75 Gallon Tank No nitrites ???

I am currently doing a fishless cycle. The last time I tested water parameters was on 8/18 with results at ammonia 0.25, nitrite 1.0, nitrate 5.0-10. Today is 8/25 and my readings are ammonia 0.25, nitrite 0, nitrate between 10-20. I’m just curious if this means my tank is cycled? The 0 nitrite is what has me confused. I did add some brightwell plant food that I know raises nitrates in the tank. Could this product have also gotten rid of nitrites? Any suggestions are welcome.

I am currently doing a fishless cycle. The last time I tested water parameters was on 8/18 with results at ammonia 0.25, nitrite 1.0, nitrate 5.0-10. Today is 8/25 and my readings are ammonia 0.25, nitrite 0, nitrate between 10-20. I’m just curious if this means my tank is cycled? The 0 nitrite is what has me confused. I did add some brightwell plant food that I know raises nitrates in the tank. Could this product have also gotten rid of nitrites? Any suggestions are welcome.

I forgot to add the pH levels. It is somewhere between 7.6-7.8 or possibly 7.4-7.6, hard to tell with these colors.

 

I am currently doing a fishless cycle. The last time I tested water parameters was on 8/18 with results at ammonia 0.25, nitrite 1.0, nitrate 5.0-10. Today is 8/25 and my readings are ammonia 0.25, nitrite 0, nitrate between 10-20. I’m just curious if this means my tank is cycled? The 0 nitrite is what has me confused. I did add some brightwell plant food that I know raises nitrates in the tank. Could this product have also gotten rid of nitrites? Any suggestions are welcome.

I forgot to add the pH levels. It is somewhere between 7.6-7.8 or possibly 7.4-7.6, hard to tell with these colors.

Brightwell plant food probably would not have gotten rid of nitrite.

Nitrite could have just been consumed via nitrite oxidation by nitrifiers, part of what we want in a cycle so nothing to fret about, nor is it weird.

pH is fine.

In my books, your tank is not cycled until it can handle an amount of ammonia produced at least by your initial intended stock, preferably though by a fully stocked tank. So that translates to it being able to handle 2ppm ammonia a day, which means my preferred method is to dose 2ppm ammonia and if ammonia and nitrite reads zero, then your tank is cycled. Alternatively you can ghostfeed to test your cycle, but that's a pain. If that might be your preferred route, let me know and I can walk through it.

Though I'll be frank, it does not sound like you are quite understanding how a fishless cycle work. Not your fault most likely, there are a lot of contradictory information, and I am sure what I provide may contradict others as well. Nonetheless, could you walk us through how you are cycling the tank?

 

Brightwell plant food probably would not have gotten rid of nitrite.

Nitrite could have just been consumed via nitrite oxidation by nitrifiers, part of what we want in a cycle so nothing to fret about, nor is it weird.

pH is fine.

In my books, your tank is not cycled until it can handle an amount of ammonia produced at least by your initial intended stock, preferably though by a fully stocked tank. So that translates to it being able to handle 2ppm ammonia a day, which means my preferred method is to dose 2ppm ammonia and if ammonia and nitrite reads zero, then your tank is cycled. Alternatively you can ghostfeed to test your cycle, but that's a pain. If that might be your preferred route, let me know and I can walk through it.

Though I'll be frank, it does not sound like you are quite understanding how a fishless cycle work. Not your fault most likely, there are a lot of contradictory information, and I am sure what I provide may contradict others as well. Nonetheless, could you walk us through how you are cycling the tank?

I forgot to add that i did also add Brightwell bacteria. That would have had some effect. Currently I am doing nothing but letting the pump run. I have added a java moss wall. It was approximately 16 oz of moss. Today I am adding 6 plants. Besides the bottle of artificial bacteria I have done nothing else. I need to add two rabbit snails to the tank, this will hopefully help the cycling process, with all the poo they give off. Just want to make sure it’s safe before adding any aquatic creatures.

 

I forgot to add that i did also add Brightwell bacteria. That would have had some effect. Currently I am doing nothing but letting the pump run. I have added a java moss wall. It was approximately 16 oz of moss. Today I am adding 6 plants. Besides the bottle of artificial bacteria I have done nothing else. I need to add two rabbit snails to the tank, this will hopefully help the cycling process, with all the poo they give off. Just want to make sure it’s safe before adding any aquatic creatures.

Ah okay, the rabbit snails added complicated things a bit. Without any live stock it would be relatively straightforward to test the cycle, but here I don't actually have any advice on what to do next, sorry.

 

Ah okay, the rabbit snails added complicated things a bit. Without any live stock it would be relatively straightforward to test the cycle, but here I don't actually have any advice on what to do next, sorry.

If I am understanding what is being said, the snails aren't in there yet. I assumed that because she said, I need to add rabbit snails but want to make sure it is safe to do so first.

If that is the case I think it is safe to go ahead and recommend the test you were going to suggest.

 

If I am understanding what is being said, the snails aren't in there yet. I assumed that because she said, I need to add rabbit snails but want to make sure it is safe to do so first.

If that is the case I think it is safe to go ahead and recommend the test you were going to suggest.

You are right, I misread. Thanks for catching that!

Sb092 Firstly, don't add any live stock. Just will make the fishless cycling process more painful.

Secondly, instead of having your snails as an ammonia source, I'd recommend dosing ammonia to cycle your tank. The way it works is you dose 2ppm ammonia, and measure both your ammonia and nitrite every 24 hours. If both are zero within 24 hours after dosing 2ppm ammonia, only then is your tank cycled. If not, keep measuring again every 24 hours until both ammonia and nitrite reads zero. Then dose 2ppm ammonia and repeat the process.

What happens during this process is, the ammonia will be used as an energy source for your nitrifiers, driving their growth and reproduction. As they increase in numbers, they will be able to handle ammonia more and more quickly. Concurrently, they produce nitrite, which is also handled by nitrifiers and same thing happens.

So as your nitrifiers reproduce, your ammonia and nitrite will be processed more and more rapidly. Once they can completely turn 2ppm ammonia to nitrate, then that means that enough has been established, and the cycle complete.

 

If I am understanding what is being said, the snails aren't in there yet. I assumed that because she said, I need to add rabbit snails but want to make sure it is safe to do so first.

If that is the case I think it is safe to go ahead and recommend the test you were going to suggest.

No snails are not in tank yet.