SOS - Tank Cycle - 3 Months and Counting 😅

[Kcazmurr]

Hello Everyone,

I’ve been working on a fishless cycle in a 40 gallon tank for my two Axolotls coming up on 3 months now. Currently my parameters are Ammonia-.25/.50ppm NitrIte-0ppm NitrAte-80ppm and Ph-6.6ppm. I dose the Ammonia back up to 2ppm daily. My Ph was steady around 7.4 for nearly the whole cycle until recently when it crashed below 6.0. I noticed at that time my NitrAtes were well above 160ppm. Worrying that my cycle would stall I performed multiple water changes ranging from 25% to 70%. I’ve also been adding Aragonite 1 cup at a time and at first it raised my Ph back up to 7.4 but it didn’t take long until the Ph dipped back below 6.0. I’m currently up to 3 cups of Aragonite and the Ph is now 6.6. My worry is that the NitrAte was so high that it became toxic. Any tips/pointers/ideas? Any and all would be appreciated thank you in advance!

 

[wolfen]

use bicarbonate of soda to bring the ph up to 7.4-7.6, keep the water warm and oxygenated, top the ammonia up to 4ppm daily (2ppm is ok for one adult in a 40 gallon tank but needs to be 4ppm for 2).
only do a water change if the nitrates are 110ppm or higher whilst cycling or when finished, change no more than 50%, always make sure the water is dechlorinated before adding.
check you gh levels as the calcium levels may be high (this can be dealt with once the tank is cycled) check ph daily.
the conversion of nitrogen compounds (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates) causes acidity which causes a drop in ph, good kh (carbonate hardness) will prevent this from happening but when the kh is used up the ph drops, aragonite is calcium carbonate which breaks down as the water becomes acidic neutralising it but leaving calcium behind.

 

[Kcazmurr]

use bicarbonate of soda to bring the ph up to 7.4-7.6, keep the water warm and oxygenated, top the ammonia up to 4ppm daily (2ppm is ok for one adult in a 40 gallon tank but needs to be 4ppm for 2).
only do a water change if the nitrates are 110ppm or higher whilst cycling or when finished, change no more than 50%, always make sure the water is dechlorinated before adding.
check you gh levels as the calcium levels may be high (this can be dealt with once the tank is cycled) check ph daily.
the conversion of nitrogen compounds (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates) causes acidity which causes a drop in ph, good kh (carbonate hardness) will prevent this from happening but when the kh is used up the ph drops, aragonite is calcium carbonate which breaks down as the water becomes acidic neutralising it but leaving calcium behind.

Thank you for your response! Just to clear a few things up ~ I had read that I could use baking soda but I also read that once you add it you have to keep adding it. I currently have a tank heater that keeps it around 83F and have two air stones going to keep it well oxygenated. Originally I was dosing up to 4ppm ammonia daily as I normally do for my tank cycles but with the NitrAte being so high I cut back to 2ppm but will go back to 4ppm. I did multiple large water changes just so I could get a reading below 160ppm. Both my tap water and tank water are very soft like 0 Gh soft which is why I was adding the Aragonite. Also what confuses me is my NitrIte reading is 0 but my ammonia drops daily? Any help is appreciated thank you for reaching out!

 

[Kcazmurr]

Thank you for your response! Just to clear a few things up ~ I had read that I could use baking soda but I also read that once you add it you have to keep adding it. I currently have a tank heater that keeps it around 83F and have two air stones going to keep it well oxygenated. Originally I was dosing up to 4ppm ammonia daily as I normally do for my tank cycles but with the NitrAte being so high I cut back to 2ppm but will go back to 4ppm. I did multiple large water changes just so I could get a reading below 160ppm. Both my tap water and tank water are very soft like 0 Gh soft which is why I was adding the Aragonite. Also what confuses me is my NitrIte reading is 0 but my ammonia drops daily? Any help is appreciated thank you for reaching out!

Sorry my Kh levels are 0

 

[wolfen]

the ammonia will mostly be in the water hence the readings, if the filtration is working well then the bacteria that consume/convert the nitrites are able to do so whilst in the filter leaving no trace in the water, this is why having trace amounts of nitrites in an aquarium that is cycled can be a sign of problems with the filtration system where as ammonia in the water can be a sign of hidden decomposing food.
if the nitrates are building up then the bacteria are doing their job, the idea behind cycling isn't to just have a system that converts waste but to have it be able to convert a large amount of waste in a short period of time.
once you have the tank cycled you will probably have to use holtfreters or similar solution to make sure the levels are correct.
whilst the tank is cycling the water will become acidic, using bicarb will reduce without affecting the gh and adding surplus calcium, after it has cycled aragonite or other means of buffering can be used as the acidity will be controlled by regular water changes.
because the breakdown of ammonia can be affected by ph using bicarb to increase the ph to 8 should speed things up a bit, although you may get some cloudiness as the bicarb bonds with the calcium to produce calcium carbonate, this won't affect the cycling.