ammonia source.
 
So should I keep an eye on nitrites and not add any more ammonia until the nitrite levels come down to approx 1ppm then?
 
Thanks again!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yup... Or 3 days from now, whichever comes first. If 3 days pass and the nitrite hasn't gotten back to 1 ppm or lower, then add 1ppm ammonia and wait another 3 days...

 

[FB333]

Awesome advice, thanks!
 
I'll keep testing daily and post any interesting results or findings.
 
Thanks again.

 

[FB333]

Day 3 Update:
 
Water looks alot less cloudy today.
 
Ammo - 0ppm
Nitirite - 5+ppm
Nitrate - 5-10ppm
pH - 8.2
 
I'll update again tomorrow.
 
Thanks

 

[FB333]

Quick update and question:
 
I noticed that the cloudy bloom is clearing nicely now. I turned the light on to have a better look...
 
I noticed some weird white 'foggy slime' waving in the flow of the water on the gravel near the filter.
 
Its hard to describe so I took a short video of it. What is it? Bacterial colony?
 
Levels as of time of filming this video were:
Ammo - 0ppm
Nitrites - 5ppm
Nitrates - 5/10ppm
pH - 8/8.2
Temp - 82-84F
Lights have been off for 95% of the last 3 days. No direct sunlight.
 
The gravel is black but it looks grey where that stuff (bio-film?) is growing.
 
Heres the Video (Youtube Link) - It was filmed on an iphone and kept losing focus, sorry.

 

[FB333]

Heres a little update on the levels - I'm pleasantly surprised!!
 
Also, the weird white stuff growing on the gravel seems a little bigger this morning. It has spread outwards a bit and grown upwards into the water alittle more.
 
Ammo - 0ppm
Nitrites - 0.25ppm (!) [Tested twice for clarity]
Nitrates - 0-5ppm
pH - 8.2
 
So going on the earlier advice, I will add another 3ppm of ammonia today. and continue to watch the levels.
I would of expected to see more nitrates now that the nitrites have dropped though..? I'll keep a close eye.
 
Any advice at this stage would be greatly received, I especially would like to know if that white stuff is good or bad.
 
Thanks.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The nitrate test is the least accurate of the bunch.
 
 
Keep going!