Small ammonia spike

So earlier today I found out that my tank is officially cycled Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0. I started July 30th and today is August 15th. I did a 50% water change because I wanted to clean up the tank. After the water change the ammonia spiked about a .25, but nitrates are the same. So my question is will the nitrites eat that ammonia or will the ammonia dissipate after a while? This is a fishless cycle. I poured water in my tank and then immediately added conditioner. 15 gallon tank using prime and fish food for ammonia. Temperature around 80. Should I had only done a 25%? Or should I have added the conditioner to the tank before the tap water? How badly did I just mess my cycle up? And to add there hasn’t been any ammonia blooms.

 

I would put the dechlor in before adding new water. Its probably fine though.

Im not so sure you are cycled using fish food in 15 days. Have you had a Nitrite reading yet?

 

I would put the dechlor in before adding new water. Its probably fine though.

Im not so sure you are cycled using fish food in 15 days. Have you had a Nitrite reading yet?

 

Did you seed this tank with media from a cycled tank or did you use some type of bottle bacteria? If not I don't know if the cycle is actually complete. It normally tanks longer than 2 weeks to cycle a tank.

I am not sure you understand the cycling process but I will be happy to clarify it for you. Nitrites are actually ammonia eating bacteria waste so they won't do anything to help remove the low spike in ammonia. Only ammonia eating bacteria can take care of it for you.

I agree with StarGirl It is best to add the water conditioner to the fresh water before pouring it in the tank. Chlorine kills bacteria but you probably didn't hurt anything if you added it quickly 'specially if your filter wasn't running during the time the chlorine was in there.

It is difficult to determine how much bacteria you have grown when using fish food as your ammonia source. I have to think you may have stirred up the decomposing food when you did your water change and that is where the ammonia spike came from. We do need to know if you have gone through your nitrite spike yet. It usually takes about 3 weeks for that to happen. Are you seeing any nitrates yet?

Run all the tests on the water you are using for your water changes. we need to know if there is any ammonia, nitrites or nitrates in it. Knowing your pH level will help too.

 

Sorry for the late reply. Yes I did have nitrite readings. They were reading at .50 - 1.0. And Nitrates were reading at a 5.0 - 10. I’m guessing from the plants? I was feeding daily starting August 4th and then a week after that only added fish food every three days cuz I wanted to experiment lol I’m not done with the cycle am I? Lol

 

So you started feeding the fish food Aug 4th? Then I would have to say no.

 

Did you seed this tank with media from a cycled tank or did you use some type of bottle bacteria? If not I don't know if the cycle is actually complete. It normally tanks longer than 2 weeks to cycle a tank.

I am not sure you understand the cycling process but I will be happy to clarify it for you. Nitrites are actually ammonia eating bacteria waste so they won't do anything to help remove the low spike in ammonia. Only ammonia eating bacteria can take care of it for you.

I agree with StarGirl It is best to add the water conditioner to the fresh water before pouring it in the tank. Chlorine kills bacteria but you probably didn't hurt anything if you added it quickly 'specially if your filter wasn't running during the time the chlorine was in there.

It is difficult to determine how much bacteria you have grown when using fish food as your ammonia source. I have to think you may have stirred up the decomposing food when you did your water change and that is where the ammonia spike came from. We do need to know if you have gone through your nitrite spike yet. It usually takes about 3 weeks for that to happen. Are you seeing any nitrates yet?

Run all the tests on the water you are using for your water changes. we need to know if there is any ammonia, nitrites or nitrates in it. Knowing your pH level will help too.

I will come back with my homework in a lil bit



Shall I do post the levels that are in my tank now?
I did not seed this tank.

 

sorry for the late reply. I had to put us together a bite to eat.

If these are tests on your tap water then we know where both the ammonia you saw after the water change and the nitrates are coming from. These numbers will be your base line numbers. pH looks great for cycling. we want to see it up to at least 7 and yours is well above that.

I normally don't specifically recommend Prime when doing a fishless cycle but using it isn't a problem since you will only be adding it when you do a water change. When fishless cycling any of the many water conditioners will work just as well. Stability does seem to help some so continue using it as the instructions recommend.

Fish food will work for cycling a tank but it might be better if you could get some liquid ammonia. Lots of folks use Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride. By using liquid ammonia you can control the ammonia level and can have a pretty good idea as to how much bacteria you have grown once the cycle is complete. I do recommend adding fish food along with the liquid ammonia. We aren't depending on the fish food as our ammonia source so it doesn't take much. I recommend just adding a tiny pinch of crushed flakes every third day.

More homework Yes, go ahead and run all the same tests on your tank water so we can see where we are.

 

More homework Yes, go ahead and run all the same tests on your tank water so we can see where we are.

