More cycling questions

[ClockworkParrot]

I have been trying to get my tank cycled for around six-ish weeks and have been fighting the nitrites to keep it at a safe range for my 3 juvenile axolotls. I perform a 25% water change every twelve hours and I know that makes cycling much slower but its been keeping the nitrites at a safe range.
I have found that every 12 hours my nitrites hit .25 which is why I take out 25% and my ammonia has always been level with my nitrites (And if I miss a change it shoots right up to 1 on the nitrites). I checked the water before performing my second change tonight and found that I have 0 nitrite and thought my tank was finally cycled until I saw my ammonia is at .25.
I checked my nitrate and its not 0 but it isnt dark enough orange to be considered 5 either.

Im confused about my nitrite being at 0 but my ammonia is still at .25. Aren't they supposed to remain in balance or is this just a nearing the end of the cycle occurrence?

Thanks in advanced for all help!

 

[Boomsloth]

Are you dechlorinating the water before adding it? Like shaking up the bottle too? It seems like you have colonies of both bacteria but they are still trying to find a balance in your tank. What you can do is take you axolotls and place them into a tub and perform 100% water changes daily. But keep their old water and add it into their tank. The frequent changes while safer for your axolotls is not providing a steady supply of ammonia so the bacteria colonies aren't growing to the right size.


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[ClockworkParrot]

My problem is I don't have another place to put them aside from my tank. My house is far too hot (around 84 which is why I got a nice sized chiller) and trying to keep it iced doesnt work for longer than an hour with how fast it melts. Their tank is also in the only place that is safe from dogs since I can only keep them in my room.
I always decholorinate my water and shake up the bottles. I didn't change the water this morning like I normally do and I found that I still have 0 nitrites and my ammonia is less than .25 on the api water chart but its not quite the shade of yellow at the top from what I can tell, but its not the same shade as the .25. My nitrate is still looking to be between the colors of 0 and 5 ppm.

 

[rachel1]

Your problem could be a lack of sufficient habitat for your beneficial bacteria. How big are your axis, how big is the tank, and how much biological filtration media is in your filter? Do you have substrate? If you are getting an ammonia reading, I doubt lack of food for the bacteria is the issue. Large water changes will definitely slow the population growth rate, but free ammonia in the water means there is an excess of food available that is not yet being utilized. The nitrite dropping to 0 is a good sign, and I would bet your low nitrate is due to large daily water changes. If you have space in the filter to add biological media, that would be a good step to take. If not, adding plants and/or decorations can increase surface area available for bacterial colonization, but surface area in direct contact with your established filter media will probably be colonized more quickly.

 

[ClockworkParrot]

I have a bunch of places for the bacteria to grow, I have two large pieces of drift wood, playsand substrate and about 37 live plants that I prune every other day to make sure no leaves die in the tank. I have a marineland canister filter that has the bioballs, sponge and carbon filtration.

My ammonia still looked to be that weird borderline between .25 and 0 and nitrites still at zero. My nitrate though doesnt seem to be growing in the tank. Its still looking between 0 and 5.

 

[rachel1]

Test clean tap water or bottled spring water as a control for your ammonia, and compare that to your tank. It could be your test has a zero that is slightly off perfect yellow. Nitrate tends to go up a bit more slowly than the other two, I wouldn't expect much increase on a daily basis. Test it once a week til you figure out an appropriate maintenance routine. Hope that helps.

 

[ClockworkParrot]

Test clean tap water or bottled spring water as a control for your ammonia, and compare that to your tank. It could be your test has a zero that is slightly off perfect yellow. Nitrate tends to go up a bit more slowly than the other two, I wouldn't expect much increase on a daily basis. Test it once a week til you figure out an appropriate maintenance routine. Hope that helps.

Thanks,
I think I may have just hit the end of my cycle since I havent had any nitrite in 3 days and my ammonia looks like zero to two other people I have asked to look at my test. I am wondering if my nitrate is low because I have SO many plants in my tank and that is what has been confusing me. My water has been crystal clear aside from some stirred sand during my plant pruning and poop scooping ritual and my tank doesnt have that bacteria smell I have smelled from tanks people have had that were uncycled and dirty (Yes I do smell my water after being around dirty tanks ^_^').