High nitrites, heavily planted fishless new cycle

Hi guys!

New member here, thank you for adding me!

I’m going to ask an age old question about cycling a new tank.

I’ve been cycling my new 55 gallon for almost 6 weeks now.

My main issue is that the nitrites are pretty high and I can’t get them to go down. I’m concerned about the cycle stalling so looking for some advice.

I’ll try to give you as much info as possible:

Fishless cycle
No ammonia added - heavily planted.
Fluval U4 filters x2.
Ph 7.4/7.8 (stable)
Water is hard
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 1.0
Nitrate 5.0

Using Seachem Prime and Stability.
For the first 5 weeks I left it to do it’s own thing, but nitrites became really high (5.0) so did 3 consecutive 75% water changes over the weekend.

I’d read conflicting info on whether water changes harm the cycle or not - but I was concerned of the cycle stalling as I mentioned so I hoped this would bring the nitrites down. It did not lol.

I’d been following aquarium co-op’s videos on cycling with only a planted tank and they said that once there is new growth the tank has cycled

And I do have nitrates… but my nitrites are out of control!

Thank you so much for reading this far!

Appreciate the help.

 

Hello ! Welcome.

Personally I wouldn’t say nitrates at 5 are high . Sounds like you’re ticking along nicely and will be cycled very soon. the plants will be using up some nitrates too, some folk like to keep planted tanks up to 40 nitrates before a wc, stocking dependant of course

you have some lovely plants in there !
3 75% wc didn’t bring down your nitrites at all tells me somethings off. Is it a new test kit? And can you test your tap water please ?

 

The reason that some people think that changing the water stall a cycle is because they don't want you to dilute your ammonia or nitrite...thinking that the more you have in the water will build a stronger bacteria colony.

When in reality, changing your water is often exactly what you need to do to move things along.

Having said that....im not recommending that you do either just yet.

I want to know how much ammonia you started with, what is your ammonia source, and how long has it been at 0ppm?

Your nitrite is hardly out of control.

 

Hello ! Welcome.

Personally I wouldn’t say nitrates at 5 are high . Sounds like you’re ticking along nicely and will be cycled very soon. the plants will be using up some nitrates too, some folk like to keep planted tanks up to 40 nitrates before a wc, stocking dependant of course

you have some lovely plants in there !
3 75% wc didn’t bring down your nitrates at all tells me somethings off. Is it a new test kit? And can you test your tap water please ?

Thanks for your help!
Its more the nitrites I’m concerned about… they were reading 5.0 over the weekend til I did the 3 water changes and they seem to be creeping up again…
Yes sure I’ll test the tap water

Thanks for your help!
Its more the nitrites I’m concerned about… they were reading 5.0 over the weekend til I did the 3 water changes and they seem to be creeping up again…
Yes sure I’ll test the tap water

It’s a new kit but appears to be ok - I have a 10 gallon and that’s reading appropriately

The reason that some people think that changing the water stall a cycle is because they don't want you to dilute your ammonia or nitrite...thinking that the more you have in the water will build a stronger bacteria colony.

When in reality, changing your water is often exactly what you need to do to move things along.

Having said that....im not recommending that you do either just yet.

I want to know how much ammonia you started with, what is your ammonia source, and how long has it been at 0ppm?

Your nitrite is hardly out of control.

I haven’t added any ammonia.

I followed steps that Aquarium Co-op use when doing a fishless, ammonia free cycle with only live plants.

At its highest ammonia was 1.0ppm - a week ago. It has since gone down.

Nitrites were 5.0ppm on Friday, which is when I began the water changes.

I guess my concern with the nitrites now is that they’re on the rise again - although not at 5.0ppm currently they are higher every day

 

Tank needs to have ammonia added consistently, either through fish food or pure ammonia or something else....not sure what cory meant by that.

 

I haven’t added any ammonia......
......I guess my concern with the nitrites now is that they’re on the rise again - although not at 5.0ppm currently they are higher every day

How is your nitrite rising without an ammonia source?
How is your tank going to process ammonia without a bacteria colony to do so?
You can't rely on plants for 100% of your ammonia reduction once fish are added.
Plants help the cycle but they don't replace the need for the bacteria.

