Hugo D Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Hello everyone. Recently I have just started my cycle a few days ago and was wondering about my readings from Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. For day 1 I received no readings of Ammonia, Nitrite or Nitrate. For day 2 I received Ammonia 0.25 PPM, Nitrite 0.25 PPM, And for Nitrate 20-40 PPM. And for day 3 (right now) i have received the same reading as day 2. I am currently in a fish less cycle and i’m a bit new to the hobby. I dosed the tank with 10ml of quick start by api and I’m currently ghost feeding the tank. Is there anything I should do? Or should I just leave it like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne 82nd Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Having nitrAtes that high on day two looks odd to me. I would test your tap water for nitrates. I've never been a fan of ghost feeding I use Dr. Tims amonnia so I have a steady known amount of ammonia and I go for 2ppm. What are you using to take your test? I don't trust any of those readings on a 2 or 3 day old tank and ghost feeding. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonkley Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 (edited) Buy ammonia and keep at 2ppm. Feed the bacteria like a pet. Then it will go through the cycle. Ammonia>nitrite>nitrate. Ammonia will feeding bacteria will grow pretty fast. Nitrate may feel as if it stops, it's slower. Once you can go from ammonia to nitrate in a day you're done. Also track your Ph. If it gets to low 6 then do a partial water change. Edited June 29 by Lonkley 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne 82nd Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Just to add to Lonkley. What is your Ph and water temp? For a fishless cycle you want about 84f Ph 7.0 min. Ph and temp work together. If you Ph is to low your cycle will stall and them little bugs your trying to grow like it warm 🥵 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rube_Goldfish Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 On 6/29/2024 at 1:27 PM, Airborne 82nd said: Ph and temp work together. Can you elaborate on what you mean? @Hugo D, ghost feeding will work but it's less knowable and less precise. It's weird that you got those readings that fast, even with Quick Start. I like @Airborne 82nd 's suggestion to test your tap water, especially if you live near any farms. You'll sometimes find nitrate runoff from agricultural fertilizer use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daggaz Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Pretty sure he means having low temp or low pH will slow your bacterial growth down, and having both low at the same time is bad. The converse is also true, to an extent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonkley Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Bacteria has a preferred temperature. Outside that range they grow slower. Same with ph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne 82nd Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 I also ment don't just focus on one or the other. If you have a Ph of 6 or lower you will never cycle but if you have 7.0 to 8.0 and your temp is 60f ( winter with no heater) you see where I'm going? We need to know what the plans are for this tank. With my fish I don't chase Ph my fish will adapt. With that said I don't how important his Ph will be after the cycle he may want to adjust it now. So what are you going to have in this tank and what is your Ph and temp 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt B Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Patience ...give everything some time to develope. I know it sounds nuts, but I've had great success by throwing a bunch of stuff in a tank....plants, fish food, anything from another tank, fertilizer and even a pinch of dirt. 😆 Then I wait and I don't bother testing it for a month or more. Feed the tank and fertilize the plants. Get the plants and some algae growing. Then test and see where it's at..... Then again....maybe I'm nuts! 🤪 ha ha. Sooo many different things to consider. Lighting, filtration, live plants. Every tank and the future inhabitants are so different. 😄 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
face Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Imo just give it time this can take weeks just be patient if your ph is low it will still cycle if your temperature is low it will still cycle just might take longer that’s all if you want to do ghost feeding it will cycle just fine that’s what I do feed till you get an ammonia reading and then just throw some in every ones in a while simple as that And nitrate tests don’t work when nitrite is in the water so I wouldn’t even worry about testing that until your nitrite is gone 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 On 6/29/2024 at 11:52 AM, Hugo D said: Hello everyone. Recently I have just started my cycle a few days ago and was wondering about my readings from Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. For day 1 I received no readings of Ammonia, Nitrite or Nitrate. For day 2 I received Ammonia 0.25 PPM, Nitrite 0.25 PPM, And for Nitrate 20-40 PPM. And for day 3 (right now) i have received the same reading as day 2. I am currently in a fish less cycle and i’m a bit new to the hobby. I dosed the tank with 10ml of quick start by api and I’m currently ghost feeding the tank. Is there anything I should do? Or should I just leave it like that? Patience. Odd that you are seeing nitrite on day 2. How much are you dosing of the ammonia ghost feeding? Are you using fish food or dead shrimp? The best way I believe is a bottled ammonia so you know how much you are dosing. But you should be fine. Patience! And lower temp equals a slower cycle sometimes. Cycles take time. Just leave it imo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rube_Goldfish Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 On 6/29/2024 at 5:43 PM, face said: And nitrate tests don’t work when nitrite is in the water so I wouldn’t even worry about testing that until your nitrite is gone I've never heard that before. A lot of test strips, including ACO's, test for both at the same time. Or did you mean you have to use separate samples/vials for a liquid test? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
face Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 As far as I’m aware the only practical way of testing nitrate is to first break it down into nitrite using a cadmium reducer then testing for that it’s normally a smart amount that’s changed(1 or 2%) so if you have 1ppm of nitrite it will show up as 50 ro 100 ppm of nitrate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now