Big Problems (?) With Fishless Cycle

[CHurst5841]

Hi everyone.

I have been trying to fishless cycle my 10 gallon tank for approximately four weeks to no avail. The tank is being filtered by a Rena SmartFilter 20 and aerated with an air stone. I have the tank heater set to 86 F. The tank has been filled with distilled water from Wal-Mart treated with a water conditioner and has had 3 additional gallons added to due evaporative loss. I am using pure ammonia from Ace to dose the tank.

I have tried API Stress Zyme and cycle to seed the tank as I do not have a source of bacteria from an established tank available. My ammonia levels have been constant at ~ 4 ppm. I did have to add additional ammonia after adding additional water to bring the ammonia level back to ~ 4 ppm. I have seen no nitrites or nitrates.

A couple of days ago I stopped by the local Pet Land and got 4 bio balls (came out of their tanks) and a bottle of Tetra Safe Start. I haven't seen any change since adding those.

I'm not quite sure what to do as I feel like this isn't going anywhere. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[neilanh]

Welcome to AA! and kudos for doing a fishless cycle. In our articles section is an article for tips to help speed it along, although it sounds like you're doing most of the things already, so it's strange your cycle hasn't started yet.

Try adding a little bit of flake food, ground finely in your fingers. This will give additional trace elements that aren't present since you are using distilled water instead of tap. Also, is there a particular reason you're using distilled? For FW tanks, the tap water actually contains some stuff that is somewhat beneficial.

What test kit are you using? If using test strips, you may not be getting good readings.

 

[CHurst5841]

Welcome to AA! and kudos for doing a fishless cycle. In our articles section is an article for tips to help speed it along, although it sounds like you're doing most of the things already, so it's strange your cycle hasn't started yet.

Try adding a little bit of flake food, ground finely in your fingers. This will give additional trace elements that aren't present since you are using distilled water instead of tap. Also, is there a particular reason you're using distilled? For FW tanks, the tap water actually contains some stuff that is somewhat beneficial.

What test kit are you using? If using test strips, you may not be getting good readings.

Thanks for the reply!

The reason that I decided to use distilled water as opposed to tap water is that I have a well and I have no idea what the quality of the water in the well is. I also run a water softener so I was worried about a lot of salt in the water. Would using a water labeled as "drinking" water be better? The drinking water sold at my store comes from Columbus Ohio municipal water.

I'm using an API Freshwater Master Test Kit. One of my bottles has a lot number of "26A0208" and I've e-mailed API to ask if the expiration date is 02/08 or if that is the manufacture date.

 

[Tommy Gun]

Hey all,

While I definitely agree with what neilanh has pointed out, I thought it might be useful to point out that...

I have tried API Stress Zyme and cycle to seed the tank as I do not have a source of bacteria from an established tank available.

...the bacteria we are after for our hobby is very capable of finding its way into an aquarium so the lack of your not having bacteria from another tank will not stop you, although having that will speed things up quite a bit. However, there are any number of variables at play here and this is why it is nearly impossible to create an exact time line of when you will start seeing nitrite and/or nitrate - point being, it isn't unheard of for the cycling process to take longer than 4 weeks.

Additionally, it may help to know that the "Cycle" product, as well as a few other bacteria products, do not really contain the exact sort of bacteria that you are looking for. In fact, I believe that Cycle contains heterotrophic bacteria which are those that break down organic matter into ammonia. This is useful when you are using flake food like neilanh suggested but if there is only ammonia present, these bacteria will be of less use to you.

Quick question to go along with neilanh's regarding your test kit...even though you have not seen any nitrites and/or nitrates, have you noticed that the ammonia level is being reduced?

The tank has been filled with distilled water

I also agree that distilled water is not the best idea unless you are adding a product like Kent's RO-right to replace the trace elements that your mini-ecosystem will rely heavily upon. In fact, the only reason RO or distilled water is ok for a saltwater tank is because the salt mix also contains those elements. Anyways, I believe that your using distilled water alone may be a problem for the bacteria you are after and this may be why you are having this slow start.

