Fishless Cycle: Next Step?

[reelss]

Hi Folks,

I am doing a fishless cycle on my 120 gallon by dosing it with liquid ammonia. Here's the progress so far:

1/28: Dosed 50ml of Ammonia
1/29: Dosed 10 ml of Ammonia
2/3: PH 8.0, Ammonia 1.5, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0
2/7: Nitrite 0, Dosed 20 ml Ammonia
2/9: Ammonia 2.0, Nitrite 0.125, Nitrate 10
2/10: Ammonia 2.0, Nitrite 0.25, Nitrate 5
2/14: Ammonia 0.75, Nitrite 5, Nitrate 80
2/16: Ammonia 0, Nitrite 5, Nitrate 160

Would the high Nitrites and Nitrates stall the cycle? Should I dose more ammonia since its down to 0?

 

[tankstudy]

High nitrites from my experience will make your cycle stall/slow greatly. I'd wait for it to hit zero first before adding anymore ammonia.

 

[domination2580]

I would let it settle first. The nitrite should be down to 0 and nitrate on the way down. Once nitrite hit 0 u could do a water change. Then when nitrates to where you want them, slowly add fish...SLOWLY so the cycle keeps up

 

[Porpoise Hork]

With Ammonia at zero, and Nitrates at 5 the first two stages of the cycle are complete. You are now on stage 3 of 5 and are ready to start doing water changes. Start with around 20% of the total volume and repeat weekly until the nitrates settle down to a desired level. Don't fret if it seems like it's not coming down all that fast as it takes time for the anaerobic bacteria that feed on nitrates to develop, upwards of 4 months or more. You don't need to dose Ammonia at this point, but ghost feeding with flake or pellet food is recommended to keep the aerobic bacteria that breakdown ammonia and nitrites alive and well. When you get the nitrates down to 10 you can add the inverts, such as nassarius snails and hermits because stage 4 of the cycle will start. This will be your diatom bloom that will cover most everything as they feed on the excess silica in the tank. Once you see this you are now safe to start slowly adding livestock. Add your most hardy and least territorial specimens a couple at a time, giving your tank time to adjust to the increased bioload. As for the diatoms, tt is a normal process and the bloom will fade in a week or two and they will die off and bring about the 5th and final stage of the cycle, Cyano, and algae. At this point you will see the red mat and either green hair or film algae covering most surfaces. For Cyano, treat with Chemiclean or similar product. Algae development can be mitigated with more aggressive nutrient export method such as macro algae like chaeto in the sump. once you have a good batch in there you should see your ammonia and nitrites remain at zero and nitrates and phosphates near zero. Just keep in mind if you are going to add corals, start with soft and leathers, and go slow and allow the nitrates and phosphates to climb up a little as most corals do depends on these in the water.