Cycling...what Should I Do?

[tim1]

My cycle has been progressing well, as I am using mature media. So far my bacteria can progress around 2ppm of Ammonia in 16 hours. My Nitrites how ever, are being processed very slowly. My Nitrites are off the chart now for 5(I think 6) days, and I read that with mature media the Nitrite spike should only last around 2. So far, these are my stats at the moment.

10gal aquarium, 80F, Ammonia = 0(Will change this), Nitrite = 5.0+, Nitrate = Bit more than 40, Clarity = Clear, PH = around 7.0(dropped from 7.2)

I have a 50gal filter on this aquarium, and about 1/3 is filled with mature media, the rest with sponge and bio material(I didn't put in activated carbon).
Is this normal, or am I don't something wrong?

 

[ox5477]

No, just keep adding ammonia everyday so that you have 4-6 ppm and your nitrite will eventually catch up. It would appear that you already have some nitrite feeding bacteria as you have nitrates in the water. Have you tested your tap water though? Some people have tap water with nitrates already present and this may be why you have a good amount of nitrates before your nitrite cycle has finished. For any more info read this topic if you haven't done so already:

Fishless Cycling

 

[tim1]

Nope, my tap water is as follows:

Ammonia = 0. Nitrite = 0. Nitrate = 5.0. PH = 7.6

 

[ox5477]

well it sounds like your nitrite bacteria are just multiplying a little slower than you want, but they will get there, just keep adding the ammonia and when you see the ammonia and nitrite drop to 0 in 24 hours, your set to go

 

[waterdrop]

Anybody who tells you your nitrite spike stage will only last 2 day with mature media is simply saying its possible it could be that short. They should have also explained that elapsed times for anyone's particular stage can vary by a large amount.

I agree with the other members, sounds like you are doing just fine and things are going ok.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[LionessN3cubs]

Im just a newbie struggling with my own cycle but.....I think a higher temp than 80 would speed things up? Maybe Im wrong tho. I've been keeping my tank at 88 F

 

[tim1]

Hmm, maybe I will turn it up a bit. OK, thanks for the help guys, I thought I was doing something wrong

 

[waterdrop]

There's a fair amount of controversy about the ideal temperature for fishless cycling. RDD has been experimenting with very high temps in the high 80's, low 90's, F. degrees, but has not reported any results yet I don't think. The tradeoff is that higher temperatures make it harder for the water to hold as much oxygen and oxygen is known to help drive bacteria growth. I've been compromising at 84F myself.

FWIW, in my reading I've encountered comments that it should be upper 70's to allow for more oxygen, but in many other comments people say that warmer temps speed up the process. Unfortunately, I also think I remember it being reported in one case that 88F and above could somehow be a problem - I wish I could find that post again, otherwise we should probably ignore that.

~~waterdrop~~
ps. fussing about ideal temperatures falls into the realm of details, its not supposed to be an essential for fishless cycling (ie. we shouldn't lose perspective I think.)

 

[tim1]

Weird. My bacteria are processing 2ppm of ammonia in 8 hours, and yesterday it was 16! And my PH is dropping .2 points every day...I think I'll need to do a water change soon.