Help! Confused.. Tank Cycle

[Kaseyk88]

Hi! I'm frustrated enough to create a user and post a thread vs. just reading at this point..

Ok, I have a tank that I've had for a couple of years. (35 Gallon) The tank was fine and stocked for over a year. My local water source experienced an algae bloom (we get our water from a lake), and after this (water changes, etc.) my tank crashed and everything died. This was about 6 or 7 months or so ago. I pretty much just let the tank run without doing any regular maintenance to it after that. I let it run for a couple of months before I decided I'd get some fish and start over.

At this point in my fish keeping I really have no idea what I'm doing. I just get a couple of fish. They eventually start acting weird. I test the water. High ammonia. I start reading forums, and learning about fish and water composition and all this good stuff. I get some prime to at least make the ammonia not toxic. Fish are still stressed. I'm way over dosing the tank with prime trying to keep my fish alive because I don't know what else to do. I figure it's cycling because of the new fish. I go on vacation for a week, I come back, everything is dead.

Start about a week ago. I empty all of the water. I break down and clean all of the parts. I buy a new carbon filter. I remove and clean all of my rock, substrate, and plants. I fill the tank. I add Prime to remove chlorine. I let it run for a day. I get fish. Now my log:

Day What's New? Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate PH
10-Jan New Water + Prime
11-Jan Nothing
12-Jan Fish
13-Jan Stability 2.5 Caps Full 4+ PPM 0 PPM
14-Jan Stability 2 Caps Full 4+ PPM 0 ppm 10 ppm 7
15-Jan Stability 2 Caps Full 4+ PPM 0 PPM 10+ ppm 7
16-Jan Stability 2.5 Caps Full 4+ PPM 0 PPM 20+ ppm 7
17-Jan

This is where I'm confused. I have a Seachem ammonia detector in my tank. It reads safe. I'm using a new API Freshwater Master Test Kit. Ammonia is not going down, Nitrites aren't doing anything, Nitrates are up. Using This Cycling Your Tank - Dr. Bogger's Fish Keeping as a guide to my cycle. I don't understand why I have Nitrates and not Nitrites

Temp is 79 F / I have 2 platties (I had 3, I moved the third into my other tank, he wasn't handling the big tank well) / Penguin Bio Wheel 200 HOB / New Carbon Filter /

WTF??

Sorry if I'm posting in the wrong place. I'm happy to move the thread if need be.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Jmunroe]

Get rid of the carbon. Fill your filter with the sponge it comes with and the rest biomedia. Get rid of the in tank ammonia detector, waste of money. Use the API kit to check water. Follow the instructions to the letter. Do 50% water change every 48 hours for a month and a half to 2 months until your tank cycles add the prime with each water change. Make sure the water going in is close to the same temp. Don't touch your filter while it cycles.

 

[flitabout]

Get an api mast test kit. You will need to test your water every day, and change the water every time it's 0.25ppm for your ammo and nitrite. If your ammo is 1ppm, you will have to do 2 50% water changes to get the ammo down to a safe range for your fish. Adding prime is a band-aid fix. I used it when I had a mini-cycle and I had ammo and nitrite at 0.5ppm just to get me till the next morning when I could do another water change. They have ammonia poisoning which is why they are dying. Have you thought about doing a fishless cycle? It will save you a tun of work in water changes. Especially if you have another tank that is already cycled that you can use the filter material out of. Doing fish in cycle will mean doing daily water changes sometimes 2 a day to keep your parameters safe. Read this http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/fish-in-cycling-step-over-into-the-dark-side-176446.html

 

[Kaseyk88]

Thank you guys for the replies.

Here's another issue I have that I think is contributing to my problem. Using my API Master Test Kit, my tap water has 0.5 PPM Ammonia. I'm afraid that every time I do a water change I'm actually making my ammonia problem worse. I really have no idea what to do.

I don't have a sponge that came with my filter, but I took my carbon out. Can I use an empty filter (with no carbon in it) as Biomedia?

I'm doing water checks every day. Today was the same as previous 4 days. 4 PPM ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 20+ Nitrate 7 PH.

 

[flitabout]

You can actually go and get a kitchen sponge and use that. Just make sure that it doesn't have the scrubby side on it and that you rinse it well. What kind of filter is it that you have that will help in way to customize your filter media. I have had up to 1ppm in my tap at any given time and it really isn't anything to worry about. Once your bb filter adjusts to it, it will take that ammo out in no time.

