Fish-In Cycling - Still No Nitrites

[shellieca]

We are having trouble keeping the ammonia levels below .5 and are doing dailt PWC's. Could this be why the cycle is not completing? Is there anything we should be adding that neutralizes the ammonia?

Are you using a water conditioner? Prime is typically recommended & it detoxifies the bad stuff; ammonia & such.

 

[librarygirl]

We are having trouble keeping the ammonia levels below .5 and are doing dailt PWC's. Could this be why the cycle is not completing? Is there anything we should be adding that neutralizes the ammonia?

No, water changes won't harm the cycle and they are needed to keep the fish safe from toxin poisoning. The water conditioner you're using now should help detoxify the ammonia between water changes; Prime is better as it's more concentrated and lasts longer but whatever you have on-hand now is fine. It only detoxifies to a certain point though and is temporary; don't use it in place of water changes. You didn't mention what other fish you have; I'm suspecting overstocking if ammonia is still rising this quickly this long after starting. The extra filter should help a lot; an AC 50 would be fine, maybe you can run it with the filter you have now? Your PH is fine; I'm not sure why this ammonia phase is taking so long. Do you get a water report for your county? Maybe you can try to get one and see how much chlorine or chloramines are in the tap water; perhaps there's more than the normal dosage of dechlorinator can handle, which has happened to people before.

And yes you connect the Angels Plus filter to an air pump.

 

[hyperman]

We only have 5 fish. Two small guppies, two swordtails and a very small cory catfish. I am guessing that we were not changing the water enough. I am going to do several 50% pwc this weekend to be sure it goes to 0. I will get prime and a new filter. We can only run one filter with the hood/light we have.

 

[hyperman]

Don't have the water report. Would it hurt to use more condioner that the normal dosage?

 

[phishfriend]

Not changing the filters. For these active filters, do you just hook them to an air pump and drop them in the tank for a few weeks?

Yes you put an air line down the tube you see on the site. They also come with a magnet set similar to magnetic glass cleaners. And if after things lvl out in the tank. You choose to take it out or leave it in as extra filtration. In fact it should be enough added filtration so you don't have to buy a bigger HOB. They don't require much attention. if they get gunky you pull it out and gently squeeze it in water your discarding from a water change. That is if seeing it in your tank doesn't bother you.

 

[Rachelw]

I tried a product called Nutrafin cycle while I was doing a fish in cycle and I found it really helped. That and the recommended amount of water conditioner every water change. Aquarium salt as well. Just helps your fish from getting too stressed out. Never lost a fish in any of my tanks while using those products and keeping on top of water changes. Took roughly a month to cycle. Most pet stores can spare some used media to help your tank along.

 

[Rachelw]

Don't have the water report. Would it hurt to use more condioner that the normal dosage?

Don't use more then the normal dosage.

 

[phishfriend]

PPI means pores per inch. So a sponge with 15-30ppi simply means that the holes are larger.
A sponge with 50 ppi is simply denser.

It's important if say your breeding cherry shrimp who's fry are really small then a 50 ppi would be preferred because the chance of fry would be reduced. 50 ppi also means that sponge is more Likely to clog. Which means increased maintenance.

I put these in thread. For others to see

 

[hyperman]

After 6 weeks of no progress I took the advice of phishfriend and purchased a large active filter from angelsplus.com. After 48 hours : Ammonia-0 Nitrites-0 Nitrates-5.

 

[librarygirl]

Awesome, glad that things worked out for you!