i was jw how long did it take for yalls nitrites to drop during your fishless cycle, ive been reading nitrites for about a week and its still HIGH and hasnt dropped yet and just wanted to hear from some other FISHLESS CYCLERS
nitrite cycle
- Thread starter liljoe0985
- Start date
it takes quite awhile...my last took 5 weeks. But one trick many newbies dont know is that if you can get a good chunk of old filter media from an established tank it can be done in less than a week.
For instance when my brother set up a tank we cycled his tank in 4 days using a slice of my mech sponge.
EDIT: however make sure its from a pristine tank as you dont want to bring anything bad into your new system.
For instance when my brother set up a tank we cycled his tank in 4 days using a slice of my mech sponge.
EDIT: however make sure its from a pristine tank as you dont want to bring anything bad into your new system.
yea i thought about that and i dont know if i REALLY trust the LFS around here or my buddy with a tank haha...overall ive been doin the fishless cycle for about 2 or 3 weeks now and i know how the whole process can take up to 4-6 weeks ,my ammonia dropped like a week ago and i havent heard too many people talk about how long did their nitrites hang around before droppin so i thought id ask
The nitrite-consuming bacteria colonize a lot slower than the ammonia-consuming bacteria. It took several weeks for the nitrites to zero out in our tank. Most fishless cycling directions suggest cutting back on the ammonia feedings once there is a nitrite reading. At that point, add only enough ammonia to get an ammonia reading of about 1 or 2 ppm. I did not do this and kept adding enough ammonia to the tank to get a reading of 4 ppm. I believe this is what kept the nitrites high for a long time. I found the following article after I had fishless cycled my tank.
http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/misc/fishlesscycling.html
"The high-nitrite stage seems to last forever. It seems to me that Nitrobacter (the nitrite-consuming bacteria) grow more slowly than Nitrosomas (the ammonia-consuming bacteria).
When the nitrite drops, it will drop rapidly. When the test reads zero for 24 hours or more, your tank is cycled. This is the payoff for all your patience. "
http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/misc/fishlesscycling.html
"The high-nitrite stage seems to last forever. It seems to me that Nitrobacter (the nitrite-consuming bacteria) grow more slowly than Nitrosomas (the ammonia-consuming bacteria).
When the nitrite drops, it will drop rapidly. When the test reads zero for 24 hours or more, your tank is cycled. This is the payoff for all your patience. "