my new tank cycling stall?

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sawyer010

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You have two different colonies of bacteria growing in your tank. Nitrosomonas, which oxidizes ammonia into nitrite, and Nitrobacter that oxidizes nitrite into nitrate. When both colonies are growing at the same time, nitrite levels can seem to remain constant. This is due to nitrosomonas bacteria increasing the nitrite level, while at the same time, nitrobacter bacteria are reducing it. In time, the nitrosomonas bacteria will run out of ammonia, and stop, or drastically reduce, the amount of nitrite they produce. At that point, you will begin to see a drop in nitrite levels, as nitrobacter keep doing their job, reproducing, and reducing nitrite levels. When you can no longer get a reading for nitrite, it will be safe to slowly start stocking the tank.
Peace
EC
because it has been about 14 days, and nitrite level is always above 5ppm, even water change is useless. i think my Nitrobacter bacteria doesnt work, if i can try another bottled bacteria?
 

ccoffel81

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yeah, i mean i did water change yesterday when i post this thread, so i never change water during cycling at moment,so i will wait for changes.thanks

Okay thought you just did another. I would do a change when ammonia and nitrite are undetectable and nitrate is showing medium to high on range just my opinion.
 

Elegance Coral

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O2 will not stay in the water at that temperature so nothing can live. Nothing beneficial imo. http://omp.gso.uri.edu/ompweb/doee/science/physical/choxy1.htm

As your own link clearly shows, O2 is not depleted due to a temperature of 90 degrees.
A quote from your link.
"Above 5 mg/l dissolved O2, most marine plants and animals have plenty of oxygen. "
The scale on the link stops at 30 degrees Celsius, or 86 degrees Fahrenheit. If you do a little math, and continue the scale up to 32.22 degrees Celsius, or 90 degrees Fahrenheit, you come up with an O2 level of somewhere around 5.8 mg/l of O2. That's more than "plenty" of O2 for most marine plants and animals, according to your link.
With all that said, we're not trying to grow plants and animals. We're trying to grow bacteria. The bacteria we're trying to grow do extremely well at a temperature of 90 degrees. The rate of metabolism increases with temperature. Meaning, bacteria are capable of reproducing at a much faster pace when temperatures are around 90, than they would if the temperature was closer to 70.
Peace
EC

 
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sawyer010

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Okay thought you just did another. I would do a change when ammonia and nitrite are undetectable and nitrate is showing medium to high on range just my opinion.
yeah, i will keep doing daily test, and update what is going on,thanks
 

IslandLifeReef

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yeah, i will keep doing daily test, and update what is going on,thanks

Stop testing and leave it alone for a week. The bacteria that change nitrite to nitrate grow at a much slower rate than the bacteria that change ammonia to nitrite. Since you initially dosed your tank to 5 ppm ammonia (higher than the recommended amount per Dr Tim's), you introduced a much higher potential for nitrite. Your nitrite levels could have gone as high as about 15 ppm if all of the ammonia got converted, which it didn't since you did a couple water changes. Nothing happens fast in this hobby unless it is bad!
 
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sawyer010

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Stop testing and leave it alone for a week. The bacteria that change nitrite to nitrate grow at a much slower rate than the bacteria that change ammonia to nitrite. Since you initially dosed your tank to 5 ppm ammonia (higher than the recommended amount per Dr Tim's), you introduced a much higher potential for nitrite. Your nitrite levels could have gone as high as about 15 ppm if all of the ammonia got converted, which it didn't since you did a couple water changes. Nothing happens fast in this hobby unless it is bad!
yeah, you are right.i did ammonia up to 5ppm about five days then i got a big water change and dopped down to 2ppm. and then it turned to nitrite, it lasted above 5ppm about two weeks until now. i did nearly 70% water change at the day before yesterday. nothing change for nitrite. so i still waited? and did nothing?
 

40B Knasty

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yeah, you are right.i did ammonia up to 5ppm about five days then i got a big water change and dopped down to 2ppm. and then it turned to nitrite, it lasted above 5ppm about two weeks until now. i did nearly 70% water change at the day before yesterday. nothing change for nitrite. so i still waited? and did nothing?
Listen man, leave the tank alone.
Ammonia is present. Great! Nitrosomonas populate. That is a bacteria that feeds on ammonia. That bacteria converts it to nitrites.
Next, 2 bacterias start to grow to convert nitrites. Nitrospira & Nitrobacter. Those feed on nitires and it becomes nitrates.
Let all parts of the nitrogen cycle spike. Ammonia and nitrites go back down to 0ppm naturally. LET IT! When this happens. Now you can do a 50% water chance. Test to see where your nitrates are at. If you are below 5ppm. You are looking good to add fish, but only 1 or 2. Wait a month. Add another.
 
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sawyer010

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Listen man, leave the tank alone.
Ammonia is present. Great! Nitrosomonas populate. That is a bacteria that feeds on ammonia. That bacteria converts it to nitrites.
Next, 2 bacterias start to grow to convert nitrites. Nitrospira & Nitrobacter. Those feed on nitires and it becomes nitrates.
Let all parts of the nitrogen cycle spike. Ammonia and nitrites go back down to 0ppm naturally. LET IT! When this happens. Now you can do a 50% water chance. Test to see where your nitrates are at. If you are below 5ppm. You are looking good to add fish, but only 1 or 2. Wait a month. Add another.
but the nitrite is above 5ppm at moment,what should i do?
 

