I Am About To Give Up!

Slufa111

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Ok so I had the brillant idea of getting a fish tank. :hyper:


I started a fishless cycle and used the wrong ammonia ------------ changed all the water and began again.


The tank stalled and had a PH Crash, did a 25% water change and it worked but the ph keep stinking to below six.


My nitrite has been purple for well over 3 weeks. Even though the ammonia is being processed correctly.

I know the point of fishless cycling and really wish it was working better for me but I tried everything.

Tried:

1. higher temp (mid 80s)
2. power head (for better circulation)
3. water changes
4. Higher intense light

what the hell am i doing wrong? I bought the damn thing to store fish not a damn test disaster



sorry had to vent
 
What type of test kit are you using, and how many ppm does that color represent?
 
What type of test kit are you using, and how many ppm does that color represent?

api master kit, ammonia goes up to 8pm but i usually only add 4-5ppm. and lately (last 2 days) the ammonia is taking a heck of a lot long to process
 
Aww, don't give up. Remember that while the ammonia part of the cycle was completing (and now that you are dosing ammonia daily), really large quantities of nitrites would be present, so it'll take a while for the bacteria to finish consuming it all. It doesn't mean that the nitrite consuming bacteria aren't growing, or haven't been working...they just have a huge abundance of food to finish off.

In all honesty I can't think of reason why you couldn't do a water change to bring the Nitrite down to a measurable level (a bit less than the max on your test kit), and then retest before your normal ammonia dosing to see how much if any the level has gone down.
 
Aww, don't give up. Remember that while the ammonia part of the cycle was completing (and now that you are dosing ammonia daily), really large quantities of nitrites would be present, so it'll take a while for the bacteria to finish consuming it all. It doesn't mean that the nitrite consuming bacteria aren't growing, or haven't been working...they just have a huge abundance of food to finish off.

In all honesty I can't think of reason why you couldn't do a water change to bring the Nitrite down to a measurable level (a bit less than the max on your test kit), and then retest before your normal ammonia dosing to see how much if any the level has gone down.

but lately (last 2 days) I added 4ppm of ammonia and it took well over 36 hours to process back to 0 ppm................it used to be 12 hours....... this tank is playing with my head lol...

I wont give up yet. I guess on the bright side I am getting brown fungus in my tank lol a sign the cycle is still working.
 
Often times a level of ammonia that is way beyond 6ppm will inhibit the bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate, the same with a nitrite level that is too high. It is some sort of feedback mechanism with the bacteria that will actually slow their growth.

If your nitrite level is above 8-10ppm, do a 50% water change, and keep the ammonia level closer to 4ppm. These lower level will reduce the chance of this feedback situation. I also wouldn't worry about the pH drop, this often happens in cycling tanks. At lower pH levels the ammonia is converted to ammonium, which is used the same as ammonia by your nitrifying bacteria.
 
but lately (last 2 days) I added 4ppm of ammonia and it took well over 36 hours to process back to 0 ppm................it used to be 12 hours....... this tank is playing with my head lol...


mine kept doing that - it was the ph - the faster the ammonia was being converted the faster the ph lowered - towards the end of the cycle I was doing water changes every 3 days to keep the ph up above 7 - twas a PITA but it did keep the cycle moving.
 
OK, I don't know how much you know about water chemistory, so I'll try to keep things simple. A steady pH is held steady by the KH of you water. The KH (carbonate hardness) acts to nutralise any acids in your water, due to it's alcaline properties. NitrAte is acidic. This means that as your nitrate builds up, the KH is "used up" as it prevents the nitrate from lowering the pH. Once the KH is "used up", there is nothing to stop the pH from lowering, which it does very quickly. This quick drop in pH is often refured to as a pH crash.
If your pH is dropping, you need to look at boosting your KH, to counteract the pH drop, before it crashes. You can do this by adding limestone, crushed coral, bicarbonate of soda or waterchanges, to your tank. Add it in the correct ammounts and the pH will hold steady. Add too much and the pH will rise above normal leavles. Add too little and it will only slow the onset of the crash. As a quick fix solution, bicarbonate of soda (baking powder) will work, but this will only work short-tearm. If you choose to do this, add it in slowly, leaving between aditions for arround an hour, untill you pH sticks on your disired leavles.
HTH
rabbut
P.S, for further reading on pH, pH crashes and their links to KH leavles, bignose gave a good reply to my thread about this in the scientific section, [topic="210275"]here[/topic]
 
Holy ####! My Nitrite dropped to .25!!!!!!!!!!!! :good:


Fish any time now........


what is the next steps?
 
keep going. if it stays low and ammonia goes down to 0 in 12 hours then your ready.
 
your doing just great be patient and remember it will change again when you add your fish but be patient. This is a wait and see hobby and those that rsh do not get there any faster just have more hassle to cope with.
 

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