Fishless cycle help!!! What did i do wrong?

[Tiger1]

I need help figuring what I did wrong! I started fishless cycle Oct. 16. With lots of seeded material I was at 0 ammo and off the charts with ites and ates by Oct23. I thought I was doing really well. After a few more days of ammo going to 0 overnight and ites off the chart, I decided to do a PWC 90%. But, since then, ammo won't budge for a whole week now. Ites still off the charts. The only thing I can think of is that I didn't match the h2o temp. Could that have killed the ammo eating bacteria? Am I at ground 0 again and killed my seeded material?

 

[librarygirl]

Hi! It's hard to read the chart b/c I can't rotate it, but a water change itself shouldn't have killed the cycle. Did you remember to add dechlorinator? Not matching the temp exactly wouldn't have done anything; during my fishless cycle I added very cold water to the tank and it was fine (not something I recommend though lol). Have you done anything else since the water change? Could something have gotten into the tank (air fresheners, etc)?

Have you tested your PH?

 

[Tiger1]

Hi! It's an outside barrel 30 gal. Heater is set at 82*. I definitely dechlorinated in a separate bucket befor adding it in. I also let the hose run clear for about a minute or so.

 

[Tiger1]

Haven't done anything else. Just waiting for ammo to drop again.

 

[Tiger1]

Oh is 8.2-8.4 and barrel I'd mostly covered

 

[librarygirl]

Hm, the fact that it's outside could have something to do with it; perhaps something got into the barrel. I've never done a cycle in an outside barrel though so I can't say for sure. Maybe wait a few days and see if conversion starts again; if not then it's possible something got into the barrel. Maybe someone else will come along with better ideas.

 

[Tiger1]

Thanks for brainstorming!

 

[Tiger1]

Ok, I need some serious help here! I'm starting to feel like I'm in way over my head. My barrel cycle has started to move forward again. Processing pretty much all ammo and nitrates spiking through the roof. Nitrates were off charts as well but now down to 40 after a couple big PWC. I'll keep checking and dosing everyday. My big problem is now my two existing tanks. Before I researched fishless cycle for my barrel, I knew nothing about water quality. I just did PWC every now and then and rinsed the crap out of the filters. In fact, did that about a month ago. So I decided to check my tanks for the first time ever a couple weeks ago. My 55 had 0 ammo, 5+ ites, 160+ ates. My 35 had 0 ammo, 0 ites, and 160+ ates. I figured I must have thrown my 55 into a cycle and my 35 needed massive PWC to get rid of ates. For about 1 1/2 weeks I've been doing huge PWC every day sometimes more than one a day. Still can't get it under control. I also just found out that my tap has 1ppm ammo.



After all the PWC my readings are now...

55: 0 ammo, 5+ ites, 40 ates (yesterday)
0 ammo, 5+ ites, 40 ates (today)

35: 1 ammo, .25 ites, 0 ates (yesterday)
0 ammo, 2-5 ites, 40 ates (today)
It looks like this tank is no longer cycled now.
I didn't know my tap had ammo so I just bought Prime today. Could the massive PWCs have added the extra ammo to my filter load to make it start to cycle again? What do I do now? I just can't keep up w the PWCs. I've been doing them from the time I get home till I go to bed! Should I move fish to one tank and finish fishless the other? Will ammo in my tap mess up the large water changes? My 55 has a JD and a convict. My 35 has 5 small convicts and a parrot.

 

[librarygirl]

The 1 ppm in your tap water shouldn't be an issue; the bacteria should consume it quickly before it can harm the fish. Particularly if you use Prime it'll detoxify the ammonia until your biofilter can process it assuming it's cycled and still processing ammonia.

The high nitrates aren't from doing enough water changes. 50% per week is advisable. Have your fish grown? The Convicts can get pretty big; five of them in a 35 is highly problematic I believe.

Have you changed filter media lately? Or removed/added anything to either tank (decorations, fish, etc)? Do you vacuum the gravel regularly? Do you rinse the filters in old tank water or tap water?

You'll probably have to treat this like a fish-in cycle situation. Plenty of large (50-70%) water changes to get nitrites under .25 and then daily testing and changes to keep them there. Hopefully it won't last long whatever happened but we should try to figure it out. Have you tested your tap water for nitrite? How long have these tanks been set up?

Sorry for all the questions; more info might help us help you more.

 

[Tiger1]

Is 1 ml prime/ 10 gal enough to detox 1ppm ammo? I don't mind the questions, I just want to get this under control. Ive had these tanks for more than 6 years. I'm guessing that my water has always been bad bc my convicts in the 35 are 2 years old and they are only 1 inch. One of them is 2 inches. The parrot is 2 inches. I normally do a 50% PWC about every month or two. That usually includes heavy vacuum and rinsing the death out of my filters w tap. I know, now, I was doing it all wrong. All the fish I have now have been living in these tanks about 2 years. The JD about 5+ years and about 4 inches. Haven't got new fish or decor. Just think I was doing a horrible job at fish keeping. 0 nitrites in my tap.