Cycling problems

[S.miller2200]

Hi all!
I am currently over one month into a fish less cycle on a 20 gallon tank. I am very very new to the fish hobby, and have been recently having issues with my cycle. Long story short I did have a previous 10 gallon glofish tank, but I had continuous problems with getting it to cycle completely, resulting in me losing all my long fin tetras before the new 20 gallon tank was ready . But now that I have all my focus on this tank I’ve noticed my ph won’t stay above 6.0, I have about 5ppm of ammonia, no nitrites or nitrates and I am completely dumbfounded on what could be holding up the cycle( it’s been set up for over a month). I have read previously that acidic environments could stall the process, but I can not get the ph to stabilize whatsoever (Even with ph up, and Small water changes) so I could really use some advice . Hope this makes sense!
Thanks to all who took the time to read this!

 

[Aiken Drum]

Hi

A month without your cycle progressing is unusual.

Whilst its true that low pH can stall a cycle, I think you have to be in the low 5s before you are at that stage.

A few questions.

- You are using a water conditioner?
- Have you used any bottled bacteria to seed the filter?
- Is your tap water that low pH, or is something in your aquarium bringing it down? Driftwood maybe?

One thing i see that might be causing the cycle to not progress is the ammonia. High ammonia can kill off the beneficial bacteria. I dont think 5ppm is at that level, but 4ppm is usual for the initial dose, and then top up to 2ppm when that has cycled out. I would do 20% water change just to bring it down a little, get some bottled bacteria in there. Or better still, if you access to an established aquarium (maybe a friend keeps fish) could you get some of the filter media to put in yours?

 

[S.miller2200]

Thanks so much for your response. My local petco recommended I dose tetra safe start in there and the whole bottle was the dose for 20 gallon so I added that bottle about a week ago. I did have a .25 test of nitrite come out before I dumped that in there and that did dissipate because now it tests 0. I am using prime as a conditioner bc my tap does have ammonia in it unfortunately and that’s the only thing that works to remove ammonia for me. I will do the 20% water change and see what happens. Any more ideas come to mind send them my way! Thanks again

 

[S.miller2200]

Update

So I did the 20% water change and ammonia is around 2-3 ppm now. Ph is still 6.0 could be lower not sure, I test with the API freshwater kit and the lowest it goes is 6.0. I’m not sure if something in the tank could be causing the ph to drop?? I have fake glofish decorations as my tank is a glofish tank. I do have a couple live java ferns in my tank. I’ll try to include a photo and maybe if someone sees something in particular they can let me know.
Thanks guys

 

[fishwonder]

With a ph of 6.0, your media in your filter is stalled and not oxidizing any Ammonia, as you can see. Get your ph up to 7-7.4 to kick start your oxidation process. Make sure you have good efficient media like 10/20 ppi foam or pot scrubbies so that water flows THROUGH all the media. Don't use any hard non porous media.

 

[S.miller2200]

Thanks for your reply. So I just tested my tank yesterday randomly for nitrate and it tested positive about 5 ppm. So I’m a little confused because I never saw the whole nitrite spike and everything. I still have high ammonia so that’s not gone yet. Also, Nothing I do keeps my ph up I’ve added some baking soda as well as ph up and it will go up initially and then fall back down.
Hope this makes sense, and if anybody knows why it skipped over nitrite and if this is a good sign that my tank is making progress please let me know.
Thanks again

 

[fishwonder]

You are on track. Keeping checking the ph and using baking soda. If you add 2 tablespoons of crushed coral to your filter (in a small mesh bag), it will keep your ph at 7 or above basically forever. Oh, and yes it is possible to skip the nitrite cycle.

 

[S.miller2200]

Will do. Thanks again

 

[S.miller2200]

Update:
So my tank still has high ammonia, and about 5 ppm of nitrates, still no nitrites. I’ve been recommended to possibly just restart the tank, because something is obviously messing with the cycle. I really prefer not to do that just bc it took me so long to start getting nitrates, but if someone else thinks that’s the best option let me know. I know to “restart” I just drain the water & clean everything with chlorinated water to kill off the bacteria in the tank, but not sure if there’s more to it. Like I said previously I really do not want to do this but feels like I’m running out of options. If anybody has any ideas let me know.
Thanks all!