Cycling woes

[inveritas]

Hello,

I've been having some problems cycling my small 5G tank and was wondering if anyone had similar experiences or tips before:

• Ammonia is constant at 0.25-0.5ppm
• Nitrite from tap reads 1ppm
• Nitrate in tank is always >5ppm in tank even if tested RIGHT after 80% WC (using 1.5x dosage of Prime and nothing else)
• Nitrate is constant at <20ppm
• 3 tetras, 1 CAE show no signs of Nitrite poisoning (although one died of unknown reason)
• 1 nana plant in tank.

I'm not sure if something in my water is screwing up the Nitrite tests, but shouldn't my fish have all died considering these readings were consistent for almost 4 ays already (unless the Prime is indeed reducing toxicity)? I've used Aqualife and API Master test kits which show the same results.

Should I be dosing the tank with Prime every 24h until the cycling is complete, since even 80% WC doesn't reduce my Nitrite test results?

My tank (I know it's undersized, getting an upgrade soon):



Thanks!

[felix_fx2]

Having ammonia does not mean 100% your livestock will die, being overly focused on the having zero Nitrate from tests just 4 days is too soon.
Normal cycling can take over 45 days it's been brought up alot in the fourms

Someone else brought up before that our water does have Nitrite if not mistaken.

[inveritas]

Having ammonia does not mean 100% your livestock will die, being overly focused on the having zero Nitrate from tests just 4 days is too soon.
Normal cycling can take over 45 days it's been brought up alot in the fourms

Someone else brought up before that our water does have Nitrite if not mistaken.

Thanks for the reply I'm more worried about the Nitrites than the Ammonia as it is off the charts (>5ppm), and even a 80% water change did not bring it down, therefore wondering if I should just leave the tank alone to sort itself out while making sure the water gets a daily dose of Prime, since it supposedly detoxifies the chemicals while still making it available for bacteria to break down - I couldn't find a conclusive answer to this on forums

[wongce]

Dear TS,

Firstly,don't worry too much..as per what mod felix said,4 days of cycling is a bit too soon. It takes time for BB to grow.

you sure it is only 5ppm of nitrate? Thats low to me,nothing to worry about...i have around 20-40 ppm of nitrate in my tank....

Its almost impossible to get 0 nitrate with your setup. You need fast growing plants to absorb the nutrient:-NH3/4,no2/3. Anubias nana is slooooow grower.

I am more concern about NH3 than no3. Whats the tap water's ammonia? Whats your current PH?

Some fish will die as
@already in bad shape while in lfs
@due to long trips from LFS to home
@die of old age

On seachem prime,it will mask your nh3 level for a few days and render your test kit inacccurate.

NH3 test kits will show both nh3 and nh4 result as a whole,its your PH thats playing a big part...low ph its in ammonium form(harmless),high PH its in ammonia form(harmful)

no2/no3 will exist as long there is nitrogen cycle, decay of food,fish poo... Some area's tap water has certain levels of nh3/no3. Thus it will contribute to the constant level of no3 in your tank when you wc.

Don't worry too much, add more biomedia, aerate your tank and wait...

[inveritas]

Dear TS,

Firstly,don't worry too much..as per what mod felix said,4 days of cycling is a bit too soon. It takes time for BB to grow.

you sure it is only 5ppm of nitrate? Thats low to me,nothing to worry about...i have around 20-40 ppm of nitrate in my tank....

Its almost impossible to get 0 nitrate with your setup. You need fast growing plants to absorb the nutrient:-NH3/4,no2/3. Anubias nana is slooooow grower.

I am more concern about NH3 than no3. Whats the tap water's ammonia? Whats your current PH?

Some fish will die as
@already in bad shape while in lfs
@due to long trips from LFS to home
@die of old age

On seachem prime,it will mask your nh3 level for a few days and render your test kit inacccurate.

NH3 test kits will show both nh3 and nh4 result as a whole,its your PH thats playing a big part...low ph its in ammonium form(harmless),high PH its in ammonia form(harmful)

no2/no3 will exist as long there is nitrogen cycle, decay of food,fish poo... Some area's tap water has certain levels of nh3/no3. Thus it will contribute to the constant level of no3 in your tank when you wc.

Don't worry too much, add more biomedia, aerate your tank and wait...

Thanks for the tips...

My Ammonia is 0.25ppm, and >5ppm is NitrIte, not NitrAte...that's what I'm worrying about!

[inveritas]

Just did a test today, less than 12 hours after a 90% water change and got these crazy results. I'm quite sure it's not the test kit screwing up the results. The amazing thing is that I've only one loss through all these, and that I don't see any fish gasping for air on the surface. What's going on?

[Sturgeon]

I had similar results as above about 2 weeks after setting up my planted tank.. No ammonia, but a spike in both nitrite and nitrate.

I know most people debate this usefulness of it but, I added seachem stability (as prescribed in the bottle) as I was in a hurry to set the thing up and it worked. Its two weeks since I finished the dose and I have zero ammonia and nitrite readings..

[wongce]

Api test kit very confusing,the colour looks simlar across few readings...

I suggest you to get some fast growing floating plants like frogbits,hornwarts...i may have some frogbits to spare if you are in northern area of singapore...

