Help please!!!

[Csheets]

So I've had my 55 gallon tank for about a year now, and to be honest its been a HUGE head ache!! I dont know if my tanks ever been fully cycled, it seems like i have more trouble than anything. I have fish in there and they seem to do fine but if i add another it will die within a day or two. My tank was fine a couple months ago, but since than i had to move it twice. So that really messed it up. Now i cannot get it to cycle and i dont know what im doing wrong. Heres what the test showed:
nitrate - was high
nitrite- was 0
hardness- is very hard
alkalinity- very low
pH- is very very low my my test lowest one is 6.4 but i think its lower than that
ammonia- VERY high

Its been this way for about a month now. Ive done a couple 10% changes but it doesnt help the ammonia one bit. i havnt put any chemicals in or anything so i dont know why it hasnt cycled. the only thing i can think of is maybe the tank is over stocked? i have in there:
-2 Bella sharks ( ones about 5 inches)
-1 tetra
-4 tiger barbs
-1 weather loach
-2 skeleton catfish
-2 catfish (ones pretty big)
-2 frogs
-1 birchur ( hes big about 10 inches and about an inch width)
- 1 African butterfly
-2 angel fish ( full grown)

any suggestions would help!! i just want my tank to cycle!! if my ph is so low would that stop it from cycling?

also the algae in my tank is getting bad but i cant keep an algae eater alive to do any good, does the chemicals to get rid of algae help? will it mess my tank up any?

 

[SeverumGuy]

If your ammonia and nitrates are both high then you will want to do about a 50% water change every day to every other day to keep them low. The fish you have might have grown use to the conditions, so a new fish can't handle it. It seems like you're pretty stocked in the tank already. If anything it wouldn't hurt to get rid of something. The single tetra you have would do a lot better with about 5 other tetras of the same type. They need a school to feel safe and be more active. The tiger barbs should be fine with four. You have several fish that get quite big so you really shouldn't have all that in there. What kind of filtration are you using?

 

[Csheets]

yeah the tetra i had 2 more but when i moved the 1st time i got fin rot and it killed them. And the shark and bircher i already know when they get to big i gotta get rid of them. And i have the Bio wheel i believe the 350... it was the one that was meant for a 75 gallon.

 

[SeverumGuy]

Also, low PH will slow down the cycling process. That's the same level my PH is at and it took my tank about 1.5 months to cycle. I also used some stability to speed up the process. I added way too many fish at one time to mine when I first set it up so that slowed it down. I moved so many there because I knew I could keep them alive and still get my tank where it needs to be. The large amount of algae popping up could be due to overfeeding, but I bet that a large portion of it has to do with your nitrate level being so high. Your cycle should be pretty much set if you are showing nitrate levels. The ammonia may have spiked from not doing a big enough water change or frequent enough water changes with the amount of fish you have and the amount of food you "might" be overfeeding (not sure of your food amount).

 

[SeverumGuy]

yeah the tetra i had 2 more but when i moved the 1st time i got fin rot and it killed them. And the shark and bircher i already know when they get to big i gotta get rid of them. And i have the Bio wheel i believe the 350... it was the one that was meant for a 75 gallon.

The Penguin 350 says up to 75g but it's really not enough on a 55g by itself. That's the same filter I'm running, but on the other side of my 55g I have the Penguin 200 for extra help. You're definitely overstocked so your filter is barely doing justice. I would add another filter like a Penguin 200 or even another 350 and go ahead and find a new home for some of your fish (preferably the larger ones that won't last much longer in a tank this small).

 

[SeverumGuy]

What type of catfish do you have other than the ghost cats

 

[Csheets]

would adding another filter help cycle the tank? or just cleaning it.

 

[Csheets]

Raphael Catfish

 

[SeverumGuy]

would adding another filter help cycle the tank? or just cleaning it.

Both because it will filter more water and help collect things that build ammonia sitting on the bottom of your tank, and it will grow more beneficial bacteria to the bio-wheel which will help nutralize the ammonia and nitrite levels. It's a win-win situation with adding a second filter. Just make sure you do the proper water changes as necessary. Until your levels go down and stay down I would do a 25% to 50% water change every other day if not a 25% every day. If and when you add another filter you'll have to give it some time to start building BB. Once your cycle is finally set just do about a 25% water change once a week. People say 10% once a week, but your stock level is too high to do a change that small.

 

[SeverumGuy]

Raphael Catfish

I'm not too familiar with those. How big are the ones you have, and do you know how big they will get?

 

[Csheets]

they are about 2 inchs but the one is really really fat. i believe thats the biggest they will get. the other one like refuses to come out of the castle so hes about half the size.

 

[SeverumGuy]

Okay, so they don't get too big. The sharks and the other big guy are your main concerns. The angels are fine and everything else you have are pretty okay. I would find a new home or maybe even get another tank for some of your fish.

 

[mommytron]

actually, raphael catfish can grow up to 9 or 10 inches. they are quite large. your bioload is defnitely too big for the tank, IMO, which could be why adding more fish does not work out, and most definitely why your ammonia is high. like said before do daily or every other day do 50% or larger PWC's, and do not try to do anything to change the pH. your fish are all accustomed to the pH already so changing it could harm them.