Bettafanatic
Aquarium Advice Addict
Just saying that when I was cycling it took much shorter for it to start up, but if it usually doesn't start the nitrification process for two weeks, then just ignore me
Ammonia not dropping
- Thread starter MummyC
- Start date
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Just saying that when I was cycling it took much shorter for it to start up, but if it usually doesn't start the nitrification process for two weeks, then just ignore me
CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
MummyC said:Ok seriously this day could not get worse
Iv just been lookin closely at the tank to see if i could see any of the baby snails and i saw 2 little white things jumping around one corner! Even as a novice i know what fleas look like (i have 2 dogs lol) how did i end up with fleas did they hitch on the plants too?
Are you talking about water fleas? If so that's easy to treat when just starting an empty tank. They should die out on their own with no fish to attach to after a couple weeks. If you want them gone right away you can easily add a parasite med to knock em out in a day or so and then add some carbon for a couple days to remove the meds. It'll restart your biofilter but it was restarted anyway. No need to worry much.
librarygirl
Look It Up
I wouldn't worry too much about anything in the tank. What do they look like? They might be a lot of things: copepods comes to mind too.
I wouldn't panic yet about ammonia not dropping after 2 weeks.
What dechlorinator are you using? Does it say it treats chlorine, chloramine and heavy metals? Some municipalities use extra chlorine or chloramine that require more than the normal dose of dechlorinator but again I wouldn't worry too much yet. If you wanted to, you could do a 100% water change and double-dose the dechlorinator (and tell your partner to not touch the filter media LOL), but leaving it alone would be okay as well.
My tank took 7 months to cycle; a bad example (not the norm, so don't worry) but at 2 weeks I wouldn't panic yet.
I wouldn't panic yet about ammonia not dropping after 2 weeks.
What dechlorinator are you using? Does it say it treats chlorine, chloramine and heavy metals? Some municipalities use extra chlorine or chloramine that require more than the normal dose of dechlorinator but again I wouldn't worry too much yet. If you wanted to, you could do a 100% water change and double-dose the dechlorinator (and tell your partner to not touch the filter media LOL), but leaving it alone would be okay as well.
My tank took 7 months to cycle; a bad example (not the norm, so don't worry) but at 2 weeks I wouldn't panic yet.
Im guessing they are water fleas! They are white and slightly green if that makes sense and the do look like they are jumping over the gravel!
I had a talk with my partner and we have ordered a new ammonia source some new carbon and plain filter sponges and a syphon. If the ammonia hasnt started to drop by late next week when the arrive we will start again im keepin my fingers firmly crossed for a sudden change lol
Dechlorinator is called neptune tap safe it says it removes chlorine, chloramine and heavy metals! It was all the had at the local supermarket.
I had a talk with my partner and we have ordered a new ammonia source some new carbon and plain filter sponges and a syphon. If the ammonia hasnt started to drop by late next week when the arrive we will start again
im keepin my fingers firmly crossed for a sudden change lol Dechlorinator is called neptune tap safe it says it removes chlorine, chloramine and heavy metals! It was all the had at the local supermarket.
Carbon helps to remove pollutants and bad smells. It will NOT stall your cycle.
The little jumpers are more than likely copepods.
Usually in a new tank the culprits for invading are copepods and Planaria. Both of which will cause no damage to your fish when you are able to stock.
Depending upon where you live some LFS sell mature Siporax, which are the bio-media you add into your filter. I used some from my LFS and my tank took 22 days to fully cycle using lab strength ammonia from the school I work in.
DO NOT LISTEN TO PETSATHOME EMPLOYEES.
The other day I heard one of their employees telling a woman that a goldfish will be fine in a tank as small as 10gallons (35litre) and that them outgrowing tanks is a MYTH.
I wanted to hurt him bad but then I heard the woman say she wanted it for a pond. Otherwise I would have told her differently.
Try to get your OH to stay away from the tank unless they really want to learn the right way of doing things. Otherwise you could be fighting problems caused by your OH that needn't be there.
Finally be patient. It can take a long time to cycle properly, especially if you have no pre-seeded media in your filter.
Where abouts in the UK are you from?
