Need some help on cycling

[aokashi]

;) take the advice of Hallyx the Cycling Master and you can't go wrong :D

[914joe]

Thanks for the info on covering the tank , i put a box over it .I don't have a heater yet ,i have my mind set on a Ehiem jager 25 watt heater ,but was unable to find the 25 watt version locally,i will be ordering one from Amazon sometime this week.The temp is fine for now it's hot here now ,water temp is steady at about 78 to 80.Thanks again,i will post some pics of my new tank when it is done.

[914joe]

My nitrates must be off the charts and my ph dropped to 6 or bellow ,i have done a 50 % water change and the nitrates were still high ,I did another 50 % water change 2 days later and they still seem to be off the chart,should i do a 90 % water change to bring it down, the ph is about 7.2 now after the water change.nitrates were also high if not of the chart ,the only thing i can think of is i did not half the dose when my ammonia started to drop, i now only add 2 drops of ammonia a day .

[teeneythebetta]

When fish less cycling, you don't do a water change. It's ok for nitrates to get high without a fish in it, it's normal.

[914joe]

I read somewhere that if ph drops to low and nitrtites are off the chart,that the cycle will stall or stop.

[Hallyx]

You read correctly. Whenever Ph drops below 7.0 the ammonia starts turning to ammonium and the cycle stalls. Same with too much nitrate.

Your instincts are sound, Joe. You did the right thing by doing a big water change.

I never had to cut back my ammonia dose, but apparently some people do. Keep the ammonia around 2.0ppm until your nitrite drops to 0.0ppm. Then change out your nitrates and you're done.

[914joe]

Thanks Halleyx for confirming this for me,when i checked for nitrites again today they still looked like they were off the chart ,as soon as i add the drops they imediatley turn dark purple.I did a 80 % wc but i don't understand i tested it again waited 5 minutes and they still are 5 or higher ,do you think i should i do another wc tomorrow.MY ph went back up to 7.2 after the water change,my ammonia pretty much is gone within in 24 hours,my nitrates also were of the chart but came down to 80ppm after the last water change .

[Hallyx]

I'd try to keep the nitrate below 40ppm. 10/20ppm is even better.Sometimes it's a struggle to get the nitrite down. But, as long as ammonia is going to 0.0ppm, the nitrite can't be far behind.

Thunderloon, who is a real pro at this, has suggested putting a pinch of fishfood, a few grains of salt and some seashell scrapings (or other calcium) into the filter to provide the bacteria with minerals. But you should be getting plenty of minerals with all those water changes.

Just keep changing water to keep your nitrites and nitrates in check.

[914joe]

I can't believe it i checked for nitrites this morning and they dropped to 0 ppm so i guess it has cycled.I am not ready to put fish in it yet ,actually this filter is gonna go in my new tank soon, but until then i guess i need to continue feeding it Ammonia daily.From what i have read after a tank has cycled your supposed to do a large water change and then add fish,since i am not adding fish do you think i should i skip this for now,and thanks Hallyx and everyone else who has helped me along the way,here are the results of my tests from this morning.

[Hallyx]

Yeah, that looks like a cycled tank. Change out the nitrates (50% ought to do). Then feed 0.5/1.0ppm ammonia per day---a few drops to feed the bacteria---until you're ready to stock.

Before stocking, do a big change and you're good.