Fishless Cycle and Seeding 10 Gallon

[npandav011]

My equipment:

• 10 gallon tank
• hood w/ light
• no heater - live in Texas!
• API ammonia/nitrite liquid test
• Top Fin filter 10

I am on the 12th day of my fishless cycle. When I started I, dded water and dechloronated it. I added ammonia and got the level to about 5 ppm. I started to see it go down last week to about 4.0 ppm but it has not moved since. It has been stuck at 4.0 for over a week.

Yesterday I was finally able to get filter media from my LFS. I cut up strips of it and put it in my filter and the rest I put directly in my tank. (Should I put it in panty hose?) I tested today and ammonia is still 4 and the nitrites are a little darker than 0 but definately not .25 ppm. BUT now when I came home today I saw bubbles all around the tank specifically near the tank. Is something wrong? Did I seed it correctly? I am really frustrated with the cycle, if you could give me any help that would be great! Thanks

 

[logansmomma1228]

Well the cycle usually takes 4 to 6 weeks at least so it sounds like you still have a little bit to go. However, if you are starting to see nitrites it should not be long before your tank is cycled... what kind of ammonia did you use? If it has scents or detergents in it it will kill your bacteria. you need pure ammonia that doesn't bubble when shaken, or fish food. It sounds like you are doing everything right though. Do you have the nitrate test also? You will need that because the nitrites get converted into nitrate which is also harmful to your fish if it gets high enough. Once your ammonia converts to nitrate within 24 hours you should be cycled.

Oh and welcome to AA

 

[npandav011]

Thanks! I am using Ace hardware ammonia which has no surfactants. I have not bought a nitrate tester yet, I will though.

What about the bubbles forming though? They started after I seeded the bacteria yesterday

 

[logansmomma1228]

I'm not sure what those could be from, I am having a similar issue with one of my filters. It just started bubbling like soap bubbles and I took it and soaked it in vinegar and then scrubbed the crap out of it with bleach water then soaked it and scrubbed it some more... it is still bubbling. lol. I don't know what's going on. Maybe there is someone else who can think of something. The only thing I can think of would be if there was some sort of soap in the water, or sometimes bubbles just form. Where exactly were the bubbles and how many of them are there? Like are they around the filter, or around the edges?

 

[npandav011]

They are around the filter

 

[logansmomma1228]

Well here is the thread that I started about my bubbles, except they were actually in my filter. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f60/help-what-is-wrong-with-my-filter-129608.html The only thing suggested was some sort of soap being used in it since I bought it used. I am going to run it in a bucket for a while to see if it's just a weird filter lol. I'll probably end up getting a different one, but I hope that thread helps you any.