3 days into fishless cycle and Nitrate already showing up?

[SonicsDC25]

I started my fishless cycle 3 days ago (August 7th, 2013) and the water conditions were: 8.0pH, 4.0ppm Ammonia, 0.0ppm Nitrite, & 0.0ppm Nitrate.
 
I checked my ammonia level 1 day later (August 8th, 2013) and the Ammonia went down to about 2.0ppm, so I added a 2-3 eye drops worth of Ammonia into the tank just to raise it a tad bit.
 
Then I skipped a day and checked the water conditions this morning (August 10th, 2013) and the water parameters were: 1-2ppm Ammonia, 0.25ppm Nitrite, and 10ppm Nitrate (picture shown below).
 
Is it normal to see Nitrate and Nitrite this early in the cycle? I used my friend's filter as seed material on my 1st day of the cycle and his water was at 80ppm of Nitrate when I checked his waters yesterday. His filter was only in my tank for about 30 minutes to 1 hour at most. Maybe that's where some of the Nitrate came from (his tank tested 0.0ppm Ammonia and Nitrite); however it wouldn't really explain why my Ammonia level keeps on decreasing and where that Nitrite came from. Any input on this matter would be great!
 
(Picture of today's water testing 8/10/2013):

 

[lloyd378]

What size is your tank? And which filter are you using.... I can't imagine that filter media that was in his tank for only 1/2 hour would cause these changes in your cycle process, but it could be accelerating it this fast..... Not really sure. Good luck, I'm sure others will have other ideas / thoughts

 

[SonicsDC25]

The tank is only 31 gallons and the filter is a Marineland Eclipse 3 (picture below of the filter, not my tank ), only the Nitrate would've transferred over since his water tested for 0.0ppm Ammonia and Nitrite :shock: 
 

 

[KaraWolf]

if you have it extra warm the bacteria will multiply uber fast and do this just a few managing to get sucked into your filter and volia colonization! Hope yours goes better then mine has!! This particular way should work incredibly fast.

 

[Anonymous]

What you have explained to me makes total since. You have introduced the bacteria needed to cycle the tank so if all the bacteria's are seeded then you should see indication on your test kit of the wastes the bacteria's are producing ; Nitrite, and nitrate. So, this is perfect. Your tank is cycling...

 

[SonicsDC25]

@Kara: I have the temperature to 86 degrees ^_^

@theChad: Yeah I'm hoping that it's cycling for sure. The filter I used as seed material actually had a recent fish death (white fuzzy stuff on the side of the fish and fins are all gone), but all of his other fish are fine after checking up on them after a few days now. Wasn't sure if that filter had any real benefit since I was worried about the water containing some kind of parasite or bad bacteria, but hopefully those 30 minutes - 1 hour inside my tank actually did some good? :shock: 

 

[SonicsDC25]

Been 2 days since my last test and the results are down below. The amount of Nitrite and Nitrate BLEW my mind from just 2 days ago and now I'm wondering what to do. Should I continue to keep adding Ammonia till it's 4.0ppm daily until it manages to convert over to Nitrate within 1 day? I've heard that I should keep my Ammonia between 3-5ppm; whereas other guides have said that I only need to add just half of the Ammonia I'm using now until both Ammonia & Nitrite hits 0? Thanks in advance! (Also, it's kind of hard to tell what my pH is, either an 8 or 7.4, what do you guys/gals think?)
 

 

[KaraWolf]

looks like a 7.4 I'd run the low ph test cause mine does the same thing lol Crop the ammonia dose in half >> otherwise it will never catch up in the nitrite department.

 

[SonicsDC25]

Sure thing, is a PWC necessary to let the Nitrite decrease faster? Or will cutting the ammonia in half (and do I add it everyday or every other day) be enough? Cause the Nitrite is completely off the charts lol

 

[KaraWolf]

Try cutting the dose in half first, it will probably take less time to cycle then doing a water change cheating your filter out of food Add it every day as long as it continues to eat it and not rise to dangerous levels ~8ppm where it's too toxic for the bacteria to live and the cycle dies :/ otherwise you then starve the ammonia eating bacteria and the cycle goes wonky.

 

[SonicsDC25]

Thanks Kara! I checked my Ammonia level again this morning out of curiosity and the results that I posted yesterday had completely turned yellow and at 0ppm O_O.. I added 2.5mL of Ammonia (half my normal amount) to bump it back to 2-3ppm ^_^. About the PWC, you said that it's not necessary (other people/articles agree); however there are others/articles that say that it's necessary since high Nitrite levels can stall the cycle process. I'm not sure what to do with these mixed facts

 

[KaraWolf]

XD yeah the ammonia goes FAST when your doing a fishless cycle 0.o just...don't skip days it wonks out the cycle (unless the levels are too high) my poor tank.....
IF they stay high for a long time. what they're talking about is it gets SO high that your tank for some reason can't handle it and it just keeps building and building and basically gets stuck. this early though it should be fine. and you can already see your tank going from nitrite to nitrate. I would do a massive water change when it's Done cycling because of SO much nitrate before putting fish in but it sounds like your cycle is going great!

 

[SonicsDC25]

Awesome thanks, I'll hold off on the PWC till the very end and hopefully the Nitrite will start going down, luckily the Nitrite test only requires 5 drops, cause I keep checking it every 6-8 hours lol

 

[KaraWolf]

lol and I thought I was going to run out doing it every 24h LOL

 

[SonicsDC25]

Day 5 after the gigantic spike in Nitrite (5.0+ppm) and still it remains high :| I've never hated the color purple so much right now :lmfao: 

 

[KaraWolf]

RIGHT?(and I adore purple) ugh....what's your ammonia doing?

 

[SonicsDC25]

Ammonia is still being converted in under 24 hrs, just a loooong wait for that Nitrite conversion  

 

[KaraWolf]

Good luck then. You sound like your on a good way towards being done. >> I got annoyed with mine and did a giant water change to bring it back into measurable levels and other horkey things because I wasn't in town to feed it...

 

[SonicsDC25]

I just checked my water parameters today and saw that my pH dropped to 6.5 :shock:  My Nitrite is still off the roof and Ammonia is still being converted to Nitrite within 24 hours. Is this drop in pH a concern and if so, how should I fix it to prevent my fishless cycle from stalling?  

 

[KaraWolf]

0.o never heard of the ph changing during a cycle unless you have a dirted tank or something else that alters ph in your tank....might have to ask someone else. *the 2.5 spiked through the roof to 8+ due to the dirt* thank goodness nothing was in it so now that gets watched too >> *

I personally got really really frustrated with the nitrite through the roof like that for so long and did a massive water change to fix it(nearly all of it). Still figuring out what my results of that are but watching like a hawk because it now has fish and old filter bio-media - because there is currently nothing in the 30 gal and I don't want to kill the unused filter because I need it w/in the month. Personally would suggest doing a water change to help the bacteria catch up but would definitely get a 2nd opinion too >>