So am on day 12 of my fish less cycle, and am getting reading of 0.75ppm ammonia and an unreadable nitrite reading so above 5 ppm, I have been adding 3ppm of ammonia cause even after 3 days my ammonia reading went down to 1ppm and giviing a 0ppm nitrite reading, so when ever it has gotten to 1ppm I redosed ammonia to bring it back up to 3ppm, which I have done 3 times now. Now I have gotten a high nitrute reading yesterday, i redosed 3ppm ammonia and today ammonia is back down to 0.75ppm and nitrite above 5ppm, So do I now need to get my ammonia back up to 3ppm our leave it till nitrite starts to drop?.
Wierd Readings Of Fish Less Cycle
- Thread starter cambojnr
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EllieJellyEllie
Fish Addict
You leave it until nitrite and ammonia are 0, then redose. Have any nitrates yet?
"After the maintenance feeding, whenever you test and ammonia is .25 ppm or lower and nitrite is clearly under 1 ppm, it is time to add a full ammonia dose again and test in 24 hours.
If ammonia and nitrite both read 0 ppm, you are cycled. Do a large water change, be sure the water is the proper temperature, and add fish. The odds are this will not be the case quite this soon.
If ammonia and nitrite do not both read zero, continue to test daily. Whenever ammonia is again at .25 ppm or less and nitrite is clearly under 1 ppm, add the full amount of ammonia and test in 24 hours. Follow this pattern of testing and adding until both tests read 0 ppm. The cycle should not take much longer to be completed." - Cycling A Tank
Going by that..I think you want to wait.
If ammonia and nitrite both read 0 ppm, you are cycled. Do a large water change, be sure the water is the proper temperature, and add fish. The odds are this will not be the case quite this soon.
If ammonia and nitrite do not both read zero, continue to test daily. Whenever ammonia is again at .25 ppm or less and nitrite is clearly under 1 ppm, add the full amount of ammonia and test in 24 hours. Follow this pattern of testing and adding until both tests read 0 ppm. The cycle should not take much longer to be completed." - Cycling A Tank
Going by that..I think you want to wait.
What's your pH?
Can you perform a diluted nitrite test?
You are adding far too much ammonia. When adding more ammonia and nitrite is high, you should add about 1ppm, but about every 3 or 4 days.
Based on that schedule, you should have added only (maximum) 3ppm day 1, then 1ppm day 5, 1ppm day 9, 1 ppm day 13.
Total addition: 6 ppm ammonia - > which converts to 16ppm nitrite (assuming zero nitrite converts to nitrate). Any higher than that and the cycle can/will stall.
Chances are you are nitrites are too high, and you may need to perform a water change to lower the nitrites.
The nitrate test is completely irrelevant at this time. To test nitrate, the nitrate is first converted to nitrite, so the presence of nitrite already negates any reading you get for nitrates... Not to mention that its a really hard test to get accurate results in the first place.
Can you perform a diluted nitrite test?
You are adding far too much ammonia. When adding more ammonia and nitrite is high, you should add about 1ppm, but about every 3 or 4 days.
Based on that schedule, you should have added only (maximum) 3ppm day 1, then 1ppm day 5, 1ppm day 9, 1 ppm day 13.
Total addition: 6 ppm ammonia - > which converts to 16ppm nitrite (assuming zero nitrite converts to nitrate). Any higher than that and the cycle can/will stall.
Chances are you are nitrites are too high, and you may need to perform a water change to lower the nitrites.
The nitrate test is completely irrelevant at this time. To test nitrate, the nitrate is first converted to nitrite, so the presence of nitrite already negates any reading you get for nitrates... Not to mention that its a really hard test to get accurate results in the first place.
TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
The cycling article was specifically designed to make it impossible to dose to much ammonia or to create too much nitrite, but only as long as people do not deviate from the directions. What you have done is to deviate in a way that is likely to stall or kill your cycle because you are adding too much ammonia to fast. Tou are doing this on your own. Let me explain why the directions are as they are.
