(Fishless cycling) ammonia lowered from 4ppm to 0, no nitrites or nitrates + bacterial bloom

i'm at a complete loss at what to do anymore
i've been trying to cycle my tank for about a week, a few days ago i had done a quick 30% water change (+ added anubias) and then dosed 4ppm ammonia, afterwards there was a bacterial bloom (i think, my tank is really white/cloudy)
i figured i wouldn't mess with it at all so i could get the bloom over with and continue because i read you shouldn't add any more chemicals or change water etc or else the bloom might take longer to dissipate. i still checked my ammonia and it kept lowering

a few days ago it was at 4ppm,
the next day it lowered to around 1-2ppm,
yesterday it was at around 0.50 ,
and today it's 0

each day i checked for both nitrites and nitrates and both of them were 0 as well?? my ph is 7.4, the water is conditioned and no chlorine or ammo lock, addon etc is added. i genuinely have no clue where my ammonia is going, and don't know what to do.

if i do nothing i'm afraid all my bacteria will die because of no ammonia/nothing to convert and i'll have to restart, and if i add ammonia i'm afraid that my bacteria will bloom even more than it already has because i added even more nutrients and i have no idea whatsoever what to do about anything, i'm so confused. what should i do??

thanks for any help in advance

 

Welcome to Fishlore

you are still very early in the cycling process. You are ahead of the game though since your ammonia is going down so quickly. Just go ahead and add more ammonia each time it drops to or close to zero. The bacterial bloom is just something we have to go through. It could very well continue being cloudy until the cycle is complete.

Quite often it will take 3 weeks or more for nitrites to show up and nitrates will show up once the nitrites show up and then start going down.

For now just continue adding ammonia as needed and give the bacteria time to grow. I would cut the amount of ammonia down to 2ppm.

 

Welcome to Fishlore

you are still very early in the cycling process. You are ahead of the game though since your ammonia is going down so quickly. Just go ahead and add more ammonia each time it drops to or close to zero. The bacterial bloom is just something we have to go through. It could very well continue being cloudy until the cycle is complete.

Quite often it will take 3 weeks or more for nitrites to show up and nitrates will show up once the nitrites show up and then start going down.

For now just continue adding ammonia as needed and give the bacteria time to grow. I would cut the amount of ammonia down to 2ppm.

thank you so much for the quick response !
i promptly dosed a small amount of ammonia after reading, hopefully nitr(i/a)tes start showing up soon for me

i'll need to update if anything new happens, i just hope that the bacterial bloom doesn't get more intense. it's already really cloudy !

 

thank you so much for the quick response !
i promptly dosed a small amount of ammonia after reading, hopefully nitr(i/a)tes start showing up soon for me

i'll need to update if anything new happens, i just hope that the bacterial bloom doesn't get more intense. it's already really cloudy !

You are so very welcome I know the cloudy water looks pretty bad but is isn't going to affect the cycling process so just give it time to go through this stage.

 

It's posssible that your anubias may be absorbing your ammonia. Plants actually prefer ammonia over nitrite and nitrates from what I've been told.

 

You are so very welcome I know the cloudy water looks pretty bad but is isn't going to affect the cycling process so just give it time to go through this stage.

okay! i'll try to not pay so much mind to the water now and focus more on my cycling params, appreciate it!

It's posssible that your anubias may be absorbing your ammonia. Plants actually prefer ammonia over nitrite and nitrates from what I've been told.

i don't think it's actually my anubias, it's just a small anubias nana and shouldn't be consuming so much in such a quick time period (i believe?), especially since i did need to snip off one of its stems before placing since it was discolored, but maybe i'm wrong

 

my ammonia went down to about 1ppm the day after i dosed it to around ~2-3ppm, but i'm still not seeing any nitrites nor nitrates, and i'm shaking them hard enough (i use an unexpired api test kit)
the cloudiness in my water seemingly just disappeared overnight, it's mostly completely clear

i'm still worried about my nitrates though as far as i'm aware my tank doesn't have any weird chemicals and it's not dirty either, it's new so i don't really know what's stalling the nitrates and nitrites from appearing when the ammonia is still going down, hopefully they appear soon

 

I know you are anxious to see some nitrites and nitrates but you are still very early in the cycle. It often takes up to 3 weeks for nitrites to show up. Nitrates won't show up until nitrites rise and start going down. Right now it is just going to take time, adding more ammonia when it drops down close to zero and lots of patience.

 

still no nitrites or nitrates (with bacteria and ammonia dosings) so i'm just hoping it's a slow start and not that somethings up with my tank

will water changing be beneficial when nitrites/nitrates don't show up? i've heard it slows it down but also it supplies nutrients which i've only water changed back when it got cloudy

i guess it is really just a game of patience if it isn't the water in my tank

 

i guess it is really just a game of patience if it isn't the water in my tank

It really is. Time and patience

 

forgot to update; i have consistently had around 0 ammonia but 1 ppm nitrites as well as nitrates the day after dosing, i think it should be fully cycled very soon, thanks for all the help