cycle stalling

[sergifed91]

I think my cycle has stalled wednesday it was
PH: - 8
Ammonia - 0
NO2 -10
NO3- 40
friday saturday and sunday
PH - 8
ammonia -0
NO2 40
NO3 -80
Using shrimp to feed bacteria. I might do a water change of 20 to 50 percent.
please give me info on for sure on what to do at this point.

 

[Maggie321]

If it were me, I would wait. Wait to do a wc till your nitrites are 0. In fact, I might wait another week after that.

 

[sergifed91]

If it were me, I would wait. Wait to do a wc till your nitrites are 0. In fact, I might wait another week after that.

yeah but with everything ammonia isn't present at all and no2 and no3 staying where there st right now indicates to me that cycling has stalled.

 

[Maggie321]

yeah but with everything ammonia isn't present at all and no2 and no3 staying where there st right now indicates to me that cycling has stalled.

I still would wait it out

 

[sergifed91]

I still would wait it out

Should I try adding pure ammonia to make sure my bacteria isn't in hibernation. since I haven't had ammonia detected since thursday.

 

[Maggie321]

Nope. If I added anything it would be the bottled bacteria to boost the cycle. The cycle is started, add something to finish it. If you really believe it won't go further, then adding ammonia won't help. But a bottle of bacteria might.

 

[fishybizzness]

I agree with waiting. Patience grasshopper! It's essential in this hobby! I learned that the hard way. Nothing good happens quickly.

 

[Steve Jewell]

I agree with above. I've been dosing with Ammonia...my Ammonia is 0 but my Nitrites and Nitrates are off the charts...waiting to complete cycle I did add Chaeto and turn on my lights...might be a mistake, we'll see..

 

[EmptyWallet]

Yeah, posts above are spot on. What you describe is 'classic cycling'. Your bio filter is effectively converting ammonia to nitrite, but not yet able to complete the nitrite to nitrate part in the same timeframe (for me I found ammonia to nitrite takes 1-2 weeks, but nitrite to nitrate 4 -6 weeks). Adding more ammonia now will just put even more demand on your nitrifying bacteria and if your nitrites get too high\very high, then your cycle might stall (not to mention, you'll just keep hiking up the nitrate levels that have to be water changed or carbon dosed out once your finished).

In my experience, I don't agree that you need to 'feed' the bacteria every 24 to 48 hours. Maybe for it to flourish but your existing doesn't die off. Take Dr Tim's One and Only. It has a 1 year shelf life and no one is opening the bottle every day or two to feed it ammonia. I have a seneye monitor and did an experiment over time. I worked out that even going 2 weeks without 'dosing ammonia' my bacteria could still process a whack of ammonium chloride in about 36 hours (and then 24 hours thereafter back to normal).

If nitrites are still not coming down after 6 weeks, you have a problem. The fact that you have 80 nitrate is a strong sign your bacteria are strong and your hitting it hard with ammonia. It's hard to stall cycling, only if your ammonia levels are off the charts (or something else if way off like very low temperature, PH under 7 that sort of thing).

 

[sergifed91]

Yeah, posts above are spot on. What you describe is 'classic cycling'. Your bio filter is effectively converting ammonia to nitrite, but not yet able to complete the nitrite to nitrate part in the same timeframe (for me I found ammonia to nitrite takes 1-2 weeks, but nitrite to nitrate 4 -6 weeks). Adding more ammonia now will just put even more demand on your nitrifying bacteria and if your nitrites get too high\very high, then your cycle might stall (not to mention, you'll just keep hiking up the nitrate levels that have to be water changed or carbon dosed out once your finished).

In my experience, I don't agree that you need to 'feed' the bacteria every 24 to 48 hours. Maybe for it to flourish but your existing doesn't die off. Take Dr Tim's One and Only. It has a 1 year shelf life and no one is opening the bottle every day or two to feed it ammonia. I have a seneye monitor and did an experiment over time. I worked out that even going 2 weeks without 'dosing ammonia' my bacteria could still process a whack of ammonium chloride in about 36 hours (and then 24 hours thereafter back to normal).

If nitrites are still not coming down after 6 weeks, you have a problem. The fact that you have 80 nitrate is a strong sign your bacteria are strong and your hitting it hard with ammonia. It's hard to stall cycling, only if your ammonia levels are off the charts (or something else if way off like very low temperature, PH under 7 that sort of thing).

i'm not adding ammonia. I just have a raw shrimp in the tank nothing more. which dr tims one and only do I need.

 

[Brew12]

Yeah, posts above are spot on. What you describe is 'classic cycling'. Your bio filter is effectively converting ammonia to nitrite, but not yet able to complete the nitrite to nitrate part in the same timeframe (for me I found ammonia to nitrite takes 1-2 weeks, but nitrite to nitrate 4 -6 weeks). Adding more ammonia now will just put even more demand on your nitrifying bacteria and if your nitrites get too high\very high, then your cycle might stall (not to mention, you'll just keep hiking up the nitrate levels that have to be water changed or carbon dosed out once your finished).

