20 Gallon Tank Fishless cycle confusion.

Short story: Dosed to 2ppm ammonia, used fluval cycle as per instructions on the bottle, reached a point where ammonia went down from 2ppm to 0.2 in a day, with no nitrite and 25ppm nitrate.

Ran out of fluval, so dosed some more ammonia and now it's stuck. 2ppm and not budging at all, no change in nitrite or nitrate either. What gives? Is it safe for fish now if I remove all the ammonia or what?

 

Short story: Dosed to 2ppm ammonia, used fluval cycle as per instructions on the bottle, reached a point where ammonia went down from 2ppm to 0.2 in a day, with no nitrite and 25ppm nitrate.

Ran out of fluval, so dosed some more ammonia and now it's stuck. 2ppm and not budging at all, no change in nitrite or nitrate either. What gives? Is it safe for fish now if I remove all the ammonia or what?

Not safe for fish.

If ammonia was converting but now its not, then there is some issue going on.

What's your temp and PH?
Have they changed drastically?

Ive never used Fluval BB, how long has it been since you started the cycle until now?

 

Not safe for fish.

If ammonia was converting but now its not, then there is some issue going on.

What's your temp and PH?
Have they changed drastically?

Ive never used Fluval BB, how long has it been since you started the cycle until now?

Temp is 28C, pH is 7.5. Been pretty constant throughout the process.

Funny story, I'm actually about 8 weeks or so in now. I had this problem for the first few weeks, where the ammonia levels were completely unchanged, which is why I started using the Fluval booster.

 

Temp is 28C, pH is 7.5. Been pretty constant throughout the process.

Funny story, I'm actually about 8 weeks or so in now. I had this problem for the first few weeks, where the ammonia levels were completely unchanged, which is why I started using the Fluval booster.

Well...ammonia levels not budging for the first few weeks is normal.

But once ammonia starts dropping it only drops faster from then on and isn't supposed to slow down unless either your bacteria dies off, or more ammonia than the bacteria can currently handle is added to the tank.

But even then, if your tank can convert 2ppm in 24 hours but you add 3ppm....it will take a few extra days to convert it all....but it won't stop completely. You will still see it dropping.

Can you think of any reason at all as to how your bacteria may have died off?

Maybe you didn't dechlorinate at some point?

Your temp and PH are perfect.

 

Did anything else change when you dosed the second time? Like a major cleaning, or changing out filter media?

 

Temp is 28C, pH is 7.5. Been pretty constant throughout the process.

Funny story, I'm actually about 8 weeks or so in now. I had this problem for the first few weeks, where the ammonia levels were completely unchanged, which is why I started using the Fluval booster.

Since you are not seeing nitrites this isn't exactly what you are seeing but might give you some pointers as to what's happening and what to do. t Symptoms of a Stalled Fishless Cycle and How to Fix it | Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle Forum | 429601

A simple water change may be all that is needed to get this cycle moving forward.