Fishless Cycle, Aka "the Patience Diary"

[Zia]

Well, I did a final test this morning before breaking down the tank, and now everything is reversed -- NH3 .75, and nitrIte 0 (!?!?)

I did not break down the tank yet and add the TSS, though I told my daughter we'd be getting fish tomorrow.

Now it's my NH3 that's stuck, in a strange turn of events.

Hrmmm.... Any last thoughts before I rip out my own hair? I feel like I might be very close, but the NH3 is just not processing.

Or, maybe there's no nitrIte because the NH3 isn't being broken down and thus not making any....

 

[OldMan47]

Starting over is a very drastic action to take. Often you have a problem that we just have not figured out but there are lots of thriving bacteria to work with. Starting over means not having any bacterial population to work with. That basically means that you face much more time than it would take to recover a stalled cycle.