[inveritas]

I had similar results as above about 2 weeks after setting up my planted tank.. No ammonia, but a spike in both nitrite and nitrate.

I know most people debate this usefulness of it but, I added seachem stability (as prescribed in the bottle) as I was in a hurry to set the thing up and it worked. Its two weeks since I finished the dose and I have zero ammonia and nitrite readings..

I was reading up on similar items like Tetra Safestart too, but can't seem to find them (also heard it doesn't work well with Prime). If it's not against forum rules may I know where you purchased the Stability? I've visited shops at Clementi and Serangoon so far. Thanks!

Api test kit very confusing,the colour looks simlar across few readings...

I suggest you to get some fast growing floating plants like frogbits,hornwarts...i may have some frogbits to spare if you are in northern area of singapore...

Which test kit would you recommend me to buy next? I have a nana currently and am getting some hornwort from another forum member this evening...will let you know if I can find space after I plant that, and thanks a bunch in advance!

[Sturgeon]

Hi there, I did not use stability with prime though.. I am using the Ocean free conditioner. I got mine from Ployart aquarium, the one close to C328.

[Cyberkinetic]

Hi TS, my contribution is still "patience"...

Was going nuts over the readings when I started cycling my tank some months ago...

It was like an obsession... "when will it be zero? when ? when? when????"... testing and testing and testing. Anyway.. enjoy your hobby and not get too sucked into the "cycling" part...

[qool]

Just enjoy the joy of keeping a tank rather then worry over parameters. If you are worry just buy some floating plants, clementi have them. They do a great job of cycling your tank just throw/give them away when done. Much better then keep dosing chemicals

[felix_fx2]

Hi TS, my contribution is still "patience"...

Was going nuts over the readings when I started cycling my tank some months ago...

It was like an obsession... "when will it be zero? when ? when? when????"... testing and testing and testing. Anyway.. enjoy your hobby and not get too sucked into the "cycling" part...

Leave the tank alone, test 30 days later.

Just enjoy the joy of keeping a tank rather then worry over parameters. If you are worry just buy some floating plants, clementi have them. They do a great job of cycling your tank just throw/give them away when done. Much better then keep dosing chemicals

There are folks giving the floating plants for free in market place. Reading marketplace is free, information also is free to read about cycling tank.

We now mentally support ts: D

[wongce]

Hi TS, imho, sera works best..but price also BEST...lol

i am using api (NO3)/ sera(GH)/ prodac(NH3,PH) ... i find prodac a bit cost efficient.haha

i only test once every 3 days for the inital week then its weekly test for first few weeks.. there are some ways to hasten the Nitrogen cycle..check out my blog, i lazy to retype again...

Just PM me if you want frogbits..its a floating plant, so it only occupy the water surface space and block some light...

[inveritas]

Thanks for the tips! You guys are really speeding up my learning process

Got a bottle of Stabilizer to work with my Prime, hopefully will speed things up a bit. AQ member lucasjiang also offered some hornwort and old filter media to jump-start my cycling process. I feel much better about getting my tank cycled this time round!

Also bought 4 small neons to school with my existing 2 but 2 didn't make the journey home so I'm left with 4 neons now...will get 2 more soon, and hopefully upgrade my tank when I know how to without disrupting the cycle!

Some photos (still incomplete, but looking good!):

[qool]

Are the extra neons suppose to be the expendables(cycle fish) Since you already know the cycling is not done you should let the tank run maybe 1-2 weeks more. I feel no matter how cheap the fish is we should not let them die in vain.

[inveritas]

Are the extra neons suppose to be the expendables(cycle fish) Since you already know the cycling is not done you should let the tank run maybe 1-2 weeks more. I feel no matter how cheap the fish is we should not let them die in vain.

I don't intend to let any fish die, but my existing neons seemed rather stressed out in their small numbers so I was hoping to get a school to make them happier, hopefully increase their will to thrive. I've one death in my tank so far so I assume it'll be ok as long as I dose Prime and Stability for the cycling period - the 2 deaths yesterday were DOA from LFS and not related to my tank Am not sure if it was the shop or my journey, but I could tell that the fish weren't too healthy as I bought them (they were swimming with their bodies tilted) but still decided to get them as the shop was reputable (bad decision)!

[qool]

Must choose fish wisely else more heart aches. Neon is already consider more rigid wait till you try otto fish. They die like flies until i choose to buy from dirty tank rather then a clean one. Fishes who live in dirty tank and yet survive usually lead a longer life.

[inveritas]

Must choose fish wisely else more heart aches. Neon is already consider more rigid wait till you try otto fish. They die like flies until i choose to buy from dirty tank rather then a clean one. Fishes who live in dirty tank and yet survive usually lead a longer life.

That makes sense - I'll look for more "experienced" tanks next time, thank you!!

[lizhien]

Cycling a tank is never easy especially when we are so result driven. But for the best results, we owe it to ourselves to wait it out. While cycling my tank, I took the occassional Ph and TDS reading. Didn't really check on nitrite and ammonia levels till at least 2 weeks later. That said, what kind of tank are you looking to set up? Communal tank for Tetras?