Help with my first cycle!

[JCgirl]

Okay, I have a 29g tank, brand new, that I set up and began cycling Jan. 11. The cycle went well - by the 23rd, ammonia was going from about 3ppm to 0ppm in at least 24 hours. Then I noticed the nitrites went to 6 or so and in only a couple of days went down to .75. (From what I've read, that's too quick for them to drop that low) I checked the Nitrate level and it was 10, and on the 27th, they dropped to 7 (aren't they suppose to be getting higher?). Today, the nitrites are, I think, below 0ppm (?) and ammonia is at about .50 and nitrates are at about 10 again.

I'm adding just a little pure ammonia every morning and night (maybe half a cap full).
Where is my cycle at and what should I do?

[Wild Turkey]

Drop your maintained ppm down to 2. After doing that, if your tank is eating all the ammonia in 12 hours or so with no trace of nitrites you are cycled. Add no ammonia for one whole day and add fish. Otherwise continue to do 2ppm

[JCgirl]

Okay. And also, is it normal for the nitrates to not get any higher? And if they never get above 10, should I still perform the big water change before adding fish?

[Gemini]

Have you got any plants that could be "eating" the nitrates?

[Wild Turkey]

^^^ Yup, sorry i forgot to mention it may be due to plants in the aquarium, algae does the same and of course, water changes.

Yes still do a water change and its still important to perform water changes weekly even if you dont need to reduce the nitrates.

[JCgirl]

No, as a matter of fact, i don't have any live plants in it at all!

[Wild Turkey]

No, as a matter of fact, i don't have any live plants in it at all!

how about algae? Using anything that might remove them? like nitrazorb or something?

[JCgirl]

Nope. Haven't had a problem with algae, so I haven't used anything like that either.

[Wild Turkey]

Hmmm. Well i would keep an eye on it. Its really not a problem, and was most likely a slight difference in the way you tested. After all, 3ppm difference on the nitrate card i probably couldnt even tell.

[Gemini]

What water decholorinator did you use at set up? If any.
Have you done a water change?

[JCgirl]

I haven't done a water change, but I do add a little water (since it evaporates some). I use Aqua Plus tap water conditioner if I have to add some water.

The ph is about 7 or 7.6 and I keep it at about 86-88 degrees, just as a bit of info, if that helps.

[Wild Turkey]

Topping off shouldnt throw off the nitrate but filling it slighly higher than it was when you tested will, so that very well may be it.
As for the ph, what do u mean 7 or 7.6?
and is there a reason you have the tank so warm?

[JCgirl]

I heard it speeds up the cycling process to have the temp around the upper 80's. I believe that's what helps the good bacteria to grow quicker, right?
And ph is somewhere between 7.0 and 7.6. (I have one of those Live ph testers inside the tank to show it at all times) I just didn't know if that had anything to do with the cycling process.

Anyways, I'll keep a check on it and see how it goes. Thank you so much, everyone for the advice! I really appreciate it. I just wanted to be sure I was doing it right and hadn't messed up anything! :-)

[Northernguy]

Welcome to the Fabulous AC!
The heat does speed up the cycle but you can turn it down to 78 now!
It sounds like you followed it to the letter! If your ammonia is dropping down to 0 every day and you have nitrates I would say you are cycled.Congrats and well done!
What kind of fish are thinking about getting?

[Wild Turkey]

The heat does speed up the cycle but you can turn it down to 78 now!
It sounds like you followed it to the letter! If your ammonia is dropping down to 0 every day and you have nitrates I would say you are cycled.Congrats and well done!


agreedthumbs2:

[Gemini]

And I'll third that opinion!
Adding top off water would explain the dilution in nitrates.
Congrats on the cycle! Now the fun part - what fishies are you wanting to get?

[JCgirl]

Welcome to the Fabulous AC!
The heat does speed up the cycle but you can turn it down to 78 now!
It sounds like you followed it to the letter! If your ammonia is dropping down to 0 every day and you have nitrates I would say you are cycled.Congrats and well done!
What kind of fish are thinking about getting?

Really? Yay! I'm so excited! :19: I'm planning to start out with some guppies, then I want some neon tetras and possibly a couple of dalmatian mollies.

Thank you for the welcome, by the way! :ssmile:

[Northernguy]

Your welcome for the welcome!lol
Healthy guppies are not very easy to find.Check them carefully for ich or fungus.Ich looks like salt and fungus looks like cotton.
I would look for cardinal tetras instead of neons.If you go with neons you may lose a few.
Do you know what kind of mollies you want?

[JCgirl]

Thank you. I'll certainly check them out good before I purchase them.

I really love the neon tetras... is there any kind of preparation I can do ahead of time for them so they will be healthy? All I want is a community of healthy, happy fish, whatever it takes! :ssmile:

[Northernguy]

I go to the store and check out the fish I want.I go back to the store in a few days to look at them again.I go back a third time and if they are still healthy I take them home.I'm not picky!lol
Neon tetras and Cardinal tetras are very similar.The cardinal has a red line front to back and thr neon is only half way.
Cardinals are a much hardier breed.
If you sratr with neons get 5 and you may end up with 3.It happens to me steady.I also find neons like their water in the lower 70s.

[Lady Hobbs]

Welcome and Congrats on that cycled tank!

When you go fishless cycling, you can start with a lot more fish than you would by cycling with fish because you now have a huge bacteria load established that can support many fish. You need not mess around with this add a couple this week and in two weeks add a couple more, etc. This is one of the reasons the fishless is so great for african cichlids that are added all at one time.

Good Luck.

ps.......If you can not get some fish in there when expected, keep adding a few drops of ammonia to keep the bacteria alive.

[Lady Hobbs]

I also find neons like their water in the lower 70s.

I notice my neons do better in cooler temps too. Therefore am putting them back into a tank just for themselves so I can keep those temps lowered for them.

[JCgirl]

Okay, I'm not sure if my tank is cycled or not...
I put in maybe a cap full of ammonia last night which brought it to about 1.5ppm and checked it just a few mins ago (5:20pm) and it still has 1ppm of ammonia! Nitrites are still showing that they are minus what the card says is 0ppm. If the bacteria are eating the ammonia like they're suppose to, wouldn't it get rid of all the ammonia in only 12 hours?

Thanks, everyone... maybe I'll get it straight eventually! :14:

[JCgirl]

Okay, one last question...

Since my tank has been cycling for more than 4 weeks and at one point, the ammonia was dropping from 2ppm to 0ppm in less than 12 hours, is it alright if I go ahead and add just a few starter fish? It takes it about 1 1/2 to 2 days now to get the ammonia to 0ppm, but if I do a huge water change and make sure the ammonia is at 0ppm before I add them, do you guys think it would be okay for me to go ahead and get a couple of guppies?

(There are still no nitrites and the nitrates haven't gone over 20)

[JCgirl]

Update:

Well, I went ahead and did a 90% water change and the nitrites went to 5ppm!! So, after some research, I went to the lfs and bought some Cycle. I poured it in and within 48 hours all ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates were 0ppm!! yay!! So, I have continued to put a small amount of pure ammonia in the tank every night (just to keep the bacteria alive) and Thursday, I'm planning to get my first fish! :19: :19:

I think my problem was I added too much ammonia when I was putting it in the tank and it threw it out of balance. So, I hope this helps if anyone else is experiencing the same problem.

Thanks again everyone for all the advice!