 

The reason that some people think that changing the water stall a cycle is because they don't want you to dilute your ammonia or nitrite...thinking that the more you have in the water will build a stronger bacteria colony.

When in reality, changing your water is often exactly what you need to do to move things along.

Having said that....im not recommending that you do either just yet.

I want to know how much ammonia you started with, what is your ammonia source, and how long has it been at 0ppm?

Your nitrite is hardly out of control.

I haven’t added any ammonia.

I followed steps from a video when doing a fishless, ammonia free cycle with only live plants.

At its highest ammonia was 1.0ppm - a week ago. It has since gone down.

Nitrites were 5.0ppm on Friday, which is when I began the water changes.

I guess my concern with the nitrites now is that they’re on the rise again - although not at 5.0ppm currently they are higher every day

How is your nitrite rising without an ammonia source?
How is your tank going to process ammonia without a bacteria colony to do so?
You can't rely on plants for 100% of your ammonia reduction once fish are added.
Plants help the cycle but they don't replace the need for the bacteria.

I’m not sure how it’s rising then! But it is!
Was just following the instructions given as I mentioned previously.
Ammonia rose then fell. Nitrites rose, and kept going up. Nitrates rose to 5.0ppm and have currently been stable.
I have been adding Stability daily too

 

What kind of substrate do you have? Some release ammonia.

 

I haven’t added any ammonia.

I followed steps that Cory use when doing a fishless, ammonia free cycle with only live plants.

At its highest ammonia was 1.0ppm - a week ago. It has since gone down.

Nitrites were 5.0ppm on Friday, which is when I began the water changes.

I guess my concern with the nitrites now is that they’re on the rise again - although not at 5.0ppm currently they are higher every day

I’m not sure how it’s rising then! But it is!
Was just following the instructions given as I mentioned previously.
Ammonia rose then fell. Nitrites rose, and kept going up. Nitrates rose to 5.0ppm and have currently been stable.

I have been adding Stability daily too

So i just watched Cory's video and he has a very interesting philosophy. But I can tell you that regardless of if you have new plant growth....you have high nitrite.
Fact: your tank isn't cycled. The nitrite will kill your fish.

You also need to figure out where the nitrite is coming from....it doesn't just appear out of thin air.
Are you dosing the tank with Easy Green?

 

So i just watched Cory's video and he has a very interesting philosophy. But I can tell you that regardless of if you have new plant growth....you have high nitrite.
Fact: your tank isn't cycled. The nitrite will kill your fish.

You also need to figure out where the nitrite is coming from....it doesn't just appear out of thin air.
Are you dosing the tank with Easy Green?

Yes, this is why I’m trying to figure out before buying fish.

I heavily planted when I began the cycle, and in turn did experience a significant amount of melting.
Could the excess nitrite be due to the plant detritus?

When I did a water change over the weekend I was particular in removing any dead foliage.

New growth is now abundant.

That is the only thing I can think of - unless you have any suggestions?

Yes I am using Easy Green and plant tabs by Seachem.

Substrate is Seachem Flourite.

I would really appreciate any advice you can offer to help me complete the cycling process.

I mentioned I am adding Stability, still daily although not sure how much good it is doing.

At this stage (6 weeks in) should I start adding fish food too for that ammonia source?

I guess I am a little confused as I thought I was cycling correctly. Ammonia spike, nitrite spike - now nitrates..

I’m trying to figure out exactly where I am in the cycling process due to not adding the ammonia source that most do.

Willing to learn and would love to get things right so I can finally get back on track.

Thank you

What kind of substrate do you have? Some release ammonia.

I have Seachem Flourite

 

Quick google search suggests it does not leach ammonia.

Yeah could be plants dying off then, that can absolutely cause an ammonia spike.

In which case, yeah your cycle is essentially going correctly.

 

Quick google search suggests it does not leach ammonia.

Yeah could be plants dying off then, that can absolutely cause an ammonia spike.

In which case, yeah your cycle is essentially going correctly.

