Help with Cycling

[neon]

I guess I should keep adding the ammonia until the day I add the fish?  Thanks to everybody that helped me through this, it certainly is a long, drawn out process.

[neon]

What the?  This morning, my ammonia was higher, my nitrites were high, and my nitrates were lower.  could this be because of the water change?

[dan2x38]

What the?  This morning, my ammonia was higher, my nitrites were high, and my nitrates were lower.  could this be because of the water change?

Yes it could be because of the WC. Post your readings? You have to keep adding NH3 before moving in your fish. But before adding your fish you need to do a WC.

PS- sorry I forget any plants in there?

[neon]

I;ll test again when I get home and post readings, and there are no plants.  Nh3 is ammonia?

[neon]

Oh No.  My ammonia is .25, my nitrites are 2, and my nitrates are 5.  So my nitrites are on their way up again, and my nitrates are down.  I don't think I should have done that water change.  If I get it back down to 0 and 0, I think I will just leave it this time.  I don't think I should be adding my shubs this weekend.

[dan2x38]

NH3 = ammonia, NO2 = Nitrite, NO3 = Nitrate

I think your cycle is finished with a climb in NO2 it looks like a little spike the bacteria is adjusting to the bio-load your providing with the NH3. If you added fish you would have to monitor that NO2 & be prepared to do a WC and have some aquarium salt on hand. Salt reduces the stress caused by NO2 plus detoxifies it somewhat. There is no replacement for the NH3 created by your fishes waste, their respiration, & their food.

[neon]

Sounds good.  I plan on adding them today or tomorrow, and I will add salt and be on it.  Thanks

[BigDaddy]

If you are still measuring nitrite, then you are not fully cycled.  Keep testing your ammonia, and maintain the same level of ammonia from day to day (most people keep it at 3ppm).

The morning you measure 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and measurable nitrate after having 3ppm of ammonia the day before is the morning you are fully cycled.

Adding fish to a tank that still has nitrite in it defeats the purpose of a fishless cycle.  The whole point in fishless cycling is to NOT expose fish to ammonia or nitrite.

[neon]

Why then was I measuring .25 ammonia and .25 nitrites, which was the lowest reading of nitrites I've had since I started this whole thing, and after I did a water change my nitrites spiked up again and now they are measuring at 2?