Fishless Cycle, Where Did My Nitrates Go?

Fishless cycle started a week ago, June 1st. 36 gallon or 136 liter tank. Cascade 1000 canister filter with biorings.
Temp is 84.7 degrees, pH right around 7.6
No water changes

TSS+ full bottle added 24 hours from prime.
Dosed tank with Dr. Tim's ammonia to 4ppm for three days (I know 2ppm is more conventional, I doubled Tim’s dose AND did it each day without testing until the 4th)
Had 8ppm plus ammonia on June 4th with no nitrites and the same nitrates that came with the tap water, stopped dosing ammonia. Then on June 5 I had nitrites and more nitrates, literally overnight as I've heard it can happen.
Now my ammonia is coming down each day nitrites slightly but my nitrates are also going down dramatically?
One piece of mopanI driftwood and three 5 inch sections of cactus wood. Also 4 marimo balls. Could the slow growing moss really be consuming the nitrates? Oh and there is a bag of carbon in my canister.
Any theories? Could my cycle have stalled? (Not worried aside from maybe not understanding where the nitrates are going. Guessing I just need more BB that convert nitrite, but it seemed to be happening just a day ago?

Including pictures from 6th to the 8th water results to show what I've seen.

Really appreciate the help everyone!

tl, dr: I've had a significant change in the last 24 hours since my last test. I'm trying to understand the results, but especially where my nitrates went.

PS aquarium also has a distinct smell. Not a stink, or a mildew smell exactly. More like earthy musty type I notice when I come into my apartment with windows closed. I thought from the ammonia and BB growing so quickly, but with ammonia bottoming out maybe it’s from the wood in there. Not sure.

Is there something that causes nitrates to drop that I haven't thought of? I assumed they'd accumulate, not diminish this much.

 

Hello!

First things first, go vigorously shake the nitrate bottles for a solid minute. Sometimes the two chemicals can separate and need thorough mixing to reincorporate.

Then, report back!

 

Hello!

First things first, go vigorously shake the nitrate bottles for a solid minute. Sometimes the two chemicals can separate and need thorough mixing to reincorporate.

Then, report back!

I did that, extremely aggressive shaking of the bottle. Did the nitrate test twice. Shook bottle violently as usual. Second time I shook bottle #2 for a minute (double the time instructed). Then the solution for well over a minute. Same procedure as previous tests. I will try shaking bottle number 1 as well in a second test tonight.
If no change should I assume it's the 4 moss balls/wood. Is there some other mechanism at play that can make the nitrates go down without a water change? Can they "die" from a stall or something weird? I know they are a waste product, but I'm grasping at straws.

I will post with retest results

Ok I'm reporting back. Did a mega shake on both bottles but #2 in particular. I got a burnt orange nitrate color to my relief.
I've read it takes longer for the type of BB needed to break down nitrites to grow in significant quantities. I think now that's what I am waiting for. I had no ammonia less than 12 hours after having at least 1-2 ppm, that's good!
Dosed the tank only to 2ppm with ammonia. May do a water change in a few days if the nitrites don't start reducing, but probably not.
I'll keep this thread updated.
Thanks a lot!

 

I don’t think it’s necessary to do a water change this quickly. I think you should just leave the tank alone and let it cook.

It’s like cooking a turkey. You have to give it Time in the oven. It’s got to cook...turkey will never be cooked if you keep opening the door and let the heat out.

If you keep checking numbers you will go insane over it. It will get there in about 4 weeks.

 

Thank you!
I am not impatient about this. And by checking numbers I've noticed big swings and changes. I do enjoy following the process and while 4 weeks is fine things are happening well short of that time frame so I want to stay aware. Also if I lose all ammonia I need to know so I can keep up the bacteria food source without over doing the ppm. As I said I probably won't do a water change because I largely agree with you.

 

If your afraid of losing an ammonia source throw in some fish food ever few days or a piece of shrimp.

 

This is why one shouldn't run their tests while waiting for the TSS+ to do its job. The numbers will be all wonky

I understand since you are using TSS to do a fishless cycle you have to keep an eye on the ammonia. With a fish in cycle the fish are constantly producing ammonia so no testing is necessary. It is possible that the TSS is making the nitrate numbers wonky.

As others have said it is best to just let the cycle do its thing for a while longer before you do anything other than adding the ammonia.

 

If your afraid of losing an ammonia source throw in some fish food ever few days or a piece of shrimp.

Your point is correct, you should be testing ammonia every day or 2 so you know when to feed.

And nitrites to see when they go to 0 and you’re Cycled.

I would save the nitrate solution until nitrites go to 0 since that is the one solution you will run out of first.

 

Your point is correct, you should be testing ammonia every day or 2 so you know when to feed.

And nitrites to see when they go to 0 and you’re Cycled.

I would save the nitrate solution until nitrites go to 0 since that is the one solution you will run out of first.

I agree. I have plenty of all the other solutions but have had to buy more for the nitrates. I have been using my test kit for about 2 1/2 years.

 

Thank you everyone! I’ll update this when I reach another milestone!

 

As promised, here are my current readings. It disappears 2-3ppm ammonia in less than 12 hours, nitrites went from purple to baby blue almost overnight!
I'll do a water change tonight. Maybe 2 if nitrates are still outside healthy parameters?

Less than 2 week cycle is fine with me!

 

What a beautiful sight!

Keep feeding the bacteria until you add fish.

 

Ammonia won't drop below .50 ppm and no sighs of Nitrites after 5 weeks of fishless cycling. I started with Seachem Stability following directions exactly for a week per the instructions. I have a 20 gallon tank, heat to 80, large airstone. I started dosing ammonia to 2ppm. I finally used more Seachem han the bottle states because things seemed to have stalled. I think it went down to 1ppm at one point where it stayed awhile, so I did 2 small water changes. Now it seems to be at .50 ppm for 3 weeks now even after small water changes. I didn't started testing for nitrites until 2 weeks ago and they are at 0. I have no idea if they were high at one point and came down or never showed at all. I'm inclined to say they never showed at all. I recently bought an amazon sword. Still ammonia is at .50 ppm. I am running out of ideas. Should I dose more ammonia to get the nitrites moving? It seems like my equipment and bottled beneficial bacteria is useless if I still have to do water changes, and this adds to the frustration that I am not even sure that water changes are doing more harm than good? I don't know how to make a new post so I made a Reply instead. Any help is appreciated.