My fishless cycle thus far...

[allaboutfish]

I have an idea....throw a couple of goldfish in there. Never been a big fan of FC.

plz dont do this

 

[Rbishop]

Have you tested some DI or RO water to verify the test kit?
Personally it sounds like you are not testing correctly at times.

 

[asphaltblues]

Have you tested some DI or RO water to verify the test kit?
Personally it sounds like you are not testing correctly at times.

I can't imagine what I'm doing wrong?... Proper number of drops... both parts (if they have two)?... what else is there?... Oh ya... I use the cap... not my thumb...LOL

Where do I get De-ionized or Reverse Osmosis water from... will distilled do?

 

[asphaltblues]

Is it possible that I am disturbing the gravel too much when I'm filling the tank back up?... do Nitrite live and collect in the gravel?... My bed is about 2 inches thick... Is this not enough?... This is the only other thing I can think of...

 

[Rbishop]

Following the shaking/standing times corretcly..reading at the right time? Your pH really should be close to your tap (provided you tap sample sat out overnight in a shallow dish to gas off before testing) after that many water changes and provided what substrate you have in there.

 

[gmh]

You could buy a gallon jug of distilled water at the supermarket to test and make sure your test kit is OK. Do you know the kh of your water? Do you use city tap water? A local fish store may be able to test it for you.
What are you using as substrate?

 

[asphaltblues]

Do you use city tap water?

I have a well... And I have "Petco Aquarium Gravel"... natural, not colored... "High quality, non toxic"... I have no idea what the hardness is. When I test... I shake for five seconds... wait for 5 mins... read results... get frustrated...LOL

 

[asphaltblues]

When I test for Nitrite... The test solution turns purple... dark purple... before I even shake the tube... Oh and I always make sure the tubes are clean before testing... And I don't mean I use soap either...

 

[asphaltblues]

*UPDATE*

As of today... I have 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, and 10ppm Nitrate... I think I finally made it... only took 6 weeks...LOL I'm still scratching my head why the levels wouldn't drop with water changes, but I guess it really doesn't matter at this point... I did 3 different things, unfortunately all at the same time, so I have no idea what, if not all, affected the outcome... I installed the heater... set to 80 degrees... I added an air pump, and added TLC Aquarium Optimizer... which I assume is the same(ish) as Cycle?... anyway... 4 days after the above changes... I am good to go... still feeding about 10 mils of ammonia, as I'm not quite ready for fish... Thanks for all your help!

Peace... Asphaltblues