cycling tanks

[laurasmithuk]

my water results are -

ammonia - 0.25
nitrIte - 0
nitrAte - 40

this results are after a nitrIte spike which i was told was normal. r these results normal? do i need to do regular water changes to bring down ammonia? (my nitrAte is high in tap water anyway so am presumming that is normal)

 

[Joviella]

Yes,you need to do daily water changes until your ammonia and nitrite are 0ppm. Nitrates can vary massively depending on your local tap water. My tap water is between 30 and 70 ppm.....depending on the time of year!

 

[laurasmithuk]

is it nearly cycled then?

 

[WILDER]

Not long a day or two did you have a nitrite spike then.did it shoot up then come down to 0.

 

[laurasmithuk]

yeah it shot up to 0.50. do i keep up with water changes til ammonia and nitrIte are at 0?

 

[lorax311420]

I dont mean to steal the forum but I seem to have been cycling for a really long time. About 2 weeks. My amm. is a 4 ppm, and nitrite is about 4 ppm, but nothing seems to be dropping. i have been adding a half teasppon every day just to keep feeding the bacteria. I have a 10g hex. What am I doing wrong?

 

[yvez9]

if you're adding ammonioa everyday, it is normal to see ammonia always high

nitrtite means your ammonia is being processed

it took me almost 6 weeks to cycle my tank. it takes a while to establish a bacterial colony. the second bacteria that comes in to detoxify nitrites into nitrates take the longest.

 

[lorax311420]

so should i stop adding ammonia for a while?

 

[modernhamlet]

so should i stop adding ammonia for a while?

[snapback]893935[/snapback]​

Yes. Wait until ammonia drops below 4ppm, then add just enough to get it back to 4ppm.