When Do I Need To Wc In Fishless Cycle?

[Em29]

Hiya - my tank has just started cycling....Stats as of this morning

Ammonia 0.25 ppm
NI2 5ppm
Ni3 80ppm




What do I do - I have heard that if the Nitrates get too high it will stall your cycle....

I have re-dsed up to 2ppm this morning but think I may need to wc??

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Unless the cycling process stalls (something like 7 days of nitrite buildup with no change in nitrate levels), you should not need to do water change until after your "qualifying week" (7 consecutive days of 0 ammonia and nitrite after 12 hours of your standard ammonia level)...


But on the face of it you are getting there, you have presence of all three compounds.

 

[BigbruiserAl]

I usually do a small water change on a Fish less cycle when they go over the 100pm mark, no need for a dramatic wc just to bring them down to more readable levels

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Do a water change whenever you see any of the following in a tank being cycled fishlessly:

Ammonia over 5 ppm - to lower ammonia
Nitrite over 5 ppm- to lower nitrite
Ph below 7.0 ppm- to raise pH

You also need to keep the kH up in order to insure sufficient carbonates. This can be done via water changes but can also be accomplished by adding a bit of baking soda.

There is not often a need to worry about nitrates themselves in terms of affecting the bacteria.