Chadders Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 Hi I am currently in a fishless cycle in a planted tank and have been for approximately 3 weeks adding 2-4ppm ammonia this is now being reduced to 0ppm within 12/16 hours. The Nitrites have stayed steady at .25ppm all the time and not increased or decreased. The Nitrates are around 5-10 ppm closer to 5. I have also added stability on a regular basis. What is happening ?? Can I do a partial water change to dilute the Nitrites and then safely add fish and stability at the recommended dose and time period along with Prime. Your advice is very much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 (edited) Do not add fish till your reading 0 on nitrites do small Daly water changes till nitrites come down I add small amount of fish food to tank Daly to feed beneficial bacteria and help it cycle Edited December 16, 2020 by Colu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimeTraveler Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 For what its worth since I am new back to the hobby I did a fish in cycle. I got three sailfin mollies for my 20gal unfortunately in my case 2 of 3 died and I found out that they need more salt and are a harder fish to keep overall. If I had started with 3 guppies they probably would have been fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettsPapa Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 I'd recommend stopping the Stability. I see no reason to use it with a fishless cycle, and it might be throwing off your test results. Since your tank is processing the ammonia quickly it sounds like you're very close to having the cycle completed. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coronal Mass Ejection Carl Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 Oh yeah, Stability is heterotrophic bacteria which can inhibit the development of true nitrifying bacteria. Regular use of it can actually stall the cycle. Flush it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dublicious Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 If you skip an ammonia dose and let it sit at 0 for a day, does nitrite go down? I wonder if you just happen to be testing it just as the bacteria are nearing end of eating it up. A long shot probably, but weird cycling situation is weird 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chadders Posted December 16, 2020 Author Share Posted December 16, 2020 44 minutes ago, dublicious said: If you skip an ammonia dose and let it sit at 0 for a day, does nitrite go down? I wonder if you just happen to be testing it just as the bacteria are nearing end of eating it up. A long shot probably, but weird cycling situation is weird 😄 2 hours ago, Coronal Mass Ejection Carl said: Oh yeah, Stability is heterotrophic bacteria which can inhibit the development of true nitrifying bacteria. Regular use of it can actually stall the cycle. Flush it. I've stopped adding the Stability so hopefully a more natural process will take place and also save me some Stability for when I might need it 😊 I've not let the Ammonia sit at 0 I've been topping up to 2ppm in order to feed the bacteria. This will be my next step I dosed it today so will test tomorrow. I've cycled a tank before and had a different experience which was the classic feeding with Ammonia eventually 0% Ammonia, high Nitrites eventually falling to 0 and 0% Ammonia and Nitrite thereafter. Then the appearance of Nitrates. I think goes to show the Nitrogen cycle is and isn't an exact science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chadders Posted December 16, 2020 Author Share Posted December 16, 2020 2 hours ago, Coronal Mass Ejection Carl said: Oh yeah, Stability is heterotrophic bacteria which can inhibit the development of true nitrifying bacteria. Regular use of it can actually stall the cycle. Flush it. What do you mean by flush it? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dublicious Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 30 minutes ago, Chadders said: I think goes to show the Nitrogen cycle is and isn't an exact science. Can't really reason with bacteria 😄 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chadders Posted December 16, 2020 Author Share Posted December 16, 2020 1 minute ago, dublicious said: Can't really reason with bacteria 😄 No for such a small thing it doesn't half cause stress and tests patience 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coronal Mass Ejection Carl Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 1 hour ago, Chadders said: What do you mean by flush it? Thanks Down the drain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettsPapa Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 1 hour ago, Chadders said: What do you mean by flush it? Thanks I believe he meant to get rid of it, as in flush it down the toilet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbit Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 I agree with the others! Stop using the Stability, hold off with the ammonia for a day, and see what happens. In terms of whether it’s safe to add fish, I’d say you can go ahead—as long as you add just a few fish at a time. Lots of us do fish-in cycling where we basically add two fish at a time over the course of several weeks or even months. That way the bacteria have plenty of time to catch up and the swings in ammonia/nitrite/nitrate aren’t ever very large. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casual aquatics Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 I started my fish in cycle with a blood parrot cichlid and a pleco daily water changes for a month and was in track water condition every water change. However I have never done a fishless cycle so more or less following to hear answers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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