*Tap* water

 

Those are from my tank

 

The ammonia in the tank looks to be a bit lower than what's in the tap so you have grown some ammonia eating bacteria. The nitrate reading looks to me to be the same. If that is the case the cycle isn't producing nitrates yet. The level you are seeing in the tap water will be your base line. When you see it going up from that level you will know the cycle is producing some.

 

You low pH test was such dark blue I am really curious what the high test reads. Just for giggles.

 

You low pH test was such dark blue I am really curious what the high test reads. Just for giggles.

I can check it for ya


It’s just interesting to me how the nitrite was that color just a few days ago

sorry for the late reply. I had to put us together a bite to eat.

If these are tests on your tap water then we know where both the ammonia you saw after the water change and the nitrates are coming from. These numbers will be your base line numbers. pH looks great for cycling. we want to see it up to at least 7 and yours is well above that.

I normally don't specifically recommend Prime when doing a fishless cycle but using it isn't a problem since you will only be adding it when you do a water change. When fishless cycling any of the many water conditioners will work just as well. Stability does seem to help some so continue using it as the instructions recommend.

Fish food will work for cycling a tank but it might be better if you could get some liquid ammonia. Lots of folks use Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride. By using liquid ammonia you can control the ammonia level and can have a pretty good idea as to how much bacteria you have grown once the cycle is complete. I do recommend adding fish food along with the liquid ammonia. We aren't depending on the fish food as our ammonia source so it doesn't take much. I recommend just adding a tiny pinch of crushed flakes every third day.

More homework Yes, go ahead and run all the same tests on your tank water so we can see where we are.

I’ll look into dr tim

 

Is that the Nitrite or high pH test? Wowsers that is high if it is the ph test.

 

You low pH test was such dark blue I am really curious what the high test reads. Just for giggles.

Is that the Nitrite or high pH test? Wowsers that is high if it is the ph test.

Which pic?
Is that the stuff I should use?

 

Which pic?
View attachment 807961

Is that the stuff I should use?

Yes, this is the ammonia I was recommending.

I agree. It is strange that you were seeing nitrites that high so early in the cycle and it dropped to zero so quickly. Nitrites don't normally come and go this quickly. I have to wonder if could have been from the addition of Stability.

 

Yes, this is the ammonia I was recommending.

I agree. It is strange that you were seeing nitrites that high so early in the cycle and it dropped to zero so quickly. Nitrites don't normally come and go this quickly. I have to wonder if could have been from the addition of Stability.

Nonetheless, I will be purchasing the ammonia and keep dosing with fish food until I get the ammonia. I’ll keep ya guys posted <3

 

I have nothing to add to the cycle advice.

But I just wanted to chime in and say that its perfectly fine to add new water to the tank, and then immediately dose the whole thing with water conditioner. Lots of people do it this way, especially people who use water changers that hook up to a sink.

I don't personally do it that way. I like my buckets, and I do all my dosing before the dumping. But the other way is done so commonly that if it caused a problem, we'd know about it by now.

Chlorine takes some time to kill the beneficial bacteria, and water conditioner works almost instantly. As long as you dose the conditioner immediately after adding the water, you're fine.

 

Nonetheless, I will be purchasing the ammonia and keep dosing with fish food until I get the ammonia. I’ll keep ya guys posted <3

Just purchased the ammonia off Amazon. Should have it by the 19th

 

Just purchased the ammonia off Amazon. Should have it by the 19th

Good job With it you will have much better control over the amount of ammonia in the tank and can better track the progress of the cycle. When you get it just add half of the recommended amount you will find printed on the bottle. It seems lately when folks follow the directions the ammonia level is about twice as high as expected. Run your test about 30 minutes after adding it and add more if needed.

What size tank are we working on? If it is a 30 gallon or less I would only get the ammonia up to 2ppm. Anything over that I recommend 3ppm. There is no need to go any higher than that.

 

Good job With it you will have much better control over the amount of ammonia in the tank and can better track the progress of the cycle. When you get it just add half of the recommended amount you will find printed on the bottle. It seems lately when folks follow the directions the ammonia level is about twice as high as expected. Run your test about 30 minutes after adding it and add more if needed.

What size tank are we working on? If it is a 30 gallon or less I would only get the ammonia up to 2ppm. Anything over that I recommend 3ppm. There is no need to go any higher than that.

15 gallon

 

15 gallon

2ppm ammonia will be enough for this tank. Once the cycle will process this much ammonia through to nitrates you should be safe to add all the stock you plan on stocking this tank with all at once with causing any spikes.

 

2ppm ammonia will be enough for this tank. Once the cycle will process this much ammonia through to nitrates you should be safe to add all the stock you plan on stocking this tank with all at once with causing any spikes.

Everything shall go smoothly with your excellent advice

 

Everything shall go smoothly with your excellent advice

It’s cool to dose my tank with bb regardless right?

 

It’s cool to dose my tank with bb regardless right?

Right. Adding bottle bacteria might help and shouldn't hurt at all.