Thank you!

So to clarify; cycling is still going as expected - even though I didn’t specifically add a separate ammonia source?

That has been my main confusion.

Im unsure whether at this point I should continue with water changes or just leave the nitrite to keep rising (like it did on the weekend when it spiked at 5.0ppm)

 

This all sounds plausible.
Rotting plant matter = ammonia = nitrite

Now the question is: do you have rotting plant matter in the tank?
If so....leave it in there....keep changing water to keep the nitrite sub 2ppm.

What has happened is that you have sufficient plants and bacteria to keep your ammonia at zero but you don't have a sufficient bacteria colony to handle all of the nitrite yet.
The bacteria is growing and will soon be able to keep your nitrite at 0ppm as well.....then you can add fish.

You will know that your tank is ready when you test and see 0ppm ammonia and 0ppm nitrite.

 

Thank you!

So to clarify; cycling is still going as expected - even though I didn’t specifically add a separate ammonia source?

That has been my main confusion.

Yes, so long as there is an ammonia source, it can still induce the cycle. With that said, this is not a reliable method of cycling per se, because as you can imagine, ammonia levels can vary.

It is very possible you still have some die-off and ammonia produced from somewhere, but there is now enough ammonia oxidation for nitrite to be generated consistently from any ammonia produced, but still not enough nitrite oxidation to handle the, well, nitrite.

Im unsure whether at this point I should continue with water changes or just leave the nitrite to keep rising (like it did on the weekend when it spiked at 5.0ppm)

There is some point of contention as to the effect of high nitrite (and/or ammonia) on plants and their limit. This I can't really help you with. Certainly 5ppm is not enough to hinder the cycling process, would need to be at least 20ppm or more in my experience. But its effects on plants, I am not familiar enough with them to know.

I always cycle an aquarium prior to adding plants.

Anyways, personally what I'd do is just to keep an eye on the plants. So long as the plants look good, I would not worry too much. Doing big water changes in that size tank can be a bit of a chore.

The only thing I'd make sure is once both ammonia and nitrite reads zero, I'd test the cycle by dosing pure ammonia.

 

I had this happen too with my planted tank. Unfortunately I already had added some fish in after the initial cycle. The tank was fine for like 2 weeks after adding fish and then it spiked again. Due to the timing, I am assuming this was due to the plants decaying while they converted over to my tank conditions. I got through it with daily water changes, prime, and beneficial bacteria. My fish fortunately made it through too. Took about two more weeks to settle back out to zero ammonia and nitrite. Subsequent fish additions had no negative impacts to levels, so that has made me continue to think it was the plants decaying that caused the spike.

 

This all sounds plausible.
Rotting plant matter = ammonia = nitrite

Now the question is: do you have rotting plant matter in the tank?
If so....leave it in there....keep changing water to keep the nitrite sub 2ppm.

What has happened is that you have sufficient plants and bacteria to keep your ammonia at zero but you don't have a sufficient bacteria colony to handle all of the nitrite yet.
The bacteria is growing and will soon be able to keep your nitrite at 0ppm as well.....then you can add fish.

You will know that your tank is ready when you test and see 0ppm ammonia and 0ppm nitrite.

Thank you.

If you don’t mind I have a couple more questions to ensure I’m doing everything correct.

I do have some decaying plant matter still.
Should I leave it there til the tank has cycled?

Should I keep adding Stability?

To clarify - I am on the right track? As I went about cycling a different way I want to make sure that things are progressing the way they should.

 

Yeah....Cory's philosophy on cycling a planted tank is correct scientifically.....but its still not as stable as a good traditional beneficial bacteria colony.
It's so funny and ironic how he refers to "what the internet tells you about cycling" so many times in that video.
So as a representative of "the internet", I will gladly take a stand and say: cycle your tanks with ammonia folks, it is by far the most stable, safe and reliable way to do it.

Thank you.

If you don’t mind I have a couple more questions to ensure I’m doing everything correct.

I do have some decaying plant matter still.
Should I leave it there til the tank has cycled?

