Fishless cycle...Stuck!!

[Makaveli]

Hello all, just joined the forums here after lurking for a while and doing a fair amount of research. I've been following Eco's fishless cycle guide and am a bit confused at this point.

So I've had my 20 gallon set up for about 2 - 2 1/2 weeks now, filter's filtering, bubble wand's bubbling, temp is cranked up to about 85..I've seen no changes in ammonia or nitrites, however I'm sitting at what looks to be about 60 ppm of nitrates(my tap water already has about 20ppm alone). I know a step by step of what I've done is essential for finding help so here it is...

I started off very horribly...this is my first aquarium and had no idea of how much ammonia to add. So without thinking, I just dumped some in .
Waited a day to test, and it was black, clearly I was working with a janitor's bucket here and not an aquarium. I changed just about as much water as I could and got the ammonia levels back down to about .25ppm. I then found the ammonia calculator online and added the proper ammount to dose it to 4 ppm.

I waited about a week - week and a half with no changes at all...I went to the LFS and asked them for seeding material, but came back with a bottle of seachem stability instead. I've since completed the 7 days of adding that stuff and have really only noticed the slight increase in nitrates. Ammonia is still at the original 4 ppm since day 2, and I've never noticed a change in nitrites. I'm wondering if i may have messed up my filter media by letting it sit in that janitor's bucket for an entire day? That's really my only guess.
Any advice is greatly appreciated

 

[Ulrichsd]

It took mine 4 weeks, I too used the some topfin stuff based of the store recommendation. Nothing. After 3 weeks I added prime and got nitrites in 2 days and full nitrate conversion by the end of the week. But sounds like 4-6 weeks is normal so maybe just be patIent

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[ranicrab]

I agree - it just takes time! We are 5 weeks in and now have nitrites and nitrates! For the first week we didn't have the heater so I think that is why it took a little longer. Seems like a long time but it has been nice getting the driftwood, rock, and plants set up as well as our UPS - we often have power blips and have an aqua clear pump that loses pressure when the power goes out (which it did yesterday!) we never added anything but the ammonia...Good luck!

 

[Makaveli]

Very cool, sounds like I'm on the right track then. I'm inexperienced, so I thought I'd be seeing results the first week, so by the end of the second I started thinking something was definitely wrong. I'll see how it goes in the next week or two and post an update...still open to any more advice, and thank you for the replies!

 

[cfosgate]

You're on the right track. Norm is 4-8 weeks and it depends upon several factors.

Check your PH and make sure it doesn't fall below about 6.4. If it does then do a big water change to bring the PH back up. Below 6 the beneficial bacteria begin to die. The nitrification process itself makes the water more acidic.

Some people say turning the heat up 82-87 degrees really helps speed things along. I have done both no heater and heater at 87 and definitely saw faster cycling with increased heat.

 

[Makaveli]

Yeah I've been keeping an eye on the PH and it has stayed pretty consistently at around 7.6. Also have the temperature at 85 currently. What threw me off was the fact that the nitrates increased before the ammonia dropped or any nitrites showed up. Could it be the bacteria product? I also added a couple of finely ground up flakes so maybe that has something to do with it...not sure.

 

[Ulrichsd]

I'm not sure how precise the nitrate test I is, but it's too bad that your nitrate tap level is so high as it makes your water changes less effective.

When your tank can convert 1-2 ppm ammonia completely to nitrates in 24 hours then it is done cycling.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Kharrnn]

I too followed that guide. In there he states that this is not a quick process and that it can take several weeks for ammonia to start dropping in some cases.

I cycled a 10 gallon this way with no seeding material and no "cycle in a bottle" stuff. That tank took close to 8 weeks from start to finish. After that I started a 20gallon using some seeding material and it took about 6 weeks to complete.

2-2.5 weeks without seeing ammonia drop sounds about right to me. As for dumping too much at the start, its possible it may have stalled things, but as far as I know the bacteria would eventually eat it all.

With nitrates that high in your tap water you may want to look into alternate sources for water. It does mostly defeat the purpose of a water change otherwise.

 

[Makaveli]

Alrighty, thank you all for the input. What would you guys recommend I do about the nitrates being so high in my tap water? I was worried about that before I even started the process. I read it wouldn't be too bad as long as I do PWC's about twice a week...does that sound about right? I don't think alternate sources would be too convenient, considering I'd probably have to buy it and restart my whole process.

Edit: I just read something stating that water is not allowed to be above 10ppm nitrates in the US...i guess I should be giving the water company a call.

 

[Kharrnn]

Restart the whole process? I'm not talking about changing everything and getting new filter material, just getting water from another source for your water changes. Water is cheap around me, about $0.50/gal. So a 25% water change weekly would be $2.50. In theory, a 25% PWC would be sufficient. If that cost is too high, you can look online for DIY RO water.

You can also go with a heavily planted tank, which helps by utilizing the nitrates in your water. In addition, fish seem to be less stressed with live plants.

 

[Makaveli]

Gotcha, I was thinking I would have to do a full water change with the new water. $2.50 a week wouldn't be a problem at all...any advice on what type of water to get? I'm worried about messing with different water because of the difference in pH

 

[Kharrnn]

The fish stores around me have RO water. I'd recommend taking in a water sample and have them check yours and their ph levels. Generally though, if you acclimate the fish slowly they will get used to the ph change and be fine.

My guess though is that the fish store is using local tap water too, then doing the RO cycle to remove the nitrates. They would be able to answer that better than me though.

 

[Makaveli]

Sounds good, I'll take a trip down there tomorrow and talk to them about it. I appreciate the advice.

 

[Makaveli]

Late update here...but thanks for the suggestion Kharrnn. I ended up going that route and found that my local fish store has RO water for 39cents a gallon...my cycle still hasn't come along yet but I just got some seeding material in today and am confident that it'll get things moving very soon.