3 Months no cycle...Time to call it?

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Makaveli

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jun 21, 2014
Messages
63
Location
Portland, OR
Well I've made a couple of threads on here trying to get help with my fishless cycle. I followed Eco's guide on here, did everything properly and precisely, but I'm just not seeing any results.

The ammonia has not dropped once in 3 months...I've even had established filter media in for over two weeks and that couldn't even get things moving. It makes no sense at all to me.

Of course, now my filter is making this unbearable buzzing sound. It's running fine and all, just not quietly by any means. I'm thinking it's time to just put everything away for a few months, then try again with a new filter later on.
It really is disappointing, but I don't see this happening.

Any thoughts before I shut it down today? :confused:
 
Sorry to hear you're having so much difficulty. If you wouldn't mind telling me everything about your setup? New/used tank? Size? Stock if any? Filter? Substrate? Water source? Test kit?

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How high is your ammonia? Do you have plants? Which test kits are you using? Have you thought about doing a large wc and cleaning the filter (should help the noise) and going with a fish in cycle (normally I would never recommend this) I'd hate to see you give up before you even really got started. There are some good articles on "soft cycling" a tank on this forum. While not ideal, this is the way I cycled my first tank and as long as it's done properly the fish will be fine.
Or just upgrade a couple pieces of equipment and come join us on the salty side ;). Either way, don't give up it's a great hobby that you haven't even reached the fun part of yet :D.
 
I just read your other thread, so are you using dechlorinator?

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After reading through your other thread You may also want to look into a ro unit, bulk reef supply has some cheaper ones. It would pay for itself in a short time since you have to buy water from an lfs.
 
Alright let's see....It's all new equipment that I purchased about 3 months ago...only a 20 gallon so it should be pretty quick to cycle I would think.

For the substrate, I'm using some natural colored pebbles. Filter is an Aqueon Quietflow, heater is Eheim Jager, test kit is the API Master kit. Only plants in it are a couple of fake ones. No stock in it. Water source is from the tap. I have been using Prime dechlorinator.

I'm keeping it at 85 degrees and the ammonia I'm keeping at a consistent 4ppm. I have tried pwc's here and there but not too often as to really stall it horribly.

Also the pH has remained pretty high so I know it is not due to low pH. I heard RO water isn't the best for cycling so I was going to start using the RO water once I got my fish.
 
No I'm not dosing it daily, just keeping it at 4 ppm...if I did it daily it would just be multiplying.

As far as the temp...from Eco's guide I'm using, it says, "Crank your heater up and get the water temperature between 77-86 degrees. This is the range that the beneficial bacteria colonize the fastest."
 
While I may be wrong here, but I would keep it in the 77-78 range (at least that's what I do when cycling a sw tank) since that's the temp I plan on running the tank at. What's your water coming out of the tap at params wise?
 
Sounds like you should just do a few big wc's and get some fish to do light fish in cycle..

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My tap water seems pretty decent for cycling...it is pretty hard water and the pH is right around 7.6...only bad thing about it is high nitrates (20ppm or so)...which is why I was planning on using the RO water once I got fish.

As far as fish in cycle, I'm highly considering it. I'm thinking about getting a new filter and a couple of minnows and giving it a try.
 
I'd recommend ditching the aqueon for sure. I've had them and they're pretty limited.. i have an ac 50 on my 20 tall and it works wonderfully. What fish are you considering for final stock?

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Aquaclear is what was recommended to me before also so I will go with that. I think for the final stock I'll be going with some cory cats, a couple platys, a couple guppies, and a dwarf gourami. Could I possibly use any of those for the fish in cycle? I feel if I used minnows I'd be stuck with a couple of "cycling fish".
 
Perfect, get the platys first, wait a week get guppys ( buy a couple extra because they can be finicky) dwarf gourami and corys after your tank as cycled.. it's really easy, just test and wc everyday.. if you cane get some fast growing floating plants like anarchis that will help with water quality..

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Sounds like a plan to me...going to at least give it a try before I decide to call it quits. Thank you very much, going to shoot you a PM with a couple of questions.
 
Shoot away, don't give up.. start up is easy;) wait until you start the plants and the rescape and than your tank leaks and cracks and ahhhhhhh

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Alright well I'm convinced. I was persuaded to step over into the dark side and do a light fish in cycle. Going to get a new filter today and swap the water...should have it up and running tomorrow with a couple of fish. I appreciate the input..most likely would have given up by now without it.
We'll see how it goes (y)
 
My tap water seems pretty decent for cycling...it is pretty hard water and the pH is right around 7.6...only bad thing about it is high nitrates (20ppm or so)...which is why I was planning on using the RO water once I got fish.

As far as fish in cycle, I'm highly considering it. I'm thinking about getting a new filter and a couple of minnows and giving it a try.

Your tap water shouldn't contain 20 ppm nitrates. That's twice the EPA maximum, and is dangerously unhealthy for infants. If you have a well, it's probably being contaminated. If you have city water, call your local water department.

Basic Information about Nitrate in Drinking Water | Basic Information about Regulated Drinking Water Contaminants | US EPA
 
Yeah you're right, I do need to give the water company a call. I saw that it shouldn't exceed 10 ppm anywhere in the states. Luckily I found a store very close by that sells RO water for cheap so I'll be using that for my water changes.
 
id rather have your 20 nitrates than my .5 ppm ammonia from my tap water. cycling was easy for me change 75 percent a day once i had nitrates i started adding fish had no trouble. its pretty bad if you feel safer drinking your aquarium water than your city tap water but i still use my tapwater for water changes i just do more frequent smaller changes than i would otherwise
 
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