Does temperature affect cycling

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I'm just wondering if temperature affects the nitrogen cycle. I'm at four weeks on Monday since the filter and pump have been running after cleaning out the pond. Frogs and creatures are cycling the pond. Ammonia is currently between 2 and 3 and nitrite is between 0.25 and 0.5. But with it being spring temperatures are about 15 degrees in the day but drop as low as 2 Celsius in the night. Will it be the low temperatures why it's taking so long or would does it take longer with a pond than a fish tank? I expected ammonia to be dropping by now but it isnt. I had 0.25 nitrite last week so it hasnt gone up much nor has the ammonia gone down
 
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Temperature - yes. But when you say "frogs and creatures" are cycling the pond, maybe you need more than that. I know there's a way to speed the process by adding ammonia directly to the pond - I've never actually done it but others here have successfully.

Here's one thread from a few years back - you may even like the advice about peeing in your pond!

 
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I dont want to harm what creatures are in by adding ammonia. I cycled two aquariums with danios and the ammonia was never above 0.5 and nitrite was never above 0.25. So it can be done at low levels. Is an ammonia above 2 not plenty to keep the cycle going?
 
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as Lisa said; yes, temps can affect the cycling because you're relying on the build up of two different bacteria and they slow down with lower temps. Do you have a bog, with lots of nice gravely surface area for your bacteria to colonize? Once established, the bacteria growth will lag in the cycle but with a balance, can handle any excess or drop in ammonia and nitrites. Floaters can help with shading and taking nitrates out of your water column.
 
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No it's just a small pond with a waterfall and pump. The filter has sponge and loads of pieces of plastic in a bag. It's a hozelock ecopower filter. It has uv as well. I'm just concerned that ammonia hasnt dropped. Surely after four weeks nearly it should be dropping. Nitries has risen a tiny bit. Il test now wednesday. I'm hoping nitrites has gone up and ammonia down. I have a marsh marigold, sedge, and lobelia as marginal plants. I have water crowfoot and starwort as oxygenators and duckweed grows on the surface. I remove duckweed when it gets too much. Once I put goldfish in I know they'll eat it
 

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I would leave it alone there are many factors that can effect cycle time. The ammonia is plenty high, as long as your test kit is accurate. I’ve had one of my reef tanks take almost 8 weeks to cycle when I set it up, then another take 4 weeks.... point is patience it will cycle.

Personally with my ponds, I usually plant them heavily in the pond proper and bog right after I build them then add fish slowly, abit later. Idea is to let the plants get going, ( there is plenty of nutrients for them in well water at least where I am so the lack of fish doesn’t hinder their growth), then when the fish are added the cycling process and severity of it is minimized. Also, tend not to get the whole new pond syndrome with the green water.
 
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The sedge and marsh marigold is already established as it was a wildlife pond before. The lobelia is growing slowly. The starwort and water crowsfoot are growing well. The starwort is growing rapidly. The duckweed is growing rapidly with having sun and warm days. I could maybe get another marginal plant in. The deep part is mainly took up by the pump and the pond pipe. Wound I better off putting an oxygenator down there or leaving it? The pump has a large debris cage and a wildlife protection cover to stop tadpoles getting sucked up. That's a picture of the plants from a couple of weeks ago. The two oxygenators have grown a fair bit since
 

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I'd add some floaters, not oxygenators; they'll work faster for you. It's good to have 60% surface coverage for your pond. You'll have to monitor this with a smaller pond and begin tossing the overage into the compost. Once mine take off, I'm doing this every other week or so, or I wouldn't even see my fish!
 
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I'm removing duckweed every couple of days. What floater would you suggest as il never get rid of the duckweed? I know fish will eat it but in the sun that stuff multiplies fast
 
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I'm just wondering if temperature affects
I chose to load the pond with fish and let mother nature take its course. But it took a year for my large pond to establish.

To answer your question absolutely the colder temps many bacteria are just holding on its not untill the warm comes into play that the micro organisms and plants come alive and balance things out.
 
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I'm desperate to add fish but if ammonia is over 2 with frogs what will it be with fish. And it seems wrong to add fish when ammonia is already that high. Like I'd be signing their death warrant. I expect a spike when I do add fish because the bacteria cant cope but hoping it will be small. Fingers crossed ammonia has started to drop by next week
 
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Though I have kept fish for years I do not know what levels are toxic. Everything I test my waters it's always right on. I'm a huge fan of over filterin.
 
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Mine is over filtered I'd say. Filter can cope with 6000 litres and pump is 3000 litres an hour. The pond is around 5 to 6 hundred litres. Water is crystal clear
 

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Mine is over filtered I'd say. Filter can cope with 6000 litres and pump is 3000 litres an hour. The pond is around 5 to 6 hundred litres. Water is crystal clear
Going off the rating for an out of box filter, isn’t the best way to go to deign whether your pond is over filtered. If you think about it how can they say how large A pond it can filter when they know nothing about the pond it is going on. Those types of filters are notoriously over rated for what they say they can handle as there are many variables to the filter needs of a pond, ie a wildlife pond or a pond with a proper amount of fish it would be fine, a heavy fish load, the filter will probably not be enough.

Anyhow, I digress....back to the topic patience is key here as @brokensword and @Lisak1 the cold nights are definitelyslowing the process down. The uv light can hinder the cycling process abit as well, and can greatly effect the maturation process of a pond, as it indiscriminnately kills anything that passes by the light, be it algae, plankton, even some of the bacteria that can be present in the water column during the cycling process. Which coupled with low temps may be why you are seeing a longer time for the pond to cycle.
 

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