My Problem

[Dlee13]

Is there any way to restart a fishless cycle?

I am 29 days in and my Ammonia has not moved since day 7, I had nitrites on days 5-7 but nothing since then. My PH has been a constant 7.6 and my tap water is fine. Considering that it showed signs of progressing up until day 8, then hasn't even dropped since I think it's fair to say it's stalled.

If I do a 75% water change and rinse the filter media in tank water would that possible fix it and get it going again? This is my very first cycle and I think I was too eager at first and redosed my ammonia back up to 4ppm when it dropped originally and I'm guessing that may be what killed it.

 

[Dlee13]

Ok so I just did an 80% water change and rinsed the filter media in old tank water, added my dechlorinator and now everything is running again. The first time I did the fishless cycle and when I had done pwc I have always gotten a protein film so this time I have my air pump and air stone running.

Since I seem to often get a protein film, should I try keep the Ammonia level a bit lower like 2ppm? I really want to get this aqaurium cycled but it's been over a month and I'm not even a quarter done so emptying and selling the aquarium is pretty tempting =\

 

[Mebbid]

It wouldn't hurt to dose it to 2ppm rather than 4. It's possible that's what stalled your cycle.

 

[20cc]

why are you rinsing your bio media on a fishless cycle, how can it be dirty. even with a fully stocked cycled tank your not suppose to rinse your media that often . you are destrying your bb thats why you ammonia not going down and why are you doing 75 % waternchanges...thats waaay too much . you should have cycled your tank allready...stop messing with it is the problem

 

[Dlee13]

It wouldn't hurt to dose it to 2ppm rather than 4. It's possible that's what stalled your cycle.

Yeah I have dosed it to about 1-2ppm (I'm horrible at differentiating the close colours) and added a very tiny amount of fish flakes as suggested in the cycling guide. Another mistake I had made before is I didn't turn my filter off when doing a pwc.

why are you rinsing your bio media on a fishless cycle, how can it be dirty. even with a fully stocked cycled tank your not suppose to rinse your media that often . you are destrying your bb thats why you ammonia not going down

The reason I rinsed it is because it has not even dropped the tiniest amount in 3 weeks after I dosed it back up to 4ppm which I think was too soon. I don't think there was any BB there to be killed off because I had an Ammonia drop and Nitrites up until day 8 then nothing no Ammonia drop or nitrites since.

I know not to rinse it once I actually have fish, but at the moment nothing is happening so I figure it was worth a try

 

[20cc]

i see alot of people cycle their tank with ammonia and i know its a proven method but to me its just to much hassle. when i cycle i set up the tank and filter ,start it running and just drop some food in the tank. then every end of the week i test water until the readings are correct. set it and forget it...no everyday testing and making sure you add the correct amount of ammonia.

 

[Dlee13]

i see alot of people cycle their tank with ammonia and i know its a proven method but to me its just to much hassle. when i cycle i set up the tank and filter ,start it running and just drop some food in the tank. then every end of the week i test water until the readings are correct. set it and forget it...no everyday testing and making sure you add the correct amount of ammonia.

The problem with cycling is different methods seem to work well for different people so it is somewhat a lottery trying different methods. I have an overhead filter which seems to do a decent job of pumping the water but I find it works best with the aid of an airstone. I have also slightly lowered the water level which has helped with agitation. Since my cycle did work well at first before I presumably overdosed the Ammonia, I am trying the same method again except with improvements and hopefully this helps. I appreciate the feedback and tips though

 

[20cc]

im not knocking you.. just suggeting a less " rip your hair out " method

 

[Dlee13]

im not knocking you.. just suggeting a less " rip your hair out " method

Yeah it's ok I know you're not and thanks I have 4 assignemnts to do and GTA V out next week so now that I've got my tank at 2ppm Ammonia I'm just gonna leave it and test it every 2-3 days not worry so much since I'm too busy to! LOL