Cycle seems stalled again

[Azure Lord]

The cycle seems stalled again. I can add ammonia and the PPM never seems to go higher than one , but it doesn't go to 0 either. Any thoughts?


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[Masha]

Hmm. What happens if you test your tap water that you know has no ammonia? Does your test look 0? Silly question, I know, but I'm wondering if this might be a matter of how you are reading that test result?

 

[Azure Lord]

It reads 0.

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[PB_Smith]

do a big water change, go pick a few hardy fish and do a fish-in cycle.

 

[dalto]

What are nitrites/nitrates doing?

Have you tried taking your water somewhere else to validate that your test results are accurate?

 

[Azure Lord]

I'm fairly sure that my test results are accurate. I'm not sure if hi nitrite and nitrate would affect the cycle, but I did a 20 PWC today I'll check it tonight and do another one tomorrow most likely

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[trennamw]

How much ammonia are you adding and what type is it?


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[Azure Lord]

Like 16 drops of dr tims ammonium chloide solution for fishless cycling. It says that 1 drop park gallon aquarium water to get to 2ppm. There's about 8 gallons and I want to keep it at around 4ppm.

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[dalto]

High ammonia and/or nitrites can effect the cycle if they are high enough. Nitrates shouldn't matter too much.

What is your ammonia and nitrite at now? Also, what is your current pH?

Dosing to 2ppm should be enough in the future. I know the guide says 4ppm but that is a lot.

 

[Azure Lord]

Ammo was reading at about 0.25 as it has been and nitrite was "high". After 3 days, with a 20 performed each day, nitrite is down to about 1.0 and nitrate is down to 40.... But ammonia is still holding at about 0.25.
I switch the filter around in the removed water each time, and as I am writing this I have added the instructed amount to raise the ammo to 2ppm.

At the time of this paragraph, 10 minutes have passed and I checked ammo again... And its reading at about 1ppm.

PH is steady at about 7.6

Additional thought: along with sprinkling ammonia into the tank, I added tropical fish flakes. This was at least a month ago though. Is it possible that maybe some of them got down into the gravel and are releasing just enough ammonia overtime to keep ammonia from being zero?

30mins later: ammo is reading 0.50-1ppm.

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[trennamw]

I don't have a thought on the fish flakes but if there have never been fish in the tank there's no need to swish the filter.

My only guess is you've got a colony of bacteria that just isn't quite big enough to process the ammonia fully.


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[Bloodroot]

do a big water change, go pick a few hardy fish and do a fish-in cycle.

+1

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[dalto]

Are you using dechlorinator with your water changes? If so which one?

Is your water well water or is it provided by the town/city/etc?

 

[Azure Lord]

Yes tetra aquasafe plus. About 20 drops per gallon-and i do 2 gallon water changes.

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[Azure Lord]

Ive been trying to cycle this tank since the beginning of july......

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[trennamw]

Yes tetra aquasafe plus. About 20 drops per gallon-and i do 2 gallon water changes.

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Why are you doing water changes? How often are you doing them?


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[trennamw]

I just reread ... I think we missed your meaning at "and a 20 performed each day."

If you don't have fish, you shouldn't be changing the water during the cycle. Doing so removes the ammonia you need to feed your bacteria. You're basically doing a fish in cycle without the fish, it takes forever.

Dose the tank once to 2ppm (or 4ppm), then just wait and test. Eventually you'll see ammonia drop and nitrites appear. Then nitrates. You occasionally re dose ammonia to 2 to keep the bacteria fed.

When you hit a point where, it's 2ppm one day and the next day there's Zero ammonia or nitrite, your bacteria colony is big enough to support fish.

That's when you do the water change-100% and add fish.

Sometimes people change water once during the cycle because nitrates are so high they're hard to read, or it's suspected they're stalling the cycle.


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[Azure Lord]

That's why I did the 2 gallon/20% water changes..... To reduce nitrite and nitrate down to readable levels. And for some reason ammonia isn't going down...at least not below like 0.50ppm.

Odd question. In a small room, could burning a candle put ammonia into the water?

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[Azure Lord]

And it might be worth noting that one I was switching my filter around in the siphoned water...... Little black particles were coming off. Could this be particles from the smoke put off of my candles?

 

[trennamw]

Doing daily water changes, you're probably removing too much ammonia.

The higher ends of the tests are very hard to read. You can instead put .5ml tank water, and 4.5 ml distilled water, into the test tube. Then do the test multiply the result by 10 (since you diluted the tank water to 10%). Your LFS should have pipettes with markings for .5 ml.

Doing daily water changes I doubt your nitrates are high enough to stall the cycle. Unless you're adding a ton of ammonia AND you've got enough beneficial bacteria already.

Would you consider doing a full water change, dosing back to 2 ppm ammonia, testing 24 hours later, and posting the results?

It's possible your tank is fully cycled, or that the water changes have kept it from cycling.


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