Getting my tank cycled- cannot get ammonia down.

[adpearce]

Hello all!

My mom had gotten my kiddos a nano tank (5 gal) for Christmas. We have run into many issues (including me not realizing it had to cycle, not just use "Quick Start" solution!), then the heater went out and killed our guppies. Replaced them, and I later learned their replacements had Epistalys from our local Feeders- which I mistook as Ich- which made things TREMENDOUSLY WORSE when I treated for it. Water had also been consistently cloudy- one day had a TERRIBLE sulfur smell. Later, got a couple Mollies, and they did well for a while until they fell ill from the Epi. At this point (many dead fish and ghost shrimp later) I treated the tank with PraziPro (I think it is called) and decided to try a "fishless cycle". I monitored all my levels with the API kit daily- could not get PH to get above 6, or Ammonia below .5 at all during this whole time (2.5 months now!) . I changed from a Hang On Back interior cheapie Tetra filter, to a sponge filter, with "bio-balls" in it, and got a WonderShell. PH is finally consistently 7.2 for the past week. Ammonia has been down to .25. Nitrite has been 0, nitrates about 1ppm. However, last night, ammonia was still .25, but Nitrates went up to 10, and Nitrite was .25.
About a week ago, we acquired a Nerite snail, as he had escaped at the pet store and was on another tank on the outside- they gave it to me for free as they had no idea how long it had been out or if it would survive- which he has been doing great! I am out of ideas as to what to do. It feels like a neverending battle- I dont remember it being this difficult as a child- and of course my mom is giving me ALL the judgement. I have been trying to use different things like Aqua Essential, Prime, and Seachem Stability. I just can't seem to win, and I am at my wits end. Does yesterday's spike mean perhaps that the tank is hitting a point where it can truly cycle? Or is it taking steps backwards again? Thanks for the help, and sorry for the long post!

 

[Aiken Drum]

How are you dosing ammonia?

 

[adpearce]

I had been adding some food initially for ammonia, but then it became adding food for the snail. It did get up to 2 ppm, which is what I had read was necessary.

 

[Aiken Drum]

I suspect you havent been getting enough ammonia in there for a fishless cycle. You typically need to get it upto 2ppm.

Now you have a snail however, fishless cycle is no longer an option as the level of ammonia you are looking at for fishless will likely kill the snail.

Get a small fish and do a fish in cycle, or put the snail in some clean water, maybe a big jar, get some ammonium chloride and do a proper job with the fishless cycle on your 5g. I can give more guidance on whichever way you want to go.

 

[adpearce]

I did end up getting it to 2 PPM for about a week (at the time I was struggling with PH, so it might have been for naught). The snail seems pretty happy, and I have read that Nerites like to escape, so I think I would rather do a fish-in cycle (I have a full hood on my tank). Maybe we can pick up a couple tetras tonight on the way home. With the spike in Nitrate yesterday (10 ppm) and Nitrite (.25 ppm) would that be a quick death sentence for the fish? I really don't want that. I appreciate the help so much! .

Also, I ran out of Seachem Prime. But I have Seachem Stability and API AquaEssential. Do these help in my case, and/or do I need to pick up some more Prime? I also just placed an order for some Brightwell Aquatics Microbacter Start XLF - Tank Starting Bacteria Culture to help things along. Would that help?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Tetras arent suitable for such a small tank. They are social fish, do better in small groups of their own species, and need sufficient swimming space. You might get away with a 10g tank that would support a small group of small tetras, but most need at least 20g.

The only fish i would recommend for a 5g is a betta. They are small, not social, and dont need a lot of swimming space. Other fish, like guppies, will survive in a small 5g tank, but not thrive.

The aqua essential is a water conditioner like prime. You need to add water conditioner whenever you add tap water (eg with water changes). Stability and the brightwell stuff, are both products that seed your tank with the bacteria responsible for your cycle. These products "might" speed up the time it takes to cycle the tank from months to weeks, but are hit and miss as to if they do anything. Mostly miss.

Do you need advice on a process for your fish in cycle?

 

[adpearce]

Yes, please! I can use all the advice/help I can get, clearly

 

[Aiken Drum]

To cycle a tank you need to grow denitrifying bacteria to consume ammonia and nitrite that your tank produces. The bacteria needs an ammonia source to grow colonies sufficient in size to consume all the ammonia and resultant nitrite and turn it into nitrate which typically you remove through your regular water changes.

A fish in cycle uses fish waste as an ammonia source and regular water changes are undertaken to ensure that water parameters are maintained at relatively non toxic levels.

Set up your tank. Make sure everything is running smoothly. Make sure you have used a water conditioner product with any tap water you have put in your tank. Seachem Prime is a water conditioner that will also detoxify some ammonia for a day or two, so is a good choice for a water conditioner while cycling a tank with fish.

You should have a test kit. Preferably a liquid test kit. It should test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

In ideal circumstances you should be starting a fishless cycle with a low bioload (number of fish). 1 small fish per 10 gallons/40 litres is a good number of fish, but this can be tweaked a little for fish that are social and don’t do well on their own. Ideally a hardy type of fish. You may have fully stocked (or overstocked) your tank before you knew about cycling. In these circumstances, if its not possible to return fish, you will have to make the best of it.

If you haven’t already done so, add your fish. Acclimate them to the water in your tank before doing so.

