Help! Tank Won't Cycle

[RobinA]

I've had a 10 gallon set up for five weeks. I started out doing a fishless cycle and the ammonia went up and the nitrites started to show up slightly. After about two weeks I decided to get two platys. The platys are quite happy. Every day the ammonia goes up to about 1.0 and I do a partial water change. My water test hasn't shown any nitrites since I added the fish. Nitrates have been around 5 for awhile now, so something must be happening, however slight.

It's been five weeks now, the fish seem fine, but I'm ready for this tank to be stable. The ph is currently 8.8, which is higher than the usual normal of about 8.0. I do try to lower the ph with buffer, and there is approximately 1 tsp per gallon of aquarium salt in the water. I have an underground filter and a filter on the side of the tank. I have a 30 gallon that's been set up for many, many years, using the same salt, the same buffer and the same water, which is quite stable. No ammonia, no nitrites, fish happy, etc. Am I not letting the ammonia get high enough? Is the ph the problem? If I'm just being impatient that's fine, but I don't want this to go on forever if I'm doing something wrong.

 

[TankGirl]

You are probably being impatient, lol!

Welcome to Aquarium Advice, btw!!

A little unconventional to get the platys in there mid-cycle, but I'd say you will need to wait a few more weeks. The pH should be just fine for those platys and just keep the ammonia on the low side for them and it will cycle, it really will. Assuming you are not "cleaning" the tank or filter, and are not using ammonia-removing media in your filter I would not worry. Get yourself some really icky filter floss from your established tank, and rubber band that to the filter media in your cycling tank and things should really take off.

Good luck!

 

[Guest]

I was just about to ask a similar question. I wonder if my tank cycled and my filtering and water changes are doing the job, or if it never cycled (yet). I do not monitor water conditions very often so perhaps I missed it?

I set up my aquarium a little over 70 days ago, and started out with five neon tetras and five zebra danios. After waiting two weeks and monitoring the water I have over the course of the last month added three guppies, five otocinclus, one red-tailed shark, two clown loaches, and one betta. No fish have died, and all seem to be doing well. (Err, except the clown loaches -- they like to attack each other, it seems.) The algae is building up [sarcasm] quite nicely [/sarcasm] which the Otos dig.

I monitor ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Each time I have checked them, none have gone up. Zero all the way the last 70 days. Today, the ammonia reading may have gone up to 0.25 -- it is hard to tell with these color indicator tests. Could still be zero.

The only issue I really seem to have is pH. I like to keep it around 7.5, but it likes to climb. I just checked it and it's in the 8.75 region. Yikes. Perhaps I should turn off aeration?

I have a 70 gallon tank and the only filtration is a Fluval 404. I have not cracked it open since day one so the bacteria could get well-established within it.

Ideas?

 

[Menagerie]

I would like both Presence and RobinA to do a little test. Leave a cup of tap water out over night, or for a day and then test the pH. Then, please post the results.

 

[Guest]

I would like both Presence and RobinA to do a little test. Leave a cup of tap water out over night, or for a day and then test the pH. Then, please post the results.

I did this. The cup was left to sit overnight (just over eight hours) and I tested the pH, which read around 8.25. I did a 5% water change last night after my previous post remarking on the high pH.

 

[mattrox]

That 8.75 is the "natural" pH of your water. It would be good to leave your water overnight to "age" before a PWC. This way your pH will be stable and you will enjoy much more success in the long term.

HTH

I am tired and need some z's....... If I go on I won't make sense.. 8O Ni'night!

 

[Guest]

You know what, I misunderstood. For some reason I thought I was supposed to leave a cup of TANK water out overnight.

The pH of the water as it comes out of the faucet tests at just under 7.5. I will try the overnight test again tonight and report back.

 

[Guest]

Overnight test of my TAP water: this morning the pH was 7.5.

 

[mattrox]

If your pH is rising that much in your tank, then I would suspect something in your tank has carbonate content.

What rocks you you have in yout tank? What gravel are you using?