Cycling Problem

[marsdend]

Hi all!

I have a bit of a problem, I started cycling my tank using the fishless cycle on the 29th of July using 10ml of Boots Household ammonia (UK) for my 190L tank to bring it up to 5ppm.

Since then I have only had one drop in ammonia down to 4ppm and no other movement since then, so it has now been 19 Days with no movement on Ammonia, no signs of Nitrite or Nitrate.

My water was conditioned before adding the ammonia and my heater is set at 30c to speed up the process but nothing is happening

Please can someone provide some advice

Cheers Guys!
Dan

 

[librarygirl]

I feel for you, I've had troubles with cycling myself.

The ammonia seems to be the right one, I've heard of people in the UK using Boots to cycle, so that's fine. The heat is up. Do you have an air stone in the tank? The bacteria you're trying to grow love oxygen.

Did anything get in the tank, any possibility of chemicals, soap, anti-bacterial detergents, etc. possibly making its way in? Even from using sprays?

Also if there's a way for you to get some seeded media from a friend with a tank, or from a local fish store? That might help kick things off assuming nothing weird got into the tank.

 

[marsdend]

Thanks, I have done a 50% water change, i dont know if this will make a difference but hopefully well soon see.

 

[eco23]

If you can include your pH level, that might be helpful too

 

[marsdend]

When I tested my pH earlier it was 7.6

 

[eco23]

Assuming the test was recent, there's no problem there. 5ppm is a bit higher than I try to shoot for, usually 3-4 is the sweet spot for me. It can be easy to overdose the ammonia, and if it's too high it can make for a slow start. We'd definitely like to see movement by day 19, but it's not necessarily time to panic. Doing the pwc was a good move, and adding in a pinch of finely ground up fish food which adds some nutrients can help as well.

As librarygirl said, the absolute best way to get things moving is to find some filter media or even gravel or decorations from an established tank. That will introduce more beneficial bacteria into the aquarium and kick things into gear. If you can't get a used filter pad from a friend or store, buying some plants that come from a tank with fish can also carry some of the bacteria in.

If you haven't seen it, check out the guide and FAQ in my signature about fishless cycling. The best thing to do when it's not going exactly to plan is to make a checklist of all the steps and make sure nothing basic was forgotten.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[IvanMike]

FWIW - when adding plants to help I have found java moss to be THE plant. I have no hard data - but i feel that the large surface area of JM may provide a lot of room for the nitrifying bacteria to hang on to. I've literally added a clump of java moss from an established tank to a new one (lightly stocked) and had no detectable ammonia from day one. YMMV.