Fishless cycle, Sky rocket nitrite !!!

[Raul]

So I am in week 4 of my fishless cycle and I thought I was almost done , I was getting the API nitrite test that starts dark purple and after 5 minutes goes to almost 0 ppm. Which I found out it is a false reading it seems my nitrites are very high.So I keep searching online and I get so many different responses, first some say it is OK i am almost done do not give up, other says do water changes, other say nothing. My ammonia drops from 2~3 ppm to 0 probably in 4~6 hour, so that part is OK and I assume my nitrite is crazy because there has been to much ammonia being processed, I have like 10~20 ppm of nitrates now, but i do not see the nitrite going down.I am not going to give up i just want to know what to do , do I do a PWC, or just keep feeding ammonia and wait until nitrite goes to 0%, or do some sort of spell to get rid of the nitrite (well I wish it was that easy)55G tank here, aquaclear 110 and eheim 2215 filtration, and normal gravel for subtrate.right now:Ammonia 0ppmnitirte PURPLE like barney and after 5 minutes ligh blue or greennitrate 10~20 ppm--Raul

[imagirlgeek]

It sounds like you are cycled, to me. Your Ammonia is 0, your Nitrite is 0 (that's what light blue indicates, and you have to wait 5 minutes for the color to develop, so the light blue is the read that counts...not the barney purple), and your Nitrates are 10-20.

I think you are ready to add fish!

[Raul]

well that is the confusing part, it seems when you add the drops of the API nitrite test and they turn purple right away i been reading that it means that they are way up where the API test fails. I just did close to a 90% water change will make a measurement again and see what it says.--Raul.

[aquabee]

Raul, I had this issue with my 125. I humbly recommend water changes (40% ish) every 3-4 days, STOP adding ammonia and start adding Stability every single day. Do a double dose of Stability every time you do a water change. The reason for the water changes is that high nitrite can stall a fishless cycle... and if you keep adding such concentrated ammonia, even in small doses, your nitrites will stay up for a really long unbearable time. The Stability will feed your bacterial populations and possibly even add some spores.

When the test turns dark purple and then fades to gray or clear, it means the nitrites are so high they're unreadable. At least, that's what it is in my experience. When that happened to me after 5 weeks, I did the above regimen and was completely cycled within another week.

[Raul]

I have already did almost 90% water changes twice today, and well now the nitirtes do not go from dark purple to clear blue, now they go from clear blue to dark purple but stay like that, so I assume i have reduced the number of nitrites, I will try and get stability, just trying to figure out where to get it from. And I will not dose the ammonia, but shouldn't stopping the ammonia will make the phase 1 bacteria die or stability will take care of that?

[aquabee]

That much of a water change is probably a bit much, both on you and on the tank. :) Half the water every 3-4 days max. And Stability will take care of feeding your bacterial colonies and will greatly reduce the time to the end of your cycle. Keep adding it once you have fish, for at least a week to 10 days. And this is all from personal experience with various setups, from 8 gallon to 125 gallon tanks. It works. Also, in my humble opinion, the little bit of ammonia in our tap water will be there to feed your bacterial colony when you do your water changes, in addition to the carbon source provided by the Stability. Best of luck!

[Raul]

well I already did it twice today, but I will not go crazy again on the water change, I will just go and get stability and dose it right now.

[aquabee]

Keep us posted!

[imagirlgeek]

Something about this just doesn't seem right to me.

If you were at Light Blue before the 90% water change (which, IMO, is too much when you are trying to cycle), and then dark purple after the water change, something is wrong.

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What are the numbers on your Nitrite test kit? Maybe it's expired. Also, have you tested your tap water? It's possible you have Nitrites and/or Ammonia in the tap.

[aquabee]

It happened with me too Traci. I think he wasn't really cycled... perhaps the gray looked like light blue. API will actually let you know that with ridiculous nitrite levels, the test kit will actually fade around 5 minutes to gray or even clear (probably not light blue though). In that case, it makes sense that after a huge water change, when the nitrites are diluted and lower, the test kit can actually accurately pick them up. Maybe that's what's going on? That's exactly what happened to me when I was cycling the 125 a few months ago.

[Raul]

yes that is what it is exactly happening , so i did today two 80~90% water changes today, and now the nitrite test progress the way it should it starts light and after 5 minutes it goes purple so that means i am still high but the API test is doing what it is supposed to do.before I had the issue that the drops once they hit the bottom of the test tube were purple and then once i shake it the test went from purple to light blue or green, which was what Aquabee was describing and I have found in several sites the same description that it means my nitrites are very high that API test kit gives a false test.so I just came back with some stability getting ready to set it on the aquarium and will stop the ammonia, I assume once i get the nitrites down and suspect i am cycled i can do a test of ammonia to see that everything goes the way it is supposed to be; that after an ammonia seed on a cylcled aquarium that it should go to 0 ppm of ammonia and 0 ppm of nitrite and high nitrates ?

[Raul]

I also did a test on the tap water and i get Zero nitrites.

[Raul]

Keep us posted!

Aquabee, thank you for the tips, so after i added stability and my two 90% water changes i did before, today the nitrites are reading almost 0.5 ppm, so i assume i am very close, I did a nitrate reading and it seems there is still like 0~5 ppm I will assume it might have been the water change and the stability that is helping reduce the nitrate as well and well my plants too.thanks, I am so happy since soon I can get the fish.--Raul.

[Raul]

I test it again and now there is 0 nitrites0 ammonia0 nitratesthe part i am confused is the 0 nitrates, I guess it might be the plants and stability, I am going to add few drops of ammonia to see how everything reacts, not going to go over board because if there is zero of everything then I assume I am cycles now. Stability is pretty awsome.

[eklikewhoa]

How much vegetation do you have in the tank?

I've gone through no cycle stages with planted tanks so that doesn't surprise me.