Cycle unchanged! What can I do?

[IgsPoke3]

Hey everyone,

I am on day 21 with my fish in cycle of my 5 gallon tank with a betta fish. I have tested the water daily and also have done 2 water changes of 20% each. I am a little worried though because the readings haven’t changed since day 2 of the set up and I’ve done lots to help it through but nothing noticeable.

I got the PH stabilized at 7.0 after figuring out the correct dosage of crushed coral for my first time using it.

When it comes to ammonia, it is always in the 0.25-0.50 ppm part. The nitrite and nitrate has always been 0 and that is the worrying part because I thought in 3 weeks I would have seen some change. So far, I’ve used an entire bottle of API beneficial bacteria as well as a couple of the bb balls sold from aqueon (maybe overdoing it?). I also treat the water with prime for the ammonia. Am I just being impatient or is there anything else for me to do? Thank you!

 

[Colin_T]

Most filters take 4-6 weeks to cycle (develop the beneficial filter bacteria).

You don't want to add ammonia if you are doing a fish in cycle. Normally with a fish in cycle, you minimise feeding and do big (75%) water changes any day you have an ammonia or nitrite reading. The big water changes help keep ammonia and nitrite at very low levels so the fish don't get ammonia or nitrite poisoning, which can kill them and does shorten their lives.

If you have added beneficial filter bacteria, and you only have 1 small fish in the tank, there probably isn't much ammonia being produced, and what is being produced is being consumed by the bacteria.

 

[Andy Sager]

Hey everyone,

I am on day 21 with my fish in cycle of my 5 gallon tank with a betta fish. I have tested the water daily and also have done 2 water changes of 20% each. I am a little worried though because the readings haven’t changed since day 2 of the set up and I’ve done lots to help it through but nothing noticeable.

I got the PH stabilized at 7.0 after figuring out the correct dosage of crushed coral for my first time using it.

When it comes to ammonia, it is always in the 0.25-0.50 ppm part. The nitrite and nitrate has always been 0 and that is the worrying part because I thought in 3 weeks I would have seen some change. So far, I’ve used an entire bottle of API beneficial bacteria as well as a couple of the bb balls sold from aqueon (maybe overdoing it?). I also treat the water with prime for the ammonia. Am I just being impatient or is there anything else for me to do? Thank you!

Sounds like the bacteria in a bottle you used didn't work. Fish in cycles take a while to complete. With such a small bioload, it could take a couple of months, not weeks to complete. Doing the water changes to dilute the ammonia will also extend the time it takes to fully cycle the tank. Patience pays. Just keep testing your water and do not let the ammonia get higher than 5ppm. If it reaches this level, do a water change to dilute it. Keep testing for nitrite as that will be the problem.
Just so you know, you are on the Ph cusp of toxic ammonia converting to non toxic ammonium ( It happens when Ph is under 7.0) so unless the fish is showing signs of distress, don't panic about the small amount of ammonia present. It's needed to create the nitrogen cycle.
If you have the ability, get some used filter material from a clean, disease free, established aquarium then you shouldn't have to worry about the tank cycling as that material will have the microbes necessary to complete the cycling process.

 

[Andy Sager]

Most filters take 4-6 weeks to cycle (develop the beneficial filter bacteria).

You don't want to add ammonia if you are doing a fish in cycle. Normally with a fish in cycle, you minimise feeding and do big (75%) water changes any day you have an ammonia or nitrite reading. The big water changes help keep ammonia and nitrite at very low levels so the fish don't get ammonia or nitrite poisoning, which can kill them and does shorten their lives.

If you have added beneficial filter bacteria, and you only have 1 small fish in the tank, there probably isn't much ammonia being produced, and what is being produced is being consumed by the bacteria.

If it was being consumed by the bacteria, shouldn't there be nitrate? The OP says it and nitrites reads 0.

