Aquarium hobbyists struggle with nitrite spikes during cycling
54 posts across 2 communities in the last 30 days; 98% from r/Aquariums.
“Do you need water conditioner if you are using reverse osmosis and ammonia chloride? It's been years since I took my chemistry class, but my gut feels is you need to as where is the Chloride going. I can't find the answer anywhere and will need to relearn that portion of…”
“i’m cycling my future betta tank right now (fishless) and it’s been going for about a month now. i was making progress and dosing to 2 ppm ammonia and watching the ammonia turn into nitrites and then eventually both going to 0 and i’d dose again. it’s been going great and the…”
“okay so I got the tank got the substrate, got the plants, dechlorinator and the filter and the api water tester kit. how do I cycle my tank? I know how the cycle works but I don't understand how to start it, I don't have any previous tanks so how do I get beneficial bacteria in…”
Multiple posts detail the challenges aquarium enthusiasts face when their tanks are cycling. Newbie aquarists express excitement and seek advice after finally observing nitrites, indicating progress but also highlighting ongoing concerns about tank setup and maintenance.
SOURCES (57)
“adding nano fish to my planted 75g (2 HOB filters temporary, as they were from other established tanks to help cycle faster) Currently have: 25 Kubotai rasboras 15 pork chops (adding 15 more later this week) 10 otos 10 amano shrimp 1 bamboo shrimp 1…”
“I have a 3 gallon for just a betta and a 20 gallon for 10 cherry shrimp (recently bought.) The 3 gallon with just the betta has a lot of ammonia and I am not sure how to reduce it. I water changes once a week for him. His tank is almost above 1ppm. I don't really know how to stop it from going up. Even if it drops a bit, it rises back up pretty fast. The shrimp tank seems to be fine on ammonia, but I would like to prevent it from getting high. Any tips? Betta tank has some artificial decorat”
“Hello everyone. I set up this 10Gallon tank around a month and a half ago now. For around 3 weeks I cycled the tank, adding 2ppm of ammonia (Dr Tims) till the tank cycled by ammonia & nitrites going to 0 within 24 hours. Whenever the tank was fully cycled, I bought 7 Male guppies which was last Saturday. On Monday night I noticed one of them wasn’t as lively as the others and by the next morning it passed away. I wasn’t sure why this happened & checked my parameters and everything seemed”
“I was testing my water, and I haven’t done any tank maintenance in just over a week. My nitrate levels are at 0ppm, despite my tank being perfectly find for ~8 months. Some context: the second photo shows my tank. 60L/ 15.85 gallon tank with 9 neon tetras, 6 khuli loaches and 3 amano shrimp. I have 2 HOB filters running with no chemical filtration (I have two running as one was beginning to break so I was in the process of changing over). I don’t use CO2. All other water parameters are fine exce”
“Hi everyone! Looking for some advice on my new planted tank. Setup: - 120 × 30 × 30 cm tank (~108 L gross; actual water volume is lower) - Started running at my house on 4 October (it had been set up at another location for 12 months); aquascaped on 10 October - Aqua One Nautilus 800 canister filter - Tropica Aquarium Soil Powder + sand, planted with driftwood - Seeded with the previous owner’s filter media (kept wet, filter off for ~4 hours during the move) and a mature sponge from my establish”
“Heyaaaa! So I’m on week 2 of cycling my first fish tank as an adult, I work at Petco so I know how to read the api master test but I wanted to get some community input/advice and make sure I’m on the right track! First picture is day 7 of cycle, and the 2nd one is from today, week two. Ammonia is craaaaaazy high so I immediately did a 50% water change when I got home and dosed with prime. I have to wait to get my own test kit until next payday unfortunately but I can just bring some water in to”
“Long story short - we started a gundam shrimp tank in August before we left for university. We didn’t stock it because we wanted to let the tank cycle while we were gone. Planning to stock it with neocaridina when we get home from school, but I’m wondering: will the shrimp be able to clean this up? There seems to still be a lot of biofilm despite online sources saying it’ll clear up on its own. I also had a nerite snail - in an attempt to add some ammonia and keep the tank semi clean while I’m g”
