Tank not cycling

[ddereckl]

Hey everyone! So last month i was near the end of cycling my tank when i OD'd on ammonia and killed all my bacteria. I restarted my cycle and it has been 5 weeks and my ammonia isnt dropping at all. Any ideas whats wrong? Btw its a fishless cycle.

 

[BlaseMrNiceguy]

Have been adding ammonia to the tank the whole time?

 

[jlk]

What are your exact numbers for ammonia & ph right now and what are you using to test them? What is the temp?

 

[ddereckl]

Ammonia: around 3ppm
Temp: 84F
Master Freshwater Test Kit.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

What are your nitrite and nitrate levels?

 

[ddereckl]

nitrite: .5
ammonia: 2
nitrates: 0

 

[BlaseMrNiceguy]

How about ph? If your ph drops too low the cycle will stall.

 

[librarygirl]

Have you done any water changes lately or during the 5 weeks? Did you change out anything in the tank, removing filter media, etc? How high did you overdose ammonia and how long was it at the higher level?

I'd do a 100% water change then retest ammonia, make sure it's 0 (if you didn't overdose it should be). Then dose only to 2 and let's see what happens.

 

[ddereckl]

thanks for the reply everyone! my ph is around 7.4. i didnt do a water change, although i did add more water. i dosed around 4 ppm

 

[librarygirl]

I would do a full water change. It's possible the minerals etc in the water are depleted and the bacteria could use some fresh ones. A water change can sometimes kick-start a stalled cycle.

 

[ddereckl]

ok ill try that and see how things go tommorrow.

 

[nitaradu]

Buy a bottle of Tetra Safe Start (250ml) and drop it all in the water if you have around 50gal tank . I'm using this as i'm also setting up a new tank but with fishes in it. Also i'm using Tetra Easy Balance to keep the PH in the region of 7.3-7.5.Also keep the water around 70F-85F to speed the cycle of bacterias.

 

[boadams87]

When you added water did you use dechlorinator on it?

 

[ddereckl]

I added water today and used Prime. Ammonia is at .25 and nitrites are around 0, a little bit darker than 0. im going to wait until ammonia reaches 0, then dose to 4

 

[boadams87]

I added water today and used Prime. Ammonia is at .25 and nitrites are around 0, a little bit darker than 0. im going to wait until ammonia reaches 0, then dose to 4

Ok. You don't have to wait. What's ur nitrates reading?