Tank cycling questions

[HayleyStar7]

Hi. I am on day 12 of my first tank cycle and am finding that the ammonia is mostly converting within 24 hours but seems like the nitrites are just building up and not really converting to nitrates.

Current readings are:
pH 7.4-7.6 (in between the normal and high range tests) / ammonia 0.25 / nitrite 5+? / nitrates 5. Water temp is around 19-20 degrees.

I’ve attached photos of todays results. I do find it hard to differentiate between the different purples on the nitrite test. Nitrates did seem to be a bit higher a couple of days ago but I had an accidental 1/4 water change due to leaving an airstone with airline in the tank overnight and found the water all over the floor in the morning! Nitrates have been 5ppm the last two readings.

I have lots of questions!

Is this normal for the nitrite>nitrate conversion to lag when cycling?

Is it okay for the nitrites to get so high? I had read that the cycle can stop if they are over 5ppm.

Should I keep dosing the ammonia or wait for the nitrites to drop and nitrates to increase before dosing again?

Do I need to increase the temp?

Our water is very soft - will this impact the cycling?

Or does it just need more time and keep going with the daily dosing of ammonia to 4ppm?

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks

 

[Covey]

Hi. I am on day 12 of my first tank cycle and am finding that the ammonia is mostly converting within 24 hours but seems like the nitrites are just building up and not really converting to nitrates.

Current readings are:
pH 7.4-76 (in between the normal and high range tests) / ammonia 0.25 / nitrite 5+? / nitrates 5. Water temp is around 19-20 degrees.

I’ve attached photos of todays results. I do find it hard to differentiate between the different purples on the nitrite test. Nitrates did seem to be a bit higher a couple of days ago but I had an accidental 1/4 water change do to leaving an airstone with airline in the tank overnight and found the water all over the floor in the morning! Nitrates have been 5ppm the last two readings.

I have lots of questions!

Is this normal for the nitrite>nitrate conversion to lag when cycling?

Is it okay for the nitrites to get so high? I had read that the cycle can stop if they are over 5ppm.

Should I keep dosing the ammonia or wait for the nitrites to drop and nitrates to increase before dosing again?

Do I need to increase the temp?

Our water is very soft - will this impact the cycling?

Or does it just need more time and keep going with the daily dosing of ammonia to 4ppm?

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks

Ok, so 1, your nitrite>nitrate conversion may be a little slow because you have colder water. I believe warmer water (26 celsius and above) will speed up the benefical bacteria to break down the nitrites. 2, your cycle will be okay if nitrites are that high, just wait for it to convert. 3, wait for nitrites to drop and nitrates to spike and water change, before dosing ammonia. 4, yes increase your temp like i said in number 1.
5, you said your water is 7.4-7.6, which is hard water so why would you say your water is soft?
6, why do you keep on dosing ammonia? Aren't you supposed to does ammonia for a week then wait for beneficial bacteria? Or your just feeding your benefical bacteria so they dont die? Maybe keep dosing ammonia until a day before you transfer your axolotl to your tank.

 

[HayleyStar7]

Ok, so 1, your nitrite>nitrate conversion may be a little slow because you have colder water. I believe warmer water (26 celsius and above) will speed up the benefical bacteria to break down the nitrites. 2, your cycle will be okay if nitrites are that high, just wait for it to convert. 3, wait for nitrites to drop and nitrates to spike and water change, before dosing ammonia. 4, yes increase your temp like i said in number 1.
5, you said your water is 7.4-7.6, which is hard water so why would you say your water is soft?
6, why do you keep on dosing ammonia? Aren't you supposed to does ammonia for a week then wait for beneficial bacteria? Or your just feeding your benefical bacteria so they dont die? Maybe keep dosing ammonia until a day before you transfer your axolotl to your tank.

Thanks for the reply. I had been debating whether to get a water heater so will get one this week.

I’m sure there are different ways to cycle - I’m following the instructions to dose with ammonia to 4ppm then wait a week, test, then top up ammonia daily to 4ppm until both ammonia and nitrites are reduced to zero within 24 hours. I assume it is to keep feeding the bacteria until there is enough present. Have been adding bottled bacteria too along the way.

The pH of our tap water is 6.8 so I’ve increased by adding sodium bicarbonate to the tank. I only have test strips for GH / hardness and these are showing 25-75 ppm. And KH / alkalinity of zero. Not sure how accurate they are.

Have attached photo of our tap water pH.

 

[wolfen]

is the filter big enough for the tank?
whilst the ammonia is being converted then the cycle hasn't crashed.
it does take time for the filtration to build up enough bacteria to remove both ammonia and nitrites.
warming the water will help the bacteria to grow faster, also make sure the water is oxygenated as oxygen is required by the bacteria.
do not worry about the nitrates unless they get to 110ppm or higher, then a water change can be done to reduce nitrates using water that is de-chlorinated before adding to the tank.
cycling a tank is a long and annoying process, but you will get there in the end
the tap water is quite soft, it is good that you are bringing the ph and kh up with bicarb.

