Tank has finished Cycling

[robbrouse]

Well good new and bad new for me. Good new is I did not buy fish bad news is the ammonia and Nitrite are up again. 7 days with o ammonia and today its 2.0 PPM, 1 days with 0 Nitrite and today it's 2.0 as well. The tests kits (API) have not expired. I'm at a lost. Like I said good thing is no fish in the tank.

Well It was only 2 weeks, but still readying 7 days of 0 Ammonia and then jumping back to 2.0 kind of weird.

The only other good thing is this will be a busy weekend and don't have to worry about doing something stupid and rushing fish..

 

[foxymoxy]

it might have spiked because you are not finished cycling...you have to remember you are creating a living ocean in your house ^^

You can try adding API Bio-Chem...it is carbon mixed with bio balls that absorb ammonia. For my tank I noticed that my nitrites would spike if my ammonia was up. My pH would drop if my nitrates were up (i also do weekly water changes of about 40-50% of the water, and doing water changes helps to keep these levels stable)

you can also get socks to fill with the same mixture that you can buy in bulk (might be cheaper, but i generally stick with API)

 

[robbrouse]

Kind of what I was thinking. God now is right now the tank is empty other than live rock and sand. So nothing will get hurt, just frustrating.

 

[little_fish]

just leave it alone and spend more time researching, there are no good shortcuts in this hobby.

Also, of course your nitrites are going to spike when you have ammonia, that is what ammonia is turned into. That is the basics of the nitrogen cycle.

 

[foxymoxy]

Frustrated is all part of life

I have line running from my RO/UV unit that is attached directly to my subtank. I use a flow switch to keep the water topped off. While I was at work my flow switch decided to stay on and by the time I got home my subtank was filled with fresh water. I turned off the line and drained the extra water and my salinity had dropped to 1.016. The following day my tank decided to go through another cycle and my nitrates skyrocketed to WELL over 100. My nitrates were so high that a single drop in my test water instantly changed colours. Thankfully I have a great LFS that helped me with emergency water changes and I didn’t lose a single fish. Now my glass is being overrun with feather dusters and bugs (copepods or whatever you want to call them they look like bugs to me)

don’t worry just be patient and I am sure you will have an amazing tank

once your ammona drops back to 0 do another ammonia test using food or an ammonia boost...test the ammoni again the next day to see if your ammonia remains at 0

 

[robbrouse]

I will wait it out, just funny my ammonia spiked to 4+ PPM and then sat at 0 for 7 days and then jumped back to 2 over night.