Should i do WC ? High nitrates, cycle

My 10gal has been sitting since January, then I received dr Tim's ammonia on 2/4.

*already had 10ppm nitrates from tap water*

February 4th. I dosed till my ammonia went from .25 to 2ppm

On Feb 7th , I saw nitrites at 2ppm, ammonia down to 1ppm

Feb 11th, nitrites at 3ppm , ammonia .25ppm , nitrates 40ppm

Feb 15th, nitrites 2ppm , ammonia .25ppm , nitrate 80ppm

I'm currently still dosing with ammonia, just 10 drops a day .

I read that having high nitrates will cause the cycle to crash , is 80ppm high? Should I do a water change , do I need to ? Or do I keep dosing till it converts ammonia to 0ppm in 24 hours ?

Thanks

 

PH is also important when cycling a low PH can also cause a stalled cycle. If it were me I would do a 25-50% WC and see where the reading are tomorrow. But then again I did a fish-in cycle so I probably shouldn't comment too much on using a bottled bacteria.

 

I read that having high nitrates will cause the cycle to crash

Mines not crashed, i'm onto my 3rd tank and had to move 30 fish over to remove my old tank and the first few weeks readings was great and then my ammonia went to 0.25 and slightly higher but my nitrite shot to 2ppm for an whole week, then my nitrate shot to 40ppm, i've been doing 25% water changes 6 buckets out my 60 gallon every morning but a tube on the pressure valve for loads of oxygen plus it was cloudy and now nitrite as gone, nitrate at a steady level of 5.0ppm and ammonia at 0.25ppm but I haven't tested in a couple of days, so I shall do it tomorrow to see how things lie.

Keep doing water changes daily and I added Aquasafe, API zyme and stresscoat.

 

PH is also important when cycling a low PH can also cause a stalled cycle. If it were me I would do a 25-50% WC and see where the reading are tomorrow. But then again I did a fish-in cycle so I probably shouldn't comment too much on using a bottled bacteria.

My ph stays blue at 7.6. Should I do a 25% water change maybe ? And add in more ammonia after

 

My ph stays blue at 7.6. Should I do a 25% water change maybe ? And add in more ammonia after

Start with a 25% WC test your parameters 24 hours from now and see where they are at post them here if u wanna and if the ammonia has dropped then add a bit more to make sure it is being processed within a 24 hour period.

 

Start with a 25% WC test your parameters 24 hours from now and see where they are at post them here if u wanna and if the ammonia has dropped then add a bit more to make sure it is being processed within a 24 hour period.

Also would you know if anubias and val are safe during tank cycling? With high ammonia and nitrates

Thanks

 

Also would you know if anubias and val are safe during tank cycling? With high ammonia and nitrates

Thanks

Add as many plants as you want to during cycling your tank. ( the more the merrier ) They will help with absorbing the ammonia and other minerals in your water.

 

Plants love cycling. They use ammonia and nitrates for growth.

On my cycle I only worry about nitrites. Once they reach 5 I do 50% wc re test an hour later and see my level. Then dose back to Target ppm and watch nitrites again. When I'm hitting 40-50 nitrates I do 75-80% and I'm usually done then.

 

Add as many plants as you want to during cycling your tank. ( the more the merrier ) They will help with absorbing the ammonia and other minerals in your water.

My swords started to turn transparent when I first added the ammonia and maybe it was a coincidence but I was just making sure. Thanks !

 

My swords started to turn transparent when I first added the ammonia and maybe it was a coincidence but I was just making sure. Thanks !

It could have been that they were grown above water and needed to adjust to the transition of growing below water. Also a lot of time but not always plants will melt back a bit when introduced to new water parameters and then they will either do well or melt to nothing. It's a bit of a c rap shoot with any plant no matter how well you care for them.

 

Start with a 25% WC test your parameters 24 hours from now and see where they are at post them here if u wanna and if the ammonia has dropped then add a bit more to make sure it is being processed within a 24 hour period.

I did a 25% water change, added conditioned(prime) water back. Added 10 drops of Ammonia, Waited 24hours ...

Just tested my water today..

Ph- 6.8 (went down ,why?)
Nitrite- 2ppm (same)
Nitrate- 40ppm (down 50%)
Ammonia- .25ppm (same)

Only thing different I did was I put the rest of my 4 plants back into the tank before I added water back yesterday.

I've never seen my ph that low before , does prime lower it? Is that concerning for my plants ?

Thanks

 

While bacteria consumes ammonia and nitrites the pH drops and raises.

 

I did a 25% water change, added conditioned(prime) water back. Added 10 drops of Ammonia, Waited 24hours ...

Just tested my water today..

Ph- 6.8 (went down ,why?)
Nitrite- 2ppm (same)
Nitrate- 40ppm (down 50%)
Ammonia- .25ppm (same)

Only thing different I did was I put the rest of my 4 plants back into the tank before I added water back yesterday.

I've never seen my ph that low before , does prime lower it? Is that concerning for my plants ?

Thanks

My tank went into proper cycling on the 3rd week as the previous readings was fine adding my previous tank of fish water and filter media and it took a full week to get the nitrite back to 0 and just 2 days to bring the nitrate back to 5.0 and now just ammonia is in at 0.25 but what i've been doing is the same as you every morning 25% removed besides vacuuming twice a week to help keep waste down and where you use prime I use Aquasafe, API zyme and stresscoat.

Just keep up with those changes on a daily basis and your levels should drop.