Leave it in there its not hurting anything and all of the ammonia being produced is getting converted to nitrite.
Once you add fish....keep the decaying plant matter cleaned out to avoid ammonia spikes.

Should I keep adding Stability?

Some would say it doesn't help, i say it doesn't hurt....that choice is up to you.
Things are going to progress with or without it.

To clarify - I am on the right track? As I went about cycling a different way I want to make sure that things are progressing the way they should.

You're good. Just keep the nitrite below 2ppm with water changes.

 

I had this happen too with my planted tank. Unfortunately I already had added some fish in after the initial cycle. The tank was fine for like 2 weeks after adding fish and then it spiked again. Due to the timing, I am assuming this was due to the plants decaying while they converted over to my tank conditions. I got through it with daily water changes, prime, and beneficial bacteria. My fish fortunately made it through too. Took about two more weeks to settle back out to zero ammonia and nitrite. Subsequent fish additions had no negative impacts to levels, so that has made me continue to think it was the plants decaying that caused the spike.

Aaah ok good to know! So I should continue what I’m doing then - water changes, prime and stability til I see the nitrites lower?

I do have some nitrates already

 

I'm in the same boat as you Sarah, been cycling a heavily-planted new 33 gal for over a month and the Nitrites just won't come down. I started by dosing pure ammonia and putting some filter material in from an existing tank which kicked the cycle off well, but been stuck like you ever since. At this point I'm not dosing ammonia and trying to water changed to get the nitrites down within readable levels. I'll update when my cycle tips over to the final stage and we can compare how things went

 

I'm in the same boat as you Sarah, been cycling a heavily-planted new 33 gal for over a month and the Nitrites just won't come down. I started by dosing pure ammonia and putting some filter material in from an existing tank which kicked the cycle off well, but been stuck like you ever since. At this point I'm not dosing ammonia and trying to water changed to get the nitrites down within readable levels. I'll update when my cycle tips over to the final stage and we can compare how things went

Yes I’d like that! What are your current nitrite levels like? Have you been doing daily changes?

I think I might have to do another water change tonight.. man it takes forever in my 55 - my 10g takes like 30 mins

Are you adding Stability every day too?
I am but not sure if it’s making a difference

 

Yes I’d like that! What are your current nitrite levels like? Have you been doing daily changes?

I think I might have to do another water change tonight.. man it takes forever in my 55 - my 10g takes like 30 mins

Are you adding Stability every day too?
I am but not sure if it’s making a difference

My Nitrites have been over 5 for weeks, off the chart so no idea how high they really are. I'm not doing daily changes to due other schedule stuff but plan to do as big of a change as needed within the next few days to get the nitrites down to ~2 so I can confirm their level is not excessive.

I have never used Stability, don't need it when I had seeded media from an already established tank. Can't say if it's helpful to you after so many weeks already.

 

I recommend you just give the cycle time to finish up. Since this is a fishless cycle and no fishes lives are at stake there is no need to keep the nitrites down. I know it seems like they are never going to drop and then one day you will run the test and they will be gone.

I am going to recommend you start feeding the bacteria you have grown. I fear dying plants alone are not going to be enough to keep the bacteria well fed. It is easier to keep it fed with liquid ammonia but you can do the same thing at this point by feeding it fish food. I am going to recommend you get a fine mesh media bag.

For this size tank start out by putting a tablespoon of flakes in the media bag. Situate it in the tank where water from the filter is running through it and it is easy to get to because you are going to want to add another tablespoon of flakes every third day until the cycle is complete.

 

I recommend you just give the cycle time to finish up. Since this is a fishless cycle and no fishes lives are at stake there is no need to keep the nitrites down. I know it seems like they are never going to drop and then one day you will run the test and they will be gone.

I am going to recommend you start feeding the bacteria you have grown. I fear dying plants alone are not going to be enough to keep the bacteria well fed. It is easier to keep it fed with liquid ammonia but you can do the same thing at this point by feeding it fish food. I am going to recommend you get a fine mesh media bag.

For this size tank start out by putting a tablespoon of flakes in the media bag. Situate it in the tank where water from the filter is running through it and it is easy to get to because you are going to want to add another tablespoon of flakes every third day until the cycle is complete.