Feed lightly to start with. Daily as much as is eaten in 2 minutes, or as much as is eaten in 3 minutes every 2 days. You can increase to full feedings if you are confident your parameters aren’t getting too elevated too quickly and water changes don’t become a daily thing.

Start to regularly test the water for ammonia and nitrite. At least daily. Depending on your bioload you could start to see ammonia quite quickly. Nitrite will likely take a little longer to appear.

Your target should be to keep ammonia + nitrite combined no higher than 0.5ppm by changing water whenever your water parameters exceed this target. 0.5ppm combined is a level of waste that is sufficient for your cycle to establish but relatively safe for your fish.

If you see 0.5ppm ammonia and 0.0ppm nitrite (0.5ppm combined) then leave things be. If you see 0.5ppm ammonia and 0.25ppm nitrite (0.75ppm combined) then change 1/3 of the water. If you see 0.25ppm ammonia and 0.75ppm nitrite (1.0ppm combined) then change 1/2 the water. If water parameters get worse than these levels it may require multiple daily 50% water changes to maintain safe water conditions. This is more likely to happen with a fully stocked tank.

Remember to add water conditioner whenever you put tap water in the tank.

Over time the frequency of water changes and amount you need to change to maintain your ammonia + nitrite combined target will reduce. You can also start testing for nitrate and should see this rising. If you are finding the ammonia and nitrite in your tests are consistently low, and you aren’t already fully stocked, you can add a few more fish. It may take a few weeks to get to this point.

Once you add a few more fish, continue to regularly test the water and continue to change water if you exceed the 0.5ppm combined ammonia + nitrite target. With added bioload the frequency of water changes and amount you need to change may increase again until your cycle has caught up. Again once you are consistently seeing low ammonia and nitrite you can add some more fish. Rinse and repeat with testing, water changes, and adding fish when safe to do so until you are fully stocked.

You can then cut back on water changes to control nitrate only. Typically you want to keep nitrate no higher than 40ppm, but I would recommend changing some water every 2 weeks even if your water test says you don’t need to.

A fish in cycle from an empty tank to fully stocked can take several months.

A good way to speed up this process would be to put a small amount of filter media from an established filter into your filter, or get a sponge from an established filter and squeeze it into your tank water. Perhaps you have a friend who keeps fish who could let you have some? This will seed your filter with the bacteria you are trying to grow and speed up the process.

Another option is bottled bacteria like Dr Tims One + Only or Tetra Safestart. These products wont instantly cycle a tank as they claim but in a similar manner to adding established filter media they can seed your filter with the bacteria you are trying to grow to establish your cycle. These products are hit and miss as to whether they work at all, but are an option if established filter media isnt obtainable and may speed up the process from several months to several weeks.

 

[Aiken Drum]

I would also recommend testing some bottled water for ammonia. You know the bottled water is 0 ammonia, but 0 can often have a greenish tinge and appear like a 0.25ppm result. Compare this with what you are presuming are 0.25ppm results from your tank.

 

[adpearce]

Thank you so much! The .5 combined benchmark really helps me understand it a bit better! I am still learning the ammonia/nitrate/nitrite chain of events (though I know nitrites and ammonia are the bad ones!)

 

[Aiken Drum]

The nitrogen cycle is the natural processes that go on in your tank that convert ammonia into less harmful substances.

Ammonia gets into your tank through various pathways. Fish waste, decaying uneaten food, and dead, decaying plants are common ammonia sources in an aquarium. Its also possible your tap water is an ammonia source. Chloramine is a common water treatment and when treated with most water conditioners the bond in the chloramine breaks and releases ammonia into the water.

Ammonia can be toxic to fish, depending on how much there is, and what the pH and temperature of your tank water is.

The first stage of the nitrogen cycle is the removal of ammonia. If you have real plants in your tank some of this ammonia will be absorbed as part of their natural growth. Generally though ammonia is consumed by denitrifying bacteria that lives mostly on your filter media. These bacteria consume the ammonia and produce nitrite. Unfortunately nitrite is pretty much as toxic to fish as ammonia.

The second stage of the nitrogen cycle is the removal of nitrite. A different denitrifying bacteria will consume the nitrite and produce nitrate. Nitrate is much less harmful than ammonia and nitrite, and for most aquariums the nitrogen cycle ends there. Excess nitrate is removed through your regular water changes.

A further stage of the nitrogen cycle can also happen, but its difficult to remove all the nitrate from a typical freshwater aquarium. Plants will absorb some nitrate in a similar manner to how it absorbs ammonia to grow. There are also nitrifying bacteria that consumes nitrate and gives off nitrogen gas which will simply offgas from your aquarium. This nitrifying bacteria is difficult to grow in freshwater aquarium.

“Cycling” a tank is the process you go through to grow denitrifying bacteria in your aquarium to consume ammonia and nitrite. You are said to be “cycled” when you have enough bacteria to consume all the ammonia and nitrite that your tank produces and turns all of it into nitrate. If you test the water of a cycled tank you should see 0 ammonia and nitrite and some nitrate.

 

[Aiken Drum]

The .5 combined benchmark really helps me understand it a bit better!

You can actually push ammonia much further. Ammonia toxicity is dependant on pH and temperature. The higher these are the more toxic the ammonia you are reading is.

But, its much simpler to say keep ammonia no higher than 0.5ppm than it is to say keep ammonia below x if your pH is y, etc.