still cycling.....have another question

[Fishy123]

Okay, I decided to give this thing another try, and am just as frustrated as I was before. Still no movement in the ammonia. Dosed up to 4ppm, and there it remains! I tested Nitrite, and nothing.....however I tested Nitrate and show trace amounts? Is it possible to develop Nitrate before nitrite? Doesn't seem right to me. I tested it twice and there is for sure some Nitrate, way more orange than yellow color, however it isn't quite the orange of 5.0.

Totally frustrated and starting to regret spending all this money on stuff to look at a tank of water! I thought fishkeeping was suppose to be relaxing.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Okay, I decided to give this thing another try, and am just as frustrated as I was before. Still no movement in the ammonia. Dosed up to 4ppm, and there it remains! I tested Nitrite, and nothing.....however I tested Nitrate and show trace amounts? Is it possible to develop Nitrate before nitrite? Doesn't seem right to me. I tested it twice and there is for sure some Nitrate, way more orange than yellow color, however it isn't quite the orange of 5.0.

Totally frustrated and starting to regret spending all this money on stuff to look at a tank of water! I thought fishkeeping was suppose to be relaxing.

Did you ever try adding some plants? Even if you don't want a planted tank, I'd suggest getting some Anacharis and just drop them right in. I remember your husband didn't want plants because of hitchhikers, but hey snails are fishies too .

 

[-Mac-]

I second on the plants, Hornwort is another good one I believe.

 

[Fishy123]

Yes, we added plants,about six days ago....still nothing.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Yes, we added plants,about six days ago....still nothing.

Did you rinse the plants first?

 

[Fishy123]

Nope, didn't rinse them. Dropped them in and let them float around.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Nope, didn't rinse them. Dropped them in and let them float around.

Give it time and don't be afraid to dose ammo to 4ppm. My plants loved it and they may chew on the ammo, but redosing is easy enough.

 

[Fishy123]

No need to keep dosing ammo, it never goes down, that's the problem.

 

[Homedog98]

No need to keep dosing ammo, it never goes down, that's the problem.

Can you borrow used media from a friend?

 

[eco23]

I know it's frustrating when these cycles seem like they just don't want to get moving. Just keep reminding yourself that fish will not add anything to get things moving quicker...they just replace the pure ammonia with a live source that is placed into an unestablished environment

Best thing to do is go through the check list one more time and make sure we've got everything right. Starting with the right kind of ammo, good dechlorinator, a pH level that is not an extreme value, plenty of surface agitation, high temperature, etc...

It's never a bad idea to knock out a 50% pwc (consider it practice for the fish), and add in a pinch of finely ground up fish food, or some drops of ph down which contain phosphates to hopefully kick things into gear.

You're best bet is like Homedog said...beg anyone and everyone you see for a nice dirty piece of filter media. There's also some (limited) success stories floating around the boards right now about Angels Plus seeded sponge filters helping people get things kicked off. It's worth checking in to if you don't have the option for finding established media with friends or the lfs's in your area.