My Fishless Cycle

[waterdrop]

Right, you ideally only add ammonia once in any given 24 hour period and then only if ammonia dropped to zero ppm within the last 24 hours and you only add on your "add-hour," the same time of day each day. But that's an "optimization." Not doing it like that once like you are describing won't mess things up.

12-hour testing is totally up to you. Some do it for periods earlier in the fishless cycle just out of curiosity. Its really -after- the nitrite spike, in what I often refer to as the third phase of fishless cycling that it works better to test at both 12 and 24 hour marks.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[scotty]

when will i know i'm in the nitrite spike stage?

 

[LilyRose Tank]

the nitrite readings are continuously at 5ppm, before dropping to 0 continuously in 12 hours after ammonia additions during the qualifying week

 

[scotty]

ammonia back to zero after 12hrs again,added 4ppm ammonia,just looking for nitrite to start dropping now

 

[waterdrop]

the nitrite readings are continuously at 5ppm, before dropping to 0 continuously in 12 hours after ammonia additions during the qualifying week

Right, this is a good description except that I would be sure to be aware that the period after the nitrite spike is over carries its own watching and delays in that at first the N-Bac colony is usually only able to drop nitrites(NO2) within 24 hours and it can take what feels like a long time to get them dropping to within 12 hours.

So, to summarize, in fishless cycling:

Phase 1) Pre Nitrite Spike:
watching ammonia drop to zero more quickly and waiting for any nitrite at all.

Phase 2) Nitrite Spike:
Nitrite(NO2) is as high or higher than the test can show

Phase 3) Post Nitrite Spike:
Nitrite is taking more than 12 hours to clear and you want to get both nitrite and ammonia all the way down to clearing within 12 hours

Qualification Week)
Both now clearing in 12 hours, watch it repeat for a week.

Each phase has its own special problem:
Phase 1 problem) First dose of ammonia can take very long to clear to zero in many cases.
Phase 2 problem) Long phase or excess input can lead to nitrate(NO3) excess and pH crashes
Phase 3 problem) "the sticking problem" where one or the other of nitrite or ammonia steadily clears in less and less number of hours but then "sticks" at just above 12 hour time period.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[scotty]

still no drop in nitrite

 

[scotty]

nitrite dropped to 0.50 in 12 hours,so hopefully on the right track

 

[scotty]

i will be adding more ammonia this morning,and hopefully my nitrites will be at zero,my question is once i have added my ammonia,do i immediately test for nitrites,or do i leave it 12 hours before testing,then test it again 12hrs later to see if the nitrites have been processed?

 

[scotty]

nitrite down to 0.25 this morning,getting there slowly but surely

 

[waterdrop]

 

[scotty]

nitrite back up to 5+

 

[scotty]

Nitrite levels seem to be sticking above 5+ now

 

[waterdrop]

You look to be having a pretty normal fishless cycle, with A-Bac and N-Bac colonies that appear to be fairly balanced in capacity relative to each other as indicated by a nitrite spike that comes and goes a bit more than a cycle where the A-Bac colony outsized the N-Bac colony would.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[scotty]

nitrite levels were 5+ at 8pm last night,now zero at 8am this morning,getting confused now!!

 

[scotty]

haven't a clue whats going on with my cycle now!