Cycle Question

[Dpayton11]

Alright I've been fishless cycling a 55 gallon tank for a month now today.

I dosed it with 4.0 ppm on day one.

Since then around the week mark nitrites showed up and nitrates prolly a few days after.

For the last two weeks it's been around
3.0-4 ppm ammonia
1-2 ppm nitrite
20 ppm nitrate
7.6 ph
80 degree temp

Is this normal or should it be dropping by now?

 

[Blondielovesfish]

That amount of ammonia isn't needed. The recommended level is 3.0 ppm. 
How often are you dosing the ammonia?
 
For extra information, I recommend that you read the link about cycling in my signature.

 

[Mamashack]

When are you doing the water tests in relation to adding the ammonia? Those readings look like just after the addition as the ammonia level is quite high. If the ammonia bacs are there (and they seem to be as you have nitrItes) and the nitrItes bacs are converting to nitrAtes you are looking for a drop of ammonia and nitrItes to 0ppm in 24 hrs when fully cycled.
My betta tank fishless cycled in 5 weeks - it seemed like the nitrItes were never going to drop then suddenly they did and I repeated the ammonia challenge for a few days just to be sure. Your nitrAtes are still relatively low which means the nitrIte bacs may have only just started to develop. When it's near fully cycled they will be very high and you'll need to do a massive water change before adding fish.
Be patient and reduce your ammonia dosing to 2-3ppm. Like you I started dosing 4-5ppm, but quickly reduced that once I'd had advice from more experienced members on here. When I was waiting for the fish once I was convinced the cycle was complete I reduced it even further to 1ppm just to keep it ticking over.
Do have a look at the link Blondie recommended - it's been recently up-dated and is very helpful.

 

[Dpayton11]

I've only dosed the ammonia once. It hasn't dropped at all since the beginning a month ago when i put in 4.0. Nitrites and nitrates have stayed about the same since they appeared 2 weeks ish ago. I know I only shoulda put in like 2-3 ppm of ammonia. But I was looking at an outdated guide.

So why isn't the ammonia dropping at all? I've been testing every other night. Should I do any kind of water change? Or what should I do to get it to start dropping?

 

[Mamashack]

Try testing your tap water for comparison.
What type of test are you using? Is it in date? Hopefully it's one of the liquid tests rather than the test-strips which are next to useless.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

It is odd that a single dose would do this. The first thing that comes to mind is to ask if after you added the ammonia, did you wait a bit and then actually test the level in the tank?
 
Next- do you know the current pH and KH levels in the tank? If either of these drop too much it can stall the cycle. Also, do you have adequate surface agitation to insure a good supply of oxygen?
 
Obviously, some nitrification has been going on or there would not be any nitrite reading. Nitrite comes from ammonia conversion. I discount nitrate testing as it is not hugely reliable  and because it is not accurate inf there is also nitrite present. The nitrate test converts the nitrate to nitrite in order to measure it. Nitrite already there messes with the results some. If you did not test your tap parameters at the outset, there is no way to know it it had any nitrate at all.
 
Everything looked normal for the first 2 weeks, so something else must be up. Figuring out what is the challenge. if you are correct that you dosed a single dose to 4 ppm that alone would not do this. It is more the repeated and too frequent dosing to that level which causes problems, not just one time at the start.
 
So if possible report your numbers for pH and KH and let us know what dechlor you are using and if you have added any since the initial tank filling and if you have added any since. It sounds as if you have done no water changes, which is fine so far- unless your pH and/or KH have dropped. If you do not have test kits for these two things, take a water sample to your local store and they should be able to test it for you. Try to take the sample in soon after collecting it for the best results.

 

[Dpayton11]

I can't test KH, but I have soft water. My PH has been around 7.6-8.0 the whole time. As for decor I have a piece of wood and two fake cave things that have been in there since the beginning.

Yeah I'm positive that I've only dose ammonia once at the beginning and I measured it a couple days after and have measured every other day since then. I have plenty of oxygen agitation going. Have done no water changes at all.

The test I'm using is the API And its not out of date.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

It is a puzzle. What you describe is like in a Sci Fi movie when everything freezes. Things look O.K. at the start, they moved along as expected and then "stasis". Nothing you report indicates why. So here is what I would offer for your consideration.
 
Do a really big water change. Lets reset everything and see what happens. Do at least a 75% water change, dechlor at a normal dose, refill, wait 30 minutes with everything running and test ammonia and nitrite. Forget nitrate for now.
 
The next step is to get the ammonia up to 3 ppm. Subtract whatever ppm you tested after the wc from 3, and use the ammonia calc. to add enough to make that number in your tank. Enter your volume as 50 gals., not 55. Of course if you still test at the same level I would say: faulty kit? Test your tap to be sure.
 
Now wait 2 days and test. If you have any bacteria at all for ammonia right now, the level will have dropped and nitrites should be present. You can even guesstimate the level of nitrite you should see from a given drop in the ppm of ammonia by multiplying that amount by 2.6. This is an approximation and presumes there are no nitrite converting bacteria present. If there are, you should get a clearly lower reading as some of the nitrite should have been converted. all this will give you a pretty good idea of where things are right now in terms of existing bacteria and then if they are working and growing.
 
If, on the other hand you test in two days and see no change, wait another two days and retest. Then if there is still no change we know there is likely something in your tank inhibiting nitrification. To be absolutely certain I might even suggest one more 2 day wait. Tanks should show some drop in ammonia and the start of nitrite within 6 days from a single 3 ppm dose even at the very start of the cycle using a "dose and test" method.
 
Here is the good part in all this. If there really is nothing off in your cycle because you might have misread the results, the kit is bad or because things just did a hitch for some unknown reason, none of what I suggested will slow down the cycle. On the plus side, it should help to figure out what is actually going on.

 

[Dpayton11]

Ill try that. Thanks.