I am 20 days into cycling. I have been adding ammonia but stopped on monday. LFS advised me to stop adding ammonia for a week. Nitrites are off the charts. Did a 20 percent WC and. they are still off the charts. Im dosing stability. LFS said no more ammonia but im concearned my ammonia processing bacteria that is already established and converting ammonia to nitrite will die. I also have nitrates off the chart but i'm not sure if this is a false reading from the nitrites. Thanks
LFS advice and cycling
- Thread starter Iceblock
- Start date
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TheEngineer
Formerly icecool2
Yikes. Definitely stop dosing. Do a couple of water changes (or a big one) to get those levels down. I don't think you need to worry about killing the bacteria, but you're going to have a long wait for that stuff to come out through the nitrogen cycle.
Jlobes
5000 Club Member
define "off the charts".
more details about your setup. size/gallons, type of rock and substrate used, which bacteria additive, etc
how much ammonia were you adding and how often? Have you been testing regularly? how long does it take for your tank to process ammonia to zero? whats the PH?
these important factors in helping decide your next move. why are you doing water changes?
the bacteria that process nitrite to nitrate, take much longer to develop than the ammonia to nitrite bacteria(1st stage).
more details about your setup. size/gallons, type of rock and substrate used, which bacteria additive, etc
how much ammonia were you adding and how often? Have you been testing regularly? how long does it take for your tank to process ammonia to zero? whats the PH?
these important factors in helping decide your next move. why are you doing water changes?
the bacteria that process nitrite to nitrate, take much longer to develop than the ammonia to nitrite bacteria(1st stage).
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It can process 2-4 ppm ammonia in one day. off the chart is 5+ppm nitrite. I did a 20% to try and bring the nitrite levels down into a readable range. I figured this wouldn't hurt the cycle because i'm not removing all the nitrite or nitrates. They are still in large amounts in the aquarium and as far as i know the acutal bacteria lives on the rocks, media, sand. The rock was dry rock mined out of the ground. Nitrates read 150ppm+ but idk if this is a false reading. I was dosing ammonia up to 4ppm initially then 2ppm every other day then i stopped all together last week.
I guess Ill just let it do its thing now. I was just confirming that the ammonia processing bacteria is not going to "starve" and you guys confirmed that i should just let it ride so thats what i will do. 
cdness
2006 - Present
I tried cycling a tank adding stability and my numbers were crazy "off the charts" too. As soon as I stopped dosing stability, things leveled off and all was well. It is anecdotal at best, but I think the stability itself was throwing off the testing kits.
The best cycle is the slow and steady one. If it was alll dry rock, take time and let the cycle mature. Your algae cycles will take longer, but if you have patience it won't matter.
The best cycle is the slow and steady one. If it was alll dry rock, take time and let the cycle mature. Your algae cycles will take longer, but if you have patience it won't matter.
Get ready for a possibly longer cycling time because of the imbalance early in the tank.
I did small ghost feedings Live rock from my favorite Lfs seed from old tank and Fiji mud maybe a ill fresh live sand and never had issues.
I have a bucket in my basement with dry sand and live rock. I used old tank water to cycle it.
The ammonia dosing has always freaked me out.
I did small ghost feedings Live rock from my favorite Lfs seed from old tank and Fiji mud maybe a ill fresh live sand and never had issues.
I have a bucket in my basement with dry sand and live rock. I used old tank water to cycle it.
The ammonia dosing has always freaked me out.
