Nitrites Will Not Form

Hi! I am starting a 10 gallon aquarium. I feel as though I have a pretty good grasp on the nitrogen cycle and how to cycle a tank (I've done a lot of research), but I can't tell if I am doing something wrong. I have had my tank running for almost two weeks. On the 19th I used Dr. Tims ammonium chloride to spike the ammonia levels. They went up to about 4 ppm, but nitrites were still at 0. On the 24th, after browsing a ton of forums, I decided to do a water change and bring the ammonia levels down to about 2 ppm instead. Now it is the 29th, my ammonia is still at 2 ppm but there is no sign of nitrites. I have been using prime to detoxify the ammonia, but I don't know what else to do. Shouldn't the nitrites have formed by now? I am using the topfin 10 gallon aquarium, I do not have live plants, and my pH is at 7.8. Please help!

 

I think I may have the same tank as you but I went with Tetra Safe Start and a fish-in cycle (I know...). I didn’t have fish loss though because I was doing a daily 30-50% change and keeping ammonia as close to 0 as possible. 2 weeks in the nitrites started and then 1 more week I hit the 0,0,5 reading on the API master kit. I’m also fairly new to this and don’t have much advice, but I did the *exact* thing to two identical tanks (same changes, same fish, same feeding, etc) and one is still showing no nitrites. It may be a “keep it up and hang in there!” kind of thing.

Edit: One tank cycled, the other still hits .5-1ppm ammonia with never having a trace of nitrites yet. Just wanted to clarify.

 

Welcome to FishLore!

You can expect a fishless cycle where you are not using a bacteria supplement to take about 6 weeks or so. Generally it will take about 3 weeks to before ammonia disappears and nitrites appear and another 3 weeks for nitrites to disappear and nitrates appear.

There is no need for any water changes, or to add any additional Prime. (Unless you add new water).

So it sounds like for the cycling method you have chosen you're right where I would expect you to be (although I'm sure not where you wanna be).

I personally am a big fan of doing fish-in cyckles with Tetra SafeStart+. If you wanted to go with this method here's what you should do:
1) Empty tank and refill with dechlorinated water. (This will get rid of all the ammonia)
2) Wait 24 hours. This is very important because adding TSS+ less than 24 hours after using a water conditioner can cause the TSS+ to fail)
3) Add an entire, well shaken, appropriate sized bottle of TSS+ (Don't worry if the bottle will treat a larger tank, you can't overdose)
4) In no more than two hours add a couple of fish (Also, you can add the fish to the tank first and then pour in the TSS+ right after)
5) Do nothing for the next 14 days other than lightly feed your fish
6) On day 14 test your water and if all worked correctly...you're cycled

You can also use TSS+ with a fishless cycle. In this case I would keep the ammonia level at around 1.5-2.0ppm. Test daily and add ammonia as it drops down. Once you have 0ppm nitrites, some nitrates and your processing all 1.5-2.0ppm of ammonia within 24 hours, you're cycled. Do a large water change to reduce nitrates and your ready to add fish.

Best of luck!

 

Thank you guys for the information. I decided to start over as it was time to change my filter. I have a new filter in, replaced the water, added prime, and put a bottle of tetra safe start in & again dosed to 2 ppm ammonia. 5 days later I still have no nitrites. Am I doing something wrong or is it still as slow with bacteria added?

 

did you keep the old filter media? that's where most of the BB live.

 

I was in the same boat as you were but now I have 5ppm nitrites. if you have adjustable heater I would set it to 84 and see if it improves. I was able to get nitrite in 2 weeks this way

 

Congrats on starting your new tank - and I do commend you on the fishless cycle. I understand how frustrating it can be but that cycle takes time. It took my 55 gallon nearly all of 6 weeks to show nitrites.

A really simple and quick way to jump start that cycle is to turn your heater up to 84 degrees and head to your Local Fish Store to ask if they’ll mind sparing some of their cycled filter media. I was able to get a little piece of filter floss from my LFS’ discus tank (discus need high quality water so I knew this media was going to be safe) and put it in my filter. About 48 hours later, I had a nitrite spike. This process is called seeding and is certainly the quickest and most reliable way to jump start a fishless cycle.

Even with seeding your tank, you’ll need to have patience. The cycle takes time. Don’t mess around with additives or your filter too much during the process to ensure that the BB is able to start its colony.

Patience is key but trust me, it will definitely be worth it when you start up your healthy BB colony the right way. You’ll be thanking yourself later.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

Thank you! I will turn up the heat today and try to get to a fish store soon between classes!

 

You have been getting some good information but one thing in your original post stood out to me. When doing a fishless cycle you don't need to detox the ammonia with Prime. Prime is great when doing a fish in cycle. In that case you want to keep the ammonia low and use Prime to detox what is left but when doing a fishless cycle there are no fish to protect so you don't need to detox the ammonia.

How often are you adding Prime? When doing a fishless cycle the only time you need to use it is when adding water due to evaporation or in the water you are replacing when doing a water change.

When doing a fishless cycle any of the many water conditioners on the market will work just fine to remove the chlorine/chloramines if present in your source water.

 

Hi! Thanks for the information! Since I started over and added beneficial bacteria I only primed it upon filling the tank. And I waited 48 hours between priming and putting in the bacteria because I read that the prime could negatively affect it.

 

Hi! I just realized I never updated this thread. Thanks to everyone who helped! My tank finally cycled without me even knowing. I was not shaking the bottle of the nitrate tester in the apI kit, I felt so dumb. But anyway, the tank is fully cycled and I now have three fish! I love it so much and having the tank cycle was a long but rewarding process!! Thanks again.