“Hey guys! I’m putting together my first 10gallon shrimp tank aquarium getting back into the hobby after about 10 years. I’m currently on week 3 of a fishless cycle I have been testing every 24 hours so far everything seems good. I started my first dose of ammonia around week 2 I did also dose bacteria. First dose the ammonia was gone after 24 hours however nitrites seemed to linger around 1ppm for about 2-3 days. I dosed another 2ppm of ammonia earlier this week after I noticed nitrites went bac”
“Hi I’ve been fishless cycling my tank for roughly 5 weeks now and when im doing 24 hour test I dose 2ppm ammonia and it drops to 0ppm but my nitrite takes around 3 days to drop to 0ppm Any advice? submitted by /u/Perfect_Shirt1802 [link] [comments]”
“I am cycling a new tank, I added ammonia in a bottle a week ago, why don’t I have nitrates yet. I have added beneficial bacteria daily to support building beneficial bacteria to convert the ammonia to nitrite, to then nitrate. I need to move my fish into this tank sooner than later submitted by /u/panda_gir1 [link] [comments]”
“Hi all!! I recently started working at a chain pet store. I want to be able to set up new fish owners with the best possible advice and was wondering how I should go about explaining the nitrogen cycle to folks who might not know about it. I know chain pet stores aren’t the best in terms of the welfare of the animals they sell, but I want to make a difference when it comes to informing pet owners :) How would you explain the nitrogen cycle/ how it works/ why it’s important to folks new to the ho”
“I'm currently setting up a tank for my first colony of shrimp. I have been running this tank for about 3 weeks with just an air stone and some Christmas moss. I have a sponge filter cycling in my community tank whilst that completes its fishless cycle. I've been dosing Bacter AE to get the biofilm built up whilst I await the filter. Aim is to get some solid green walls and biofilm established before the filter goes in and of course the shrimp themselves. Not the nicest to look at right n”
“Im acclimating them to the water but can’t wait 🥹 submitted by /u/No_Entertainment6515 [link] [comments]”
“my ph is 7.4, my ammonia is 0ppm, my night rate is 0ppm, and my nitrates is 5ppm. 10 gal with lots of tannins and has been cycling for two months! submitted by /u/GH0SHI [link] [comments]”
“I’m currently a college student and I just got my first 10 gal tank. I did my research and cycled it for around 2 weeks with only some plants and bacteria starter. Just this weekend I added 6 gold neon tetras and some cherry shrimp. My water parameters are looking pretty good whenever I test it and I keep it at a tempo of 78F. Is there anything I should do differently? Also, I’m wanting to add another species of fish to the tank in a few weeks after I make sure I can take care of the fish I star”
“I have been trying to find any test kits for months i didn’t have any lucks in my country we kinda lack that so if anyone would know how to tell if my tank is completely cycled without a test kit. _ More detail : I use fish food as ammonia source and i use nitrifying bacteria from yee’s also dechlorine too and I’ve been adding fish food every other day then nitrifying bacteria too amount according to my tank volume I’ve been doing this for 2 weeks submitted by /u/Creative-Power-6762”
“Do you need water conditioner if you are using reverse osmosis and ammonia chloride? It's been years since I took my chemistry class, but my gut feels is you need to as where is the Chloride going. I can't find the answer anywhere and will need to relearn that portion of chemistry to find out where it goes. I need more nitrate for my green and my fish are not producing enough and I have this one pound bag ammonia chloride when I start my fish keep journey and and a cycle filter. su”
“I posted in here last week that I had some Nitrites in my tank, and some of my Platys swimming at the surface, likely gasping for air. I did a water change immediately after seeing this, and the nitrites dropped back to 0. But the Platys continued to struggle. Since last week, I've lost 90% of my Platys (I had about 20-25 of em), but none of my other fish have been affected whatsoever. This includes Neon Tetras, Cory's, rainbowfish, my Pleco.... The only thing that changed over the last”
