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I started my fishless cycle a little over 4-6 weeks ago (i forget when). I had a starter sponge from a small 10 gallon tank. Right now my tank is still cycling - which is ok, I am not in any rush, but I have a question about what I am observing.
Wwhen I started the water was a milky white for about 2 weeks (not from the sand, the water had already cleared up from that). Then after a few days the ammonia levels started dropping so I would add more each day to keep it between 2-4ppm. It was to the point where it would read 1ppm after a 24 hour period so I would add 2-3 capful where 1 cap would increase about 1ppm.
At that time I was only measuring for ammonia but about 2 weeks later the ammonia stopped dropping. After a few days I it still wasn't dropping anymore so I measured the nitrites and it was off the chart. The water was green from algae so I decided to do a water change to reduce the nitrites and get rid of the ugly green water. This was the first water change I did. After the water change I put in another sponge from the other established tank.
Then after that it took a few days for the ammonia to start dropping again. This was probably 2 weeks ago. Now the ammonia goes from about 2-3ppm to 1ppm in a 24 period, so I have been adding a capful everyday as needed. I did another water change about a week ago, this time strictly for the green water problem which is pretty much gone.
A few days ago I have started measuring the nitrates and nitrites again and the nitrites are 0 and the nitrates were low, but have been increasing.
The question is, is it possible to have finished the nitrite to nitrate cycle but not the ammonia to nitrite cycle? The reason I ask this is because since I started the cycle I have done considerable amount of work on the tank including adding some sand, adding some rocks, and adding a few plants. In and of itself those things probably aren't bad, but its definitely possible I did something stupid, or there was something in the rocks (even though I washed them). So I am wondering if its possible to kill the ammonia-to-nitirite bacteria but not the nitrite-to-nitrate bacteria or something like that?
Wwhen I started the water was a milky white for about 2 weeks (not from the sand, the water had already cleared up from that). Then after a few days the ammonia levels started dropping so I would add more each day to keep it between 2-4ppm. It was to the point where it would read 1ppm after a 24 hour period so I would add 2-3 capful where 1 cap would increase about 1ppm.
At that time I was only measuring for ammonia but about 2 weeks later the ammonia stopped dropping. After a few days I it still wasn't dropping anymore so I measured the nitrites and it was off the chart. The water was green from algae so I decided to do a water change to reduce the nitrites and get rid of the ugly green water. This was the first water change I did. After the water change I put in another sponge from the other established tank.
Then after that it took a few days for the ammonia to start dropping again. This was probably 2 weeks ago. Now the ammonia goes from about 2-3ppm to 1ppm in a 24 period, so I have been adding a capful everyday as needed. I did another water change about a week ago, this time strictly for the green water problem which is pretty much gone.
A few days ago I have started measuring the nitrates and nitrites again and the nitrites are 0 and the nitrates were low, but have been increasing.
The question is, is it possible to have finished the nitrite to nitrate cycle but not the ammonia to nitrite cycle? The reason I ask this is because since I started the cycle I have done considerable amount of work on the tank including adding some sand, adding some rocks, and adding a few plants. In and of itself those things probably aren't bad, but its definitely possible I did something stupid, or there was something in the rocks (even though I washed them). So I am wondering if its possible to kill the ammonia-to-nitirite bacteria but not the nitrite-to-nitrate bacteria or something like that?
