Cycling Nightmare

[Corbo]

Ahahahahaha wow James good call! Well, at least hopefully no fish were harmed in the process. I don't think we have many fish here who could handle another planet's conditions.

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

Did you end up getting your tank to finally cycle?! That sounds like a bad experience! You got lucky. Haha. I just want my dang tank to cycle so I can get my fish

So far, cycling has been going well. Little did I realize that the tests that were used check for ammonia and ammonium... Considering water conditioners and ammonia treatments turn the ammonia into ammonium, I shouldn't be surprised it registered off the charts. Especially since I hadn't properly done my PWCs.

...I guess that shows my noobishness. In any event, after doing PWCs for almost a week now and using StressZyme to help with the process, I've gotten my ammonia down to .25 and will continue to do PWCs daily until it's down and then for another two weeks afterward. Though I'm in the midst of my cycling, it seems steady. Thankfully, my fish are happy as can be and do not seem adversely affected by it...

Though knowing what I do now, I'd have definitely properly cycled my tank before putting fish in, if I could go back and do it again.

Coyote -- do you have a test kit? Or are you totally depending on the lfs?

I was depending on the LFS initially until I was able to get myself a liquid test kit. I didn't want to bother with the strips, due to cost and inaccuracy. Can't say I'd ever recommend relying on your LFS solely, but it's certainly better than not testing at all. I have an ammonia liquid test kit and have been testing daily, noticing positive changes after each PWC. I'll probably get a PH and Nitrite test kid too, eventually.

 

[Durvish]

you'll need the nitrAte test also -- that will let you know when your cycle has finished.

 

[WhiteWidow11]

Right now, I'm in the midst of getting it to cycle. I'll be getting the water tested again this weekend after treating it a little more heavily. The fish themselves are doing okay, and the water didn't seem to be displaying such high amounts of ammonia initially. But the only way to tell is to have the water tested again, which I'm going to do. I'll keep you posted on the results!

I use an ammonia/nitrate remover from Kordon and it makes ammonia show up falsely on your test, might explain why ammonia reads high but your fish don't die?

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

I use an ammonia/nitrate remover from Kordon and it makes ammonia show up falsely on your test, might explain why ammonia reads high but your fish don't die?

I appreciate the input, but that's actually what I meant when I said that water conditioners and ammonia treatments turn ammonia into ammonium. I kinda caught onto that a little late, but that's definitely what happened with me. :]

 

[WhiteWidow11]

I appreciate the input, but that's actually what I meant when I said that water conditioners and ammonia treatments turn ammonia into ammonium. I kinda caught onto that a little late, but that's definitely what happened with me. :]

Gotcha, I posted that before I noticed there was another page

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

Gotcha, I posted that before I noticed there was another page

No sweat! :] Thanks for caring enough to try anyway.

 

[Corbo]

I had a nitrite spike today!! Booyah! So pumped. Haha.

 

[WhiteWidow11]

I had a nitrite spike today!! Booyah! So pumped. Haha.

Nice! Hope the Nitrates come soon!

Sent from my Droid using Aquarium

 

[Corbo]

Me too! I want fish. It feels like I've been waiting so long. All I have is plants! Haha. But it looks pretty cool in my opinion. The fish are the icing on the cake

 

[WendiDell]

If this sounds mean it isn't meant to. but, hasn't everyone figured out yet that there are no simple problems and definitely no easy answers.
Living creatures are complicated. Nothing is easy when your dealing with complicated.
I'm sorry to hear about your cycling troubles. Are you on city or well water?

 

[Corbo]

I'm on city water but most of my problems are resolved now fortunately! Yay. Process is going well now.

 

[WendiDell]

I'm on city water but most of my problems are resolved now fortunately! Yay. Process is going well now.

I'm glad to hear things are better for you