A couple of days ago I stopped by the local Pet Land and got 4 bio balls (came out of their tanks) and a bottle of Tetra Safe Start. I haven't seen any change since adding those.

Again, patience is the key here and I don't think it is odd to hear that you haven't seen a more immediate change. Another thing to consider is that these bacteria are also somewhat sensitive to large changes in water chemistry...just like our fish, which is why we acclimate them to a new tank versus dumping them in...and since you are using distilled water, I think it is possible that the bacteria you transported home from the store died and/or was significantly harmed from being in an aquarium with freshwater versus yours which holds pure water....if that makes any sense.

 

[CHurst5841]

Quick question to go along with neilanh's regarding your test kit...even though you have not seen any nitrites and/or nitrates, have you noticed that the ammonia level is being reduced?

Thanks for the response. No, I haven't seen any reduction in ammonia levels to date.

 

[Tommy Gun]

I see. I'm pretty sure that will change if/when you switch over to using regular water and/or start using a product to replace trace elements in conjunction with your distilled water.

 

[bluerose]

I have heard suggestions that a super-low pH will really screw with the biofilter... ie halt it after a certain point (5.5 was quoted I think). Distilled water doesn't have much for pH buffering... might want to test that and see what you get (or if it'll even register).

 

[CHurst5841]

First off, thank you to everyone for your help on this.

I tested my ammonia levels again today and show no change. I added a small amount of ground flake food into the water and added an extra gallon of what is labeled as "Drinking Water" (conditioned first).

I also tested the pH and show 8.0.

 

[bluerose]

I had issues with pH and drinking water, FWIW.

Any particular reason you aren't using tap?

 

[CHurst5841]

I had issues with pH and drinking water, FWIW.

Any particular reason you aren't using tap?

I'm on a well and have no idea what the quality of the water is. I don't drink it (have 5 gallon water bottles brought in). So I figured if I won't drink it I wouldn't like to live in it

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

I used the Spring water from walmart.. the spring water showed nothing but a good steady balance of ph. use it, the minerals in the spring water will help speed up the process.. it also has the nutrience in it the fish need. Distilled water is dead water.. and should only be used in salt water applications.. as well as ro(reverse osmosis water) due to the fact that salt water evaperates at a faster pace. If you used tap in a salt water tank.. you will have really hard water due to evaperation.

 

[CHurst5841]

Cool. I'll be buying the spring water from now on then.

I haven't seen any decrease in ammonia levels yet but I did notice a snail in the tank. I've seen the snail a couple of times (I hope that's a good sign!?).

 

[CHurst5841]

Hi everyone.

Just to give an update on how things are going. I have begun switching from distilled to spring water as the distilled in the tank evaporates. In the meantime I have been seeding the tank every once and awhile with finely ground flake fish food. I just took a pH reading and I'm showing somewhere in the 7.4 - 7.6 range. My ammonia levels are still in the 4 - 5 ppm range and nitrite is 0 ppm. Water temperature is still set at 85 F. Anyone know why I'm not showing any change in ammonia or nitrite levels?

I'm concerned about an ornament that is currently in the tank. I have a big shell that I bought at the store that has some sort of paint (?) on it that seems to be bubbling. I'm worried that it may be leaching some toxic chemical into the water? I'm not so sure how realistic that is. I thought I would mention it though. I'll post a picture as soon as my camera battery charges.

Thanks!

 

[CHurst5841]

Here they are...

 

[CHurst5841]

Anyone have any idea?

 

[OldMan]

I think I would take that ornament out of the tank. It looks like water is getting under the paint and to me that means there is a way for things from under the paint to get out into the water. Unless you know the ornament itself is safe, with no paint on it, it is time to remove it.
I missed how many weeks your tank has been set up and cycling so no answer to whether you should be showing nitrites yet. That can easily take a couple of weeks to start happening.