What Is Going On With My Cycle?

[CezzaXV]

Hello all,

A link to my cycling journal here: http/www.fishforum...-cycle-journal/

I'm doing a fishless cycle, and I'm currently on day 25. As of late, my tank seems to be struggling to process ammonia.

I'm not sure what might have brought this on. The only thing I can think of that it might be is this: when I was waiting for my nitrite spike, I was doing half doses. When I got my first 0 on nitrite, I went back up to full dosages (4ppm), but after a while I started getting concerned about my results so I went back to a half dose. Now I'm back up to full dosings, it's struggling. I don't know whether it was because of the half dosings, as when I went back up to full dosings the first time after my first 0, it had no problem processing the increased load.

I did change some of my subtrate on day 19 (two days after my first 0 on nitrite), but I was of the understanding that there's only a minimal amount of bacteria held in the substrate?

I've only got two test tubes at the moment as I broke my others (got some more on order) so must admit I've been lazy with testing EVERYTHING, but I tested the nitrate last night after a 30-40% water change and it was 40ppm, and the night before that my pH was 7.2.

Just getting a bit concerned now and would like some reassurance or guidance, whichever is appropriate.

mod edit, the title could be construed as a swear filter bypass, this is a family forum

 

[HayzH]

im not sure hunny....maybe the change of substrate did upset it a bit...i did tests this afternoon on my 3 ... and 1+3 are processing Ammonia and Nitrite in 17hrs...but Tank 2 is only processing ammonia, nitrite still spiked.
that was the tank that was running ahead...i dunno....i just dunno.
EDIT just had a thought...did you add the log at the same time??? as this is known to lower the PH ..maybe your PH has plummeted?
and my tanks do better with a ph of 8 and over x

 

[lucasluke]

How long did it take for your Nitrite Spike to come down?

It is possible that if it took a long time to come down, the other bacteria would of died of because you are doing half doses.

 

[CezzaXV]

[font="arial][size="2"]My first 0 on ammonia was on day 10 (and got one every day after that), and my first 0 on nitrite on day 17. I replaced half my substrate on day 19, then went back to half doses on days 20-21. On day 22, it started to struggle with the ammonia. Up until this point it would EASILY process 4ppm in 24 hours, but now it's barely managing half of the 4ppm dose, and there's been no change between today's AM and PM readings (stuck on 1-2ppm).

Seems odd as when I first went back up to full dosings after my first 0 on nitrite, it continued processing the ammonia easily, but now it's just not. At no point did I ever stop adding ammonia, so they shouldn't have died off completely, even if they died back a bit.[/size][/font]
[font="arial] [/font]
[font="arial][size="2"]I redosed 4ppm ammonia last night and got 1-2ppm this morning so I was happy it was making progress, but I've just done my PM test and it's still at 1-2ppm. [/size][/font]

 

[Gvilleguy]

I would not be concerned with this temporary fluctuation. I think it unlikely that the substrate change did anything negative, and as long as you are back to dosing up to 4ppm now (since your nitrites did hit zero) you should see it settle back to normal soon.

 

[the_lock_man]

How long did it take for your Nitrite Spike to come down?

It is possible that if it took a long time to come down, the other bacteria would of died of because you are doing half doses.

Some of it may have died back, but with ammonia and oxygenated water, you wouldn't have lost the whole colony.

 

[CezzaXV]

I would not be concerned with this temporary fluctuation. I think it unlikely that the substrate change did anything negative, and as long as you are back to dosing up to 4ppm now (since your nitrites did hit zero) you should see it settle back to normal soon.

That's what I thought, but it feels better hearing it from someone else

 

[CezzaXV]

My ammonia hasn't budged since this morning, stuck at 0.5ppm. Admittedly I'm testing an hour and a half early as I'm out tonight. Might give it another test when I get home later.

Don't know whether to redose or not. I really don't want my N-bacs to die off, they've taken so long to grow, but it seems like my ammonia gets so low and then stops.

 

[CezzaXV]

Okay, some fun facts.

Just done some more testing (it's STILL 0.5ppm and 0 nitrite, I'm concerned my N-bacs are gonna go hungry

). I've done some additional readings and my pH is 6.4, which is the natural pH of my tapwater. Generally my tank water has a higher pH but ammonia keeps it higher as it reacts with my soft water. As I've not had a 0 in two days, it's been two days since I last redosed with ammonia so I'm guessing that my water has gone back to its normal pH rather than going through a pH crash. Nitrate is reading somewhere 40-80ppm.

Is the pH harming my cycle? Even though my ammonia isn't 0 yet, is it worth redosing anyway to give my pH a boost?

 

[BigbruiserAl]

ph of 6.4 is preety much a stall add some bi carb just for the fishless cycle it will soon ba back on track

 

[HayzH]

Okay, some fun facts.

Just done some more testing (it's STILL 0.5ppm and 0 nitrite, I'm concerned my N-bacs are gonna go hungry

). I've done some additional readings and my pH is 6.4, which is the natural pH of my tapwater. Generally my tank water has a higher pH but ammonia keeps it higher as it reacts with my soft water. As I've not had a 0 in two days, it's been two days since I last redosed with ammonia so I'm guessing that my water has gone back to its normal pH rather than going through a pH crash. Nitrate is reading somewhere 40-80ppm.

Is the pH harming my cycle? Even though my ammonia isn't 0 yet, is it worth redosing anyway to give my pH a boost?

a ph that low could be stalling the cycle..my tanks readings slow down alot when the ph goes much lower than 8.0...give it a spoonful of bicarb and see what happens?

 

[CezzaXV]

Thanks for the quick replies guys, it helps when I'm worried

I don't have any bicarb to hand, so not wanting to let my bacteria sit there in a stall, I redosed ammonia to 4ppm (maybe a little more - I forgot to lower my dosage now that my wood is taking up some litres where water used to be) and my pH is now off the scale of the high pH test.

I'll try to get hold of some bicarb tomorrow, but can you advise me how to use it and how much? Will it raise my pH significantly, or just maintain it at a certain level?

I only have the API test so I don't know the GH or KH of my water. Is it worth getting tests for these?

 

[BigbruiserAl]

start with half a teaspoon, leave for 1hr test ph and adust you want a ph of 8.6 or as close as sp 8-9 is spot on for the cycle

 

[HayzH]

Thanks for the quick replies guys, it helps when I'm worried

I don't have any bicarb to hand, so not wanting to let my bacteria sit there in a stall, I redosed ammonia to 4ppm (maybe a little more - I forgot to lower my dosage now that my wood is taking up some litres where water used to be) and my pH is now off the scale of the high pH test.

I'll try to get hold of some bicarb tomorrow, but can you advise me how to use it and how much? Will it raise my pH significantly, or just maintain it at a certain level?

I only have the API test so I don't know the GH or KH of my water. Is it worth getting tests for these?

i havent tested my GH or KH. 2tsp in my 70L and 66L boost mine from 6.2 - 8.2 ..try adding 1 or 2..see where it goes too? You can always add more..i test my PH every day now to keep an eye on it. Wood can sometime lower your ph...so it maybe good to test Ph daily also x

 

[CezzaXV]

Okie doke, will try to get some on my lunch break tomorrow at work. I think my pH is currently 9+ (the scale on the API test only goes up to 8.8), but I'm guessing that a little bit high is better than WAAAAY too low?

In any case, I'm hoping that my ammonia will drop at least a bit overnight and the pH always drops with it.

I'm waiting for some more test tubes to arrive, and when they do it'll be much easier to test for everything every day. At the moment I've only got two, and ammonia and nitrite are the things I'm most interested in so the other stuff has gone by the wayside.