Should I add more ammonia?

[RedOnion]

My tank has been cycling for almost 2 weeks now and nitrites are at 5ppm and ammonia is at 0 ppm. Should I add some ammonia or wait for the nitrites to lower? the nitrites have been stuck at this number for about 2-3 days now. also not sure if this affects it but i did use TSS+

 

[mattgirl]

update #2: 3ppm of ammonia has turned in 0ppm in only 20 hours. However nitrites have risen to 2ppm. I will redose to 3ppm of ammonia again today hopefully my nitrites can speed up a bit. i will also retest nitrites tonight and see what happens. not sure why my tanks always stall with nitrites but are quick with ammonia

What you are seeing isn't unusual. It normally takes longer for the nitrite eating bacteria to catch up with the ammonia eating bacteria. Wait a full 24 hours between tests. If you test earlier you will think something is wrong. It isn't. It just takes time.

 

[RedOnion]

update#3: ammonia again has converted but i waited a full 24 hours to test. nitrites have FINALLy started to go down and are at .75 ppm. I will redose today again and hopefully tomorrow there will be no nitrites or ammonia

 

[RedOnion]

update#4: nitrites are down to .25ppm I will continue to dose ammonia again. After my nitrites reach 0 within 24 hours should i do one final test?

 

[mattgirl]

update#4: nitrites are down to .25ppm I will continue to dose ammonia again. After my nitrites reach 0 within 24 hours should i do one final test?

I would just to be sure

 

[RedOnion]

I would just to be sure

Okay! Thank you again!

 

[RedOnion]

I forgot to update these last two days but both readings have showed 0 nitrites, I added more ammonia again last night to make sure and today it is zero nitrites!! my nitrates tho seem to be 80ppm so I will have to do a large water change but overall I'm so happy that I am done!! now onto my shrimp tank cycling

 

[Ismene]

So I’ve set up a heavily planted 50 gallon. I had an enormous nitrite spike, nitrates were up to 40ppm. I did a 75% water change yesterday, and let it sit overnight. Today the nitrates are off the chart! My tap water is 5ppm for nitrate. I’m wanting to move some of my fish from a 30 gallon in, but I would like to wait for the plants to use up some of the nitrates. Will my cycle stall if I don’t add ammonia? Currently ammonia is 0ppm, nitrite is 0.25ppm, nitrates are at least over 100ppm, maybe as high as 160ppm.
I should add that some MTS and ramshorn snails hitched a ride on the plants and have reproduced in these conditions. So, it’s not completely deadly in there, but I don’t want my fish to get sick.

 

[mattgirl]

I am trying to wrap my mind around how the nitrates jumped so high after the water change. Are you adding some kind of liquid fertilizer that could have caused this? Unless the nitrates are much higher than they were the last time you ran the test on your source water I can't understand how they could go from 40 before the water change all the way to off the chart the next day unless you added something to add them.

To answer you question though. You can go a few days without adding ammonia and your bacteria shouldn't suffer. Plants should help lower your nitrates but if isn't going to happen quickly so you may need feed the bacteria every few days.

Before moving fish into this tank you need to be seeing 0 ammonia And 0 nitrites so you still have a little way to go before the cycle is complete.

 

[Ismene]

I added Thrive last week. The only thing I can think is that the nitrite was converted into nitrates really fast. The timing is bizarre. I ordered a python to make water changes easier so I can do them more frequently. I’m going to add more ammonia and test frequently until the python arrives. Regardless, I won’t be adding my fish until the tank parameters are much closer than they are in the picture.

I am trying to wrap my mind around how the nitrates jumped so high after the water change. Are you adding some kind of liquid fertilizer that could have caused this? Unless the nitrates are much higher than they were the last time you ran the test on your source water I can't understand how they could go from 40 before the water change all the way to off the chart the next day unless you added something to add them.

To answer you question though. You can go a few days without adding ammonia and your bacteria shouldn't suffer. Plants should help lower your nitrates but if isn't going to happen quickly so you may need feed the bacteria every few days.

Before moving fish into this tank you need to be seeing 0 ammonia And 0 nitrites so you still have a little way to go before the cycle is complete.

How much ammonia should I add at this point? I’ve only ever done fish food cycling before this tank. I would consider switching to that but I think it would take too long for the food to rot.

 

[mattgirl]

I was surprised at how high my nitrates shot up when I started using Thrive. I have to think that is where these high ones are coming from. If that is the case I don't think they are a problem. I do know the instructions for Thrive recommends doing a 50% water change each week. I have to think the reason for that is because it raises the nitrates so high. I switched to Thrive C. It recommends 30% weekly water changes. I have to think the smaller recommended water change is because it doesn't raise the nitrates as high.

Since you are seeing no ammonia and a very low nitrite reading I think it would be safe to do another water change to get the nitrates down and go ahead and move the fish you plan on moving to this tank. If you can spare some it would help if you could move some media from your 30 gallon tank over to this one. I would hold off on adding any more Thrive for at least a week. By doing so you should get an idea as to how much nitrate this tank is actually producing.

 

[Ismene]

I was surprised at how high my nitrates shot up when I started using Thrive. I have to think that is where these high ones are coming from. If that is the case I don't think they are a problem. I do know the instructions for Thrive recommends doing a 50% water change each week. I have to think the reason for that is because it raises the nitrates so high. I switched to Thrive C. It recommends 30% weekly water changes. I have to think the smaller recommended water change is because it doesn't raise the nitrates as high.

Since you are seeing no ammonia and a very low nitrite reading I think it would be safe to do another water change to get the nitrates down and go ahead and move the fish you plan on moving to this tank. If you can spare some it would help if you could move some media from your 30 gallon tank over to this one. I would hold off on adding any more Thrive for at least a week. By doing so you should get an idea as to how much nitrate this tank is actually producing.

Thanks! I moved two filters from my other tanks to this one. So, it has cycled fast, but I think I’m going to wait to put the fish in until next week. The python vac should be here Monday. I’m going to do a big water change Tuesday and then put the fish in if the parameters are good. Water changes with buckets for a tank this big are so much more of a pain, I’m over it
I’m thinking of adding half the dose I started with, hopefully that won’t spike anything too high.
I so need to get the low tech Thrive.

 

[mattgirl]

Thanks! I moved two filters from my other tanks to this one. So, it has cycled fast, but I think I’m going to wait to put the fish in until next week. The python vac should be here Monday. I’m going to do a big water change Tuesday and then put the fish in if the parameters are good. Water changes with buckets for a tank this big are so much more of a pain, I’m over it
I’m thinking of adding half the dose I started with, hopefully that won’t spike anything too high.
I so need to get the low tech Thrive.

I know what you mean. I am still using buckets to do my water changes but I feel sure one day in the not to distant future I will have to find an easier way. For now I just consider it good exercise. Doing weekly 50% water changes in my 55 gallon gives me a good workout.