For the past few weeks I have been cycleing my new 75 gallon tank and like many of you have probably expirienced before I am itching to put fish in. After learning of the Fishless Cycle on MFK (I am very new to the hobby but quickly becoming obssesed haha) I opted for this method. So I have been adding pure ammonia daily. After 2 weeks the level drops from 5 to 0 within 24 hours and the Nitrite levels have risen to over 5.0 ppm for about the last week. For those you you who have used the fishless method how long before your Nitrites drop and your tank is ready for fish.
How long does nitrate spike last
- Thread starter mindgame
- Start date
Nitrites don't oxidize on their own. Are your Nitrites continuing to climb or are they fairly leveled off at 5ppm?
At the rate your going it will take a very long time for nitrites to drop to 0. Your nitrite test is showing 5 ppm but I can assure you it is much more than that as you are oxidizing 5 ppm ammonia into nitrites every 24 hours.
1. Decrease your amount of ammonia to 2.5 ppm (5 ppm is way too much - you couldn't fit enough fish comfortably in a 75 gal tank that would produce 5 ppm ammonia.
2. Add 2.5 ppm ammonia every 48 hours instead of 24. You will not lose any ammonia eating bacteria by skipping a day but it will lessen the amount of nitrites produced.
3. Your nitrite level concentration is way high - possibly as much as 30 ppm. Do a 30% water change every 2 days to bring the concentration level down.
4. When nitrites drop to 0 ppm continue adding 2.5 ppm ammonia daily and when you have 3 days of 0 ppm ammo and 0 ppm nitrites do a nitrate test and do a massive water change to bring them under control. Stop adding ammonia 48 hours prior to when you expect to add fish.
5. If your time to add fish doesn't happen continue with adding ammonia every day.
1. Decrease your amount of ammonia to 2.5 ppm (5 ppm is way too much - you couldn't fit enough fish comfortably in a 75 gal tank that would produce 5 ppm ammonia.
2. Add 2.5 ppm ammonia every 48 hours instead of 24. You will not lose any ammonia eating bacteria by skipping a day but it will lessen the amount of nitrites produced.
3. Your nitrite level concentration is way high - possibly as much as 30 ppm. Do a 30% water change every 2 days to bring the concentration level down.
4. When nitrites drop to 0 ppm continue adding 2.5 ppm ammonia daily and when you have 3 days of 0 ppm ammo and 0 ppm nitrites do a nitrate test and do a massive water change to bring them under control. Stop adding ammonia 48 hours prior to when you expect to add fish.
5. If your time to add fish doesn't happen continue with adding ammonia every day.
The BB that control Nitrite just take longer for some reason. We all get stuck in this stage once in a while. Do what Rockydog says & reduce the Nitrite levels so that the Nitrite-eating BB can catch up to the Ammo-eaters. I've also found that keeping the light on for longer helps push your tank past this stage.