If nitrite reaches 16.4 ppm or over on an API test kit (or any similar kit), it slows he cycle by stalling it and/or killing off the bacteria. But the API kit used by most does not read to 16 ppm. Therefore the only way get an actual reading is to perform diluted testing. This involves distilled or deionized water, measuring accurately etc. This is just one more task most new fish keepers do not need to be doing. So I designed the methodology to make this unnecessary. If one follows the dosing of ammonia exactly as it is laid out, its is impossible for one to reach that level of nitrite. However, all bets are off in this respect when people add more ammonia and or add it more often than the article directs.
All other things being equal, 1 ppm of ammonia should turn into 2.55 ppm of nitrite. 3 ppm of ammonia becomes 7.65 ppm of nitrite. If one adds a second 3 ppm amount of ammonia before they see nitrite, one is setting up to produce 15.3 ppm o9f nitrite. This puts one perilously close to the danger level. Just a very small testing error or small ammonia dosing error and you are over the linel It is really easy to cross the line and not know it. The next thing, one is posting in the forum their cycle is stalled or ammoinia isn't going down any more.
I have recently asked tcamos to amend the cycling article to make this crystal clear. Here is how it will look if the changes are put into effect:
Ready – Set – Cycle
Day 1 Set up your tank with the décor etc. Fill it with dechlorinated tap water and add the filter and heater. Turn everything on and wait for the tank temperature to reach the desired 75 - 85 F range. Make sure the tank runs for at least a couple of hours no matter what. You should already know the parameters of your tap water and that they are in a proper range for cycling.
Please note, the average fishless cycle should require a total of between 5 and 6 ammonia additions as described below.
Add the initial amount of ammonia (Dose #1). This should be an amount that produces a test kit reading of 3.0 ppm (1 ppm = 1 mg/l). Because of possible testing and experience issues, we strongly advise that fish keepers new to cycling do not exceed 3 ppm of ammonia. Too much ammonia and/or dosing too often will usually work against the process rather than helping it. You can use the dosing calculator found here Ammonia Calculator to determine the initial amount for a tank your size which should produce the recommended 3 ppm level. (Please read the Suggestions and Trouble Shooting section below on how to calculate the volume of your tank.)
Record the actual amount of ammonia you add for the initial full dose as it will serve as the base amount for calculating a later maintenance addition. To be sure the ammonia has time to circulate in the water, wait about 30 minutes after adding it to test the level in your tank to confirm it is 3 ppm.
Now comes the hard part- you need to be patient as mostly what you will be doing is waiting and testing and waiting some more.
Days 2 and 3 Do nothing.
Day 4 Test for ammonia and nitrite.
Days 5 and 6 Do nothing.
Day 7 Test for ammonia and nitrite.
Continue testing every 3 days (Days 10, 13 etc).
If at any time after this first ammonia addition you test and ammonia is under .75 ppm and nitrite is clearly over 2 ppm, it is time to add more ammonia (Dose #2). Add the same full amount as you did the first time. Now, begin to test the ammonia and nitrite levels every other day. (You should be seeing nitrate soon if you have the kit.)
After the second ammonia addition, while waiting for nitrite to rise, peak and drop, the bacteria will need a maintenance feeding (Dose #3). When you get two consecutive ammonia readings of 0 ppm, give the bacteria a “snack” by adding 1/3 of the full amount. This “snack” (Dose #3) should be needed somewhere between days 21 and 27 of the cycle. Only a single snack dose is needed.
After the maintenance feeding (Dose #3) , whenever you test and ammonia is .25 ppm or lower and nitrite is clearly under 1 ppm, it is time to add another full ammonia dose (Dose #4) and then test in 24 hours.
If ammonia and nitrite both read 0 ppm, you are cycled. Do a large water change, be sure the water is the proper temperature, and add fish. The odds are this will not be the case quite this soon.
If ammonia and nitrite do not both read zero, continue to test daily. Whenever ammonia is again at .25 ppm or less and nitrite is clearly under 1 ppm, add the full amount of ammonia (Dose #5) and test in 24 hours. Follow this pattern of testing and adding (this would be Dose #6, 7 etc.) until both tests do read 0 ppm within 24 hours. The cycle should not take much longer to be completed and you may not need to go beyond Dose #6.
The only way to gt nitrite down to where is itsn't harming the cycle is via water changes. If you want instructions for performing diluted testing let me know.