“i’m cycling my future betta tank right now (fishless) and it’s been going for about a month now. i was making progress and dosing to 2 ppm ammonia and watching the ammonia turn into nitrites and then eventually both going to 0 and i’d dose again. it’s been going great and the cycle has been normal until suddenly im dosing the tank with 2 ppm ammonia and the ammonia is going down much slower than before and the nitrites aren’t even showing up even over 24 hours later?? why is this happening? it’s”
“Cycling in progress, driftwood went in yesterday and plants today. Pardon the random block of wood at the foreground; it's from the LFS for BB purposes. Going for an Amazon biotope (fern and anubias not really Amazon I know). Low-tech tank to stock a pair of Apistos and probably 10-15 cardinal tetras. Pencilfish costs about 10-15 bucks a piece where I'm from :/ cardinals are less than a dollar. submitted by /u/KanzytothePanzy [link] [comments]”
“Been cycling this tank for 50 days and today finally added livestock, so per request I’m making an update post. Decided on White Cloud Mountain Minnows and cherry shrimp! Love the subtle red pops that fill the space now Thankfully the plants have been doing great. My last post on my profile shows what the tank looked like around a month ago. I lost the cabomba style stems on the left. (light went out while I was on vacation for about 5 days) Replaced them with Java fern I’ve been propagating. I”
“Sharing my first tank with the community. I'm on day 46 right now, took the long route and started a fishless cycle. About 90% stocked, and really needing more of my plants to fill out in the tank before I consider it finished. Would love to hear from you all! submitted by /u/Roaming-Ronin [link] [comments]”
“Started fishless cycling a 10 gal 3 days ago. I used the sponge from my established 5 gallon’s filter in my shrimp tank, added about 2 handfuls of floating plants, one actually planted one (while I wait for my order to come in) and started the cycle with 4ppm ammonia (Dr.Tims aquatics) and API quick start. tanks been at about 86 degrees, light on for 7 hours a day. I have been testing ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates every 24 hours using APIs master kit. Ammonia drops from 4ppm to .5-.2 and I’ve”
“Been out of the hobby for almost 2 years but finally decided to set my 22gal long back up. submitted by /u/starburst0330 [link] [comments]”
“Hello! I am cycling my first tank and am unsure if I am doing something wrong or if this is part of the normal process. The ammonia has been testing at about 4 ppm for the last week or so. Today it appears to have dropped to 2 ppm and the Nitrites are at 3 ppm. However, one of the plants in the tank seems to be growing some sort of fungus? Admittedly I haven’t looked closely at the tank last few days and I just noticed it. I feel like the tank also has a slight green color to it but I could just”
“Are these ok reading for my freshwater setup? This is the first aquarium I've had in a while. I have 5 Amanos and bladder snails as my livestock for now. I'm only planning on adding either a honey gourami or 3 to 4 Endlers (all males) in a couple of weeks. I will admit that I jumped the gun on adding the Amanos too soon, but they've seemed to settle in now. They graze all over the tank and don't seem interested in the ghost feeding I've been doing for the tank. I finally got”
“okay so I got the tank got the substrate, got the plants, dechlorinator and the filter and the api water tester kit. how do I cycle my tank? I know how the cycle works but I don't understand how to start it, I don't have any previous tanks so how do I get beneficial bacteria in my plant and I don't have any fish in here yet so how do I get ammonia? and anything else I'm missing? how likely roughly estimating should I expect until I can put a fish in here? it's a 5gal with rea”
“Hi! I set up a 10 gallon planted tank this weekend and intend to put a shrimp colony in it. I got some filter media from a friend's cycled/stable tank, which I will be adding to my HOB filter tonight. I am looking for some guidance on how make sure it's cycled before I add the shrimp. Do I need to add an ammonia source to keep the beneficial bacteria alive until the shrimp are in the tank? How do I know when it's properly cycled -- some people say instantly? Do I need to be doing wat”
