Liberty2k4
Aquarium Advice Regular
Ammonia still reading .5 this morning. I'm hoping that the active sponge hasn't lost all of it's bacteria in transport!
Please Help!
- Thread starter Liberty2k4
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FishieMomma
Aquarium Advice Freak
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2011
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- 499
My tanks took off cycling after getting a couple seeded sponges from AngelsPlus. It really helped. I finished up quickly when I added a couple Merimo (sp?) miss balls that had been in cycled tanks.
Perhaps others will chime in on whether the moss balls are a good idea.
Perhaps others will chime in on whether the moss balls are a good idea.
Liberty2k4
Aquarium Advice Regular
About 40 hours after adding seeded sponges and still NO change! Grrrr! About to put this fishtank out on the curb!
Dlee13
Aquarium Advice Activist
I'm in a VERY similar position to you, 7 days in my Ammonia was dropping 1ppm over 24 hours and did so for several days then out of nowhere it just stopped, I'm now on day 24 and no ammonia drop even though I've done a PWC and took the carbon out of my filter.
I feel your pain, I'm tempted to empty mine as well and just sell it or something.
Liberty2k4
Aquarium Advice Regular
It's so frustrating! I almost dread testing because I know Im going to be looking at a stupid green test tube!! Lol Im about 28 days in so right there with ya!
Dlee13
Aquarium Advice Activist
haha I know exactly how you feel, it's even worse because the cycle showed a small sign of progression but then stops and restarts! Wow I hope we can find a solution soon, I planned my aquarium like 2 months before I bought anything so I been waiting for so long.
Do you have any other pets? I was wondering at one stage if maybe my cats hair got in the tank and if that affected it, may sound stupid though! lol
Dlee13
Aquarium Advice Activist
Btw on your profile it says your PH is naturally high, you think that could be affecting your cycle?
Liberty2k4
Aquarium Advice Regular
I'm not sure...most of what I read says that a higher pH around 8 is good for cycling and lower pH can stall it. I'm at a complete loss!
Liberty2k4
Aquarium Advice Regular
I have a small dog but she doesn't shed. I'm trying to think of things that might have screwed mine up too!
Liberty2k4
Aquarium Advice Regular
Jlk- I just read a post on a Fishlore forum and the guy was having the SAME exact problem and could not get ammonia to drop. He did a 75% water change bringing ammo down to 1ppm and then added a frozen shrimp. In 7 days he had nitrite reading of .5! His tank was fully cycled 3 weeks later. If my ammo doesn't drop in a few more days I'd like to try this but I don't know what kind of shrimp to get? I hate shrimp so I don't want to buy a bunch... And would they be in frozen food or meat department at grocery? What are your thoughts on this method?
Dlee13
Aquarium Advice Activist
Don't your PH go higher than 8? I've read that it ideally needs to be between 6.5 and 8 and anything lower/higher can be a problem.
If anything you would think the hair would help with bacteria LOL. Well at first I'm pretty sure some car hair got in my tank but I still had ammonia drop so it probably isn't that.
It may have actually been the water change that restarted his cycle and not the shrimp but I'm certainly no expert so it may work. I know some people say that a shrimp isn't always the best method since you can't really control the ammount of ammonia it releases! If the cycle is still nowhere maybe give it a try in a week. You can buy the fresh ones from a aupermarket deli so maybe try that ^^ have you done any water changes at all?
Liberty2k4
Aquarium Advice Regular
My tap pH is 8.0 after sitting overnight but when there is 4ppm ammonia in my tank it goes to 8.3. Right now with only 0.5 ammonia my pH is still 8.0.
As far as water changes I did a 70% when my ammonia refused to drop from 4ppm after I redosed the first time. After that it dropped from 1ppm to 0.5 on its own but then stayed there for another week without budging. I did a 90% water change the night before I added the angelsplus seeded sponges and added a few more drops ammo to bring it back up to 0.5ppm where it has stayed ever since!! That big water change was 4 days ago. I hate to do the shrimp method because I know it's harder to control (not to mention messier) but if I don't see some changes soon I'm not sure what else to try.
*I double dosed prime with each water change also
Dlee13
Aquarium Advice Activist
Ok maybe that could be what is causing it but I don't think it's likely since my PH is 7.4 which is somewhat neutral yet I still have the same problem as you =\
It's been nearly a week since I took the carbon out of my filter and added sponges so I'm hoping this weekend I will see a drop. I been doing a lot of research on all different forums and it seems that our problem is very common but there's no definitive answer! Also I noticed that when people use seeded media they have luck and get nearly an instant cycle when they use media from another tank of theirs, so I think they don't survive the long transfers very well.
I don't know either, I'm very tempted to do a fish-in cycle but at the same time I don't wanna hurt my future fish or waste my money from them constantly dying! also if bacteria won't grow in a fishless cycle I doubt it would during a fish-in cycle so it's just as much a waste of time =\ I'm gonna keep researching our problem and I'll let you know if I can find a solution!
Liberty2k4
Aquarium Advice Regular
Thanks! Ill do the same!
Dlee13
Aquarium Advice Activist
So far I haven't found any solutions besides adding a tiny pinch of flaked fish food, many people say it can add some nutrients to get the cycle going that Ammonia by itself can't. I also read a thread on here that one girl had her cycle stalled then out of nowhere it just half cycled overnight but they weren't sure if her story was legit.
If my Ammonia is is still the same when I get home tonight (which it probably will be), I'm going to buy some flaked food tomorrow and give that a shot since I'm losing hope.
Liberty2k4
Aquarium Advice Regular
Good luck
I already tried it but don't think it helped me.
I already tried it but don't think it helped me.Dlee13
Aquarium Advice Activist
Good luck
Thanks
I'll let you know If I have any luck!
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Keep us posted, Liberty! Both of you guys are still pretty early in the game here so please do not get too frustrated! We have a member on here that struggled for 7-8 months to get her tank cycled fishless (yes, this is extreme) and it took extreme methods to get her tank cycled.
In respect to the ph, high ph really is not a big issue and is actually preferred. Once the ph drops into the mid 6's, things will slow down a bit. At about 6, your bb can no longer function in such acidic conditions.
Cycling with shrimp is fine to try, too, but controlling ammonia levels can be a bit more difficult. There are quite a few countries ammonia is banned so using shrimp or dead fish is a common practice.
In respect to the ph, high ph really is not a big issue and is actually preferred. Once the ph drops into the mid 6's, things will slow down a bit. At about 6, your bb can no longer function in such acidic conditions.
Cycling with shrimp is fine to try, too, but controlling ammonia levels can be a bit more difficult. There are quite a few countries ammonia is banned so using shrimp or dead fish is a common practice.
Dlee13
Aquarium Advice Activist
Keep us posted, Liberty! Both of you guys are still pretty early in the game here so please do not get too frustrated! We have a member on here that struggled for 7-8 months to get her tank cycled fishless (yes, this is extreme) and it took extreme methods to get her tank cycled.
In respect to the ph, high ph really is not a big issue and is actually preferred. Once the ph drops into the mid 6's, things will slow down a bit. At about 6, your bb can no longer function in such acidic conditions.
Cycling with shrimp is fine to try, too, but controlling ammonia levels can be a bit more difficult. There are quite a few countries ammonia is banned so using shrimp or dead fish is a common practice.
I certainly hope mine won't take that long, no way I would wait that long either LOL. Is a biofilm during a fishless cycle a good thing? I have developed one and I see mixed info but isn't that a sign my cycle is progressing?
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Perfectly fine and perfectly normal! No need to be concerned unless you see huge amounts of algae developing.
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