Ok, can do for sure.

Can I ask, would the same be achieved by just adding some to the water column every day - vs putting it in a media bag?

Many thanks!

 

Sorry I’m late to reply , I read nitrates in your first post. My bad for sure. Excellent advise and explanations above . I’d add at this point you could definately add fish flakes in a mesh bag

Ok, can do for sure.

Can I ask, would the same be achieved by just adding some to the water column every day - vs putting it in a media bag?

Many thanks!

the difference is the clean up ! Put in a bag and you can swap it out when it degrades , put it in your tank and your’e trying to vacuum it out , but you’ll never get it all ! It’s much more controllable and less messy in a bag if you don’t have a bag you can use the foot of some clean tights / pantyhose of that helps any ! Just be wary of chemicals if it’s been washed with fabric softener and do a thorough rinse/boil first. You definately don’t want to add anything chemical/ scented to your tanks

 

Sorry I’m late to reply , I read nitrates in your first post. My bad for sure. Excellent advise and explanations above . I’d add at this point you could definately add fish flakes in a mesh bag

the difference is the clean up ! Put in a bag and you can swap it out when it degrades , put it in your tank and your’e trying to vacuum it out , but you’ll never get it all ! It’s much more controllable and less messy in a bag if you don’t have a bag you can use the foot of some clean tights / pantyhose of that helps any ! Just be wary of chemicals if it’s been washed with fabric softener and do a thorough rinse/boil first. You definately don’t want to add anything chemical/ scented to your tanks

Haha ah gotcha - makes sense! Thank you!

 

Aaah ok good to know! So I should continue what I’m doing then - water changes, prime and stability til I see the nitrites lower?

I do have some nitrates already

I am not an expert by any means, but that is what I would do. Seems like it just needs more time for the bacteria to adjust to the plant decay. And in the meantime, your plants will hopefully be settling in and decaying less, so your bacteria colony can take on the fish load when you add them.

 

Ok, can do for sure.

Can I ask, would the same be achieved by just adding some to the water column every day - vs putting it in a media bag?

Many thanks!

Blacksheep1 answered this one very well. I just wanted to say, you are so very welcome.

 

Blacksheep1 answered this one very well. I just wanted to say, you are so very welcome.

Food’s in the tank as we speak! Hopefully will get this cycle over the hill and completed finally

 

Blacksheep1 answered this one very well. I just wanted to say, you are so very welcome.

I recommend you just give the cycle time to finish up. Since this is a fishless cycle and no fishes lives are at stake there is no need to keep the nitrites down. I know it seems like they are never going to drop and then one day you will run the test and they will be gone.

I am going to recommend you start feeding the bacteria you have grown. I fear dying plants alone are not going to be enough to keep the bacteria well fed. It is easier to keep it fed with liquid ammonia but you can do the same thing at this point by feeding it fish food. I am going to recommend you get a fine mesh media bag.

For this size tank start out by putting a tablespoon of flakes in the media bag. Situate it in the tank where water from the filter is running through it and it is easy to get to because you are going to want to add another tablespoon of flakes every third day until the cycle is complete.

Hi Mattgirl, just wanted to touch base with you to see if I’m on the right track!

I’ve been adding fish food to a mesh bag every 3 days as suggested.

Ammonia has since risen from 0 to .25
Nitrites have risen significantly to 5.0+
Nitrates are still the same, around 5.0

Should I be doing water changes at this point with the nitrite level so high?

It’s been over 2 weeks now of very high nitrites (other than when I performed the water changes last week) and the cycle has been running for 6 weeks now.

I wish there was some way to speed it up, I have some guppies that really need to be transferred into the new tank and it’s taking much longer than expected!

If there’s anything else you think I could do at this point I’d appreciate it

Thank you!!

 

at this point I would just give the fish food time to do its job. I wouldn't do anything other than continue adding the fish food. Nitrites are strange creatures. We start thinking they are never going to drop and then one day almost like magic they will be gone. I do expect your nitrates to start rising soon.