I am quite prepared if you live close enough to donate some media should you need it.
I'm in Wrexham north Wales.
Jon
The little jumpers are more than likely copepods.
Usually in a new tank the culprits for invading are copepods and Planaria. Both of which will cause no damage to your fish when you are able to stock.
Depending upon where you live some LFS sell mature Siporax, which are the bio-media you add into your filter. I used some from my LFS and my tank took 22 days to fully cycle using lab strength ammonia from the school I work in.
DO NOT LISTEN TO PETSATHOME EMPLOYEES.
The other day I heard one of their employees telling a woman that a goldfish will be fine in a tank as small as 10gallons (35litre) and that them outgrowing tanks is a MYTH.
I wanted to hurt him bad but then I heard the woman say she wanted it for a pond. Otherwise I would have told her differently.
Try to get your OH to stay away from the tank unless they really want to learn the right way of doing things. Otherwise you could be fighting problems caused by your OH that needn't be there.
Finally be patient. It can take a long time to cycle properly, especially if you have no pre-seeded media in your filter.
Where abouts in the UK are you from?
I am quite prepared if you live close enough to donate some media should you need it.
I'm in Wrexham north Wales.
Jon
I will never again listen to pets at home they are ridiculous! They sold my OH a 17 litre tank with 2 orandas, hence the reason i want to do it right this time...it just doesn't seem to be going right so far!
I just checked the ammonia and its gone up to 8ppm, it did the same thing last week but i haven't put any ammonia in for well over a week
Should i drain and start over or just do another water change?
I have a maidenhead aquatics near me does anyone know if they will sell mature siporax?
Jondamon i unfortunately don't live close by as I'm near Manchester
I just checked the ammonia and its gone up to 8ppm, it did the same thing last week but i haven't put any ammonia in for well over a week
Should i drain and start over or just do another water change?
I have a maidenhead aquatics near me does anyone know if they will sell mature siporax?
Jondamon i unfortunately don't live close by as I'm near Manchester
librarygirl
Look It Up
So you currently have two goldfish in a 17 liter tank? Does the tank have a filter? I'm assuming this tank is an upgrade for the goldfish?
Personally I'd just move the fish over to the larger tank and do a fish-in cycle with them (do a complete water change or two in order to remove the ammonia in the tank now though of course). It would be better for them to be moved to the larger tank rather than waiting for the new one to cycle. If the tank they are in now has a filter, just move it over to the larger tank and run it concurrently with the new filter (or move any media over from the smaller tanks' filter to the new tank's filter and then fill the rest with media from the new filter). I'm assuming you're doing pretty frequent water changes for two goldies in a 17 liter tank; the larger volume of water in the bigger tank can help in that regard too. It's up to you, though.
Personally I'd just move the fish over to the larger tank and do a fish-in cycle with them (do a complete water change or two in order to remove the ammonia in the tank now though of course). It would be better for them to be moved to the larger tank rather than waiting for the new one to cycle. If the tank they are in now has a filter, just move it over to the larger tank and run it concurrently with the new filter (or move any media over from the smaller tanks' filter to the new tank's filter and then fill the rest with media from the new filter). I'm assuming you're doing pretty frequent water changes for two goldies in a 17 liter tank; the larger volume of water in the bigger tank can help in that regard too. It's up to you, though.
Sorry should have explained better the first tank we were sold was a 17 litre for 2 orandas but because pets at home didnt tell us anything about cycling or the tank being too small! Both the fish died in 24 hours and thats when i started doing as much research as i could about cycling and how big a tank goldfish need... i made a very big complaint to the head office and got refunded for the tank, fish and a gift card! All of which we put towards the 120 litre tropical tank that im trying to cycle now.
Sorry for the mix up
Sorry for the mix up
Depends upon how you want to attack this now.
Ideally your ammonia levels for a fishless cycle need to be under 4ppm, so that would involve dumping half your water and adding fresh dechlorinated water. However your levels may be higher than 8ppm as the API only reads up to 8ppm. So you could find yourself removing more water after you do a 50% PWC.
