4 month old tank still not cycled?

[bleubelle]

I've had a 10 gallon tank since May. I made the mistake of believing the folks at PetSmart and only doing a fishless cycle for a week, without testing the water. Since then, I found a much more knowledgeable LFS who's been helping me out. I lost several neon tetras initially (3 out of 5) and 1 out of 2 bloodfin tetras. When I introduced a second bloodfin, he died and then my first one (who'd survived a lot of initial trauma due to my lack of research) died as well...pretty sure the new one came in ill.

Right now I have:
2 neons
5 blackskirt tetras
1 glofish

I know I'm most likely overcrowding for a 10 gallon tank. I know I should have more neons so they can school, but they're doing alright and I don't want to overcrowd more than I already have. I'm planning to move up to a 20 gallon tank soon. The tetras have been in the tank since May, and the glofish was added in July.

So here's the deal: All the fish are doing fine at this point. No signs of illness; they actually look better than ever. I feed minimally every other day. I do a PWC every week (about 25%) and vacuum the gravel. I was changing more often due to test levels, but my LFS said I was actually preventing the buildup of the bio filter. I have 1 filter that came with the tank, and I rinse it out with tank water anytime I notice it's getting nasty. I treat water going in with Prime, a little more than necessary, and usually add some mid-week as well. BUT...it seems like I can't get the tank to cycle. My ammonia levels have never come down, and actually have gone up. Nitrites were hovering around 0 until today (which I suspect is because it never cycled).

Current levels (with API master test kit):
Ammonia: 8.0
Nitrite: 1.0
Nitrate: 20

Is the fact that my nitrites have come up a bit a sign that the tank is finally cycling? What else should I do to encourage the cycle and/or bring my ammonia down consistently? Would adding some plants help, and which would you recommend? Would it help to add a second filter? I've checked my tap water prior to adding Prime, and ammonia is 0. Is it possible that the tank actually is cycled, but just not stabilized right now? I'm amazed the fish are doing as well as they are. The only thing I can figure out is that maybe the Prime is binding the ammonia, so it's not actually at the toxic level it appears to be.

Any advice welcome...thanks in advance!

 

[Annakhil]

The glofish and blackskirts need to be in a 20g or more , your ammonia is probably soo high bc your bio load is larger than what your filter can handle, plants will help but you still need to relocate them soon. I would do more of a 50%pwc weekly to help with the levels. What type of filter do you have?

 

[Laser]

He said glofish, not goldfish. Retest your water again. I missed a drop or added an extra drop and it read darker than 8ppm one time. If your ammonia was at 8.0 I think your fish would be showing signs of discomfort at the least and those neons should surely be dead. Make sure you follow the instructions exactly.

 

[shellieca]

I've had a 10 gallon tank since May. I made the mistake of believing the folks at PetSmart and only doing a fishless cycle for a week, without testing the water. Since then, I found a much more knowledgeable LFS who's been helping me out. I lost several neon tetras initially (3 out of 5) and 1 out of 2 bloodfin tetras. When I introduced a second bloodfin, he died and then my first one (who'd survived a lot of initial trauma due to my lack of research) died as well...pretty sure the new one came in ill.

Right now I have:
2 neons
5 blackskirt tetras
1 glofish

I know I'm most likely overcrowding for a 10 gallon tank. I know I should have more neons so they can school, but they're doing alright and I don't want to overcrowd more than I already have. I'm planning to move up to a 20 gallon tank soon. The tetras have been in the tank since May, and the glofish was added in July.

So here's the deal: All the fish are doing fine at this point. No signs of illness; they actually look better than ever. I feed minimally every other day. I do a PWC every week (about 25%) and vacuum the gravel. I was changing more often due to test levels, but my LFS said I was actually preventing the buildup of the bio filter. I have 1 filter that came with the tank, and I rinse it out with tank water anytime I notice it's getting nasty. I treat water going in with Prime, a little more than necessary, and usually add some mid-week as well. BUT...it seems like I can't get the tank to cycle. My ammonia levels have never come down, and actually have gone up. Nitrites were hovering around 0 until today (which I suspect is because it never cycled).

Current levels (with API master test kit):
Ammonia: 8.0
Nitrite: 1.0
Nitrate: 20

Is the fact that my nitrites have come up a bit a sign that the tank is finally cycling? What else should I do to encourage the cycle and/or bring my ammonia down consistently? Would adding some plants help, and which would you recommend? Would it help to add a second filter? I've checked my tap water prior to adding Prime, and ammonia is 0. Is it possible that the tank actually is cycled, but just not stabilized right now? I'm amazed the fish are doing as well as they are. The only thing I can figure out is that maybe the Prime is binding the ammonia, so it's not actually at the toxic level it appears to be.

Any advice welcome...thanks in advance!

I'm not sure your fish would still be alive with ammonia at 8 & nitrites at 1. I agree with the other poster redo your tests & if they're still that high you may want to get them checked at an LFS. You need to do at least a 50% water change, test your water again about an hour later if it's still high do another water change & keep doing that until your ammonia & nitrites are where they should be. Are you vacuuming properly? Have you changed out your filter or cleaned it with tap water?

 

[Zimmanski]

I know what you're going through! Sadly I don't have any advice but it's good to know I'm not alone. I'm having ammonia problems too, or at least that's what the API master test says, I add prime to new water and every now and then to the tank, I also have been adding seachems stability. I've had my ammonia as high as 8ppm and as low as 2ppm, weird thing is my fish have been doing amazingly, aside from 4 I lost in the very beginning, they're even breeding. Post if you figure anything out! Good luck

 

[jetajockey]

It's possible that it really has 8.0 ammonia. What's the pH at? A pH in the low 6s could do a few things that would be consistent with this situation. As pH drops below neutral and towards 6 ammonia goes into a less toxic form (nh4), so fish can tolerate much larger amounts without showing any signs of stress. Also, as the pH drops down to around 6 nitrification slows or even stalls completely, so the bacteria basically stop processing the ammonia in the tank.

If you do find this to be the case, don't be so quick to raise the pH up. It needs to be raised for sure, but be sure that you get the ammonia level down to nil before you add a buffer to the water, otherwise you'll wipe the entire tank out in an instant.

Hope this helps.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

It's possible that it really has 8.0 ammonia. What's the pH at? A pH in the low 6s could do a few things that would be consistent with this situation. As pH drops below neutral and towards 6 ammonia goes into a less toxic form (nh4), so fish can tolerate much larger amounts without showing any signs of stress. Also, as the pH drops down to around 6 nitrification slows or even stalls completely, so the bacteria basically stop processing the ammonia in the tank.

If you do find this to be the case, don't be so quick to raise the pH up. It needs to be raised for sure, but be sure that you get the ammonia level down to nil before you add a buffer to the water, otherwise you'll wipe the entire tank out in an instant.

Hope this helps.

Exactly right. It's not a common thing, but with some well water or straight RO water systems, it can easily be the cause.

 

[Zimmanski]

I don't know what the OPs ph is but mine never drops below 7.6