Need A Little Help With My Fishless Cycle

[julielynn47]

2 days ago I was able to give the 5th full dose of ammonia to the tank.  Today ammonia is still at .50 and the nitrites are at .25.   Always before the nitrites fell slower than the ammonia.  
 
It only took 2 days after the 4th dose for it to drop and I added the 5th dose.   I just figured that by this morning, 2 days after the 5th dose, I would be able to give another dose, but for some reason it has pretty much the same readings this morning as it did yesterday, except the nitrites are little lower than they were yesterday.  
 
Is this normal? 

 

[Gruntle]

Yes, unfortunately it is normal, but you're nearly there!

 

[julielynn47]

Thanks!  I thought something had messed up and I couldn't figure out why.

 

[julielynn47]

urrrgggghhhh!   Still the same this morning.  Ammonia .50 and Nitrite .25

 

[julielynn47]

Okay....if the readings are still the same in the morning, Ammonia .50 and nitrite .25, for the 4th day in a row, when do I give up and do a water change because it is stalled?  I mean, I don't know if it is stalled or not.  But if in the morning it is reading the same for the  fourth day in a row, that seems stalled to me.
 
Help!

 

[Ch4rlie]

well, not to state the obvious but are the test tube vials you use are clean, rinsed under tap water only and no soaps etc.
 
Are you taking samples of water from at least 2 inches below water surface as if taken from water surface you are also collecting debris and scum from surface which could affect your results.
 
Ensure you use caps on end of vial when shaking the test tubes, not your finger as oils from finger can also affect water.
 
Might seem pretty obvious but worth double checking you are doing above and following instructions to the letter.
 
 
And finally, if you have any other tanks, check water from these just to be sure its not your test kit.
 
see how that gets on then take it from there.

 

[julielynn47]

I follow all those, so I am good there.   The tubes are rinsed out with clear water and air dried.  I tested the water just yesterday in my 55 gallon, using the same tubes, same test kit, and got a 0 ammonia reading.  So it is not the test kit.
 
Although I don't test 2 inches down. But I never have done that.  I can give it try though.  
 
Okay, edited to add, I just checked the ammonia and nitrites.  Still the same  Ammonia .50 Nitrite .25
 
I got the water about half way down the tank. I washed and dried the tubes to make sure they were clean.  Nothing has changed. 4th day in a row.  
I also wonder why the nitrites are lower than the ammonia when that is not how it used to be. The nitrites were always the higher reading.
 
Is it stalled?   Do I need to do a water change?  It was going along so smoothly, I am just confused as to why it is just sitting there now never changing. 

 

[julielynn47]

I don't know. Maybe I am just getting impatient but it seems to me that something has taken a turn for the worse.  I am just going to leave it alone from this point on. If the cycle is crashing, okay. I will just restart after my trip coming up.   I will be gone for a week and I was hoping it would be finished by then, but obviously something has gone wrong. Not sure what as this is my first fishless cycle and it seemed to be going along pretty good.  But oh well, only time will tell I guess 

 

[Ch4rlie]

Hmm, ok, so we have eliminated human error and faulty testings.
 
But it IS unusual to see readings like that.
 
Am a little stumped right now.
 
How many days between ammonia doses has been done so far?
 
Am a little stumped tbh.
Whats your ph, gh, kh levels right now (if you have the kits for that of course)?
Has any of these changed at all?
 
And one last question, is your heater on and the filter is agitatting the water surface. SIlly questions I know but, the more we know by process of elimination, the more we can help hopefully.

 

[julielynn47]

The filter is going strong. It tested for ammonia 0 and nitrites .25 on the 27th. So that was 5 days ago.  I gave it the 5th dose of ammonia.  The next day ammonia read .50 and it has read that every day since.  The nitrites have held at .25 .
 
I even cut a piece of the biological filter of my 55 gallon and put it in the filter a couple of days ago. Did not change a thing.   I will go do a PH test and see what it is
 
edited to add   PH is 7.2  The temp is around 81, so those are the same as always

 

[julielynn47]

I will be honest, I did a water change today on it.  The way I saw it couldn't hurt. If it kills the cycle, well it pretty seems to be stalled out anyway.   Now the nitrites are at 0 and the ammonia is at .25.
 
I will probably just give it up this round and when I get back home from the trip try it again.
 
In the morning, if the ammonia is at 0, I will add some

 

[julielynn47]

I guess this cycle just crashed and burned.  I don't know what happened. It was going along pretty good there for awhile.  But I have .25 ammonia and 0 on nitrites.  That is the weirdest thing to me. 
 
If it ever gets to 0 on ammonia I will do another full dose, which would be dose 6 and see what happens.  I am just stumped.

 

[julielynn47]

Okay, after some thought, I decided to just forget this cycle.  It was my first time, and I don't know if I messed it up or if it just messed up. I don't know, but I think I will take the media out of the filter and put it in my 55 gallon's filter housing. Then just let it sit there, just in case that there are some bacteria on it, they won't starve. Then when I get back home from our trip, I will simply try it again.
 
I don't want to do  fish in cycle because I don't want the stress of having to do multiple water changes while the fish are in there.  So I will give it another shot. But I will wait until I am not interrupted by a trip to start.
 
Thanks for ALL the help, I really appreciate it, and I will be posting again on this subject when I start again.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Sorry it has not worked out, need to figure out what happened.
 
Maybe when you have more time when you return we might be able figure it out.
 
But a good idea to put your filter media alongside your 55 gal tank filter, that will surely help.
 
Don't worry about about it, we'll get there

 

[julielynn47]

Thanks Ch4rlie.  I will definitely take all the help I can get!