Still Confused Cycle End Game

I know that to have a cycled tank you need ttto have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites. but I'm a little confused when my nitrites are 0 and my ammonia is like 0.25 , do I just need to wait longer or is something wrong with my cycle? because ammonia was 0.25 yesterday also, this is actually my friends tank, and they are getting impatient and itts annoyying but I don't have tthe comforting words for them . so what exacttly is going on? is it simply just waiting to finish cycling like I assume?

 

So a fully cycled tank means 1ppm of ammonia is converted to nitrates in 24 hours. So once the ammonia and nitrites are zero, dose the tank to 1ppm of ammonia and test again in 24 hours. If it's zero the tank is cycled.
What's going on right now is normal

 

So a fully cycled tank means 1ppm of ammonia is converted to nitrates in 24 hours. So once the ammonia and nitrites are zero, dose the tank to 1ppm of ammonia and test again in 24 hours. If it's zero the tank is cycled.
What's going on right now is normal

well thte day before her ammonia was 1ppm. ive personally never seen it that high before. yesterday it went way down to like 0.25 , not complettely yellow. bit green today its the same she says, now shes doing a water change.

 

To do a full fishless cycle it should actually be dosed to 5ppm.

 

To do a full fishless cycle it should actually be dosed to 5ppm.

really? wow tthat's new . unfortunately neither of use have any pure ammonia

 

It doesn't have to be pure, just ghost feed (feed like there are fish in the tank) and wait for the food to decay

 

It doesn't have to be pure, just ghost feed (feed like there are fish in the tank) and wait for the food to decay

oh we did that. that's how it got to 1ppm. I understtand now

 

So once the current ammonia level is gone (without another water change) put the same amount of food you did originally. It will take more than a day with food, but see how long it takes for there to be no ammonia

 

So once the current ammonia level is gone (without another water change) put the same amount of food you did originally. It will take more than a day with food, but see how long it takes for there to be no ammonia

eh. thank you for your help I understand it more. unfortunate that person doesn't listen to me and goes online and does tthe first thing she reads. currently in the process of a water change. 30% or a 100% I don't know. hope that doesn't ruin everything. would a water change ruin the process?

 

A full one would, but a smaller one shouldn't cause problems

 

A full one would, but a smaller one shouldn't cause problems

she did like 95% unfortunately.she didnt empty ttthe filters so hopefully the backteria that brought the ammonia down the first time is still there. so basically refilled and conditioned and droped some ghost feed and do a test in an hour as a marker. correct path yes?

 

The BB will still be alive yes, but now there will be almost no ammonia available for them to feed off of. An hour won't be enough time to see any change, at least a day or two

 

The BB will still be alive yes, but now there will be almost no ammonia available for them to feed off of. An hour won't be enough time to see any change, at least a day or two

wow. this is frustrating. wish she had some of that tetra safe start stuff. but guess were taking the long way

 

What bacteria did she add to begin with?

 

What bacteria did she add to begin with?

some stuff called "microbe-lift Niteout II" since petco didnt have any safestart. the guy that was working with us suggested it, said hed been using it for 3 montths and it works for him but its not instant its just supposed to help the cycle along or something. we test the water (after ghost feeding) and the ammonia was at 1ppm or more. then we put that stuff in and the next day the ammonia was at .25 ish? or between .25 and 0

 

I've never heard of that before, but it looks like it works pretty well

 

I've never heard of that before, but it looks like it works pretty well

in retrospect probably should have bought some safestartplus on amazon or something for instant cycle. welp ill probably post results tomorrow and go from there >.>

in retrospect probably should have bought some safestartplus on amazon or something for instant cycle. welp ill probably post results tomorrow and go from there >.>

how long does it take flake food to turn into ammonia?

 

Darn dude. She won’t take your advice? Break up with her ASAP.

Nah just kidding. To answer your question, it should create ammonia after a few hours of it rotting.

You can’t really tell how much fish food you’ll need to dose up to 5ppm with fish food, and i’d really just add pinch then waste more than thar tbh. How long has her tank been cycling for? Maybe you can give them some of your cycled media to insta cycle their tank.

 

Darn, dude. She won’t take your advice? Break up with her ASAP.

Nah just kidding. To answer your question, it should create ammonia after a few hours of it rotting.

You can’t really tell how much fish food you’ll need to dose up to 5ppm with fish food, and i’d really just add pinch then waste more than thar tbh. How long has her tank been cycling for? Maybe you can give them some of your cycled media to insta cycle their tank.

I'm not even sure when it or if it even started, I'm not good aat the nitrogen cycle maybe a few days we attempted it , put some safe start in. then there was a huge ammonia spike the next day. and I kinda forgot what to do properly after that. then she panicked and did a giant water change killing all the bacteria food and back at sqauare one I assume, in which I re ghost fed the tank to try and get the ammonia back. I'm just holding all her fish in my tank, but I use cartridge filters while her HOB filters are aquaclears. sponge etc. in which I assume mine won't work

 

I'm not even sure when it or if it even started, I'm not good aat the nitrogen cycle maybe a few days we attempted it , put some safe start in. then there was a huge ammonia spike the next day. and I kinda forgot what to do properly after that. then she panicked and did a giant water change killing all the bacteria food and back at sqauare one I assume, in which I re ghost fed the tank to try and get the ammonia back. I'm just holding all her fish in my tank, but I use cartridge filters while her HOB filters are aquaclears. sponge etc. in which I assume mine won't work

So she had fish in it to begin? In that case, keeping a close eye on the parameters is needed. Meaning daily water testing, along with do water changes(possibly daily) when anything spikes, or ammonia/nitrite get over .25 ppm.

Doing a water change will not “kill the bacteria food”. Doing water changes while a cycle isn’t ideal, but is doable. It’s especially important when doing a ‘fish in cycle’. The fish will continue to create the waste, so no ‘ghost feedings’ is needed, and try not to overfeed to avoid spikes.

As of now, since her tank doesn’t have fish, continue to feed the tank a pinch of fish food daily until she steadily reads 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 5-20 nitrates. Then the fish will be able to safely be placed in the tank.

btw, what you can do(if you have enough media to share. With the cartridges, it can be placed right behind the intake, where there's flow, stuff it behind the current sponges in the aquaclear, or cut up the sponge part on the cartridge and throw it in the filter, be sure to not let it dry up.

 

So she had fish in it to begin? In that case, keeping a close eye on the parameters is needed. Meaning daily water testing, along with do water changes(possibly daily) when anything spikes, or ammonia/nitrite get over .25 ppm.

Doing a water change will not “kill the bacteria food”. Doing water changes while a cycle isn’t ideal, but is doable. It’s especially important when doing a ‘fish in cycle’. The fish will continue to create the waste, so no ‘ghost feedings’ is needed, and try not to overfeed to avoid spikes.

As of now, since her tank doesn’t have fish, continue to feed the tank a pinch of fish food daily until she steadily reads 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 5-20 nitrates. Then the fish will be able to safely be placed in the tank.

btw, what you can do(if you have enough media to share. With the cartridges, it can be placed right behind the intake, where there's flow, stuff it behind the current sponges in the aquaclear, or cut up the sponge part on the cartridge and throw it in the filter, be sure to not let it dry up.

I would feel mean doing a fish in cycle. thanks ill look into that. but I am worried that if I remove like the cartridge from my 30 , I hope my 50 has packed on enough bacteria to also keep up while the 30 is away

 

Wait so is there a fish in tank or not?

 

no fish in the tank in quesiton.

Wait so is there a fish in tank or not?

we can end this thread , she got her fish back