Cycle Question

[aleok]

Hi All,
I started a new tank, fishless cycle with Ace hardware ammonia. Accidently over dosed to 7-8ppm. That was a 13 days ago. Now the ammonia is at .25ppm, nitrite 0, and nitrate 20ppm. The nitrate isn't high enough for me to think the cycle is complete.

I'm going out of town next week and will be gone for over 3 weeks, assuming the cycle goes thru what should I do to keep the tank alive? I'm not ready to transfer fish yet. Is it ok to leave the tank that long without feeding the bacteria and the nitrate levels so high?

 

[maleks.reef]

Hi All,
I started a new tank, fishless cycle with Ace hardware ammonia. Accidently over dosed to 7-8ppm. That was a 13 days ago. Now the ammonia is at .25ppm, nitrite 0, and nitrate 20ppm. The nitrate isn't high enough for me to think the cycle is complete.

I'm going out of town next week and will be gone for over 3 weeks, assuming the cycle goes thru what should I do to keep the tank alive? I'm not ready to transfer fish yet. Is it ok to leave the tank that long without feeding the bacteria and the nitrate levels so high?

Keep your lights off so you dont get an algae bloom. Also, will there be no one in the house to feed the tank? They dont have to use ammonia, a few pellets/flakes are enough.

 

[aleok]

Keep your lights off so you dont get an algae bloom. Also, will there be no one in the house to feed the tank? They dont have to use ammonia, a few pellets/flakes are enough.

Thanks, I can have a friend come in a couple times a week to drop in some flakes. Do I need to do a large water change to lower the Nitrate or is the bacteria ok with the high nitrate levels after the cycle?

 

[Azedenkae]

Hi All,
I started a new tank, fishless cycle with Ace hardware ammonia. Accidently over dosed to 7-8ppm. That was a 13 days ago. Now the ammonia is at .25ppm, nitrite 0, and nitrate 20ppm. The nitrate isn't high enough for me to think the cycle is complete.

I'm going out of town next week and will be gone for over 3 weeks, assuming the cycle goes thru what should I do to keep the tank alive? I'm not ready to transfer fish yet. Is it ok to leave the tank that long without feeding the bacteria and the nitrate levels so high?

The nitrate is plenty high enough to indicate there is nitrification.

You don't need to do anything to keep the nitrifiers alive, except perhaps dose ammonia just before you go. Nitrate at 20ppm is far from being high.

By the way, the way, a tank is cycled or not is not defined by the presence or absence of nitrate per se, but rather that the tank can handle a certain amount of ammonia to nitrate within 24 hours. Generally 2ppm, but now I find 1ppm is enough.

 

[BostonReefer300]

I agree with the above. Also, turning off your lights while you're gone isn't a bad idea either.

 

[maleks.reef]

Thanks, I can have a friend come in a couple times a week to drop in some flakes. Do I need to do a large water change to lower the Nitrate or is the bacteria ok with the high nitrate levels after the cycle?

You do not really need to have someone come over, if you throw in some flakes before going away it will be fine. Also, after you're back, test your water for po4 and no3 and then you can decide whether a WC will be necessary or not, however it most probably wont be.

 

[nereefpat]

There is no reason to add any more nitrogen of any kind. When you come back in 3 weeks, you should be ready for fish.

7-8 ppm of ammonia, when completely converted to nitrate, should be around 30 ppm nitrate. So that looks reasonable.

 

[Garf]

Hi All,
I started a new tank, fishless cycle with Ace hardware ammonia. Accidently over dosed to 7-8ppm. That was a 13 days ago. Now the ammonia is at .25ppm, nitrite 0, and nitrate 20ppm. The nitrate isn't high enough for me to think the cycle is complete.

I'm going out of town next week and will be gone for over 3 weeks, assuming the cycle goes thru what should I do to keep the tank alive? I'm not ready to transfer fish yet. Is it ok to leave the tank that long without feeding the bacteria and the nitrate levels so high?

Enjoy your trip. No need to add ammonia or food but someone could check the power is still on, lol

 

[aleok]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'll just leave it alone!

 

[Freenow54]

There is an article " How to Fishless Cycle a Tank with Ammonia " goggle it that addresses the ammonia cycle. First since you did not say so it HAS to be pure ammonia. If your ammonia fell that fast you are doing great. The last test since mine took 2 months is to add a full dose of ammonia as stated above, and it should be gone overnight. Also start watching Bulk Reef Supply videos they are complete guidance from start to finish. They suggest leaving the lights off during the entire cycle. That bypasses the " ugly " stage algae ect. When you turn he lights on it may crop up. Again BRS videos address that. Have just turned one of my lights on for a week now no problem. Love it. Realize I am a little late but hope all goes well. I think everything your doing is perfect but what do I know

 

[Reef.]

Hi All,
I started a new tank, fishless cycle with Ace hardware ammonia. Accidently over dosed to 7-8ppm. That was a 13 days ago. Now the ammonia is at .25ppm, nitrite 0, and nitrate 20ppm. The nitrate isn't high enough for me to think the cycle is complete.

I'm going out of town next week and will be gone for over 3 weeks, assuming the cycle goes thru what should I do to keep the tank alive? I'm not ready to transfer fish yet. Is it ok to leave the tank that long without feeding the bacteria and the nitrate levels so high?

Yes totally fine, no need to add any more ammonia/food, bacteria will not die it will just stay dormant until you add another food source. When you get back check your nitrite and ammonia are both zero, if it is then check nitrates, they should be much higher the 20, you can’t get an accurate reading for nitrates if the tank has nitrite in it as the nitrite will read as nitrates.

Then you just need to do a big water change to reduce your nitrates to around 10, then off you go.