Where Am I With My Cycle?

[Bluejay]

Hey, I've been fishless cycling for 4 days or so now. I put a small amount of mature media from a friend. Today my ammonia readings have dropped for the first time and now seems to be about 3-4ppm (From 7-8 I think but my test doesnt measure past 6) and my Nitrite is at abpout 0.4 and Nitrate is about 6-7.

So my readings are

Ammonia - 3-4ppm
Nitrite - 0.4ppm
Nitrate - 6-7ppm

I wasn't really expecting results like this so soon and I was wondering how far through my cycle I was and how long it might be until the tank was ready for fish.

Thanks for any help!

 

[doresy]

Hi.......When cycling, ammonia starts to be processed quite soon ie 7-10 days in. As the ammonia is processed, nitrite is formed. Because you are topping up the ammonia as it is nutrified your nitrites will rise. Eventually nitrIte levels will go off the scale (spike). Nitrite nutrifying bacteria takes much longer to develop than the bacteria that nutrifies ammonia so be prepared for a wait. (mine took 7 weeks after ammonia was going down to zero )

As long as you keep topping up the ammonia to no more than 5ppm your nitrite level WILL drop eventually but it will go off the scale first. Your nitrAtes will be going up all this time too but that is not a problem till later. You can do a partial, dechlorinated water change during cycle if the nitAtes go biserk but do NOT clean the filter (no fish means no poo so don't disturb the bacterias)

When ammonia AND nitrite levels drop down to zero 8-10 after adding ammonia then you are cycled If you are ready to add a full stock of fish then do a complete, or as much as you can, water change to get rid of most of the nitrAte then add fish asap. If you cant then you MUST continue to add ammonia to feed your (like golddust) bacterias

The word for today is PATIENCE

 

[Bluejay]

Cool, thanks very much. Btw am I wrong in thinking nitrates are produced by the bacteria that consumes the nitrites? I thought that from my results that the nitrites were possibly already being consumed due to the mature filter media. You always seem to be helping me with my questions Doresy, thanks very much its really appreicated!

 

[doresy]

Cool, thanks very much. Btw am I wrong in thinking nitrates are produced by the bacteria that consumes the nitrites? I thought that from my results that the nitrites were possibly already being consumed due to the mature filter media. You always seem to be helping me with my questions Doresy, thanks very much its really appreicated!

You're welcome friend

NitrAtes are the last piece of the cycle and yes they are a by product of nitrIte eating bacteria. By starting with 'matured' media, nitrIte may well be starting to be consumed. It will still be quite a while before enough nitrIte consuming bacteria will be formed to deal with the level of nitrite.

NitrAte is also present in most tap water straight from the tap (mine is 40ppm from the tap!) so it is a good idea to test your tap water for all 3 main levels.

 

[rdd1952]

Sounds as though the bacteria you got may have helped jumpstart things. The nitrite will usually take about twice as long to drop back to zero as the ammonia does the first time. From the sound of things it looks like your ammonia should be back to zero in another day or 2 so the nitrite should take about 10 to 14 days if you keep raising the ammonia back up to 4 ppm daily. Have you tested your tap water to see if there is any nitrate in it or not? That would tell you if bacteria are actually processing nitrte already or if the nitrae came from the tap.

 

[Bluejay]

Hey, I tested my tap water this morning and got a 0 nitrate reading my ammonia levels seem about the same this morning so I guess I've just gotta wait and put more ammonia in when it drops to 0 until everything is ready.