3.5 months in and I’m losing my mind

[Pibbles]

I’ve been cycling my quarantine tank since November 12. That’s about three and a half months ago.

I am now seeing nitrite (this started a few weeks ago) but it still takes three to four days for it to totally process.

When I read the cycling guide, it said to add ammonia any time ammonia is at zero or close to it and nitrite is clearly below 1 ppm. Ammonia is processing in less than twenty-four hours but nitrite is staying at 2-4ppm for days and then overnight will plummet to 0ppm.

I added a bit of sponge from my 60 gallon tank two weeks ago but I haven’t seen any benefit. That could be because the 60 gallon has only been set up with fish since October and I did not do a fishless cycle with it. I planted it densely and added twelve black neons. There’s never been any ammonia or nitrite in that tank. I think that could be why there isn’t much bacteria on this sponge that i added.

QT is 29 gallons.
Temp: 76 F
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 2ppm
Nitrate: 40-80ppm (I can’t decide which one it looks like, both shades of red on the color chart look the same to me)
Ph: 7.6, though it usually is a little lower than that.

I last added ammonia Feb 22 at around 10PM. I’m using an API Freshwater Master Test Kit. I don’t have any substrate in this tank because I prefer to run my QTs barebottom since it’s easier to sanitize the tank between new batches of fish.

What else can I do to hurry this along? Am I potentially doing something wrong? I don’t want to do this for another three months.

 

[Squid]

What do you have in the new tank? Any wood?

 

[FishGuest5123]

Odd...the nitrite should have gone up for several weeks and then dropped to zero as nitrates began to climb. Are you shaking the bottles really hard and for time specified before testing? How old is the test kit? Two weeks without adding any ammonia is a long time. Are their fish in the tank and are you using fish food? The cycle should be as follows: Ammonia converted into nitrites by good bacteria called Nitrosomonas. Nitrite is then converted to nitrate. At that point the nitrite should have dropped.

 

[Colin_T]

Drain the tank and refill it with dechlorinated water. Aerate and filter it for 24 hours. Then add some fish.

3 months is long enough and most of the bacteria is there because the ammonia is being converted to nitrite and nitrate is appearing.

The nitrate could be coming from the tap water if you have been doing water changes. Check the tap water for nitrate and see if there is any.

But I would just drain it and refill it and add fish 24 hours later.

 

[Pibbles]

What do you have in the new tank? Any wood?

It’s totally empty except for water and heater and a Fluval filter.

 

[Pibbles]

Odd...the nitrite should have gone up for several weeks and then dropped to zero as nitrates began to climb. Are you shaking the bottles really hard and for time specified before testing? How old is the test kit? Two weeks without adding any ammonia is a long time. Are their fish in the tank and are you using fish food? The cycle should be as follows: Ammonia converted into nitrites by good bacteria called Nitrosomonas. Nitrite is then converted to nitrate. At that point the nitrite should have dropped.

There are no fish in the tank. I shake the bottles thoroughly. I bought the kit in September. Expiration dates are all in 2021. I am now getting nitrite to zero ppm within 48 hours. It went to zero within 24 hours one time but now it is back to 48 hours!

 

[Pibbles]

Drain the tank and refill it with dechlorinated water. Aerate and filter it for 24 hours. Then add some fish.

3 months is long enough and most of the bacteria is there because the ammonia is being converted to nitrite and nitrate is appearing.

The nitrate could be coming from the tap water if you have been doing water changes. Check the tap water for nitrate and see if there is any.

But I would just drain it and refill it and add fish 24 hours later.

I think my tap water has a small amount of nitrate, about 5ppm, but I’ve only done one water change when I accidentally added more ammonia than I meant to.

I’m nervous about adding fish without the nitrite processing in 24 hours or less. There won’t be plants in this tank to help with the bio-load. I suppose if I add fish in, I would still be keeping an eye on levels regardless. It just makes me nervous since it’s not how I usually do things, I guess!

 

[steelo]

I'd say you're pretty close to being cycled. You're probably safe doing a huge water change, checking nitrites and ammonia and adding fish 24 hours later.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I agree that the bacteria should be established by now. It should be safe to do the w/c and proceed. Good luck!

 

[Pibbles]

I guess I’ll give it a try then! Worst case scenario is just water changes until parameters are back in order anyway.

 

[steelo]

I guess I’ll give it a try then! Worst case scenario is just water changes until parameters are back in order anyway.

As deanasue stated, do a large water change and wait 24 hours before adding fish.