I do have one question: Where are the guppies right now? If they are in a cycled tank you may be able to speed this cycle up by moving bacteria from the cycled tank over to this one.

 

at this point I would just give the fish food time to do its job. I wouldn't do anything other than continue adding the fish food. Nitrites are strange creatures. We start thinking they are never going to drop and then one day almost like magic they will be gone. I do expect your nitrates to start rising soon.

I do have one question: Where are the guppies right now? If they are in a cycled tank you may be able to speed this cycle up be moving bacteria from the cycled tank over to this one.

Re: high nitrites - I’ve read that if they’re too high it’ll cause the cycle to stall? That’s my main concern..

Should I be worried that the ammonia is rising again? It had been 0 for a couple weeks at least

Guppies: long winded answer here

I have them in my 10 gallon. Only 2 now, which is unfortunate as one has become a giant bully and I’ve had to put him in a breeder box “jail” for now as he killed 2 of my other males by constant fin nipping

I was waiting til the 55 was ready so I could buy more males (I’d read that they can become aggressive if they are in fewer numbers - he was fine til the numbers dwindled)

So I do have seeded media… but not really any spare for me to move over (small HOB - bio rings, course sponge and filter floss)

Thoughts?

 

Re: high nitrites - I’ve read that if they’re too high it’ll cause the cycle to stall? That’s my main concern..

I know some folks say that but it hasn't been my experience. It takes more than one high parameter to cause a cycle stall. I have seen it happen when both nitrite and nitrate are pegging out the chart and the pH is going down. Normally when this happens water changes haven't been done. A water change usually gets things moving forward again.

Should I be worried that the ammonia is rising again? It had been 0 for a couple weeks at least

Since you weren't actively adding ammonia it stands to reason you would get a zero reading. Seeing it rise is a good thing. If it is going to do so you want it to happen before adding fish. If we didn't do it now it would have happened after you added fish and started feeding them.

So I do have seeded media… but not really any spare for me to move over (small HOB - bio rings, course sponge and filter floss)

how long has the 10 gallon been up and running? If it has been at least 6 months and you haven't gotten overly aggressive in cleaning it removing some of the media should not affect its cycle. The strongest colony of bacteria will be on your filter media but it is also growing an every thing in your tank. Anything you can move from the cycled tank over to this one will help. Removing some of the media from the cycled tank should not effect an established tanks cycle.

The bio-load in the 10 gallon will determine how big a colony of bacteria there will be in a tank. One betta or guppy in there would be a very low bio-load so moving media from it to another tank wouldn't help a great deal. If a 10 gallon was heavily stocked the bacteria colony would be high so would help a great deal.

Do you plan on running both tanks? If not then simply moving everything from the 10 gallon over to the 55 gallon would cycle the 55 enough to handle the bio-load you have in the 10 gallon right now. I hope you understand what I am saying. If not Please just ask and I will try to better clarify what I am trying to say.

 

I know some folks say that but it hasn't been my experience. It takes more than one high parameter to cause a cycle stall. I have seen it happen when both nitrite and nitrate are pegging out the chart and the pH is going down. Normally when this happens water changes haven't been done. A water change usually gets things moving forward again.


Since you weren't actively adding ammonia it stands to reason you would get a zero reading. Seeing it rise is a good thing. If it is going to do so you want it to happen before adding fish. If we didn't do it now it would have happened after you added fish and started feeding them.



how long has the 10 gallon been up and running? If it has been at least 6 months and you haven't gotten overly aggressive in cleaning it removing some of the media should not affect its cycle. The strongest colony of bacteria will be on your filter media but it is also growing an every thing in your tank. Anything you can move from the cycled tank over to this one will help. Removing some of the media from the cycled tank should not effect an established tanks cycle.

The bio-load in the 10 gallon will determine how big a colony of bacteria there will be in a tank. One betta or guppy in there would be a very low bio-load so moving media from it to another tank wouldn't help a great deal. If a 10 gallon was heavily stocked the bacteria colony would be high so would help a great deal.