If nitrite reaches 16.4 ppm or over on an API test kit (or any similar kit), it slows he cycle by stalling it and/or killing off the bacteria. But the API kit used by most does not read to 16 ppm. Therefore the only way get an actual reading is to perform diluted testing. This involves distilled or deionized water, measuring accurately etc. This is just one more task most new fish keepers do not need to be doing. So I designed the methodology to make this unnecessary. If one follows the dosing of ammonia exactly as it is laid out, its is impossible for one to reach that level of nitrite. However, all bets are off in this respect when people add more ammonia and or add it more often than the article directs.
All other things being equal, 1 ppm of ammonia should turn into 2.55 ppm of nitrite. 3 ppm of ammonia becomes 7.65 ppm of nitrite. If one adds a second 3 ppm amount of ammonia before they see nitrite, one is setting up to produce 15.3 ppm o9f nitrite. This puts one perilously close to the danger level. Just a very small testing error or small ammonia dosing error and you are over the linel It is really easy to cross the line and not know it. The next thing, one is posting in the forum their cycle is stalled or ammoinia isn't going down any more.
I have recently asked tcamos to amend the cycling article to make this crystal clear. Here is how it will look if the changes are put into effect:
Ready – Set – Cycle
Day 1 Set up your tank with the décor etc. Fill it with dechlorinated tap water and add the filter and heater. Turn everything on and wait for the tank temperature to reach the desired 75 - 85 F range. Make sure the tank runs for at least a couple of hours no matter what. You should already know the parameters of your tap water and that they are in a proper range for cycling.
Please note, the average fishless cycle should require a total of between 5 and 6 ammonia additions as described below.
Add the initial amount of ammonia (Dose #1). This should be an amount that produces a test kit reading of 3.0 ppm (1 ppm = 1 mg/l). Because of possible testing and experience issues, we strongly advise that fish keepers new to cycling do not exceed 3 ppm of ammonia. Too much ammonia and/or dosing too often will usually work against the process rather than helping it. You can use the dosing calculator found here Ammonia Calculator to determine the initial amount for a tank your size which should produce the recommended 3 ppm level. (Please read the Suggestions and Trouble Shooting section below on how to calculate the volume of your tank.)
Record the actual amount of ammonia you add for the initial full dose as it will serve as the base amount for calculating a later maintenance addition. To be sure the ammonia has time to circulate in the water, wait about 30 minutes after adding it to test the level in your tank to confirm it is 3 ppm.
Now comes the hard part- you need to be patient as mostly what you will be doing is waiting and testing and waiting some more.
Days 2 and 3 Do nothing.
Day 4 Test for ammonia and nitrite.
Days 5 and 6 Do nothing.
Day 7 Test for ammonia and nitrite.
Continue testing every 3 days (Days 10, 13 etc).
If at any time after this first ammonia addition you test and ammonia is under .75 ppm and nitrite is clearly over 2 ppm, it is time to add more ammonia (Dose #2). Add the same full amount as you did the first time. Now, begin to test the ammonia and nitrite levels every other day. (You should be seeing nitrate soon if you have the kit.)
After the second ammonia addition, while waiting for nitrite to rise, peak and drop, the bacteria will need a maintenance feeding (Dose #3). When you get two consecutive ammonia readings of 0 ppm, give the bacteria a “snack” by adding 1/3 of the full amount. This “snack” (Dose #3) should be needed somewhere between days 21 and 27 of the cycle. Only a single snack dose is needed.
After the maintenance feeding (Dose #3) , whenever you test and ammonia is .25 ppm or lower and nitrite is clearly under 1 ppm, it is time to add another full ammonia dose (Dose #4) and then test in 24 hours.
If ammonia and nitrite both read 0 ppm, you are cycled. Do a large water change, be sure the water is the proper temperature, and add fish. The odds are this will not be the case quite this soon.
If ammonia and nitrite do not both read zero, continue to test daily. Whenever ammonia is again at .25 ppm or less and nitrite is clearly under 1 ppm, add the full amount of ammonia (Dose #5) and test in 24 hours. Follow this pattern of testing and adding (this would be Dose #6, 7 etc.) until both tests do read 0 ppm within 24 hours. The cycle should not take much longer to be completed and you may not need to go beyond Dose #6.