Elegance Coral

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but the nitrite is above 5ppm at moment,what should i do?

Like IslandLifeReef said, "Stop doing water changes."

I strongly disagree with much of the info in post #2 above. You would do well by disregarding that post. Sorry.

1. Make sure the lights are off. You don't want to power photosynthesis, and grow algae that compete with the bacteria you're trying to grow. This may also help reduce algae problems later on.
2. Crank up the temperature. 90 degrees is fine. Just remember to cool the tank off BEFORE adding livestock once the cycle is over.
3.Move the water as much as possible, and remove any covers over the tank. If you have extra water pumps, or air pumps, add them to the tank. The bacteria you're trying to grow can consume vast quantities of O2. The more O2 you can pump into the tank, the better.
4. Add a little, very little, fish food, or seafood. Bacteria require more than just ammonia to grow and reproduce. They also require things like amino acids and carbohydrates/sugar. If these things become limiting, bacteria growth will suffer.

The reality is that the tank will cycle if you do absolutely nothing at all. Mother nature will do her thing with or without your intervention at this point. The tips above are simply methods to speed things up and produce a stronger/healthier biological filter once it's all over.

Peace
EC
 
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sawyer010

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hello, guys
my nitrite still no change, and if i turn on light or not during cycling?
 

Noobreefer22

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I am still new myself I started my tank back up again and it has been running for a month or two now and I have not change the water yet
I used biospira to start the cycle
And I think my tank is just now fully cycled
Yesterday reading
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
And nitrate .25
 
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sawyer010

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I am still new myself I started my tank back up again and it has been running for a month or two now and I have not change the water yet
I used biospira to start the cycle
And I think my tank is just now fully cycled
Yesterday reading
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
And nitrate .25
okey, b
I am still new myself I started my tank back up again and it has been running for a month or two now and I have not change the water yet
I used biospira to start the cycle
And I think my tank is just now fully cycled
Yesterday reading
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
And nitrate .25
okey, great, i have been about three weeks now.
 

Noobreefer22

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hello, guys
my nitrite still no change, and if i turn on light or not during cycling?
Yeah I do have my lights on the whole time or the schedule that I want during the cycle
I must be lucky or something but I did not get a outbreak of all the algae it was just a little
Now I have coralline algae growing
 

Dr. Reef

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lots of bad advice thrown around... i am not going to get into that

you can choose to leave it alone for as long as it takes for bacteria to colonize.

Btw dr tim did not work for me in my study and testing of many bacteria in bottles. only time it did make a little difference was when i shook the bottle like crazy and drew fluid from bottom of the bottle.
Anyways water changes wont hurt anything as bacteria is not in the water its on sand and rocks.

if you want to cycle it in 2-3 days but fritz turbo start 900 and i guarantee it, it will cycle by 3rd day.

here is link to this on going study comparing 9 manufacturers of bacteria in bottle.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bacteria-in-a-bottle-myth-or-fact.403226/
 

IslandLifeReef

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Anyways water changes wont hurt anything as bacteria is not in the water its on sand and rocks.

I don't think anyone said that water changes would remove bacteria. Water changes will, however, remove the ammonia and nitrite which are feeding the bacteria that we are trying to grow in order to cycle the tank.

These water changes also make it difficult to identify when ammonia and nitrite spiked and are on their way down due to sufficient bacterial colonization, not due to manual removal.
 

pdiehm

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Let the tank be. Once you have nitrites and it sounds like you do, let it be. Nitrites will be present for 10-14 days. Then they'll literally be at 0 the next day. Add 2ppm of ammonia, if you're at 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites in 24 hours you are cycled. However, I doubt you'll have any nitrites again. If you test ammonia after 24 hours, and there's still a reading, wait for it to get to 0. Add 2ppm ammonia again. Keep repeating until you are at 0 ammonia in 24 hours.

Once that happens, test nitrates....do a 50% water change. Test Nitrates again. If above 10, do another 50% water change. Keep repeating until you are under 10ppm nitrates (ideally under 5ppm IMO). Add 1-2 fish, wait a few weeks, add another 1-2 fish.

I'm using my tank as an example. I'm on Day 4 of cycling. Yesterday, I had 2ppm ammonia, 0 nitrites. I haven't even gotten to phase 2 yet. Once I'm cycled, I'm adding in my tomini tang first, and my midas blenny. The reason I'm doing those 2 first, is those are the 2 most shy fish I have. The tomini gets picked on by the yellow tang (he's a prick). I'll let him get established. Wait 2 weeks. Add in my hippo tang. wait 2 weeks, add in my clowns, and then 2 weeks later, the yellow tang and my anemone (assuming I can get him out of the crevice he's in).

Cycling a tank is a test in patience. It'll happen when mother nature says it will happen. Use this time to get your first fish, QT them and usually by the time you are cycled, the QT time is up and you have healthy eating fish in your display. It sounds like you are close, you're in the nitrite holding pattern.
 
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