Do you plan on running both tanks? If not then simply moving everything from the 10 gallon over to the 55 gallon would cycle the 55 enough to handle the bio-load you have in the 10 gallon right now. I hope you understand what I am saying. If not Please just ask and I will try to better clarify what I am trying to say.

Re: ammonia - it had risen initially, for a couple weeks. Then went back to zero.
Not sure if that makes a difference or not?

Tank wise; it’s been up and running about 6 months now. I did switch the media out about a month ago (gradually not all at once) as I’d only been using the Top Fin carbon cartridges but learnt that I could more effectively fill the HOB with better media. So about a month, maybe 2 now, with the most recent media.

Yup I do plan to run both; but I will be moving the 10g to a different location and rescaping once the 55 is good to go.

This is the part I don’t quite understand; how can I remove all the media from the 10g and leave the fish there with a bare filter? I didn’t realize you could do that

Oh this is worth mentioning too - the filters I have in the 55 are two Fluval U4’s - so there isn’t really any room for extra media…

Again thoughts most appreciated!! Thank you!!

 

Re: ammonia - it had risen initially, for a couple weeks. Then went back to zero.
Not sure if that makes a difference or not?

I am sure it helped but when cycling we want a pretty constant supply of ammonia to keep the bacteria well fed. If you were only seeing ammonia for the first couple of weeks you will not have grown a very big/strong colony of bacteria. Adding the fish food as recommended is going to be producing a constant supply of ammonia.

This is the part I don’t quite understand; how can I remove all the media from the 10g and leave the fish there with a bare filter? I didn’t realize you could do that

When I said "move everything" I meant fish, water, filter, everything in the 10 gallon over to the 55. Since you plan on running both tanks you don't want to do this. Quite often when folks are upgrading their tanks this is what they do.

If you only have one or two fish in the 10 gallon you are not going to get a great deal of help cycling the 55.

 

I am sure it helped but when cycling we want a pretty constant supply of ammonia to keep the bacteria well fed. If you were only seeing ammonia for the first couple of weeks you will not have grown a very big/strong colony of bacteria. Adding the fish food as recommended is going to be producing a constant supply of ammonia.

When I said "move everything" I meant fish, water, filter, everything in the 10 gallon over to the 55. Since you plan on running both tanks you don't want to do this. Quite often when folks are upgrading their tanks this is what they do.

If you only have one or two fish in the 10 gallon you are not going to get a great deal of help cycling the 55.

Oh gotcha ok. Yup just two guppies for now; I didn’t want to get more when I was planning on moving them to the 55 - didn’t want to cause too much stress.

So I have been patiently waiting

Ah ok, I see your point about the ammonia.

What should I be looking for at this point in the cycle, to know it’s doing it’s thing?

Should the ammonia rise more? Nitrites can’t get much higher… I’m assuming nitrates will go up more too?

Oh how I long for a reading of 0 Ammonia 0 Nitrites and 5.0 Nitrates

 

For now it is just a waiting game. The ammonia level may go up. That isn't a problem. Just let it continue rising. I don't expect it to go much higher than what you are seeing right now though. You want to see it drop to zero. As long as you are still adding the fish food every third day ammonia is still being produced. When you start getting a zero reading you will know you have enough ammonia eating bacteria to process all of it.

Then you want to see the nitrites drop to zero. BTW: They can go higher than what you are seeing. Although higher isn't a problem you can get a better idea as to how high they actually are by doing dilution tests. Start out with half tank water and half tap water in the test tube. If you see a lighter color you will know they are not too high. If you don't see a lighter color you will know they are well over 5ppm. If that is the case I will recommend you do a water change to get them below 5.

Yes, the nitrates should start going up. that isn't going to happen until the nitrites start going down.

I can't give you a timeline. Each tank is unique. Each are gonna do what they are gonna do. All we can do is feed them and give them time.

When you add the tablespoon of flakes don't remove any that is left in the media bag. Just add the new to the old. By doing it this way there is constant decomposition going on producing ammonia.

 

For now it is just a waiting game. The ammonia level may go up. That isn't a problem. Just let it continue rising. I don't expect it to go much higher than what you are seeing right now though. You want to see it drop to zero. As long as you are still adding the fish food every third day ammonia is still being produced. When you start getting a zero reading you will know you have enough ammonia eating bacteria to process all of it.

