fishless cycling new tank need help!

[cichlidtanks]

fishless cycling new tank
ok we are new to fishless cycling and the directions are very broad. we started the cycle on our 90gal last sunday(a week ago) we only used a declorinator to condition the water then we added our ammonia...which we needed alot more drops then the formula said to get it to 5ppm. anyways we havent had to add any more ammonia to the tank and it stayed at 5ppm for a few days and then we saw it drop alittle to 2-3ppm and then we tested for nirites and nitrates. we had both and as of last night we had 2ppm of ammonia, about 3ppm nitrite, and about 20ppm of nitrate. does this seem to be where we should be?
now we are at 0 nitrites and pretty much 0 at nitrates yet we still have ammonia. after 24 hrs each day we check and add more ammonia to keep it at 2ppm. it does drop to .50ppm but it hasent zeroed outr yet? please can someone let me know if we are ok and if this is normal????

 

[malawidave]

Get some stress zyme, add the amount for a new tank give it a little time and see if it goes down... if nitrates and nitrites drop to 0 its usually means youre cycled, but if youre still showing ammonia it seems like it didnt cycle correctly. What should happen (never used ammonia drops before) *numbers are made up for example*ammonia (1), NO2 (0), NO3 (0), then there should be a nitrite spike>>> Ammonia (0), NO2 (3), NO3 (0), then a nitrate spike >>>Ammonia (0), NO2 (0), NO3 (80) then finally >>>0,0,0....

What type of African cichlids are you planning on keeping? if Mbuna, you could try a cycle with fish, Mbuna are more tolerant of water conditions than the Haps or peacocks...

If I'm off someone chime in, its been a long time since I've cycled a new tank... Im a little rusty... all my stuffs been set up a long time

 

[cichlidtanks]

we had those spikes ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. tommorrow will be two weeks since we started the ammonia drops. once we saw the nitrites we added half the daily amount of ammonia drops. then we had a nitrate spike. then slowly the nitrite and nitrate lowed and nitrite is now zero (for 2 days) and nitrate is at a safe reading. we are still adding ammonia drops to keep it at 2ppm. after 24 hrs it will drop to about .5 ppm but it doesnt zero out yet like the nitrites have done. so im assuming we are almost done cycling?? a little confused because i know when its done we should be able to add ammonia and in 24 hrs it should be zero. maybe we should add only enough ammonia to raise it to 1ppm and then check to see if that zeros out in 24hrs??????

we have a 20 gal mature tank now with a mix of 9 psuedos

doing fishless cycling and really need some advice if this seems normal???!!

 

[malawidave]

ok... wow... 2ppm is highly toxic to fish.... dont add anymore... let it go to .5 and leave it, .5 is pretty much maximum safe limits for fish... your bio filter is trying to keep up with putting away 2ppm which is very high... you should be able to watch it go from .5 to .25, then 0 in the next 48 hours or so... try that, It should work... the tank should be cycled now minus the ammonia

 

[shellies215]

Get some stress zyme, add the amount for a new tank give it a little time and see if it goes down... if nitrates and nitrites drop to 0 its usually means youre cycled, but if youre still showing ammonia it seems like it didnt cycle correctly. What should happen (never used ammonia drops before) *numbers are made up for example*ammonia (1), NO2 (0), NO3 (0), then there should be a nitrite spike>>> Ammonia (0), NO2 (3), NO3 (0), then a nitrate spike >>>Ammonia (0), NO2 (0), NO3 (80) then finally >>>0,0,0....

What type of African cichlids are you planning on keeping? if Mbuna, you could try a cycle with fish, Mbuna are more tolerant of water conditions than the Haps or peacocks...

If I'm off someone chime in, its been a long time since I've cycled a new tank... Im a little rusty... all my stuffs been set up a long time

Malawidave, you are slightly off. Ammonia will spike, then nitrite will spike, then nitrates will appear, and continue to climb until you do a water change. Nitrates are not removed by the nitrogen cycle and MUST be removed by water changes, and substrate cleaning and filter maintenance.

 

[malawidave]

Malawidave, you are slightly off. Ammonia will spike, then nitrite will spike, then nitrates will appear, and continue to climb until you do a water change. Nitrates are not removed by the nitrogen cycle and MUST be removed by water changes, and substrate cleaning and filter maintenance.

gotcha... I havent set up a new tank in a while... its just become cruise control for me lol....

For me, cycling a tank is different, when I upgrade or change tanks I cycle the media through the current running tank then run them in the new tank... then I add the newer substrate (if applicable) then start moving rock and older substrate from the original until everything is up and running, then move fish... I havent cycled a new tank from scratch in around 2 years

Never lost a fish due to a tank change... (well except that one fry that was just a little too small, and my Venustus ate it...)... but thats a whole nother topic lol

 

[shellies215]

we had those spikes ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. tommorrow will be two weeks since we started the ammonia drops. once we saw the nitrites we added half the daily amount of ammonia drops. then we had a nitrate spike. then slowly the nitrite and nitrate lowed and nitrite is now zero (for 2 days) and nitrate is at a safe reading. we are still adding ammonia drops to keep it at 2ppm. after 24 hrs it will drop to about .5 ppm but it doesnt zero out yet like the nitrites have done. so im assuming we are almost done cycling?? a little confused because i know when its done we should be able to add ammonia and in 24 hrs it should be zero. maybe we should add only enough ammonia to raise it to 1ppm and then check to see if that zeros out in 24hrs??????

we have a 20 gal mature tank now with a mix of 9 psuedos

doing fishless cycling and really need some advice if this seems normal???!!

Cichlidtanks, If your nitrite is zeroing out after 24hrs, and you ARE showing a nitrate reading, do a 50% water change, and add fish. For some reason, the bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite, sometimes won't fully colonize to handle 2ppm per day when using bottled ammonia, however, you will see after you stop using bottled ammonia, and add fish everything will balance out. Maybe the fish don't even produce two ppm a day.