“I started this 70L aquarium 2 weeks ago. We think about adding shrimp, neon tetra’s and Corydora’s. Do you think this is alright for the shrimp and other fish? submitted by /u/National_Study391 [link] [comments]”
“Dear all, I made a new tank but it s now already cycled (see nitrite test). Water from other aquarium was used as starter (I know bacteria are more on Hardscape), additional fish food added for cycle start, 3 weeks have passed and I made a nitrite test which shows 0. It is a bowl, but before you ask: I have a air pump attached to 'air lifter' as we call these in German, so oxygen is definetly not the issue (as round filled glasses would get without additional air) After 2 weeks I gave 10”
“It’s a 10gal that has been planted and filled since Friday. The aquarium sand I bought came with a bacteria packet I added to jumpstart the cycle. These were my first test results. I have the presence of all 3 which is good right? I just have to wait for my tank to cycle the ammonia and nitrites down to zero and then it’s ready? I plan to house a single betta and eventually a snail. I’ve also added the heater to the tank that’s not pictured. Open to any advice on helping my tank cycle better/qui”
“So my source water is pH: 8.2–8.4 KH: 5 dKH GH: 7 dGH TDS: 137 ppm On 10/1 after trying to cycle it for a while (was getting about 2 days to clear 1 ppm and nitrates weren't rising so did no water changes) my tested parameters in the tank were Ph- 6.8 Kh- under 1 Gh- 5 Tds- 176 Amonia/nitrites- 0 Nitrates- 40 I did a 50% water change yesterday Ph 7.6 Kh- 3 Gh- 5 After So I said ok gold let me start dosing again Yesterday I dosed the aquarium with 2 ppm amonia and now have after 24 hours Amon”
“Ammonia is at 0 again and the nitrates are going up. I can’t wait to add fish!!! Anyone have any idea how much longer it’ll take now that ammonia is at 0? Walstad tank with no filter, 10G! submitted by /u/Final-Selection152 [link] [comments]”
“Hi all. Cycling my first tank, just over a week old. 10gallon low tech planted eventually for neocaridinas. Sitting between 71-74F with a heater on the way. Have been doing a ton of research but I'm having trouble understanding parameters and the relationship between them. tldr of the next section with some questions at the end: LFS was not helpful testing my water. I took tank and tap water to my LFS to get a reliable baseline understanding of my parameters. This is my first time, so I want”
“I want to do live plants, soil and make it a tiny little ecosystem. I would really like to have just Amani shrimp. Does anyone have any recommendations? submitted by /u/Flat_Egg_0203 [link] [comments]”
“Hello, this is my first tank since i was very young with goldfish. I just set it up today. Any tips on cycling it and hopefully helping my plants survive? I read recently that during cycling I’m actually supposed to put fish food in here to rot or something? So far I have only put in some top fin water conditioner. submitted by /u/damkii [link] [comments]”
“So I'm pretty much done cycling a new 30g which raises the fun question of what to stock. Im more or less set on a large school of ember tetra, but clean up crew brings options. Im torn between getting a trio of ottos, or looking into a small whiptail species specifically 'red lizard' which seem smaller and also a red/orange to pop against the green. Any feedback on either option? I will skip nerites for this tank compared to my others so theres no competition save for cheelrry shrim”
“Hello everyone happy Monday! For context, I have a 10 gallon, 35 gallon, and a 75 gallon. For the life of me, I cannot get my 10 gallon to cycle and then stay cycled. I have sand, plants that are doing well and a betta fish that is also doing okay all things considered. When I got him the tank was cycled but for some reason it never fails to not crash eventually. I’ve been through this process 5 times in the last two years since I began. I monitor it closely to keep my betta safe, but I’m just s”
“For context, this is a completely new 5.5 gal tank with everything freshly bought (no pre-established bacteria or anything). I bought everything and started ghost feeding it 2.5 weeks ago, but I switched to using liquid ammonia four days ago. I re-dosed the tank with ammonia and the test results ~10 minutes after dosing were 4.0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 0 nitrate. It has now been 16 hours since then and my new test results are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 0 nitrate. I’m very confused since it seems”
