Caliban07
Aquarium Advice Addict
Temp was at 26 degrees
Dang I missed that. I was all excited for a minute.Temp was at 26 degrees
Just going back to the ammoniavso we can rule it out once and for all. Apparently there are different versions of your ammonia. Check this link. Make sure its not the one for cleaning sinks sodium hydroxide and ensure it IS ammonium hydroxide.
A Kleen Off warning
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If you replaced the cartridges you will be starting over, as that's where the bacteria live.
I'm not sure why the cartridge would be brown from a fishless cycle??
Is the filter getting proper flow when it's on? I'm really curious about the brown cartridges
Tank, filter and everything else was new and I rinsed it with tapwater before setting it all up.
Temperature was 26C but I turned it up a bit this morning. Now having trouble reading what it is on the strip thermometer, I think I need to get a better thermometer.
The full story is that it took me a while to find the adjustment dial on the heater, so initially it was 23C. Once I found the dial it was over 30C for a short time then I found the right point to keep it at 26C. This was about the 10 day point. I did forget to put the heater back on once soon after this (I switch everything electrical off briefly while I take the water samples just to be on the safe side) so it was off completely for a few hours. Just as well I made that mistake before getting fish and not after! I can see this might have set everything back but would have thought that at worst the cycling would have just needed to start again and it should be OK by now.
The ammonia I have been using is KleenOff ammonia household cleaner and I have seen it recommended on aquarium forums. There's no ingredients list which I'm hoping means it is pure ammonia.
No seeded items. I do have friends who recently started an aquarium (about 6 months ago) but when I spoke to them about it they hadn't done any research and they have had a few fish die, so I thought best not to risk importing any diseases or problems from their tank.
There are no fish and no live plants in the tank. I didn't use Tetra Safestart and the water has remained clear. I haven't sprayed anything near the tank so don't believe anything could have gone in that way.
I tested the ammonia about 20 mins after adding initially. It was 2ppm so I added the same amount again and tested 20 mins later, when it read 4ppm. I then began testing every 2-3 days from that point on.
I tried to follow this guide: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html so I thought I knew what to do to cycle the tank.
I have just turned the light on in the tank (it has been left off) and noticed a greyish growth around the glue holding the plastic plants on the plastic driftwood. Do you think this could be causing a problem?
I have uploaded photos here: Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community - Rachelfiona's Album: Rachelfiona setup.
Off to do the water change now - this will be the first time I've done it.
Thanks for everyone's thoughts and comments.