Fishless Cycling

[jaywings19]

Okay... I'm having a whale of a time with fishless cycling. I am now over 3 weeks running and still not completely cycled yet... with some strange results as of today:

Friday - Day 24
Ammonia = 7 ppm
Nitrite = 7 ppm
Nitrate = 40 ppm

Saturday - Day 25
Ammonia = 5 ppm
Nitrite = 0 ppm?
Nitrate = 50 ppm

Prior to Friday, it was looking good for me that Ammonia was dropping (slowly) and Nitrite was peaking. I didn't add any Ammonia on Friday because I figured there was enough in there already.

However, IMO today's readings are just plain nuts. So Nitrite peaked and disappeared overnight... but I still have an Ammonia reading?

What do you make of this? Should I just stop adding Ammonia altogether until it disappears?

I'm trying my darndest to do this right... but seems like it's just not meant to be simple for me.

 

[tstenback]

Ok now just relax
Everything is fine. the same thing happened to me and i thought all was lost but i just did a few water changes to cut the ammonia level and when it got to 0 ppm i retested. I just put in a small dose of ammonia 1-2 ppm and tested the level 24 hours later it was 0 ppm and the tank is officially cycled.
The problem with my cycle i believe is that i put in WAY to much ammonia for that first spike.
YES the nitrite level will drop like a rock, when it comes down, like yours mine was off the chart and 8 hours later it was 0.

So it looks like everything is going fine (just a little quirk from the norm )
Good luck jaywings19

 

[jaywings19]

Ok now just relax

That's REALLY getting hard to do. It took me 2 months to set the darn tank up because of various distractions... not 3 more weeks to cycle... I just want to get my fish already!

Seriously speaking... I want to do this right and not rush to get fish when the tank isn't ready. I won't add any more Ammonia today, and then retest on Sunday. I'll see what the reading is tomorrow and probably do the water change to bring the Ammonia (if any) and Nitrates down.

 

[pendragon]

I'm trying my darndest to do this right... but seems like it's just not meant to be simple for me.

Ah, don't let it get you down. I don't think fishless cycling is as easy as advertised. It's not just connect-the-dots and viola!

Regardless, you've certainly got some incongruent water test results there. Hitting the "low-hanging fruit" questions first: are you certain your water test kit(s) and/or test tubes are not contaminated? It's not likely that residue of some kind is in your test tubes before you tested? Water test kit is not old or expired? If you do the same test back-to-back with two (or even three, for the sake of being thorough) different test tubes, do they all give the same results? I don't suppose you have a friend with a water test kit you could borrow, just to check for consistency of results? Or, as a last resort, you could always take a sample to the LFS and see if they get the same readings.

If the weirdness is not in your test kit, I'd stop putting ammonia in the tank (I'm assuming you are adding "maintenance" dosage now) until it reads zero for a few hours. Let all the ammonia currently in there get processed, then you know your Nitrosomonas bacteria is still kickin'. When ammonia goes to zero, test for nitrite, and see if it's still there, that should tell you if your Nitrobacter bacteria is still going as well.

You really shouldn't have ammonia in the tank in any measurable amount if you have nitrite present *unless* you've increased the input dosage of ammonia, in which case it takes a little time for the Nitrosomona to compensate. Essentially, if you have ammonia in the tank in any measurable amount, you don't need to add more. If your ammonia drops to zero and then becomes measurable again, your "maintenance dosage" of ammonia is a little higher than the previously-established bacteria can deal with yet. However, no matter how great your maintenance dosage, the Nitrosomonas will adjust to compensate for it given sufficient time, if the maintenance dosage is held constant.

I think the number one thing you need to do is remain patient. I get the impression that you went into this well-educated and are doing the right things. I know you hear all the miracle "My tank cycled in a week!" stories from fishless cyclers, but they don't all go that way. Some go quicker, some take longer - same as "unaccelerated" cycling. Hold your maintenance dosage of ammonia input constant (and maybe cut it back a little) and your tank *will* cycle. It's just taking it a little while to find its equilibrium.

pendragon!

 

[jaywings19]

Thank you both for calming me down. Yes, the test kit is only a few months old (Dr Wellfish Master Test Kit). I've been using it for months with no problems... I always wash out the test tubes thoroughly after each usage.

I will not add more Ammonia to allow things to balance out... maybe do a small water change as well. Once the Ammonia get down to zero, then I'll add a small maintenance dosage (15-20 drops or so) and check the readings later that day. If all is balanced, then big water change... and get some fish!

Does that sound like the right thing to do?

 

[pendragon]

Does that sound like the right thing to do?

Yep, but personally, I won't put fish in the tank until I am utterly convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the tank is, in fact, finished cycling. Call me paranoid. I wouldn't add fish immediately when the tank shows zero ammonia and nitrites; I would make it show me it's going to stay that way for a couple of days first. Any "hiccups" in water parameters, and fish are a no-go until I have a better handle on what's going on. But that's just me.

I know how hard it is to wait when you think you're finally there.

Best of luck the rest of the way!

pendragon!

 

[jaywings19]

Yep, but personally, I won't put fish in the tank until I am utterly convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the tank is, in fact, finished cycling. Call me paranoid. I wouldn't add fish immediately when the tank shows zero ammonia and nitrites; I would make it show me it's going to stay that way for a couple of days first. Any "hiccups" in water parameters, and fish are a no-go until I have a better handle on what's going on. But that's just me.

That sounds fair ... I didn't mean to make it seem like I was going to run out and buy fish the next day.