Cycling with a fish

[shalihe74]

Hey y'all,

I visited here back in January when I got a wild hair to become a fish-owner. That unplanned wild hair turned into 3 5-gallon aquariums, each with a betta fish. They are all still alive (which I attribute more to the hardiness of the fish than to my fishkeeping acumen) and seem like happy little buggers. Yay!

Two out of the three tanks have established themselves nicely; they had the nitrite spike a few weeks ago, and morning water tests show nitrates steady at 10 units. Had a touch of an algae problem in one tank, but got that resolved.

However, one tank has yet to cycle. Interestingly, it's the one that has been running the longest. It was set up the 2nd week in January and I'm still testing positive for ammonia and negative for nitrites every day.

Can anyone think of a reason why this tank wouldn't cycle? And, more importantly, how I can get it to do so? Not a lot of info here, I know, so if you need more details, please just ask.

Thank you in advance for your help!
-Shalie

 

[GhostKnife]

1. Have you done any water changes in the tank?
2. What water tests are you using.(dont use strips)(api master FW test kit or something like that)
3. If you are doing water changes are you conditioning the tap water? I ask this because tap water has ammonia in it.
4. What kind of filters are you using on the setups?
5. Do you have air bubbles in any of the tanks?

 

[shalihe74]

1. Have you done any water changes in the tank?
2. What water tests are you using.(dont use strips)(api master FW test kit or something like that)
3. If you are doing water changes are you conditioning the tap water? I ask this because tap water has ammonia in it.
4. What kind of filters are you using on the setups?
5. Do you have air bubbles in any of the tanks?

1. Oh yes. I've been doing regular 40% (2 gal) PWCs to keep ammonia in check, but occasionally will do a 20% or 60% if I feel the smaller/greater volume is better. (For example, I'll probably do a 60% PWC tonight since the ammonia was up around 1 unit this am.)

2. I am using the API FW Master Test Kit.

3. Yessir. I can't remember what brand, specifically, but I do condition the water every time I do a PWC, and also add aquarium salt.

4. I'm using the filters that came with the tanks - a Marineland Eclipse. They are activated charcoal, and I have not changed them (based on what I have read in this forum).

5. Um... Aside from when the fish makes a bubble nest, and the few that sometimes accumulate on the underside of the filter intake, I haven't seen any air bubbles...

 

[drillsar2]

Did you add Ammonia remover or running any ammonia removing products? Charcoal also can prolong a cycle,

When you cycle with fish I would use a product called Prime it makes ammonia and Nitrite less toxic. You can also use a product called Bio-Spira

 

[gzeiger]

The best thing to do for cycling, when the option is available, is always to use bacteria from an established tank. Since you have two, you're in great shape. As far as why this is happening, I couldn't say exactly, but it may just be random chance. The solution is simple though. You just take some material from the filter of one of the cycled tanks and add it to the filter that's having trouble. This should fix the problem in a matter of days.

Bio-Spira won't do anything other than add the same bacteria you already have in the filters, so there's no need to spend money on it when you already have a ready source of live bacteria.

 

[shalihe74]

Did you add Ammonia remover or running any ammonia removing products? Charcoal also can prolong a cycle,

When you cycle with fish I would use a product called Prime it makes ammonia and Nitrite less toxic. You can also use a product called Bio-Spira

Nope. The only way I have been managing the ammonia in the tank(s) is by PWCs.

The best thing to do for cycling, when the option is available, is always to use bacteria from an established tank. Since you have two, you're in great shape. As far as why this is happening, I couldn't say exactly, but it may just be random chance. The solution is simple though. You just take some material from the filter of one of the cycled tanks and add it to the filter that's having trouble. This should fix the problem in a matter of days.

Bio-Spira won't do anything other than add the same bacteria you already have in the filters, so there's no need to spend money on it when you already have a ready source of live bacteria.

Ooooh.... awesome suggestion. I will definitely do that. When you say 'take some material from the filter', are you suggesting that I open the filter itself, pull out some of the charcoal in it and put it into the stubborn filter? Or... ????

Thank you again, all of you, for your help!

 

[gzeiger]

I'm not familiar with the particular brand of filter you have. Marineland Eclipse seems to be a company, and has several different models, but the principle is the same regardless. If it's the standard sort of hang-on-back filter that pumps water through a pad of coarse fabric that has charcoal particles sewn up inside it, you don't need to cut it open to get the charcoal. The bag or filter pad should be removable. It should be sufficient to just remove both pads and rub them together to get some of that brown gunk spread around between them. I would actually then suggest just switching the pads, since there will be bacteria on other surfaces in the cycled filter and tank, and that filter should make a rapid recovery, while the good filter pad will nearly instantly cycle the tank that's having troubles and give that poor fish a welcome rest. Even if it sets back the cycle in the other tank, I would be in a hurry to get the one fish some clean water since it's already been under a lot of stress for some time now.

On the other hand if your filter is a type that would allow you to remove some carbon without damaging its physical integrity, then by all means do that. There's nothing special about the carbon though. The cloth part is fine, or if there is a separate biowheel and filter pad then just swap one of the two out.

 

[shalihe74]

Excellent! I will rub the filters together, and then put the one from the cycled tank into the non-cycled tank. Hopefully that will minimize the impact to the already-cycled tank, while giving the non-cycled one a much-needed kickstart.

Thank you so much. The fishies thank you, too, I'm sure.

 

[gzeiger]

Just be sure to do daily water tests on both tanks now, and don't be surprised to see a small spike of nitrite or even ammonia in the previously cycled tank since you basically removed the filter. It should go away relatively quickly since you already have bacteria in there, but you should monitor in case a water change is needed to keep things safe for the fish.

Good luck.

 

[shalihe74]

Thanks again for the advice. This worked perfectly. Swapped the filters Thursday night. Friday morning there was a bit of nitrite in both tanks. This morning, both tanks were 0 for both ammonia and nitrite. Awesome!

 

[gzeiger]

Glad to hear it.