I would remove as much water as you can and try to get your ammonia levels to 0ppm or 0.25ppm depending upon how much chlorine is in your water. This may take 2x90% PWC's to lower it enough.
Then as librarygirl has mentioned try a fish in cycle instead.
You are very fortunate to have a maidenhead aquatics near you. I hear a lot of people say how good they are.
Have you thought about what fish you want in your tank?
Depending upon your stocking choices you could use some to perform your fish in cycle. As long as your Ammonia Nitrite and Nitrate levels are monitored and PWC's are performed when ammonia and nitrite hit 0.25-0.50ppm then very little damage will happen to hardier fish from doing a fish in cycle.
Jon
Ideally your ammonia levels for a fishless cycle need to be under 4ppm, so that would involve dumping half your water and adding fresh dechlorinated water. However your levels may be higher than 8ppm as the API only reads up to 8ppm. So you could find yourself removing more water after you do a 50% PWC.
I would remove as much water as you can and try to get your ammonia levels to 0ppm or 0.25ppm depending upon how much chlorine is in your water. This may take 2x90% PWC's to lower it enough.
Then as librarygirl has mentioned try a fish in cycle instead.
You are very fortunate to have a maidenhead aquatics near you. I hear a lot of people say how good they are.
Have you thought about what fish you want in your tank?
Depending upon your stocking choices you could use some to perform your fish in cycle. As long as your Ammonia Nitrite and Nitrate levels are monitored and PWC's are performed when ammonia and nitrite hit 0.25-0.50ppm then very little damage will happen to hardier fish from doing a fish in cycle.
Jon
Bettafanatic
Aquarium Advice Addict
MummyC said:
Poor goldfish. :'( Same thing happened to my glo fish because PetCo didn't tell me about cycling.
BlaseMrNiceguy
Aquarium Advice FINatic
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2012
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+1 on copepods I had them in my 29 gallon when I was cycling along with a ton of planeria and my fish went crazy for them when I was finally able to stock virtually none left in the tank now, not a bad little food source for the micro fish I stocked with.
Well we decided to empty the tank and start again we washed all the gravel and ornaments but left the filter just rinsing it in some of the tank water!
How difficult is a fish in cycle?
The fish i like so far are: clown plec
How difficult is a fish in cycle?
The fish i like so far are: clown plec
black phantom tetra
cherry barb
giant danio
dwarf neon rainbow
gold gourami
blue ram
apistogramma borelli
bronze corys
platys
mollys
etc
cherry barb
giant danio
dwarf neon rainbow
gold gourami
blue ram
apistogramma borelli
bronze corys
platys
mollys
etc
the only definite are the clown plec and giant danio so far!
I'm a little confused now as to whether i should do a fish less cycle or fish in cycle..i really don't want to have to start over again!
librarygirl
Look It Up
Oops sorry, I thought you still had the goldfish.
Fish-in cycles are doable as long as you only start with a very small amount of fish and you're diligent in testing the water daily and being prepared to do frequent water changes (sometimes daily) as needed for about 4-8 weeks.
I'm not sure why the ammonia is rising on its own. Your tap water has 0 ammonia, right? It's possible the ammonia was overdosed at some point and maybe got into the filters and then leeched back out. I'm not sure if that's a valid theory, just thinking out loud lol
Fish-in cycles are doable as long as you only start with a very small amount of fish and you're diligent in testing the water daily and being prepared to do frequent water changes (sometimes daily) as needed for about 4-8 weeks.
I'm not sure why the ammonia is rising on its own. Your tap water has 0 ammonia, right? It's possible the ammonia was overdosed at some point and maybe got into the filters and then leeched back out. I'm not sure if that's a valid theory, just thinking out loud lol
Yep 0 ammonia in the tap water, so I'm guessing i put too much ammonia in at the start 
I got my kleen off ammonia in the post this morning so will start over today and this time i will use one of the kids pipettes and just add a few drops
Fingers crossed this works 2nd time around lol will it work quicker as my filters already had a start with the ammonia?
I got my kleen off ammonia in the post this morning so will start over today and this time i will use one of the kids pipettes and just add a few drops
Fingers crossed this works 2nd time around lol will it work quicker as my filters already had a start with the ammonia?
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