aquarium not cycling - old decorations poisoning bacteria?

[dwhenderson33]

Long story short....I have tried to start 30g aquarium 3 times now, letting it sit for over a month each time. parameters were always good (conducive to bacterial growth), dechlorinator added, and a few ppm of ammonia added via ammonium chloride. Tank was seeded with material from another system each time, and this last time I even used a bottle of Dr. Tim's bacteria. Before starting, old plants were bleached, rinsed, and dried, before going into the tank. And each time, the tank sat and no ammonia was ever converted, not a hint of nitrite or nitrate...and believe me, I checked every single day.

What in the world could be causing this? The only conclusion I feel left with is that the old plastic plants are somehow poisoning the bacteria (or the old airline tubing that I was using). These components were used by my mother about 15 years ago, but they all appear to be in great shape. Everything else in the aquarium, including the filter, media, heater, gravel, other decor, lighting, etc. are all brand new.

This has become a bit of an obsession and, honestly, not knowing how to fix this problem has caused a great deal of stress and frustration. Pathetic, yes I know, but it is really affecting my every day life... I know how to set up an aquarium and have done so successfully (and easily I might add) several other times. Please, if you have any idea as to what might be going on share it with me! Again, I have added a lot of bacteria to this tank many times...something is killing or outcompeting these beneficial nitrifying bacteria

 

[ImACoolguy]

Hello!

Sorry you're having problems...

I don't think old airline tubing would kill the bacteria if you at least washed it off.

I'm no cycle expert and that's really perplexing that the bacteria isn't colonizing. Wish I could be of more help.


Caleb

 

[ScotJudd]

One possibility is that the bleach was not washed away or that the old plastic plants might have cracks where the bleach has bled into. As a first step I would remove those plastic plants.
Raise the temp to just over 80f and also check Ph has not gone below 6.5 as low Ph (acid) inhibits bacterial growth. Check Kh if Ph is low and add bicarbonate of soda to raise Kh to about six degrees. I add bicarb to raise my Kh even with my fish in as my Kh is zero from the tap and Ph crashes without it.
Make sure that you have plenty of surface water movement to keep up the oxygen levels. An air stone will suffice or lower your water level slightly so the the filter outlet breaks the water up.
After that, I've run out of ideas. If you don't have a test kit then you really should have one, a liquid one (not test strips) such as API which seems a forum favourite (and mine). You need to be able to test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, Ph, Kh & Gh as well as temperature.
You didn't say which de chlorinator you use but Prime is another well tested favourite and despite its price it's works out cheaper in the long run as you use so little, 5ml treats 200l.
Hope some of that helps, it's sooooo very frustrating if you can't get a tank to cycle.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Mebbid]

Bleach has a very very short lifespan when exposed to the environment. I wouldn't even consider that a possibility with a problem in this tank.

What ppm of ammonia are you shooting for?
What pH is the water?
Where did you acquire the ammonium chloride?