kmlong
Aquarium Advice Activist
Ok, i need help. Its been 5 weeks going on six and i still have no cycle in my tank. I have a 20gal FW with nine fish in it. Fish are well and healthy and active, nothing wrong with them. I always have ammonia readings, even after doing a water change. Last week i did a water change, scraped the algae off the sides of the tank, and replaced the filter cartridge. I know your supposed to keep the original one in from when you started but it just was not cleaning the water anymore. Well now its doing the same thing again and the new cartridge is only about a week old. the water looked so good when i got done last week, but now this week its cloudy again. it doesn't stink just cloudy. I guess when i do a water change i'll have to rinse the cartridge in some old water. I have carbon in too. Can i replace that or do i have to keep that in the cartridge since i want to keep the bacteria till i get a cycle. I don't think i have any bacteria!!! I don't even see any poop on the gravel after 6 weeks, no need to even vac!! I've been feeding very sparingly, i try to feed only once a day till i get this all straightened out. I've found too that using an air pump helps control my protein deposits on the top of the water. either that or it just breaks it down more. any info would be great, thanks.