 

[Kaseyk88]

I attached a picture of the filter I'm hoping to use. It's just an empty cartridge. I'll have to get a sponge sadly, I don't have one. My fish don't seem stressed as of now, and they're eating normally. I'd move them to the small tank, but it's new and it's cycling as well. No problems with it, it's on track to cycle like normal.

 

[Kaseyk88]

I realize that it makes no sense for it to be my water supply because my new 10 gallon is doing fine, and the highest it's been so far during the cycle is 0.5 ppm (which is that same as water source).

I've been battling the ammonia in this big tank for what seems like ever. Like I mentioned before, I removed all the water, cleaned all my rock (using tap water), cleaned my filter unit, and my plastic plants. My ammonia was 4 PPM after 2 days of running after cleaning. Is there something that can hold and release ammonia?? Like my air wands for example, or my substrate maybe didn't get cleaned well enough?? I am trying to understand what it is, and I have no idea. It HAS to be coming from somewhere in the tank, because my small tank is fine.

 

[Fishperson]

There aren't any fish right? And you aren't adding anything to the tank?

 

[Kaseyk88]

There are 2 platties. I'm adding 2 cap fulls of Seachem Stability a day. I've got about 4 more days of that for the recommended 7 days. I started Stability to help with the ammonia, but I'm starting to wonder where the ammonia is coming from in the first place, then maybe I can get it under control.

 

[Fishperson]

Woah, okay, so the ammonia just rises to 4 ppm and stays there? Well you need to do a water change to get that down. I would do a HUGE water change, like 90%. That would get you to a much better level.

 

[Kaseyk88]

Yea, I'm gearing up to do that right now. I haven't yet because I'm afraid if my tank is trying to cyle, I'm just going to halt it by starting over again. I'm going to move the platties over to the little tank so I don't stress them out to bad. I'll update with water levels tomorrow.

 

[Fishperson]

MAKE SURE TO ACCLIMATE THE PLATIES!

It's no different than getting new fish!

Anyway, okay that's good. You might want to try a fishless cycle. And doing a water change won't stall your cycle. If you are doing fish in you will need to do water changes. Just don't completely get rid of ammonia.

 

[Caliban07]

Yea, I'm gearing up to do that right now. I haven't yet because I'm afraid if my tank is trying to cyle, I'm just going to halt it by starting over again. I'm going to move the platties over to the little tank so I don't stress them out to bad. I'll update with water levels tomorrow.

Kasey kk8. If you have seachem prime you can just add this to your tap water before you put it in the tank. It detoxifies ammonia nitrite and nitrate for around 48 hours. Just keep adding it until your tank is cycled.

Overfeeding will also increase ammonia..

 

[Kaseyk88]

Ok, did the 90% water change yesterday afternoon. This morning my tests tell me 0.5 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrites, 0 ppm nitrates, and around 7 ph still. Here's hoping they don't shoot up by tomorrow, and I can get this thing rolling.

So my goal at this point is to see some nitrites, right? Then I know the bacteria are starting to colonize? I ask because that's what I thought, but my little tank is on day 6 with fish but I still don't have any nitrites.

Thanks guys! I've been going crazy trying to figure this out alone. I'm extremely happy to have some help.

 

[Kaseyk88]

Ok, if anybody is still with me here.

Now I'm on day 11. My Ammonia has been a steady 0.5 for 5 days straight. Yesterday my Nitrites were 0.25, and today they are 2.0. My Nitrates are 10, maybe a little higher.

I plan to do a water change today since my Nitrites went crazy, but I'm curious why I have so much nitrites but my ammonia isn't going down. I think I'm paranoid about ammonia since I've been fighting it for so long.

Thanks!

 

[Kaseyk88]

I did about a 40% water change yesterday. Today (Day 12) my parameters are 0.5 ammonia, 2.0 nitrite, 10 nitrate, 7 ph.

It seems like the wc didn't help the nitrites at all. Guess I'm doing another one today

Are my nitrites SUPPOSED to be this high? And I'm still wondering why I have 2.0 nitrites and still have ammonia.

 

[gilpi]

Get rid of the carbon. Fill your filter with the sponge it comes with and the rest biomedia. Get rid of the in tank ammonia detector, waste of money. Use the API kit to check water. Follow the instructions to the letter. Do 50% water change every 48 hours for a month and a half to 2 months until your tank cycles add the prime with each water change. Make sure the water going in is close to the same temp. Don't touch your filter while it cycles.

I second that!