Fishless Cycling - where are my spikes???

[jaarus]

Hello,

I am in the process of doing a fishless cycle for my 1st tank (30L)

I have read that the results posted by others should be ignored as far as timescales go etc - but EVERYONE mentions spikes...where are mine?

My Fishless Cycle
Date---Am-----Nit-------Nitrate------------Ammonia added
18/04---5--------0----------0-----------------25 drops
19/04---7.3------0----------0-----------------20 drops
20/04---7.3------0----------0-----------------0
21/04---7.3------0.1--------0-----------------0
22/04---7.3------0.1--------0-----------------0
23/04---7.3------0.2--------7.5---------------0
24/04---7.3------0.2--------7.5---------------0
25/04---7.3------0.3--------7.5---------------0
26/04---7.3------0.3--------7.5---------------0
27/04---7.3------0.3/0.8----7.5---------------0
28/04---7.3------0.3/0.8----10----------------0
29/04---7.3------0.8--------10----------------0
20% WATER CHANGE
30/04---4.9/7.3--0.8--------20----------------0
20% WATER CHANGE
01/05 No test No test No test No test
02/05---2.4/4.9--0.3--------7.5---------------0
03/05---2.4------0.8/1.6----20----------------0

(MAN that took ages!!!)

Do you see my point? Where is the spike? aparently it will spike of of the chart before the next one registers?
I did the water change as 7.3 was too high for ammonia and whilst I left it for a while hoping it would develop anyway it just didnt seem to but I have Nitrate levels higher than Nitrite but without any Nitrite spike?

All levels were at 0 before adding the ammonia
its kept at 85 F
plenty of airation (airstones & filter running 24/7 etc)
Plenty of light etc - all supposed to speed up the process


can anyone shed some light on this?

 

[OrionGirl]

Well, at a guess, no seedin took place, so the ammonia consumers are still colonizing and still too small to be creating much waste (nitrites). What is the meaning of the 4.9/7.3, 2.4/4.9?

If you have access to a healthy tank, I'd take a scoop of gravel, or some media, and see if that will speed things up a tad. Post your other parameters--pH and KH specifically--to make sure there's nothing else that may be inhibiting bacteria.

 

[jaarus]

Well, at a guess, no seedin took place, so the ammonia consumers are still colonizing and still too small to be creating much waste (nitrites). What is the meaning of the 4.9/7.3, 2.4/4.9?

Hard to decide which colour is closer on the test colour charts

If you have access to a healthy tank, I'd take a scoop of gravel, or some media, and see if that will speed things up a tad. Post your other parameters--pH and KH specifically--to make sure there's nothing else that may be inhibiting bacteria.

Sadly dont have access to another tank
No idea about KH as not included in my Nutrafin Mini Master test kit
pH is 8

 

[OrionGirl]

Well, with a pH of 8, you likely have fairly high KH, so there probably isn't a problem there. I wouldn't worry too much--the bacteria will develop. The spikes can vary--with less ammonia available to convert, clearly the nitrite spike won't be as high as with 5 ppm of ammonia (diminishing returns--you don't get more nitrite than you have ammonia!), but they will happen.

 

[jaarus]

Ok thanks

Just wanted some reassurance that I wasn't ignoring something plainly obvious

many thanks and keep up the good work!