The only way to gt nitrite down to where is itsn't harming the cycle is via water changes. If you want instructions for performing diluted testing let me know.
Ok, have just tested and my ammonia is 0ppm and nitrites above 5ppm so should I do a 50% water change to try and get to nitrites to a readable level? As the only reason I added more ammonia was because I was getting readings if 1ppm ammonia after 3 days and 0ppm nitrites, otherwise I wouldn't of added any more ammonia. And yes diluted testing instructions would be nice please,thanks
Did a 60-70% water change and the nitrite is still above 5ppm so should I just wait a few days to see if it goes down? What about my ammonia eating bacteria, should I give them a maintenance feeding tomorrow as 18ml of my ammonia is 3ppm so should I add like 3.5 ml to get 0.50ppm tomorrow, our will they be fine for 3 days as hopefully the nitrite will go down by then
They will be fine for a few days... I'd just wait it out a bit now.
TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
You will likely need to know how to do diluted nitrite tests. For this you need a way to create an accurate mix of your tank water and some amount of pure water, i.e. distilled or reverse osmosis/deionized (ro/di) water. You should be able to find a gallon of distilled water in the supermarket. Some fish stores sell ro/di water.
You will need a clean measuring cup as well. You will use this to mix different solutions of tank and pure water to be able to test for nitrite. You do not want to use your tap water for dilution purposes as it will often contain things that can cause test result be inaccurate.
The reason for using a measuring cup is that it is important to get the proportions of the mix as close to dead on as possible. The advantage of measuring using a cup from which you will only use a few ml is that the potential for mixing errors is way less of an issue in 8 ounces than in 5 or 10 ml of water. What you will do is start by making a 50/50 mix (4 ounces each) of tank and pure water. Then you pour 5 ml of this into the little test tube and then do the nitrite test. Multiply the result of the test by 2 to get the actual ppm in your tank.
However if this 50/50 diluted test result is still at the kit’s maximum level and the test kit reads to a maximum level of 8 ppm or less, you will have to do another dilution. The easiest way is to start with ¼ cup of tank water and ¾ cup of pure water. Test this mix and multiply the result by 4 this time. Alternatively you can use ½ cup of the initial 50/50 mix and then add ½ cup of pure water to this. The result will also be ¼ tank and ¾ pure water. If this test is also at the maximum number, don't worry about a further test, just do a huge water change (at least 50%) ASAP.
You will need a clean measuring cup as well. You will use this to mix different solutions of tank and pure water to be able to test for nitrite. You do not want to use your tap water for dilution purposes as it will often contain things that can cause test result be inaccurate.
The reason for using a measuring cup is that it is important to get the proportions of the mix as close to dead on as possible. The advantage of measuring using a cup from which you will only use a few ml is that the potential for mixing errors is way less of an issue in 8 ounces than in 5 or 10 ml of water. What you will do is start by making a 50/50 mix (4 ounces each) of tank and pure water. Then you pour 5 ml of this into the little test tube and then do the nitrite test. Multiply the result of the test by 2 to get the actual ppm in your tank.
However if this 50/50 diluted test result is still at the kit’s maximum level and the test kit reads to a maximum level of 8 ppm or less, you will have to do another dilution. The easiest way is to start with ¼ cup of tank water and ¾ cup of pure water. Test this mix and multiply the result by 4 this time. Alternatively you can use ½ cup of the initial 50/50 mix and then add ½ cup of pure water to this. The result will also be ¼ tank and ¾ pure water. If this test is also at the maximum number, don't worry about a further test, just do a huge water change (at least 50%) ASAP.
I did a 60-70% change and still had high levels and I can't get distilled water till Tuesday as everywhere is closed for Easter, but I tried filtered tap water at the 3/4 filtered 1/4tank and got this which looks like 6-7 ppm but that's 24-28ppm still so will try get distilled water on Tuesday and test every 24hours till then, our should I just do another huge water change like 80-90% but do not really want to do that unless last resort as being in Aussie land water is expensive and precious.
Wait 24 hours, then add a snack feeding if nitrite remains at 2. Add a full feeding if nitrite drops below 2. Then wait until you get 0 ammonia and less than 2 nitrite again... To add a full feeding. Add a snack feeding after 3 days though, either way.
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