Problem Cycling Tank

[muzzy]

hi all

Something is a little messed up and i need you help..... for the last month ive been doing a fishless cycle and its all been going to plan.

Ammonia was put in, it went off the chart
then nitrites went off the chart,
nitrates were off the chart as well
ammonia started dropping to 0 so put more in to keep the bacteria going,
and then the other day the nitrites went down to 0

So far so good, i was planning to get some fish tomorrow after i did a water change but having checked the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates ammonia is now 8+ nitrite is 0 and nitrates are 0.

This doesnt seem right.... can anyone give me a clue to whats going on??

Thanks

 

[minxfishy]

When you did the water change, did you stir up some gunk in the tank? Doesnt sound right to me, if both ammonia and nitrite were processing in 12 hours, are you sure you tested correctly?

 

[JenCliBee]

could there be a chance of u putting 2 much ammonia in and it's stalled the cycle reading of 8ppm would perhaps do this

 

[minxfishy]

Whats your ph level at also?

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, for fishless cycling you would never want your added ammonia to go "off the chart." You should test the concentration of your pure ammonia in a bucket first so you know roughly how much to add. Then you want to add to about 5ppm as measured by a liquid-reagent based test kit. If you add up in the 8ppm range you will encourage the wrong species of bacteria. This wrong species will still process ammonia but once you bring your ammonia down lower, it will die off and you will be left with a long set-back in your fishless cycling process.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[muzzy]

hi all

Thanks for your replies. I followed the instructions in the sticky so was planning to get the fish before doing the water change, and yes i did test the readings correctly. even double checked just in case (that thought crossed my mind as well).

i havent checked the ph level so not sure but will update after dinner.

when i put the ammonia in i used a calculator thingy to work out how much was needed and up until the other it was working ok, managed to get around 4-5ppm. admittedly i didnt check in a bucket before hand but it is the same stuff i used to cycle my last tank and it went ok then.

so would the best be to start again? or shall i wait until the ammonia drops and then see how it goes?

Thanks again

 

[waterdrop]

Well, you've got me confused for now I guess. You say that you are fishless cycling the tank and you've used the ammonia calculator to estimate your ammonia adds. Then it sounds like you've tested the ammonia level you put in (usually this is done an hour or so after adding ammonia, to let it mix) and got 4ppm or 5ppm.

But then you say its gone *up*(?) to 8+ppm? There shouldn't be another source of ammonia other than you adding it. Are you adding water that might have ammonia? Are there a ton of live plants that are dying or some other strange thing? Have you used any other chemicals we don't know about or does the filter have any media other than sponges and ceramics?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[muzzy]

sorry for the confusion... your not the only one whos confused

When i started i used the aquarium calculator at the top of this site to work out roughly how much ammonia i needed to add (2.5ml). i added the said amount and then tested to make sure it raised the level to what was needed according to the instruction.

I then waiting for the reading to drop then added the same amount to top it up, whilst waiting for the nitrites to drop. this was all going to plan. I then checked the readings for the nitrite and found them to have dropped to 0 and thought it was ready only to find the nitrates had also dropped to 0 and the ammonia had maxed.

The only things i have in the tank are slate, rainbow stone, 3 plants (still alive) and the sand. The filter only has what came with the tank.

Again sorry for the confusion was not intended.

Muzzy

 

[Schmill]

To confirm you only add the ammonia when the level has reached zero yes? Not everyday, (unless it reaches zero everyday of course?)

Ammonia makes no sense maxing, unless there is something perhaps rotting in the tank, or dead, but you say the plants are all alive, and you've not had any fish in there.
Is the tank a 'sealed' hood one, or an open one with a suspended light? I'm just wondering if any outside contamination could have effected it, cleaning products, air freshners etc.
I know it sounds like an outside chance, but theres noone else 'helping' you with the tank is there, that might be dosing the ammonia as well as yourself?
What sand are you using as the base?
What plants do you have?

Not sure if any of these questions will reveal anything, but you never know

 

[waterdrop]

And you understand that there's only ever one add of ammonia in a 24 hour cycle? So if your normal time to add was in the morning and you discovered ammonia had dropped to zero in the evening, you'd still wait until morning to add more ammonia, right?

Early in the cycling it can take many days before ammonia drops to zero. Did you experience that?

~~waterdrop~~