Cycling Question

[Eager Newbie]

Cycling Question.

7th day of cycling, and no Nitrites.
I have media from an established tank, and a fair amount of healthy plants.
Is it possible that I completely skipped phase 2 of the process?
I saw my ammonia spike, but now when I add ammonia its almost completely gone 24 hours later, but still no nitrites, just stacking nitrates.

November 16th 9pm.
ammonia-4 ppm
Nitrite-0 ppm
Nitrate-o ppm

November 17th 6am.
ammonia-2 ppm/4 ppm after ammonia dose
Nitrite-0 ppm
Nitrate-0 ppm


November 17th 7pm.
ammonia-3 ppm/4 ppm after ammonia dose
Nitrite-0 ppm
Nitrate-0 ppm

November 18th 5am.
ammonia-4 ppm w/o dose
Nitrite-0 ppm
Nitrate-0 ppm

November 18th 9pm
ammonia-3ppm
Nitrite-0ppm
Nitrate-3pm

November 19th 6 am.
Ammonia- 2ppm/4ppm after dose
Nitrite- 0ppm
Nitrate- 5ppm

November 20th 5pm.
Ammonia-1ppm/3ppm after dose
Nitrite- 0ppm
Nitrate- 10ppm

November 21st 6pm
ammonia- .5ppm
Nitrite- 0ppm
Nitrate- 17ppm

Should I continue to add ammonia?

[Pufferpunk]

What did you add to seed the tank?

[MachMe]

Not a pro as im having some trouble cycling but it sounds like you need a better source of bacteria. Did you dechlorinate your water?

[Eager Newbie]

I had a nylon with about of cup of gravel and a large decoration that was covered in algae.
Then I had some decent sized plants.

My water is from a well, but I still used aquasafe.

[Eager Newbie]

Trace amounts of Nitrite. yay

[Eager Newbie]

November 23rd 6pm
Ammonia- .25 ppm
Nitrite- .25 ppm
Nitrate- >10 ppm

Took long enough, thought it wouldnt since i seeded with ALOT for cured stuff, plus ammonia.

[J-P]

I have similar question .. just to continue this topic.. haha
We atart with Ammonia,
2 different kinds of bacteria convert the ammonia into nitrite then nitrate respectively.
Nitrate is then consumed by the plants in the tank.
Where does the Nitrite go? Its still harmfull to the fish...

[Flutter]

I may be wrong but ammonia is converted to nitrite (toxic but less so than ammonia) then nitrite is converted to nitrate which is the least toxic.

[J-P]

I may be wrong but ammonia is converted to nitrite (toxic but less so than ammonia) then nitrite is converted to nitrate which is the least toxic.

This is from the Puffer library on fishless cycling..
"You have completed the cycle by introducing a source in such a high quantity for large numbers of nitrifying bacteria to convert ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate. In the process, ammonia is oxidised by one type of bacteria to nitrite. Nitrite is then oxidised by another type of bacteria to the lesser toxic nitrate.
Although nitrate is less toxic than nitrite, the levels produced in a fishless cycle are extremely high. Therefore, the last step is to perform a large water change. I normally do a 70/80% change. Adjust the temperature to the correct temperature for your fish, test your water and if all is well, add any remaining décor and plants and the tank will be ready for your fish.

Since this is a newly created cycle, it is important that you keep a close eye on the water parameters for the first week."

Bacteria eliminates Ammonia and Nitities and convert them to Nitrate

And I suppose the plants shold remove the trace amounts of nitrates .. in a perfect world

[Pufferpunk]

See my sig for your answer...