Okay, getting more frustrated

[AquaDummy]

So, I've been fishless cycling for a few weeks (seems like forever). A couple of weeks ago Ammonia level started coming down and soon it was hard to keep the level up around the 2ppm. The nitites then went through the roof and are still that way.

Now however, ammonia doesn't seem to be dropping much anymore. I haven't done anything other than what I have been doing for weeks - test, add ammonia, and wait, test, add ammonia and wait. So what's going on any why does it seem like things have come to a scretching halt?

ammonia is at about 2ppm. Seems the same or more than yesterday and I didn't add any ammonia since yesterday morning just to see what may happen. I expected it to go down to almost zero.

Nitrite is 3.3 + as it has been for awhile

signed:
very frustrated and still no fish..

[OrionGirl]

What is your KH/pH? Important for the KH to be above 3ppm, otherwise the biological processes will use up the buffer and the pH will crash, which can inhibit bacterial activity.

[JSchmidt]

I'm with O-girl. If your water has moderate to low KH, fishless cycling can burn it up in little time. If you have a test kit for KH, check it. If not, you can just add some KH back to the tank in the form of baking soda. (Don't do this if you have fish in the tank, obviously, because KH and pH jumps when you add baking soda. If you're cycling without fish, though, it won't harm a thing because you'll be doing a large scale water change at the end anyway.) You can a tablespoon of baking soda per 10 gallons of water and that should buffer things up nicely.

HTH,
Jim

[AquaDummy]

Just tested KH and it is 40 - pretty low so I will add baking soda. Thank you very much...did this kill things off and now will take longer again?

[lkrav3]

My two tanks (that were cycling with fish before I had read about fishless…) went through the same situation you’re describing. Seems like you’ve been at it forever… Then the ammonia starts to fall and nitrite starts to spike up. Then it stalls at those levels for a while. The next “phase” seemed like it would never end. It’s the phase when ammonia finally dropped down to near or at 0 and the nitrites really spiked along with a pretty good level of nitrate. I thought nitrites would never start to fall. They finally showed a little movement though, and then one day they were magically down to 0. All in all our tanks took about 6 to 7 weeks to cycle.

[shar]

Just tested KH and it is 40 - pretty low so I will add baking soda. Thank you very much...did this kill things off and now will take longer again?


Hang in there, I was not aware of the kh,ph connection when fishless cycling a couple months ago. When I posted almost the exact same thing you just did my kh was down to 0 and my ph was not detectable.

After that crash I tested my kh daily,did more water changes and added the baking soda(only had to do it once) and I finally cycled a few weeks later...

I know your fustration, you WILL cycle believe me If I can do it anybody can.

Shar

[JSchmidt]

Just tested KH and it is 40 - pretty low so I will add baking soda. Thank you very much...did this kill things off and now will take longer again?

You most likely didn't kill anything off... the nitrifiers seem to get sluggish as KH is deplenished and pH drops. You should see things perk up a bit in the next several days with the addition of some baking soda.

HTH,
Jim

[AquaDummy]

Thank you all..that kick started everything again. This morning I have almost no ammonia and my nitrites are coming down. Of course now I have to go on a business trip for 2 weeks so won't get any fish yet. I think it will be easier for my wife to add ammonia everyday than to look after the fish.

Speaking of fish, now that it looks like I will be cycled soon, I'm thinking it's going to be best to put a full load of fish in right away. Is that correct thing to do?

Planning on:
pair or Rams
Bristlnose cat
15 Harlequins
5 platy or swordtails
8 cories
2 pairs cherry barbs
5 emperor tetra

[cgrabe]

Speaking of fish, now that it looks like I will be cycled soon, I'm thinking it's going to be best to put a full load of fish in right away. Is that correct thing to do?
Yes, since you did a fishless cycle, there is enough bacteria to handle a fully stocked tank. If you don't add them all at once, some of the unneeded bacteria will die off, and you'll have to add subsequent fish more slowly.