Fishless cycle help

J

Jason7181

Member
I started fishless cycling my tank on March 20 with 20 lbs of live sand and 14 lbs of dry rock and 5 lbs of LR. I added ammonia to get to 4ppm and added ammonia when I tested and it was at 0. Now my nitrites are off the chart and so are my nitrates. I did a 90% water change today and still both nitrites and nitrates are off the chart.

Do you think the cycle is stalled?

Should I do another wc to try and get the nitrite down?

Should I let it be and see what happens?

Temp 83
Sal 1.025
Ammonia 0
PH 8.4
Nitrite 5ppm+
Nitrate 160+
 
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160ppm nitrate??? What test kits are you using? Have you confirmed with another known good test?
 
Was the dry rock cleaned/cooked prior to use? That's a pretty high level for a cycle. You might consider getting some Dr Tim's or biospira and seeing if that kick starts things, but otherwise a big water change could at least stabilize things and low you to restart.
 
Don't even bother doing a water change until both ammonia and nitrites are 0. It's a waste of water.


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ColaAddict said:
Don't even bother doing a water change until both ammonia and nitrites are 0. It's a waste of water.


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I'm thinking his tank is effectively "cooking" the rock and the cycle has stalled. I agree though under normal circumstances no water changes during the cycle though.
 
I think you added too much ammonia to begin with and as a result have a lot of nitrite. Nitrite bacteria take a lot longer to colonize than ammonia type, so be patient. If you did not add any bacteria product like Dr Tim's One and Only, I would expect your cycle to take 4 to 6 weeks or longer since you put in a lot of ammonia. I would not do another water change until (as was said above) your nitrites and ammonia are both zero. After they zero out I would dose enough ammonia to bring it back to .5 ppm. If the next day your ammonia and nitrites are back to zero I would say you are cycled. I would then do a water change to get rid of the nitrate. I am surprised that your water change didn't do anything, check your test kits and make sure you have clean vials and follow the instructions. Your temp is a little high to btw.
 
Jason7181 said:
Do u think I should add Dr. Tim's?
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Not at this point as you already have enough bacteria in your system if your ammonia is zero and you have nitrates, just give it a couple more weeks and see where you are at. My first cycle took 6 to 8 weeks if I recall. Take this time to read up on the many aspects of this hobby. Plan out your fish and corals and CUC, remember you can't have everything in one tank (compatibility issues). Patience is hard, but keep to this hobby.
 
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