 

[IgsPoke3]

Sounds like the bacteria in a bottle you used didn't work. Fish in cycles take a while to complete. With such a small bioload, it could take a couple of months, not weeks to complete. Doing the water changes to dilute the ammonia will also extend the time it takes to fully cycle the tank. Patience pays. Just keep testing your water and do not let the ammonia get higher than 5ppm. If it reaches this level, do a water change to dilute it. Keep testing for nitrite as that will be the problem.
Just so you know, you are on the Ph cusp of toxic ammonia converting to non toxic ammonium ( It happens when Ph is under 7.0) so unless the fish is showing signs of distress, don't panic about the small amount of ammonia present. It's needed to create the nitrogen cycle.
If you have the ability, get some used filter material from a clean, disease free, established aquarium then you shouldn't have to worry about the tank cycling as that material will have the microbes necessary to complete the cycling process.

Thank you for the reply. How are you able to tell that the bacteria in the bottle didn’t work? I was afraid that would be the case that’s why I added aqueon ball type beneficial bacteria as well.

 

[Andy Sager]

Thank you for the reply. How are you able to tell that the bacteria in the bottle didn’t work? I was afraid that would be the case that’s why I added aqueon ball type beneficial bacteria as well.

Because the natural cycle would have the ammonia/ammonium be converted to nitrite then nitrate. The bacteria in a bottle products are supposed to supply both microbe types for this to happen and since you had no nitrite or nitrate, it's a pretty safe assumption that it didn't happen.

Fish in cycles were the only way to cycle a tank back in the day and it was done with patience, hardy fish, water changes and time. With all the bacteria and detoxifier products available today, people are doing fish in cycles with less than hardy fish thinking these products would save them but the reality is, some fish need pristine water conditions and until the tank cycles, they won't do well. Bettas are a pretty hardy fish and come from a family of fish that have developed an organ ( Labrynth organ) to help them live in less than ideal, low oxygen water conditions. I would not be too concerned about them as long as you keep the ammonia level below .5 ppm. You can make the water safer for the fish by allowing the Ph to fall between 6.9 and 6.6 as in this range, the toxic ammonia converts to a more non toxic ammonium. The problem is if the Ph falls below this small window, nitrification is slowed to stopped ( depending on how low it goes). Another positive for keeping the uncycled tank in this Ph window is that the toxicity of nitrites can be managed by adding non iodized salt to the water at a rate of 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons of water to REDUCE the toxicity. It won't eliminate it but will reduce the toxic effects of Nitrites in the water on the fish. You can also reduce the toxicity by raising the Ph to between 7.2 to 7.6 and keeping the nitrite level below 2 ppm. The problem with this in the uncycled tank is that this makes the ammonia more toxic. ( This is why you are better off keeping the lower Ph and doing water changes and salt to deal with the nitrites. )
That's the short answer.

I will say that I have used and had great success using Fritzyme #7 (https://fritzaquatics.com/products/fritzzyme-7-freshwater) to rapidly cycle a tank if I didn't have any filter material from a healthy, cycled aquarium to use in the uncycled tank. Both of these methods add the microbes needed to keep the water safe for the fish. (Fritz also has a product called Turbo 700 which is just the #7 only more concentrated. With your bioload, this is not really needed. The #7 should suffice. )

So the bottom line is that you need to see nitrates in your tests to know that you have completed the cycling process. You'll want to avoid using nitrate loving live plants until you see nitrates in the water.

 

[Colin_T]

If it was being consumed by the bacteria, shouldn't there be nitrate? The OP says it and nitrites reads 0.

If there's only a small amount of ammonia being produced, it would take a while to show up as nitrate, especially if there are live plants in the tank.

 

[Andy Sager]

If there's only a small amount of ammonia being produced, it would take a while to show up as nitrate, especially if there are live plants in the tank.

But ammonia is showing up on tests and not anything else. 3 weeks of feeding even a lone betta which is producing an ammonia reading which if the bacteria in a bottle was working, would have converted the ammonia to nitrite the nitrite to nitrate. So the 0 nitrite is not as alarming as the 0 nitrate. With a Ph at 7, any plant that was consuming the nitrate should be consuming the ammonia as well. Considering the OP is using the coral to raise the Ph, who's to say that the 7 reading isn't 6.9 and the ammonia is ammonium?