Nitrite / Nitrate / ammonia levels are high
- Thread starter ryanstef
- Start date
Nothing. A new tank cycle takes approximately 6 weeks to establish.
The presence of nitrate, the end product of the cycle, indicates you have nitrosomas & nitrobactors present, just not in large enough numbers to consume the available ammonia & nitrite as yet.
Are you doing a fishless cycle or are there fish in the tank already?
The presence of nitrate, the end product of the cycle, indicates you have nitrosomas & nitrobactors present, just not in large enough numbers to consume the available ammonia & nitrite as yet.
Are you doing a fishless cycle or are there fish in the tank already?
How big is your tank?
You can dose seachem prime to detoxify the ammonia but it only binds for 48hrs so you need to repeat every 2 days until the ammonia reads 0
Nitrite is highly toxic. Adding salt at 1tbsp/5gal will prevent nitrite poisoning.
You can dose seachem prime to detoxify the ammonia but it only binds for 48hrs so you need to repeat every 2 days until the ammonia reads 0
Nitrite is highly toxic. Adding salt at 1tbsp/5gal will prevent nitrite poisoning.
Pics or it didn't happen... lol
Good advice above.
There are a million articles out there about cycling an aquarium.
The short summary is, you seeded the tank with a small amount of bacteria. That bacteria needs to be fed. One bacteria "eats" ammonia and "poops" nitrite. Another "eats" nitrite and "poops" nitrate. The bacteria colonies grow pretty quick.
Keep in mind, once the aquarium is "cycled", it will only be equipped to process the amount of ammonia present when cycling the aquarium. So add fish slowly to allow the bacterial colony to grow.
All in all, it sounds like you're on the right track. The most important thing to add right now is patience. ;-)
Good advice above.
There are a million articles out there about cycling an aquarium.
The short summary is, you seeded the tank with a small amount of bacteria. That bacteria needs to be fed. One bacteria "eats" ammonia and "poops" nitrite. Another "eats" nitrite and "poops" nitrate. The bacteria colonies grow pretty quick.
Keep in mind, once the aquarium is "cycled", it will only be equipped to process the amount of ammonia present when cycling the aquarium. So add fish slowly to allow the bacterial colony to grow.
All in all, it sounds like you're on the right track. The most important thing to add right now is patience. ;-)
You need to provide more info. We can only provide general guidance if you provide minimal info. The more specific you are with your stock plans, the more dialed in the advice you will get.
It’s a good sized tank so what is your final stock plan?
How big is the 1 fish in the tank atm?
You can get a cycle completed for 1 fish and then run into trouble when you add 10 more.
It’s a good sized tank so what is your final stock plan?
How big is the 1 fish in the tank atm?
You can get a cycle completed for 1 fish and then run into trouble when you add 10 more.
Agreed and unless it's a sizeable fish or you're leaving excessive uneaten food in the tank, 1 fish in a 125 will produce a very small bioload, which in turn will feed a very small bacterial colony, so as stated above once you add more fish your tank may go through a mini cycle tryng to catch up to the new bioload.
What do you mean by "filter starters"?
Does that mean commercial bottled inert bacterial spores?
(they still need a little time, to grow an appropriate and large enough bacterial population to cycle in a large tank)
Does it mean seasoned media, such as sand or gravel, or ceramic Doodads from a previously opperating filter?
https://hosting.photobucket.com/1f4...c975ec7b6.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds, https://hosting.photobucket.com/1f4...e726564c4.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds
I find adding aquatic plants really helps in regard to getting a cycle started.
Both floating or rooted plants will go a long way to getting a tank to equilibrium.
With the last tank I started cycling from scatch, by planting the tank (immediately after water was added, and filters running), it was cycled in 3 weeks (for me a tank usualy takes 8 weeks to properly cycle without plants.
.
Does that mean commercial bottled inert bacterial spores?
(they still need a little time, to grow an appropriate and large enough bacterial population to cycle in a large tank)
Does it mean seasoned media, such as sand or gravel, or ceramic Doodads from a previously opperating filter?
https://hosting.photobucket.com/1f4...c975ec7b6.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds, https://hosting.photobucket.com/1f4...e726564c4.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds
I find adding aquatic plants really helps in regard to getting a cycle started.
Both floating or rooted plants will go a long way to getting a tank to equilibrium.
With the last tank I started cycling from scatch, by planting the tank (immediately after water was added, and filters running), it was cycled in 3 weeks (for me a tank usualy takes 8 weeks to properly cycle without plants.
.