spikes in cycling

[silent_rock_faery]

just wondering, as i am cycling a tank, what are the estimated levels of the ammonia and nitrite spikes? are they different for each tank?

just a rough guide would be great.

my tank has been running from the 25th dec with filter media from an existing filter. it's 25L and the ammonia is already up to about 5ppm. just wondering when this is likely to drop or if it will get higher.

i'm not trying to rush anything, i just wanted to know for my own curiosity.

thanks :)

[joz]

Imo ,the ammonia should settle at zero once the tank is finished cycling.
Be patient..

[Woodsy]

5ppm is still pretty high, even through cycling. I'd be doing a 3/4 water change, or double dosing with a bacterial preparation and going on from there. You only need minor levels of NH3 to get the bacteria growing, and a reading of 5ppm is likely to kill most things, even bacteria.

[silent_rock_faery]

thanks woodsy.

i started off the cycle with some guppies in there but once i got an ammonia reading i moved them into my other tank. they're happy there

and i though the 5ppm was a bit too high also. i'll do a water change once i can be bothered getting out of bed (lazy today)

this is the first tank i've deliberately cycled because when i set up my other one i didnt know about cycling.

i just hope i can do it right.

[silent_rock_faery]

ahh, good. I did a 20% water change and the ammonia has gone down to 2ppm.

would that be a good time for this stage of the cycle to be happening. like i said, i havent really done a cycle before and i want to know if it's going too slow/fast so that i can make sure it's done properly.

the ph is at 7 and the nitrites and nitrates are still at 0.

sound ok?

[Woodsy]

Sounds better. NH3 (volume dependent) could take anywhere from 4 days to 2 weeks to begin subsiding, whereas NO2 may take as little as 24 hrs to subside as readings begin. If you're not seeing your NH3 readings drop after a week, I'd do a further water change to lower the level to about 1.0ppm, and then add some bacteria, then wait for the nitrates :)

[silent_rock_faery]

hey just thought i'd give an update, maybe you can share some knowledge, tell me how its going.

the last few days (i've been testing daily) has had the ammonia between 2ppm and 4ppm. hope this is ok. i'm almost out of my bottle of Cycle, should I buy some more.

The nitrites have started appearing and are reading currently at 1ppm. I dont know if nitrite will kill bacteria too...

how does it does it sound like its going? on track? excuse my stupidity, i just want to make sure it gets done right.

thanks :)

[Woodsy]

Alright, your ammoina-converting bacteria are establishing themselves, so you're half way there. Having ammonia readings that are still that high is a bit of a concern though. Once your nitrite readings start dropping, if there's still ammonia present, I'd be doing water changes to get rid of it.

[silent_rock_faery]

ok, here is how it stands today. havent tested or done anything to it since the 4th, its now the 7th.

ammonia: 1ppm
nitrites: 1ppm
nitrates: 10ppm

my 30L that is already cycled is at

ammonia: 0ppm
nitrites: 0ppm
nitrates: 5ppm

sound right?

[Woodsy]

Sounds like you're on track to me :)

[silent_rock_faery]

how long do you reckon will be left? just worried about my fish all being in one tank...

[Woodsy]

Hard to say. It could be as little as a couple of days, or if the ammonia lingers even after the nitrite is gone, you may need to water change or hit it with Prime (Seachem) before it's safe for fish. Small tanks can be a pain in the A sometimes...

[silent_rock_faery]

I do agree with you there, but until I get a place of my own I can really only do small tanks, however I did just buy a 20 gallon...

[silent_rock_faery]

ok today after a 25% water change and letting it sit for about an hour here are the readings:

ammonia: 0.50ppm
nitrite: 0.25ppm
nitrate: 10ppm

man, I wish it would hurry up...

[Woodsy]

Slow and steady wins the race :p