# 3 days into fishless cycle and Nitrate already showing up?



## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

I started my fishless cycle 3 days ago (August 7th, 2013) and the water conditions were: 8.0pH, 4.0ppm Ammonia, 0.0ppm Nitrite, & 0.0ppm Nitrate.

I checked my ammonia level 1 day later (August 8th, 2013) and the Ammonia went down to about 2.0ppm, so I added a 2-3 eye drops worth of Ammonia into the tank just to raise it a tad bit.

Then I skipped a day and checked the water conditions this morning (August 10th, 2013) and the water parameters were: 1-2ppm Ammonia, 0.25ppm Nitrite, and 10ppm Nitrate (picture shown below).

Is it normal to see Nitrate and Nitrite this early in the cycle? I used my friend's filter as seed material on my 1st day of the cycle and his water was at 80ppm of Nitrate when I checked his waters yesterday. His filter was only in my tank for about 30 minutes to 1 hour at most. Maybe that's where some of the Nitrite and Nitrate came from; however it wouldn't really explain why my Ammonia level keeps on decreasing. Any input on this matter would be great!

(Picture of today's water testing 8/10/2013):


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## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

Forgot to mention that his tank tested 0.0ppm Ammonia and Nitrite, so only the Nitrate could possibly be transferred over to my tank from his filter.


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Nitrites can skew the readings of nitrate. Your best to ignore nitrate readings until nitrite is being converted to 0 ppm within 24 hours.
Your friends filter was running on your tank or was some of his filter media in your filter?


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

I'm pretty sure the OP had borrowed a filter insert from his friend and then removed it when his friend notified him of a sick fish in that tank.


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## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

I borrowed a filter insert from my friend and it was in my tank for 30 minutes - 1 hour at most. I tested his tank and the results were 0ppm Ammonia & Nitirte, but it tested for 80ppm of Nitrate. So no Nitrite or Ammonia was transferred to my tank, only the Nitrate if there were to have something leaked over.


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## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

Been 2 days since my last test and the results are down below. The amount of Nitrite and Nitrate BLEW my mind from just 2 days ago and now I'm wondering what to do. Should I continue to keep adding Ammonia till it's 4.0ppm daily until it manages to convert over to Nitrate within 1 day? Also, should I do a PWC to get the Nitrite and Nitrate down? Or should I just keep the water as it is since it's a fishless cycle and high Nitrate won't affect anything? Thanks in advance! (Also, it's kind of hard to tell what my pH is, either an 8 or 7.4, what do you guys/gals think?)


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## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

In addition, should I keep adding the same amount of Ammonia daily till i'm around 3-5ppm, or should I start adding only half of the amount of Ammonia I'm using now since the Ammonia is starting to convert to Nitrite and the Nitrite is starting to convert to Nitrate?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Dose every other day, after a water change, in an attempt to keep nitrites below 5ppm. Looks like you're maxed out, so there's no way to tell how high they are until you've done a water change or two.
You can skip a day or two of dosing until you get the nitrites under control. A few water changes of ~30% (per day) is better than a single large water change at this stage. Be sure to dechlor the water but don't overdose as this can stall the cycle.


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## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

When it comes to dechlor'ing my tank, do I measure the dose with the amount of new water I'm adding or the entire tank?

Also, instead of dosing ammonia every other day, could I just use half the amount I've been using and dose everyday?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Dose dechlorinator per the total volume of the tank. I'd still dose every other day, that way you're giving the bacteria time to oxidize the ammonia/nitrite before performing a water change, otherwise you may be removing the added ammonia before it's converted.


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## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

I just checked my water parameters today and saw that my pH dropped to 6.5 O_O My Nitrite is still off the roof and Ammonia is still being converted to Nitrite within 24 hours. Is this drop in pH a concern and if so, how should I fix it to prevent my fishless cycle from stalling? =/


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

How's your aeration/water movement on the surface? Increasing agitation will increase gas exchange. It's possible that there's a lack of oxygen (or an abundance of carbon dioxide) in the tank causing the pH to drop.
Do you have a KH test kit? Test the tank and tap water. If your tap water is significantly higher in pH, I'd perform a few small (15-20%) water changes.


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## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

I got an air pump on the side and there's a lot of water movement at the surface. The pH in my tap water is 7.8 and I haven't checked my GH or KH for quite some time.


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## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

I was doing a PWC for my tank to hopefully get my pH up a bit and before I removed roughly 20% of the water, my wife added the water conditioner while I was getting the tap water from the sink. I then removed 20% of the water from the tank and replaced it with the tap water. Right before I was about to add the conditioner, she said she already did it...-_-.. So since I removed 20% of the water, should I add 20% worth of water conditioner or do I add/less more???


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

A half dose should be fine.


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## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

I added 20% of the total dose for a full tank, I'll add a touch more to be safe, thanks ^_^


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## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

Ok, so I just checked my water parameters this morning and it seems to have been set back big time... After my 20% PWC yesterday, my parameters were: 8.2 pH, 2-3ppm Ammonia, 5.0+ppm Nitrite. This morning, they were: 6? pH (picture below), .5 - 1ppm Ammonia, and 5.0+ Nitrite still. Before the PWC, my Ammonia was converted within 24 hours and this time it didn't. Is it because my pH is too low? My pH crashed as well...Any help would be greatly appreciated!


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Need to get a KH reading on the tank and tap. You may need to buffer during your cycle to keep the pH steady.


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## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

Yeah I'm waiting to get the KH/GH kit back from my friend. I put 3 teaspoons of baking soda into my tank to get the pH back to 8.0 and will check again tomorrow to see if it remains stable or if it crashes. Also, I'm going to go get a bag of aragonite and putting it on my filter cartridge tomorrow to help keep the pH stable. I also plan on getting a bag of aragonite too and placing it next to my filter cartridge to help keep the pH stable. I'll probably get some Epsom salt as well.


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## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

Two days ago I put 3 teaspoons of Baking Soda into my 29g tank and last night I put a bag of aragonite and 3 tablespoons of Epsom salt into my tank. This morning I woke up with these parameters, hopefully the cycle will be done before this weekend ^_^


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## SonicsDC25 (Jul 29, 2013)

I think it's about time to head down to the LFS and start searching for some Saulosi


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Looking good, what did you get for a nitrate reading?


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