Tank not cycling

[Dragonmommy]

Help! I am getting so tired of water changes, why wont this tank cycle?

Its a 55 gallon long with 10 young lake malawi's in it. The tank has been running for 5 weeks now and still only ammonia and lots of it. No nitrates or nitrites. I have not lost any fish, but its obvious the ammonia isnt great for them. 1 Fish keeps getting pop-eye so I have decided to just leave her in the hospital tank till the big tank cycles. I think the hospital tank is cycled, its fine though. I have tried putting gravel from the hospital tank in the big tank and it didnt help. I cant swap filter media because the hossy tank only has undergravel filtration.

Really I am just not sure what to do. The only friend with a tank has some funky fungus problems, so I dont want his used filter media. I just don;t know anymore. Help!!!

Thanks

 

[LAGlocker]

Did you get the fish from a lfs? if so and their tanks look good, ie not bba or other algea problems you can always ask them for some seed material to help the tank along. not sure why there isnt any nitrites at all showing up yet after 5 weeks, but i hope the fish all do ok in it. you can also see if you can get any bio-spira to help it along, i believe some lfs carry it. did you put any chemicals into the tank other than to take the chlorine and chlorimines out of it? if so this may be part of the problem. if your ammonia is real high, i would say start doing pwc's every day to keep the fish from feeling the effects of it.

 

[rich311k]

What kind of test kit are you using? Do you clean the filter when you do water changes?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

With all those fish, about the only thing I recommend, is get BIO-Spira for instant cycle. Will take a day or 2 to kick in, but with that many fish, that would be what I would do since you already have the fish. Don't get the stuff called Cycle either, it's about worthless.

 

[Zagz]

How old is your test kit? It is possible you aren't getting good readings if the test is old. You can always take some water to the lfs and get your readings checked.

 

[Dragonmommy]

OK, let me try and answer everyone

Ok I am not using chemicals besides aqua safe, I may try and order some bio-sprie, thay dont have it here. I will be in the "big city" in two day, perhaps I will visit a store there.

I am thinnking of asking the store for some filter media, but I am not sure... the cichlid tank looks cloudy.

The tes kit is new, like 5 weeks old and the store ordered it for me, so it did not sit on the shelf at the store forever.

And no I have not yet cleaned my filter, at ALL, as I don't wanna kill the lil bacteria dudes. I have only vaccumed the gravel once, and only a small bit because i had, fed frozen stuff the week before. That was 4 weeks ago.

Could underfiltration be causing this? I have an additional filter coming in about 10 days. The tank is crystal clear.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

If the Big City has Bio-Spira, make sure you have a way to keep it cold, as it needs to be refrigerated until used. So if driving, might want to bring a small cooler with a little ice to keep it cool.

As for the cloudyness, probably bacteria bloom due to cycling.

As long as the filter isn't plugged, don't change it. If water is flowing freely through it, you are ok. If it's overflowing over the top of the filter cartrige, then change it.

It's ok to vacuum the gravel lightly during cycling, just don't do it thoroughly. You just want to vacuum up any excess food or waste on top of the gravel.

What kind of filter is on it?

And remember, PWC's, PWC's, PWC's. Lots of them while it's cycling. It's a lot of work, but once you are completely cycled, both you and your fish will be happy.