“Im new to the hobby and have been cycling for 3 weeks now and ghost feeding a bit but not tonnes but i havent done any water changes so not sure if this is looking ok or if im doing this right submitted by /u/sunny_tries [link] [comments]”
“Hello I need some help. I have done a dark start as i saw that would be a good way to start a aquarium. 55L tank Aquasoil(amazonia) dragonstone "bonsai" tree Oase filtosmart 100 thermo Im in week 4 at the moment but ammonia lvls are 5+ Even after i did a water change yesterday. I give a neo cap starter every 3 days. Have the filter running 24/7 no lights. Heating is on at 24°c since 3 days ( read that bacteria would benefit from higher temps ) Is there anything i can do? Or is it patie”
“A 16 gallon neo tank, a 16 gallon breeding tank, a 10 gallon amano tank, a 22 gallon atnuta tank, and 22 gallon caridinia tank that is cycling submitted by /u/Purple_Gazelle_4950 [link] [comments]”
“I have a 10 gal that's established and I am setting up a three gallon shrimp tank, I want to know how best to fast track the cycling. Would I be able to run the new filter in the existing tank for a few days to get the nitrifying bacteria established in the filter media? Would it still take the full 3+ weeks to cycle, or does a smaller tank take less time? My existing tank is healthy, so I would like to avoid starting completely over if I can use my healthy tank as a jumping off point. Askin”
“Despite having a tanks for 4 years and obsessing over fish stuff including cycling tanks, I’m still as noob as a beginner but I also think it’s because I’m panicking. What happened to my cycle? I started this tank with a pre-cycled filter I ran in my 10g for a year, I missed writing down a test because it was the same day technically on Sept 22 but ammonia was zero when I tested it that night, that’s why I didn’t test it on the 23rd. Yes I’m stupid I should have tested it but it came out as zero”
“i’ve been cycling a betta and shrimp tank for about a month and they’re almost done now so i want to know how am i supposed to match the distilled water with the water in rhe tanks? both tanks use salty shrimp gh kh+ but they’re both at different levels. my shrimp tank is on the higher side of things and my betta tank is lower. so i’m wondering how im supposed to match the levels of kh and gh in my tanks when doing a water change? i have a tds meter if that helps. i’m confused!! 😕 submitt”
“I recently started a new freshwater tank and am in the process of letting it cycle, I’ve got some hardscape (both rocks and wood) aqua soil as substrate, and have planted a bunch of different live plants a few days ago. Everything is going fine except for the fact that my ammonia levels will not seem to decrease no matter what I do. I understand most aqua soil leach ammonia for the first couple weeks, but with my ammonia sitting at about 8.0ppm I’ve been trying to get that down a bit, so I’ve be”
“If I test nitrite over time and see it rise, then fall, then settle at zero across multiple readings — is that a reliable way to infer the tank has cycled, even without directly testing ammonia or nitrate? submitted by /u/Cute-Warning7549 [link] [comments]”
“I’m just so excited I had to share 🥹 I’ve been cycling for close to 2 weeks, and I’m finally seeing nitrites show up! I feel so happy that I’m one step closer to being ready for a bio load! I’m a newbie so I’ll take any advice I can get, and thank you SO much to this subreddit for all the help I’ve received this far!!! submitted by /u/SFxDiscens [link] [comments]”
“Looking at getting a couple of amano shrimp. Literally just 3 or 4 shrimp, from my understanding they dont need groups like the cherries do. But the tank i want to add them to already has guppies, otos, and endlers, all male, so no babies, and ive seen that amano wont breed either, which is good. Basically, will they be compatible with these tank mates? The guppies wont eat them? They wont attack the smaller endlers? Or fight with the otos? submitted by /u/Bitter_Escape7583 [link] &#”
“Oh yeah definitely not planning on adding anything anytime soon! But it’s so exciting to see the progress 🥹”