Then you want to see the nitrites drop to zero. BTW: They can go higher than what you are seeing. Although higher isn't a problem you can get a better idea as to how high they actually are by doing dilution tests. Start out with half tank water and half tap water in the test tube. If you see a lighter color you will know they are not too high. If you don't see a lighter color you will know they are well over 5ppm. If that is the case I will recommend you do a water change to get them below 5.

Yes, the nitrates should start going up. that isn't going to happen until the nitrites start going down.

I can't give you a timeline. Each tank is unique. Each are gonna do what they are gonna do. All we can do is feed them and give them time.

When you add the tablespoon of flakes don't remove any that is left in the media bag. Just add the new to the old. By doing it this way there is constant decomposition going on producing ammonia.

So frustrating, it seems I’ve wasted a lot of time thinking I was cycling just with plants but I wasn’t really!

Won’t make that mistake again!

Thank you for your help

 

SarahLo Update for your reference: My nitrites suddenly dropped and nitrates shot up on Thursday, finally hit the tipping point without much warning. Like I said before, my nitrites were off the chart for a while. Last week I started doing 5 gallon water changes (33 gallon tank) daily just to help make sure the nitrite levels weren't so high they were inhibiting the cycle. Wednesday morning I did one and still had 5+ppm afterwards, but when I checked Thursday morning it was down to <1ppm. I added some ammonia to 2ppm, and by friday afternoon my ammonia & nitrite levels were both 0. I got fish in the tank on Saturday!

So yeah, like everyone has said, the cycle will tip over very suddenly, just have to let the biology do the work.

 

SarahLo Update for your reference: My nitrites suddenly dropped and nitrates shot up on Thursday, finally hit the tipping point without much warning. Like I said before, my nitrites were off the chart for a while. Last week I started doing 5 gallon water changes (33 gallon tank) daily just to help make sure the nitrite levels weren't so high they were inhibiting the cycle. Wednesday morning I did one and still had 5+ppm afterwards, but when I checked Thursday morning it was down to <1ppm. I added some ammonia to 2ppm, and by friday afternoon my ammonia & nitrite levels were both 0. I got fish in the tank on Saturday!

So yeah, like everyone has said, the cycle will tip over very suddenly, just have to let the biology do the work.

That’s awesome! Congrats on the new fishes!

 

For now it is just a waiting game. The ammonia level may go up. That isn't a problem. Just let it continue rising. I don't expect it to go much higher than what you are seeing right now though. You want to see it drop to zero. As long as you are still adding the fish food every third day ammonia is still being produced. When you start getting a zero reading you will know you have enough ammonia eating bacteria to process all of it.

Then you want to see the nitrites drop to zero. BTW: They can go higher than what you are seeing. Although higher isn't a problem you can get a better idea as to how high they actually are by doing dilution tests. Start out with half tank water and half tap water in the test tube. If you see a lighter color you will know they are not too high. If you don't see a lighter color you will know they are well over 5ppm. If that is the case I will recommend you do a water change to get them below 5.

Yes, the nitrates should start going up. that isn't going to happen until the nitrites start going down.

I can't give you a timeline. Each tank is unique. Each are gonna do what they are gonna do. All we can do is feed them and give them time.

When you add the tablespoon of flakes don't remove any that is left in the media bag. Just add the new to the old. By doing it this way there is constant decomposition going on producing ammonia.

Hi Mattgirl!

Just wanted to touch base with you, numbers are looking good this morning!

I ended up adding some Fritz-zyme turbo start in addition to the fish food and noticed a huge difference - it seems like it’s finally cycled now

I wanted to make sure I get the next steps right before I add fish.

Do I need to keep adding the fish food at this point or remove?

I’m assuming I’ll need to do a decent water change (I wasn’t able to contain all the fish food to the mesh bag and the water is a little cloudy)

Should I wait for a couple days before doing the change?

Anything else I may have forgotten to ask; would really appreciate it!

Thank you so much