ammonia, no nitrite, and high nitrate??

**MissKush** · 08-26-2011, 06:20 AM

Hi Guys!!! Im new to this forum, and to having a successfully cycled tank and I have a quick question.

soooo ive only been cycling my 3 gallon tank for like 3 days. I've been keeping a journal on all the changes in the water (ive been obsessively testing it with the API freshwater master kit thing) and so heres my question: I've seen the ammonia drop substantially, but I've not seen any nitrites in the tests I've done, but for some reason the Nitrate level is rapidly climbing!!! Is this normal??? Is it possible that I somehow missed the peak in nitrite??

tested the water @ 1:40am this morning:
ammonia: 0.25ppm
ph: 7
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate: 0ppm

tested the water @ 12:30pm this afternoon:
ammonia: 0ppm
ph: 7.8
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5 ppm

so I added Ammonium hydroxide (the right kind from Ace Hardware) *8 eyedropper drops to be exact* to raise the ammonia level to 2ppm. and the ammonia level has since dropped to between 0.5-1.0 ppm and the nitrate level is now between 10-20 ppm and still Nitrite has tested at 0ppm.

Is this supposed to happen?? I tested my tap water and it showed 0ppm Nitrate. As the level of Nitrate rises should I do a partial water change? Please any advice for how to continue cycling properly would be GREATLY appreciated. If theres any information I can provide that I left out pls reply :)

Thanks for your help!!!

**Lady Hobbs** · 08-26-2011, 06:35 AM

Cycling with ammonia you need not mess with water changes. But you have a very small tank. Probably cycling with just .50 ammonia would be enough.
Can't explain why no nitrites but you have just begun and they don't generally show up for 5-6 days.

**MissKush** · 08-26-2011, 06:55 AM

ahhh I see, yeah I figured raising the ammonia that high was excessive lmao!! but online all the guides are like... for 10 gallon tanks (at some point when space allows I'll upgrade to a 10g tank my bf has one just sitting at his parents house but till then I'm just gonna stick with the 3 gallon)

Also thanks for clarifying if I needed to do water changes or not, im just so paranoid, I wanna like do it right this time. So even if the Nitrates get higher then 10-20ppm I dont need to change the water? Like, will I'd need to do a partial water change when I add the fish b/c if things continue as they are the Nitrates will be off the chart and I'm not sure if a 10-25% water change will lower the Nitrate level to a safe level.

*sigh* severe fish cycling failure paranoia...

**MissKush** · 08-26-2011, 06:56 AM

oops meant to add above reply

**Lady Hobbs** · 08-26-2011, 07:18 AM

Bacteria is growing. It can't grow in 3 days and the nitrite eating bacteria takes longer than the ammonia eating bacteria.

If your tank was a little larger, bring the ammonia level to 2 would be perfect but your tank is very small so even that much is not needed.

When the cycle is finished, you will do a large water change to bring the nitrates down to under 20 and add your fish.

**MissKush** · 08-27-2011, 04:21 AM

Originally Posted by Lady Hobbs

When the cycle is finished, you will do a large water change to bring the nitrates down to under 20 and add your fish.

I'm still unsure, wouldnt doing a large water change like defeat the purpose of cycling? When u say big water change what % do I change? So the Nitrate level isnt something I should be concerned with/trying to reduce?

Oh yeah!! I forgot to add that I've been adding "Nutrafin Cycle" every day, and I also have "Nite-Out II" that Ive used too. But based on all the reviews I've read online about both products I assumed It may help but I didnt think it would make a substantial improvement like cycling the tank really fast. I know its what the claim on the bottle but I mean, I dunno how accurate it is. like the nutrafin bottle says you can introduce fish immediately and it like instant cycles the aquarium but I know nothing instantly cycles a tank (other then adding substrate/media from a already cycled tank which still takes time for the bacteria to establish) soooo I dunno.

Since I added the ammonia yesterday the level of ammonia hasnt decreased enough for me to believe that its cycled. Even though its really hard to be patient, especially me, I guess Ive just gotta hang in there

monitor the water and wait to see what happens.

Thanks for everyone's speedy responses! I really appreciate it!! Now I feel really bad though about having purchased a 3 gallon tank. :sorry:

**fishlessintx** · 08-29-2011, 11:01 PM

Since you're doing a fishless cycle you really don't have to add anything to the tank (save your money) and you do not need to do any WCs until you're done.

After your tank is fully cycled and you add fish THEN you'll need to do WCs to keep the nitrAtes below 40ppm. How often that is depends on your readings.

Good luck!