What did I do wrong?

[Teka1979]

Hey there, thank you for any help in advance.
About 3 weeks ago I started my 50g tank up and let it run for a week before I added any fish. At one week I added 6 little tetras and kept an eye on my ammo levels. I did water changes as necessary to keep the ammo levels down to at least 2ppm. At week two I added 6 more cichlids and kept up with the water changes. At that time I also started reading nitrites. About half way through week three I did a water change to take my ammo and nitrites down and in the process lost all my nitrites and have yet to get them back. This Thursday will be week four. My ammo keeps going up and only drops with water changes, but nothing else will show up. I did not clean anything, no filter change, just water changes.
I have no idea what I did wrong.

 

[HN1]

Welcome to AA Teka!

A couple things.... running the tank without a bioload is just a waste of electricity. It is terrible advice that LFSs tend to throw out there (I followed it myself once upon a time). Ammonia needs to be kept under .25 PPM. 2 PPM would be fatal for any prolonged amount of time. Water changes won't affect the cycle at all. Go nuts with them.

Here are a couple good articles for cycling.
Fish-in Cycling: Step over into the dark side - Aquarium Advice
I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

 

[Teka1979]

I have not lost a fish so far. Been doing daily water changes to keep it low. I have read every article on here and several other sites. I just found it odd that I had nitrites for a few days them they disappeared after a water change and have not been able to get them back. I have no nitrate reading either.

 

[KantGetRite]

What are you using to take your readings? I'm assuming that since you say that you have read a lot of stuff on here that you know to use API master test kit if you haven't been doing so already. Be patient with the nitrogen cycle, I know it's frustrating but it doesn't sound like you've done anything wrong. You just have to wait it out.

 

[Teka1979]

I use the API master test kit. So I still have no nitrites and my ammo is through the roof, its past 8ppm. Its been 5 weeks.

 

[Teka1979]

Oh yes, about two weeks ago I added filter media from a very established tank.

 

[KantGetRite]

I would do 50% water changes everyday until ammonia get down to .25 ppm. I might even do the. Twice a day 5-6 hours between changes. Are your fish still alive? I mean that seems like a pretty stressful amount for a long time.

 

[Teka1979]

For about a week I was doing 50% to 60% water changes daily just to keep it down to 1ppm. After a month of reading no nitrites, i kind of threw my hands up and decided to let it run and see what happened. I have done everything and no luck. All 12 fish are still alive, they do not look happy though.

 

[KantGetRite]

Lol, would you be happy swimming in poison? Or breathing toxic gas? That's what ammonia is like to them. Just keep at it. It will eventually build up the bacteria and things will progress...if you do nothing they all die

 

[Rivercats]

What is your ph reading? If ph falls to 6.5 or below biological activity slows. If ph falls to 6 or below biological activity stop and BB begin to die off. It's not uncommon for ph to fall during cycling. Also check your tap water for ammonia. Using Prime every 24 hours will help keep ammonia in a less toxic form but you still need to keep doing the WC's.

 

[Teka1979]

Ph is at 7.6