NITRITE!!!!

nitrite is still really high. No sign of the colour getting any lighter just yet. Been waiting a week now. Just want it to hurry up lol

the nitrite stage is the longest im afraid - if you started from scratch ie with no donar bugs - you could have to wait around a month for the cycle to finish

use the time to to decide which fish youd like

It's really annoying because never had to wait this long before! It's been a month now and no sign of nitrIte dropping yet

stick with it phishy

its now been about 6 weeks and still waiting for nitrite. Never had to wait this long before. Really frustrating. Readings seem to come down slightly then go back up again. One day ammonia had disappeared in 24 hours the next it lasts 2 days. Lol no pattern has emerged yet but surly not going to be much longer now!

put in one fat fish (eg fantail goldfish) and see the magic

What readings are you getting exactly phishy, including ph etc?

just had a thought...i have bogwood in my tank, could this affect the readings?

ok just tested everything. PH is 7.6
Ammonia is 0.25 (this was about the same yesterday so topped up to 2.0 but sometimes it takes 48 hours for the ammonia to disappear, sometimes only 24 hours)
NitrIte is 5.0 but this keeps going up and down between 0.5 to 5.0 every couple days
and NitrAte is betwen 5.0-10.00

As mentioned above do you think my bogwood coule be affecting the readings? it's been 6 weeks now and is getting ridiculous lol

By the look of things you are not near the end of the cycle yet.

The fact your amonia is not ye going down to zero over a 24hr period means there arent enough of that bacteria built up yet to convert it all, so that is still ongoing. At least your ph is ok so you havent had a ph crash or anything like that.

What temp do you have the tank at?

Jst had a thought, do you have a decent aquarium shop nearby? If you do then nip in and see if they can give you a load of muck from their filters - just pour it into your filter and that will help build up the bacteria levels no problem!

The temps at about 24-25oC and no local fish shops really, was going to get some from my friend but she lives out of the way too. I don't mind waiting but feel 6 weeks is a bit extreme lol

although my tank isnt in direct sunlight (i keep my curtains closed on that side of the bedroom the bogwood has algae stuff on it, and the lid has gunk on it also like its been up and running for a while, there's a slight filter on the top of the water where i mix it in theres tiny white stuff floating around. Any ideas? I'm sure my other tanks didnt have this problem and i'm certain my bogwood is to blame?

phishy07 wrote:

The temps at about 24-25oC and no local fish shops really, was going to get some from my friend but she lives out of the way too. I don't mind waiting but feel 6 weeks is a bit extreme lol

Ah, that could be it. Wack the temp up to about 28 - the bacteria grow better if its a bit on the warm side.

Phishy - send me a pm and i will send you some filter media next day delivery - but do this soon as im having surgery on friday morning

put a friends filter media in my tank. Cranked temp up to 28oC now just need to wait. Really hoping not much longer now lol

whoohoo! Just tested nitrite and ammonia and both at 0. Bit gutted though cos ive been ill and didnt test them last night. Could of been 0 then too but oh well these things happen. Have added more ammonia up to 2ppm and will test tomorrow and again on fri then fishy time this weekend! Its been a long hard wait!

Hooorrrrraaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Great news phishy

Have you decided on your fishies yet?

yeah i want 5 or 6 corys but will wait a month to get them as i dont want any problems. Still really like paradise fish but dont want a plain looking one so will see what they have. And a big school of tetras but will decide on the day in terms of size with the paradise fish lol. I loved the little chocolate gouramis but as you said theyre temperamental and they also prefer warmer temperatures so will avoid them

Sounds a good mix - we will want some piccies when it's all sorted you know

I know ...just going to test it again now then off to bed,. Will be getting fish on sunday if all goes well over next 24 hours will keep ammonia topped up to 2ppm until sat night then will do water change sunday morning

im now pulling my hair out. Nitrite went straight back up to 5ppm the next day and ammonia has taken 2 days and still at 2ppm. Really dont know whats up. Has taken 2 months and still not ready. Its been that long i have had to top my tank up!

its called a minicycle - it happens - dont worry, very nearly there

phishy07 wrote:

im now pulling my hair out. Nitrite went straight back up to 5ppm the next day and ammonia has taken 2 days and still at 2ppm. Really dont know whats up. Has taken 2 months and still not ready. Its been that long i have had to top my tank up!

This can happen phishy - it's why I said to carry on dosing thr tank for a couple of days after getting the 0-0 readings.

I am not sure why it happens, but it is not a rare event, although I can understand you tearing your hair out over it!