Is It Normal..

[dzsigmond217]

So I figured out the pH problem I had in my tanks and the ammonia has spiked for the past 3 days or so. I also had readings of nitrites in the second day of .25. I had to do 75% water changes to reduce ammonia and today I checked nitrites again and the readings are coming up 0. Is this normal at the beginning of a cycle?
Thanks
Dianne

 

[littlest]

you probably removed the small amount of nitrite you had through the water change, so its know at an undetectable level, and the bacteria haven't converted more ammonia to nitrite yet (or not enough to show up on the tests). Kepp going with the ammonia, I'm sure the nitrite will come back.

 

[dzsigmond217]

Another question: (I searched posts for the answer but couldn't find it.)
I saw that if ammonia is too high that beneficial bacteria won't grow. The ammonia in my tank is very high and I was wondering what level it should stay at for the tank to cycle? I was afraid if i did too much of a water change I would mess up the cycle. For example; I just did a 75% water change in my 29 gallon and checked my ammonia level afterwards. It was still around 4ppm. I'm going to do another water change.. Plus I have fish in the tank and don't want them to suffer either so I know ammonia has to be kept at low levels.. (bacteria in tank was accidentally killed so I'm cycling all over again) question: what level does ammonia need to stay at for the cycle to go smoothly?
Thanks!
Dianne

 

[waterdrop]

Dianne,

Are you getting the details of Fishless and Fish-In cycling confused? They are very different procedures, so when you read threads about cycling, one of the first things you have to do is determine clearly which type of cycling is being discussed.

In Fishless cycling it is true that problems (stalling) can occur up at about 8ppm. That is why 5-6ppm is considered to be the "sweet spot" for the first phase. In Fish-In cycling you have FISH in there! You have to strive for 0ppm ammonia at all times with fish in the tank. That's why Fish-In cycling can take quite a while and be a lot of trouble, you have to do all those water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrite as close to zero as possible.

The filter will still cycle because even water changes can't really keep things at zero all the time, so enough ammonia and nitrite will make their way through the filter that small bacteria populations will slowly build up.

(Sorry if off base for your situation or if this is somehow wrong! Just trying to help a little.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[littlest]

sorry, I was assuming it was a fishless cycle for some reason.

waterdrop is right, with fish you need to keep ammonia as low as you possibly can. Doing water changes shouldn't slow down your cycle and it is essential for your fish. 4ppm is way too high, so keep going with the large water changes. Fish are always producing ammonia so there will always be food for the bacteria.

 

[dzsigmond217]

Ok..thats what I thought! I did do the water changes and am using Ammo - Lock as well. I did get confused with the posts i read and thats why I wanted to double check. I'm doing water changes at least twice a day at 75% ( a lot of buckets!! lol) Thanks for the input!

 

[waterdrop]

75% at least twice a day is an awful lot! I would do ammonia and nitrite tests and if you are quite close to zero then perhaps you could lighten up a little. If fish behaviour looks good that would also give you confidence to perhaps back off to 50% or occasionally once a day 75%.

 

[dzsigmond217]

The ammonia raises quite a lot through out the day..sometimes I do a water change in the am and by evening its back up to 4-6ppm so I have to do it again. Believe me..I would love to do less water changes but I want to make sure the ammonia stays at .25 or less. Thanks for all the input tho! I'll keep ya'll up dated on progress!
Dianne

 

[waterdrop]

That's pretty interesting, actually seeing it go back up to 4-6ppm during the course of one day! I guess I still think of this in a pretty theoretical way, but there you have the reality right in front of you in bright green. I guess that is good confirmation that we are building up enough bacteria to handle 4-6ppm because the fish really will produce that much in the 12 hours.