Cycle Frozen!!!

[Kittiee Katt]

I'm trying to cycle a small 3ft tank atm, but the cycle has messed up somewhere. Somehow I have ammonia and nitrate, but no nitrite. I've seeded the tank with small bits of media from other tanks and the cycle was going well, on the 14th the ammonia was at 5ppm+. By the 20th it had dropped to 0.50 and the nitrite was at 2.0ppm, on the 21st the nitrite was to high for my api master kit to read, and by Monday (24th) it had dropped down to somewhere between 0.50-1.0ppm.

Yesterday my results were Ammonia: 0.25ppm, Nitrite: 0.50ppm, Nitrate: 40-80ppm, pH: 6.2. I done a 50% pwc, tests after the change said Ammonia: 0-0.25ppm, Nitrite: 0-0.25ppm, Nitrate: 10-20ppm, pH: 6.8.

Now (27th) I have Ammonia: 1.0ppm, Nitrite: 0ppm, Nitrate: 20-40ppm, pH: 6.4.

This has never happened before, all of my past tanks have cycled wonderfully without hiccups, so I'm a little lost with what to do. Should I just be patient and wait for it to fix itself up? Or do I have to start my cycle again?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Edit: I do my cycles a little different to most. I do a "half fishless cycle". After I feed my 10 goldfish, I put them in the cycling tank for half hour (with a squirt of prime) until they poop, then move them back into their tank. I feed them 2-3 times a day and move them each time. This is how I've cycled most of my tanks because I can't buy clear ammonia down here, the hardware store only sells the cloudy stuff and I've been told not to use it with my tanks.

I know this isn't the conventional way to cycle but it normally works for me..

 

[Wailua Boy]

I think keeping your water changes small and many, really helps cycling.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

Normally I do 20% pwc on a cycling tank, but figured since it was supposedly near the end of the cycle that 50% shouldn't hurt.. Maybe that's where I messed up?

 

[Wailua Boy]

50% should be OK but your getting close

 

[Kittiee Katt]

Should I just leave it or rip it down and start again?

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

Since your cycle almost done so just let it correct itself, it shall be fine next few days.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

Since your cycle almost done so just let it correct itself, it shall be fine next few days.

Awesome. That makes me feel a little less frustrated with myself. Thank you.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

Four days later (31st) and I'm still getting similar readings: AM:0.50ppm NI:0ppm NA:40ppm PH:6.4

The ammonia has dropped, but the nitrite hasn't risen..

What now? Continue to wait? I'm a little confused with how I got ammonia and nitrAte but no nitrIte.. I thought the nitrite was supposed to be converted to nitrate, anyone know why I'm getting nitrate but no nitrite?

Thank you.

 

[convict360]

Could be accuracy of the tests, sometimes they can give false readings; I'd suspect that it has cycled, hence the no nitrites and rising nitrates, could be the ammonia giving false results; just a thought

 

[Kittiee Katt]

That would make sense, I'll grap a new ammonia kit this week and find out...

However, there's still a small problem with that theory..

I know that when a tank is cycling the pH is likely to drop very low, which it has/is at 6.4ish. My tap water reads around 7.0-7.2, wouldn't my water changes have brought it back up by now? I've been doing small (20%) pwc's every day since I got a nitrate reading, and one 50% pwc a few days ago (as above ^^^).. I would have thought putting fresh water in the tank would have brought it up at least a little?

It does bring it up a little, but the next day it's low again.