The cycle that just won't quit!!

[kdross]

Hi, folks.

About a month and a half ago, I tore down and rebuilt my 29 gallon aquarium. I went from an undergravel filter and an el-cheapo Whisper filter to no undergravel filter and a Penguin 350 BioWheel filter (350 gallons per hour).

My last setup had zero ammonia, zero nitrite... I had a pretty bad nitrate problem that would not go away, which I suspect was a very impacted undergravel filter (it was pretty much mud under there... which is the reason I tore my aquarium down).

Anyway, I fix up the aquarium, and add my fish back. I totally expected a new cycle, because all of my biological filtration went right out the door with the tear-down and rebuild.

But, here I am 6 weeks later, and I still have a serious ammonia problem... gets up near 5ppm every week... hasn't been less than 2ppm in about 3 weeks.

I have dosed with BioSpira *twice*. I do 25% water changes at least once per week to keep the ammonia levels down to about 3ppm.

I have a little nitrite, but not very much, which tells me my cycle is almost there, but geez... 6 weeks and still no nitrate!

What in the world is wrong?

I know I'm probably overstocked (see below), but I had the number of fish before in my previous setup, and had zero ammonia and zero nitrite in about a month.

Any suggestions on how to get my cycle going?

Stock:

7 rosy barbs
2 emerald corys
2 glass catfish
2 upside down catfish
1 tiger barb
1 neon tetra

 

[Felf]

it can take awhile to fully cycle a tank. in hindsight you shouldve let your new filters run until they had a sufficient colony of bacteria before removing your UGF. the number of fish you have is enough to make ammonia spike that much in a short amount of time, that's why they say not to add so many at once because it takes time for the bacteria to grow and adjust to the added poo machines. like you said, "...my cycle is almost there..." it shouldnt be more than another week or two dont worry. but it's funny how your biospira didnt work. i havent used it and dont have access to it since we cant get it here but maybe you didnt follow instructions or got a bad batch? idk

 

[patagonia]

well...if it makes u feel better i started a new tank 6 weeks ago and i had the nitrite spike like 3 weeks ago...and its still there...5ppm nitrites...no sign of nitrates anywhere...i believe the nitrite takes longer than the ammonia to go away....but geeeez...this long? i know how u feel...hang in there...we are almost there...

 

[Screwylui]

dude, it took me close to three months.. and on occasion the nitrites still creep up just a little...
hey patagonia i see that you're in TO... any good pet shops you can recommend? please don't say Pj's .. their yorkdale location is ICH infested! and their guys think CAE and SAE are the same thing....

 

[patagonia]

i go to big al's...on young and steeles...and there i have found one person who knows a little bit...but u gotta go there early in the morning or late in the evening during the week...because weekends are just insane there...

 

[Blucat]

bio spira

 

[Screwylui]

cool, i've been there it's a pretty sweet place if only it were a bit larger. It's a bit far but the Big Al's on Dixie and Dundas in mississauga has some pretty sweet selection.

Luis

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Since your levels are that high, you should definately be doing water changes every day. Especially since you have that many fish. Test your water daily and do a 20% water change if the Ammonia is above 1.0. Too much ammonia can actually cause your cycle to stall (from what I've read in another thread). Just make sure you aren't doing gravel vacs or replacing or cleaning cartridges.

 

[kdross]

bio spira

Tried it... * twice *. Hasn't made a difference at all.

 

[kdross]

Since your levels are that high, you should definately be doing water changes every day. Especially since you have that many fish. Test your water daily and do a 20% water change if the Ammonia is above 1.0. Too much ammonia can actually cause your cycle to stall (from what I've read in another thread). Just make sure you aren't doing gravel vacs or replacing or cleaning cartridges.

I'll try that. I've been leaving the gravel and cartridges alone for fear of throwing away too much bacteria.

I've been considering adding some zeolyte to absorb some of the ammonia to get it down to decent levels to see if that will kick-start the process (I, too, was thinking perhaps the bacteria are stalled due to the amount of ammonia going on). Then, once ammonia levels drop to about 1, take the zeolyte out and continue with the water changes until it starts up.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

If I were you, I wouldn't add anything to the tank. IME, using chemicals to alter the parameters of the water is a waste of money. Except, of course, for Bio-Spira. But, I've never used that before. I've only heard about how if it's a good batch then it is a miracle in a bottle.

To fix your ammonia levels, just do water changes. It will clear itself up and your tank will be at stable levels. I know exactly what you are going through. I set up the QT with snails and thought that the ammonia couldn't get that high with only 3 snails. Boy was I wrong. A week later I checked the ammonia and it was VERY dark green (don't remember the specific value). Several water changes cleared that right up though.

 

[David]

what is this zeolyte that you speak of?

 

[Rosemary]

Have you tested your tap water? I found my tap water has so much ammonia and nitrite that my frequent water changes were keeping the levels up. I switched water conditioners to Amquel+ and Kordon Novaqua, which helped.

 

[kdross]

Ammo-Chips are a well-known brand name. It's actually "zeolite" (I originally misspelled it).

It's a natural resin that bonds ammonia to itself. It doesn't convert it to anything else... just bonds to it and removes it from the water. It "fills up" after a while, but soaking it in salt water for about two hours releases most of it, and after a good rinse, can be used again and again.

It's usually put into a media bag and placed in a power filter.

I've seen it work before. Pretty miraculous stuff, really.

 

[Blucat]

you could also try AZOO Algae Resin
It help decrease algae, ammonia, nitrate, phosphates. It also softens water and stabilises ph particularly if the ph is high.