Think I Killed My Bacteria :(

[Trickerie]

Hey all,

Ive been doing my fishless cycle for quite some time now, over a month? I had been using the stick on ammonia reader that goes inside the tank to monitor generally when I should add more ammonia. Well, I think it went bad. It read yellow the other day, and in my haste I didnt test with the master kit like I usually do and just dosed it up. It turned purple, and then within a day it turned yellow again. Great, i thought my cycle was progressing, so I added more. Today, I busted out the master kit to get all my readings. Nitrites, 0. Nitrates, 0...Ammonia...So over 8.0ppm!!!! My nitrites and nitrates were getting up there and was thinking it was time for fish here soon...

I immediately did a 90% water change and now I feel like I'm back to square one.... what do I do

 

[Cynic]

What's your PH? The only thing I can think of is you're PH crashed and has, as you think, wiped out your bacteria.

 

[blert]

Retest. Nitrate does not just disappear.

 

[Trickerie]

My PH has been reading 7.5 since I started the cycling. The test meter I had hanging in the tank is obviously broken :/ Read 0 ppm when master kit read off the charts.

 

[blert]

Change enough water to bring ammonia down to 2-4ppm. Retest tomorrow afternoon.
BTW, don't bother getting another of those in tank hanging things. They are super sketchy, rely on your test kit.

 

[BrackAttack]

seed the filter with an established filter.

 

[jlk]

Change enough water to bring ammonia down to 2-4ppm. Retest tomorrow afternoon.
BTW, don't bother getting another of those in tank hanging things. They are super sketchy, rely on your test kit.

I agree! Do a big water change to drop your amm to 4 (or lower). A reading of 8ppm ammonia is likely to have done some damage but your bacteria should hopefully recover fairly quickly. Stick to your API tests from now on. Good luck!

 

[boadams87]

My PH has been reading 7.5 since I started the cycling. The test meter I had hanging in the tank is obviously broken :/ Read 0 ppm when master kit read off the charts.

Throw that meter in the trash and only use the test kits!

 

[Trickerie]

I think I'm boned....

Did a water change until it read 4ppm on the test kit. Waited. Tested today and it still reads 4ppm, 0 nitrites and 5ppm nitrates. Did a PH check and it dropped to 6.5. What do I do now?!

PS. I have no other tanks, this is my first. Can't seed unless it can be from a saltwater tank?

 

[jlk]

Do a 50% water change to bring your ph up a bit & leave the ammonia be- a 50% change should bring it down to 2ppm. Heres a link to buy an 'active' seeded filter filter from Angelsplus. Just make sure you order a filter labeled 'active' or you will just be getting a plain, new filter.

Sponge Filters for aquariums

 

[librarygirl]

So, you had nitrite? For how long? And now it's gone?

What's your normal PH, do you know? You could do another water change to get it back up. Don't dose ammonia again for tonight, let it ride until tomorrow. Tomorrow night (or whenver you usually dose ammonia) dose only two 2 instead of 4.

My thoughts are that either the ammonia was so high for so long that it stalled the cycle or/and your PH kept falling along the way and stalling things. Either way it should hopefully get on track now that you're testing with a better kit.

If you want seeded media, you can order an active sponge filter from here: Sponge Filters for aquariums Just make sure it says "active" otherwise you're buying a plain filter. They sell them from their angelfish tanks and have helped a few people on here, myself included, with their cycles. Let us know how things look tomorrow.

 

[Trickerie]

Do a 50% water change to bring your ph up a bit & leave the ammonia be- a 50% change should bring it down to 2ppm. Heres a link to buy an 'active' seeded filter filter from Angelsplus. Just make sure you order a filter labeled 'active' or you will just be getting a plain, new filter.

Sponge Filters for aquariums

No idea what I would do with the sponge filter. This is only my first tank and its small. I don't even know the exact size because it was given to me used. I think 6-8 gallon? bow front.

Also, with the nitrate, I think my tap water has nitrate in it. The kit has read 5ppm nitrate since the beginning. I THOUGHT it was going up, but I was testing wrong (had to shake the hell out of the bottle?). So, never had any nitrates.

 

[jlk]

Honestly, one of these active sponges will probably instantly cycle a tank this size. You can either cut it up & put it in your filter or you can run it with a airpump (under $10 at walmart).

No worries about the nitrate- most of us have some level of nitrates in our tap & 5ppm is a pretty small amount. So, what are your plans for this tank?

 

[lelouchzeta]

If you want seeded media, you can order an active sponge filter from here: Sponge Filters for aquariums Just make sure it says "active" otherwise you're buying a plain filter. They sell them from their angelfish tanks and have helped a few people on here, myself included, with their cycles. Let us know how things look tomorrow.

Would this still work if I have a bio-wheel filter? Where would the spongey stuff go?

 

[Trickerie]

Honestly, one of these active sponges will probably instantly cycle a tank this size. You can either cut it up & put it in your filter or you can run it with a airpump (under $10 at walmart).

No worries about the nitrate- most of us have some level of nitrates in our tap & 5ppm is a pretty small amount. So, what are your plans for this tank?

I think id have to put it in my filter, because I think it would be far too large to put in the tank.

My plan was to set it up as a neon tetra tank. Since its so small I wanted fish that I can at least have a few of. Maybe 4 or 5? Im honestly not sure what would be best.

As for my PH, every time I tested it while there was bacteria eating ammonia, it was 7.5. Now its reading 6.5

 

[jlk]

Your def in need of a water change if your ph has dropped this much. The biowheel filters should have some room to fit a filter cartridge- this where you would cut pieces of sponge & stick it in. Basically, wherever you have room in the filter where theres water movement. This is just an option here- you obviously, can cycle this tank without any seeded media but you will just need some patience.

 

[Trickerie]

Today I did a very large water change to try and remedy the high ammonia and ph issues. I'm letting it cycle the water right now and will post the results later today.

My filter is a hang on back eheim, its got room in it so I'll just stuff the active foam sponge thing inside after cutting it up.

 

[HeatherW]

yep - that is what I did with mine. I have a penguin biowheel on my 20 gallon - cut the active filter in smaller pieces (maybe a quater of the block) and then did some stuffing behind the blue filter thing

water changes are our friends...

 

[Trickerie]

My levels are back to normal. The PH is back to 7.5.

I decided to get the active filter from angels, so I did water changes until I had no significant readings of ammonia, nitrite or nitrate. That was the right move, yes?

The same day I introduce the active filter I should add either fish or pure ammonia so they do not die, if I understand this all correctly?

Finally, I've noticed some biofilm build up when I did the water changes (slimely white/clear stuff). Should I invest in a snail or other organism that would eat this, along with my 4 or 5 tetras?

Thanks again

 

[HeatherW]

If you want to switch to a fish on cycle you can do that - either way. But yes you need to feed the bb. If you ate going to go a fish on male sure you check your nitrates.

Only get a snail if you want a snail. Otherwise just clean your slimy stuff and vacuum it up