 

[HayleyStar7]

is the filter big enough for the tank?
whilst the ammonia is being converted then the cycle hasn't crashed.
it does take time for the filtration to build up enough bacteria to remove both ammonia and nitrites.
warming the water will help the bacteria to grow faster, also make sure the water is oxygenated as oxygen is required by the bacteria.
do not worry about the nitrates unless they get to 110ppm or higher, then a water change can be done to reduce nitrates using water that is de-chlorinated before adding to the tank.
cycling a tank is a long and annoying process, but you will get there in the end
the tap water is quite soft, it is good that you are bringing the ph and kh up with bicarb.

Thanks for the reply. The filter should be big enough. I have around 44L of water in a 60L tank (am planning to top up some more when our axie is in and we have a cover). There are two filters - the original sponge filter from the tank as well as a new Fluval U2 internal filter that is rated for up to 110L. I have an additional airstone but haven’t been running it so will put it back in the tank.

If it’s okay for the nitrites to spike higher than 5ppm, it sounds like we just need more time and some warmer water.

 

[HayleyStar7]

Our cycling was going well until I wasn’t paying enough attention to the pH and it dropped to 6. Cycle has now stalled and ammonia didn’t convert for 2 days. I added sodium bicarbonate last night to increase pH so hoping it will start again. Am planning to do a 50% water change today.

When this happens does the cycle pick up again from where it was or is there a chance I’ve killed off the bacteria and need to start again from scratch?

Our tap water is soft with pH around 6.8, so wondering if I should put crushed coral into the tank? Am planning to use the John’s salt solution when axie is back in the tank so is this enough to manage the pH without coral?

(Have also added some extra bio media to the internal filter but there wasn’t much room. I could upgrade the sponge filter to a larger size longer term if that would help the bio filter, but would be starting the cycle again if I did this now.)

 

[wolfen]

Our cycling was going well until I wasn’t paying enough attention to the pH and it dropped to 6. Cycle has now stalled and ammonia didn’t convert for 2 days. I added sodium bicarbonate last night to increase pH so hoping it will start again. Am planning to do a 50% water change today.

When this happens does the cycle pick up again from where it was or is there a chance I’ve killed off the bacteria and need to start again from scratch?

Our tap water is soft with pH around 6.8, so wondering if I should put crushed coral into the tank? Am planning to use the John’s salt solution when axie is back in the tank so is this enough to manage the pH without coral?

(Have also added some extra bio media to the internal filter but there wasn’t much room. I could upgrade the sponge filter to a larger size longer term if that would help the bio filter, but would be starting the cycle again if I did this now.)

johns solution should improve the ph. crushed coral helps because of the calcium that is absorbed/dissolved into the water when the water ph starts to drop buffering the water, limestone rocks can also be used, to find out if it is limestone drip some vinegar on it, if it fizzes it's limestone.
a couple of days shouldn't be enough to completely destroy the bacteria colony although it might have been reduced, just continue cycling the tank. don't do a water change unless the nitrates are 110ppm or higher whilst cycling.
increasing the filter media and upgrading the filter will always help in the long run and allows the bacteria colony to grow to the size needed.

 

[HayleyStar7]

johns solution should improve the ph. crushed coral helps because of the calcium that is absorbed/dissolved into the water when the water ph starts to drop buffering the water, limestone rocks can also be used, to find out if it is limestone drip some vinegar on it, if it fizzes it's limestone.
a couple of days shouldn't be enough to completely destroy the bacteria colony although it might have been reduced, just continue cycling the tank. don't do a water change unless the nitrates are 110ppm or higher whilst cycling.
increasing the filter media and upgrading the filter will always help in the long run and allows the bacteria colony to grow to the size needed.

Thanks. I tested again this morning (not a full 24 hours) and thankfully ammonia back to zero and nitrites registering again!

 

[HayleyStar7]

When I tested again 24h after adjusting the pH, the ammonia has gone from 4ppm to zero, with zero nitrites and 5ppm nitrate. It seems to be cycled now? Have dosed to 4ppm again to test the cycle, and if the levels are all good after 24h can I return our axie to the tank? Do I need to do a water change before returning him or just leave everything as is?

 

[wolfen]

When I tested again 24h after adjusting the pH, the ammonia has gone from 4ppm to zero, with zero nitrites and 5ppm nitrate. It seems to be cycled now? Have dosed to 4ppm again to test the cycle, and if the levels are all good after 24h can I return our axie to the tank? Do I need to do a water change before returning him or just leave everything as is?

once cycled do the dose and retest for two additional days to be sure. so you get a total of three days at zero before adding your axolotl.
provided the nitrates are low a water change isn't require but it may freshen the water a bit to do one.
keep a eye on the water parameters whilst he is settling in so there are no fluctuations.