Am I just not being patient enough? Honestly in the past I didn't know anything about the nit cycle but now that I know I wont expose the fish to the high levels of amm or nit. I know zero is what I'm after on the readings but is it possible I'm not letting the ammonia get high enough to start the cycle? IF that's the case,what is the test reading I'm after to start the cycle? In the mean time ive started a fishless cycle in a 1 gallon betta tank using Dr Tims ammonia drops but that has just stayed high with ammonia for the past week,even after dumping bottled BB in it.(same as I did the 75)
frustrating cycle..
- Thread starter Iron Cat
- Start date
Yes, there should be a reading normally.. but with the water changes and the fishless cycle and seeded media you might be dealing with a perfect storm of bad timing and coincidence. Any readings might be so close to the threshold of what your test kit will register.. and then if you changed the water right before it reached that threshold...
Just a possiblity
Just a possiblity
It was fish in cycle, as I thought the seeded filter would have been good to go from day 1. But I hope you are correct.i just figured 26 days would atleast show a sign of anything other than a small amount of ammonia every few days.i just don't get it....
Water changes is also removing ammonia and nitrite and then diluting whats left. It can hinder the process. Care to enlighten us what all other needs there are in water changes outside of lowering Nitrate?
a month should show nitrite and nitrate and lower ammonia. I'm thinking the fish wasn't producing enough waste to create a stable amount of ammonia to feed the bacteria you had in the tank, and you may have had a die off of some of the colony, hence the small amount of ammonia, and no other readings. you could be stuck in a mini cycle here. add some dither fish, mollies or guppies or something simple and cheap and see if your readings change over the course of a week or so.
trace minerals needed in the water than either dissipate or are used by organisms in the tank over time are replenished during water changes, so that's one thing. New water also promotes growth and overall health in fish as well, especially if its a young fish. You are not going to even come close to impacting the cycle of bacteria if the water changes aren't over 75% of the tank. He's using bottled bacteria, theres zero need to try and keep your ammonia and nitrite high.
Thank you all for the replies. If my tank is mini cycling, does it just need more waste for the BB to build off of? If that is the case is there a somewhat safe level of ammonia he can deal with,if so what is it? He is in fact a young fish,got him 28 days ago at 1 inch,now hes appox 2 1/2 inches.
no amount of ammonia is "safe" but .25 ppm is what I would call a less than lethal zone that won't cause any severe problems immediately. I would say add several more small fish and see what your numbers do from there.
