45 gallon fishless cycling

[steelo]

Couldn't help myself and tested nitrites. They have approximately doubled to around .5-1 ppm. Ammonia is still around 3 ppm, so now it's a matter of patience...

 

[Essjay]

Because 1 ppm ammonia is turned into 2.7 ppm nitrite, you will find that nitrite goes up faster than ammonia drops. The frustrating part will be waiting till ammonia drops below 0.75.

 

[steelo]

Ouch...so, Im between 3-4ppm ammonia. I hope the cycle doesn't overheat if the nitrites get too high. Hopefully nitrates with show up soon.

 

[steelo]

Because 1 ppm ammonia is turned into 2.7 ppm nitrite, you will find that nitrite goes up faster than ammonia drops. The frustrating part will be waiting till ammonia drops below 0.75.

Tested nitrites tonight - 5ppm and it looks like I have between 1-5ppm nitrates. Will test ammonia tomorrow and add if below .75ppm

 

[steelo]

Nitrites tonight 5+ ppm (might be off the scale now), nitrates - 5 ppm, ammonia - 2 ppm

 

[Colin_T]

ignore the nitrate reading now because nitrate test kits will read nitrite as nitrate, and give you a false reading.

 

[steelo]

ignore the nitrate reading now because nitrate test kits will read nitrite as nitrate, and give you a false reading.

Oh, okay...so at this point, I only need to worry about the ammonia and nitrite levels? Do I only test for nitrates when the nitrites have finally dropped to 0?

 

[Colin_T]

yes, right now you only need to monitor the ammonia, nitrite & pH.

when the nitrites come down to 0 then you can start monitoring the nitrates.

 

[steelo]

yes, right now you only need to monitor the ammonia, nitrite & pH.

when the nitrites come down to 0 then you can start monitoring the nitrates.

Okay, thanks!

 

[Essjay]

When you do start measuring nitrate, don't forget to test your tap water as well. You will need to subtract the tap level from the tank level to see how much nitrate is being made by the micro-organisms in the tank.
Regardless of whether nitrate is from the tap or made in the tank you should aim to keep the total amount of nitrate under 20 ppm.

 

[steelo]

When you do start measuring nitrate, don't forget to test your tap water as well. You will need to subtract the tap level from the tank level to see how much nitrate is being made by the micro-organisms in the tank.
Regardless of whether nitrate is from the tap or made in the tank you should aim to keep the total amount of nitrate under 20 ppm.

Thanks, I am 99% confident the tap water does not have any nitrates. I've shown 0 nitrates in the water I've added for the past 5 weeks. So, if the nitrates exceed 20 ppm would I need to do a partial water change?

 

[steelo]

About 1 week after detecting nitrites, the ammonia finally reads under .75 ppm (wife verified that it certainly looks like .25-.5 ppm), nitrites are giving bizarre reading (looks like grape juice) so I assume they are off the scale. Tonight I added just enough ammonia to bring it up to around 2 ppm.

It now appears that I am at the part of the guide that tells me to wait until I get two consecutive every other day ammonia readings of 0 ppm before adding a 'snack' dose of ammonia. I just want to verify though because it seems waiting 4 days with no ammonia might starve off the bacteria.

I'm just glad to see progress!

 

[steelo]

Had two consecutive every other day reading of 0ppm ammonia so I added a 1/3 ammonia "snack" dose to bring it up to 1 ppm.

So, I am getting a bit worried...nitrites with a 1/3 dilution test are around 15ppm. Ph is around 7.6-7.8, so I think that's okay...

Should I do a large water change or wait a week without adding ammonia to see if the levels fall?

 

[Essjay]

Without precise measuring equipment, dilution tests are only a rough estimate.
I would wait a week, then if nothing is apparently happening, do a water change. But whether you do a water change or not, wait till nitrite starts to drop before adding any more ammonia.

 

[steelo]

Without precise measuring equipment, dilution tests are only a rough estimate.
I would wait a week, then if nothing is apparently happening, do a water change. But whether you do a water change or not, wait till nitrite starts to drop before adding any more ammonia.

Thanks, I have read post where folks add 4ppm ammonia every time it drops to 0...and they wonder why nitrites are out of control. I'm really trying to follow the guide to a 'T'. Will the bacteria starve if I don't feed it for a week?