In my experience, I don't agree that you need to 'feed' the bacteria every 24 to 48 hours. Maybe for it to flourish but your existing doesn't die off. Take Dr Tim's One and Only. It has a 1 year shelf life and no one is opening the bottle every day or two to feed it ammonia. I have a seneye monitor and did an experiment over time. I worked out that even going 2 weeks without 'dosing ammonia' my bacteria could still process a whack of ammonium chloride in about 36 hours (and then 24 hours thereafter back to normal).

If nitrites are still not coming down after 6 weeks, you have a problem. The fact that you have 80 nitrate is a strong sign your bacteria are strong and your hitting it hard with ammonia. It's hard to stall cycling, only if your ammonia levels are off the charts (or something else if way off like very low temperature, PH under 7 that sort of thing).

+1 on this.

Your cycle is going just fine. If anything, you should pull the shrimp so you don't end up with even more nitrates at the end. Then give it a week or two for the nitrites to drop.

btw... if you have nitrites in your system, you won't get an accurate nitrate test. Don't be surprised if you see both nitrites and nitrates drop as your cycle progresses.

 

[Neo Jeo]

Nothing good happens fast in this hobby Just wait a little longer and things will be better!

 

[sergifed91]

+1 on this.

Your cycle is going just fine. If anything, you should pull the shrimp so you don't end up with even more nitrates at the end. Then give it a week or two for the nitrites to drop.

btw... if you have nitrites in your system, you won't get an accurate nitrate test. Don't be surprised if you see both nitrites and nitrates drop as your cycle progresses.

So at this point I will go ahead and take the shrimp out when I get off work. then do I need to do anything else like add more bacteria live plants or etc? if not then i'll just wait a week and check the nitrates every day until there down to acceptable levels or completely gone. then should I readd the shrimp again or just let it cycle by itself or go by some fish food and use that at this point once nitrates are low or completely gone.

 

[Brew12]

So at this point I will go ahead and take the shrimp out when I get off work. then do I need to do anything else like add more bacteria live plants or etc? if not then i'll just wait a week and check the nitrates every day until there down to acceptable levels or completely gone. then should I readd the shrimp again or just let it cycle by itself or go by some fish food and use that at this point once nitrates are low or completely gone.

Nope, nothing else to do. Just pull the shrimp, wait, and test.

What you are looking for is nitrites to drop, not nitrates. Once nitrites drop to near zero you can start stocking the tank slowly. This normally takes around a week. Your nitrates should climb the entire time. The only reason you may see nitrates drop is because earlier testing indicated higher than actual because of the nitrites. Most nitrate tests work by converting the nitrate to nitrite and then reading the nitrites. This only gives an accurate result if the water starts with zero nitrites. Since your water has nitrites, your nitrate reading is a combination of both nitrates and nitrites. If nitrites drop faster than nitrates climb, it can look like nitrates are dropping, but they aren't.

I do like the idea of adding macro algae into a new tank since it will process ammonia directly and provide the fish a little extra protection.

 

[sergifed91]

I haven't seen any bacteria on my dry rock at all. or atleast from what I have noticed, if there is I haven't seen any or just need glasses. yeah probably need glasses. but yeah I'm thinking of ordering a live plant or 2 or 3. that's it. that should feed off the ammonia and nitrates also.

 

[Brew12]

I haven't seen any bacteria on my dry rock at all. or atleast from what I have noticed, if there is I haven't seen any or just need glasses. yeah probably need glasses. but yeah I'm thinking of ordering a live plant or 2 or 3. that's it. that should feed off the ammonia and nitrates also.

You won't see it without a microscope. Those bacteria are kinda small!

Don't spend a whole lot on plants, imo. I like the idea but it may be hard to keep them alive in a new system.

 

[sergifed91]

You won't see it without a microscope. Those bacteria are kinda small!

Don't spend a whole lot on plants, imo. I like the idea but it may be hard to keep them alive in a new system.

I'm looking at frags for $10 or less. I never planned on a whole lot to begin with. I will admit that it will add some color to the tank. so why not. I'm looking right now. frags are the cheapest and I want a combination of 2 or 3 different types of frags. not just one big coral,

 

[Brew12]

I'm looking at frags for $10 or less. I never planned on a whole lot to begin with. I will admit that it will add some color to the tank. so why not. I'm looking right now. frags are the cheapest and I want a combination of 2 or 3 different types of frags. not just one big coral,

Ah, I thought you were talking marine plants (macro algae), not coral. You may not want to add any coral quite yet. It helps for a system to be more stable. Small frags "may" survive in a brand new tank but they have a much better chance if you until things stabilize more.

 

[sergifed91]

I might of called them coral by mistake. but this is what I'm looking at https://www.live-plants.com/

 

[Brew12]

I might of called them coral by mistake. but this is what I'm looking at https://www.live-plants.com/

Nope, you didn't call them coral. You referred to them as frags which is normally applied to coral. Bad assumption on my part.