Where Am I At ?

[b3cca]

Hiyaaa,
 
I'm am about 4 weeks into a fish in cycle in a 72 litre tank.
Well ok 3 days ago i woke up and all 4 fish were at the top of the tank with their mouths out of the water. after checking parametres they were
ammonia 6-8 ppm
Nitrite      0.5 ppm
Nitrate     5-10 ppm ( my tap water has 0 nitrates and 0 nitrites)
 
I immediately did a 75 % water change, stopped feeding  and have been doing two 50 % water changes every day ever since. (using proper dechlorinator and temp)
 
Readings now are
ammonia  2-4 ppm
nitrites      0
nitrates     0
 
All fish are ok and back to normal, but should I not still have nitrites ? i figured seeing nitrites was good as it meant bacteria were growing but now it seems they've dissapeared again I;ve tested water every day for 4 weeks and that one day was the only day  i have ever seen any nitrite or nitrates.
 
Also the tank now has like a soil smell everytime i change the water,
Soo did i kill my bacteria or am i just being impatient lol, do you think my cycle is even doing anything yet?

 

[Mervin]

I'm new to this and am waiting for my fishless cycle to complete and I also am not sure where I am in my cycle (my nitrites are off the chart and I have nitrate readings so I think I'm into stage 2).
 
I don't think you've killed the bacteria. There are very few of them in the actual water (compared to the surfaces of the filter, gravel etc... that's where the majority is).
 
It's my understanding that the nitrite is the result of the bacteria eating/converting the ammonia, considering you've done some large water changes and had a small reading to start with, the test kits probably can't detect what little ammounts of nitrite might still be in the water. So it will just take time for them to process more ammonia into nitrite that can be detected.
 
My tank also has a soil smell, I think it's a good sign.
 
I think the problem with a fish-in cycle is that you have to do partial water changes everyday (probably atleast twice a day minimum) otherwise the fish will die because any amount of ammonia or nitrite is harmful to them (and nitrate too but they can withstand a much higher level of nitrate). I think because of this your readings will be low.
 
I think you're on track and it should start to speed up because the bacteria will be multiplying more and more.
 
Someone with more experience will be able to give you better advice.

 

[b3cca]

Lol ya I just keep worrying lol.
Well when i got nitrites i thought yayyy it's getting there and then when they dissapeared i'm like nooooooooo come back

 
Grrr i've read so much Nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, p.h, Co2, nitrogen arghhh I feel like a chemistry student lol

 

[TallTree01]

In a fish In cycle you should be doing 75% water changes 2-3 times daily.

 

[scorpiogreen]

Hi B3cca.
 
Not really answering your question but just a comparison of your cycle to mine. I have a 64 litre tank with 6 platies in it (plus about 7 fry that arrived along the way).
 
I started my "Fish in" cycle on 2nd January. From advice from others I understand you should try to keep the ammonia to under 0.25ppm during the cycling period. I have also seen advice recommending that you should not perform any water changes during cycling but chose to ignore that. There is so much contradictory advice out there and you sometimes have to make your own judgment after listening to everybodies opinions. For my tank doing 10% daily water changes achieves the 0.25ppm I chose to target. I am at day 57 (8 weeks) and still have seen no nitrites.
 
Somebody else on this forum reported on my previous thread that it took him 6 weeks before any nitrites were seen. It is frustrating as I am very impatient and am keen to add some fish. My local fish shop assures me my tank must have cycled because I have had fish in the tank for more than 2 weeks (I don't rate that kind of advice very highly). I think I'll go with the advice from the forums though and wait for the readings to tell me I've finished cycling.
 
Actually I think I'll start another thread as surely 8 weeks is too long?

 

[b3cca]

Hi B3cca.
 
Not really answering your question but just a comparison of your cycle to mine. I have a 64 litre tank with 6 platies in it (plus about 7 fry that arrived along the way).
 
I started my "Fish in" cycle on 2nd January. From advice from others I understand you should try to keep the ammonia to under 0.25ppm during the cycling period. I have also seen advice recommending that you should not perform any water changes during cycling but chose to ignore that. There is so much contradictory advice out there and you sometimes have to make your own judgment after listening to everybodies opinions. For my tank doing 10% daily water changes achieves the 0.25ppm I chose to target. I am at day 57 (8 weeks) and still have seen no nitrites.
 
Somebody else on this forum reported on my previous thread that it took him 6 weeks before any nitrites were seen. It is frustrating as I am very impatient and am keen to add some fish. My local fish shop assures me my tank must have cycled because I have had fish in the tank for more than 2 weeks (I don't rate that kind of advice very highly). I think I'll go with the advice from the forums though and wait for the readings to tell me I've finished cycling.
 
Actually I think I'll start another thread as surely 8 weeks is too long?

 
Aww did it cycle scorpio ??

 
Luckily mine has cycled all ok now (took about 5 weeks) and mine is around the same size as yours ( 70 litres)

 
I actually only saw high Nitrites appear once myself so I don't think there is a excact set time or pattern but you should definately do water changes with fish in, I was doing 2-3 PWC everyday and it obviously didn't harm or slow my cycle down any.
 
Maybe with the additional fry and load it had to start the cycle again , not sure but hope it's nearly there now