Fishless Cycling Day 6

Day 6 Readings on my 200 liter tank fishless cycle this morning were so unexpected?

Day 1 dosed tank with ammonia 4 ppm
Day 2 and Day 3 tested:
Ammonia 4 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
I added JBL FilterStart on Wednesday evening (Day 3) and a few more plants. I think it kick started it?

Day 4:
Ammonia slightly less than 4 ppm
Nitrite 0.25 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm

Day 5:
Ammonia > 2 ppm < 4 ppm
Nitrite 1.0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm

Now day 6!!!
Ammonia 2 ppm
Nitrite between 2 ppm and 5 ppm
Nitrate 40 ppm???
I thought Nitrate would be another week or so to appear?



I did a 50% water change today, Then tested.
Ammonia 1.0 ppm
Nitrate <1.0 ppm
Nitrate 10 ppm



Not sure what to do next, think I will wait and see result tomorrow.
If ammonia is gone, I might dose the tank again with ammonia? (Maybe to 2 ppm or 3 ppm?).
Or should I dose it up again now?.... any advice?
I wasn’t expecting Nitrate so fast?


Thanks,
P

 

keep dosing ammonia, until ammonia and nitrites are able to be processed within 24 hrs.

Looks like that brand of bottle bacteria is very effective.

 

keep dosing ammonia, until ammonia and nitrites are able to be processed within 24 hrs.

Looks like that brand of bottle bacteria is very effective.

Thanks Skavatar... I will dose the tank up now.

Ok. Put more ammonia in tank and it is now reading back at 4ppm.
Will check tomorrow evening.

 

Still not cycled.
Day 7
Ammonia 2.0 ppm
Nitrite 2.0 ppm
Nitrate 10 ppm

Day 8 (today)
Ammonia 1.0 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 ppm
Nitrate 20 ppm

It seems to have slowed down, I am not sure whether to dose again tonight or to wait until tomorrow to dose again.
(Day 6 dosed ammonia to 4.0ppm -> Day 7 was 2.0 ppm -> Day 8 is 1.0 ppm).

Any advice?
Not sure if I should be keeping ammonia at 4.0ppm every day until it can be processed over 24 hours, Or if I should be letting it go right down then dose up again.

 

do you have any more of the bottled bacteria? add some more if you do.

your ammonia is dropping consistently. good.

your nitrites are spiking. good. the nitrite phase usually takes 3 weeks to complete. many people who have used Tetra SafeStart have reported not seeing nitrites at all. you could try a bottle of TSS if you want to speed up the nitrite phase.

 

Ok... cool, thanks. Let me see if I can find TSS or Tetra SafeStart in one of the LFSs

 

OK... Day 9... May 21st...
This morning tested:
PH 6.8 - This has dropped since I last tested it a few days back.
Ammonia 0.5ppm
Nitrite 5.0ppm
Nitrate < 40ppm >20ppm somewhere in the middle.

Went to LFS - Didn't have TSS, so got some more JBL FilterStart.
Did a 40% water change to see if I could bring PH back up a little and poured the JBL FilterStart (10ml bottle) in Filter, also threw in a load of Evolution Aqua PURE Aquarium Balls (Figured ****... why not!).
Waited 35 mins then tested:
PH 7.4 (Yaaay)
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrite 2.0ppm
Nitrate 20ppm

Then added 120 drops of 9.5% Pure Ammonia, waited 20 minutes and tested:
Ammonia 2.0 ppm
Nitrite 2.0 ppm
Nitrate 20ppm

Will test again tomorrow... Think I need to keep an eye on the PH too.

 

if the pH is swinging between 6.8 - 7.4 that won't be good for fish. have you tested for GH/KH of your tap water?

 

Got JBL KH test ... but don’t really understand it.Strange instructions ...
add drops to water in test vial (5ml) until it turns from blue to yellow orange tint... each drop represents 1 degree of Carbonate hardness (German Scale)?

I tried it on tap water...
1st drop turns water blue
2nd drop kinda clear
3rd drops slight yellow tint
4th drops orange yellow tint
So 4 degrees of carbonate hardness?
not sure what that means... good or bad?

 

I would say 3 since it started to turn yellow. basically your water has low KH/carbonate. KH/carbonate keeps your pH stable. you're getting the pH swings b/c of low KH. you can use crushed coral or cuttlebone to add carbonate to your water. start off with a little bit. test after a week, add a little more, test again until your pH is stable. approx 6-7 with the KH test is pretty stable.

 

Ok, talked to guy in LFS and he gave me JBL Aquador (A mineral supplement to raise KH). Gonna give it a try.
Test water (Day 10)looks like PH is about 6.8 again. KH looks like 2 degrees. Changes from blue very quickly.
Ammonia 0.5 ppm
Nitrite 2.0 ppm
Nitrate 5.0 ppm (not sure why this is gone down? Do plants reduce this?)

Added 4 scoops of Aquador - 2 scoops= +2.5 degs Kh per 100litres.
Gonna wait a little while and dose the ammonia back up to about 2.0ppm again.
Then test again.

 

Ok... dosed the tank again, so Ammonia back up to 2.0 ppm
Nitrite 2.0 ppm and Nitrate 5.0 ppm.
Assume tank needs more time to settle after JBL Aquadur to see final effect, but already seeing that Kh is at 5 now and PH is 7.4.
If PH goes too high can do PWC and re-adjust, only plants in tank anyway.
Just hope I don’t kill off whatever BB I have already built up.

 

My Nitrite is stuck a 2.0ppm not moving at all. Getting kinda bored of this - seems to be taking forever... I am starting to hate the color purple.
I wish there was some way to get the Nitrite eating bacteria in there faster.

Day11:
Ammonia .5 ppm
Nitrite 2.0 ppm
Nitrate 10.0 ppm
KH 5 degrees and PH 7.4

Now Day 12:
Ammonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrite 2.0 ppm
Nitrate 20.0 ppm (Although almost 40 ppm)
KH 4 degrees and PH 7.4

Snipped out a couple of rotten plant leaves and dosed again with Ammonia - will check reading later. Should be back up to 2.0 ppm.