I am doing a fishless cycle on my 46 gallon. Ammonia is at 0 already. Even when i add a good bit of ammonia at night (like 15-20 drops) I wake up to 0 ammonia. Nitrites on the other hand are like off the charts, over 5.0, and have been there for quite some time now. I changed water yesterday, about 10 gallons, as recommended in another thread, and still this morning nitrites were very very high. Is there anything I can do to get them to start dropping or do I just have to wait it out? Thanks in advance.
fishless cycle, nitrites won't drop. :(
- Thread starter jujubee
- Start date
As with all things in this hobby, patience.
Biologicals can do some fascinating chemistry, nitrifiers included. But they take time. Ammonia to nitrite is a respectable energy gain for the organism, nitrite to nitrate, not so much. As a result, it takes a lot longer for a NO2 -> NO3 bacteria to develop.
Biologicals can do some fascinating chemistry, nitrifiers included. But they take time. Ammonia to nitrite is a respectable energy gain for the organism, nitrite to nitrate, not so much. As a result, it takes a lot longer for a NO2 -> NO3 bacteria to develop.
Hmmm, well, from your pH you probably don't need to worry about KH just yet, but you're going to want to get a test for it eventually, so no time like the present...
Hang in there. I was in the same boat last week. The fishless cycle of my 10 gallon took 40 days. I didn't think the high nitrite part would ever end but it finally did.
i'm trying to hang in there, its so frustrating though. Hopefully it will all be over soon though. By the way, Goldy, once your ammonia started going to 0 every morning how much ammonia did you put in each day to keep your bacteria alive?
The terrible truth....
Jujubee, I know how you feel. A while back, I got a 10G tank and decided to try fishless cycling. To make a long story short, it got stuck in the nitrite phase the same as you. I tried to be patient, but after 8 weeks, my nitrites were still off the chart!!
I had also tried several "cycle in a bottle" products. I can now say that these were a complete waste of money, although, others may have had some success with them (I've heard that Bio Spira is the only product that actually works, but I can't get it in my area). Anyway, one day, I came home from work and I lost it! I did several huge water changes to bring the nitrite reading down (around 2-3ppm). I also put in a new filter cartridge and got rid of my plastic plants and got the real thing (after doing some research....plants are a whole other ball game). At that point, I just let the tank sit for a couple of days. Now for the part that some of you are sure to hate me for....I abandoned my fishless cycle and put some black neons in my tank 
I've found several sources saying that black neons are actally quite tuff (and I think they look great too). Well, within one week of adding the neons, my tank cycle fully. They had to deal with nitrite reading of around 2-3ppm for a little while, but they showed no signs of stress at all. I've since added to my tank, and all the fish and plants are doing great. I'm not condoning what I did, but I just couldn't take it anymore. It is possible that when I abandoned my fishless cycle, it was almost done. When I added the fish, they may have just finished the cycle. As I mentioned, I put in a new filter cartridge the day I went crazy, so you would think that my tank would have started cycling again virtually from scratch. Anyway, sorry for the long reply....just thought I'd share my story.
Zonker
Jujubee, I know how you feel. A while back, I got a 10G tank and decided to try fishless cycling. To make a long story short, it got stuck in the nitrite phase the same as you. I tried to be patient, but after 8 weeks, my nitrites were still off the chart!!
I had also tried several "cycle in a bottle" products. I can now say that these were a complete waste of money, although, others may have had some success with them (I've heard that Bio Spira is the only product that actually works, but I can't get it in my area). Anyway, one day, I came home from work and I lost it! I did several huge water changes to bring the nitrite reading down (around 2-3ppm). I also put in a new filter cartridge and got rid of my plastic plants and got the real thing (after doing some research....plants are a whole other ball game). At that point, I just let the tank sit for a couple of days. Now for the part that some of you are sure to hate me for....I abandoned my fishless cycle and put some black neons in my tank I've found several sources saying that black neons are actally quite tuff (and I think they look great too). Well, within one week of adding the neons, my tank cycle fully. They had to deal with nitrite reading of around 2-3ppm for a little while, but they showed no signs of stress at all. I've since added to my tank, and all the fish and plants are doing great. I'm not condoning what I did, but I just couldn't take it anymore. It is possible that when I abandoned my fishless cycle, it was almost done. When I added the fish, they may have just finished the cycle. As I mentioned, I put in a new filter cartridge the day I went crazy, so you would think that my tank would have started cycling again virtually from scratch. Anyway, sorry for the long reply....just thought I'd share my story.Zonker
I did the same thing Zonker did BUT! I added a Betta and six Neon Tetras (no need to lecture I knew what I was doing and the end result there of). I Now have the betta, two white cloud minows, and 2 very healthy and active Neons (YES 2 out of six these guys are touchy that's why I added them. I've called them miners canaries in the past. 3 lived one died by suicide by floor.) After the Ammonia dropped in my tank durring my fishless I snapped and added fish. My nitites were well above 5ppm as well but when I replaced the whole filter (added a bio wheel and tossed everything from my old one) I messed something up abit. I still have Nitrite and Ammonia generated as well as Nitrate but no zeros yet. What killed me in my cycle was that I could see a change in ammonia and some change in Nitrates but with my NItrite being so high I never saw any gain. I'd suggest you try doing a big water change now, reseed the tank with amonia and watch the NitrItes. Keep those in a messurable range and the frustration level should calm down abit since you can actually SEE what's happening. That's what I wish I would have done. I've been doing 30% water changes every other night since I added the fish to keep the water in a healthy range. It's the kind of thing fishless helps you aviod. You still need to know how to change the water though so try bringing your nitrItes down where you can watch them. You get to see how fast it's moving and you won't ultimately hurt the cycle any by bringing it down. BUT you get to observe the change more closely. The thing you need to keep in mind is if you can read any nitrItes you have enough left to feed the cycle since your goal is to read zero. Try this out and keep us posted. I think once you can watch the numbers move you'll save your self from dealing with all the problems I've had (Ich being a biggy). I'm actually planning on doing a planted tank in my 10 this week with a fishless (I upgraded to a 29g from it and the 10's been empty ever since). Patience is really your only saving grace right now. Once you start actually having fish in the tank playing with the numbers gets MUCH more serious. I'm not out to kill any fish so I have alot more maintenance to do now. I wish I would have waited but hind sight is always 20/20.
-Neo Sithlord
-Neo Sithlord
By the way, Goldy, once your ammonia started going to 0 every morning how much ammonia did you put in each day to keep your bacteria alive?
I added about 1/2 teaspoon a day. I upped it a tad toward the end as I had read that could help with a stalled cycle (about 3/4 teaspoon). Hope things are progressing.
I added about 1/2 teaspoon a day. I upped it a tad toward the end as I had read that could help with a stalled cycle (about 3/4 teaspoon). Hope things are progressing.