How do I tell if my filter isn't working?

[Rjoepenk]

I am slightly suspicious that my filter may be broken, the funnel at the top is producing a flow but there is now 'suction' at the bottom where the water goes in. My ammonia is between 0.75-1 and I can't get it down, the tank was cycled last week but no matter how water changes I do now it just won't go down. Any ideas?

 

[LyndaB]

What are you using for dechlorinator and what test kit?

Test the tap water to see what your readings are straight from the tap, too.

 

[Rjoepenk]

I use Interpret tapsafe as my dechlor, and my test kit is API. What do you mean by test the tap water? For ammonia? I know the PH is around 7.6

 

[Mrc8858]

Ya some tap water can have ammo and trates but when you say it cycled last week do you mean you set it up last week or your nitrification cycle ended last week (ammo spike then nitrIte spike then nitrate spike then large wc to bring trates down and then your cycled)

 

[Rjoepenk]

I mean I've had fish in there for about three weeks and all three readings were at next to nothing last week, so I assumed it had cycled. Maybe I've done too many water changes during the cycling process? What do you reckon? I've been doing about 25% every 3-4 days, have I screwed it up?

 

[Mrc8858]

I mean I've had fish in there for about three weeks and all three readings were at next to nothing last week, so I assumed it had cycled. Maybe I've done too many water changes during the cycling process? What do you reckon? I've been doing about 25% every 3-4 days, have I screwed it up?

So I take it you added the fish same day or next day as setup...if that's the case then your tank is in its first stages of its cycle which would explain why you have a consistent reading of ammo and nothing else...as your fish produce waste you have bacteria coverting it into ammo and that's where your cycle stops..so you need to keep testing daily and do small wc as needed to keep your tank from becoming lethal...if I had to guess id say you got about 2 weeks of a lot of wc to correct the issue

 

[Rjoepenk]

So I take it you added the fish same day or next day as setup...if that's the case then your tank is in its first stages of its cycle which would explain why you have a consistent reading of ammo and nothing else...as your fish produce waste you have bacteria coverting it into ammo and that's where your cycle stops..so you need to keep testing daily and do small wc as needed to keep your tank from becoming lethal...if I had to guess id say you got about 2 weeks of a lot of wc to correct the issue

No, I added fish a month after I set the tank up as I didn't have the time to look after them properly when I first bought the tank. When they went in all the readings - PH, Amm, trite, trate - were perfect and then the levels rose, and then fell. I will keep testing daily and see how things develop but like I say, I'm fairly sure it was finished cycling last week.

 

[Mrc8858]

Did u ever have trite or trates show up or always 0 for both

 

[Rutrag]

What did you do to start the cycle when you set the tank up a month ago? If you just filled it up with water, but no food source for the bacteria, the tank is not cycled and it's really notice different from buying fish the same day you fill the tank with water.

 

[Rjoepenk]

What did you do to start the cycle when you set the tank up a month ago? If you just filled it up with water, but no food source for the bacteria, the tank is not cycled and it's really notice different from buying fish the same day you fill the tank with water.

I didn't do anything to try and cycle the tank, like I said I couldn't spare the time to look after the fish properly so I didn't want to add them straightaway, I only added water to allow the PH to neutralise. I checked all the parameters anyway just before I put them in as I thought I'd better do it to be on the safe side.


Mrc8858: I've had Trite and Trate readings, but nothing massive.

 

[Rutrag]

I didn't do anything to try and cycle the tank, like I said I couldn't spare the time to look after the fish properly so I didn't want to add them straightaway, I only added water to allow the PH to neutralise. I checked all the parameters anyway just before I put them in as I thought I'd better do it to be on the safe side.

Mrc8858: I've had Trite and Trate readings, but nothing massive.

There is the source of your ammonia problem. Your water conditions were fine until you added an ammonia source (the fish) but there is insufficient bacteria in the tank to consume their waste. Now your are in a fish-in cycle. Do daily water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrites low until the bacteria have colonized sufficiently to deal with the ammonia more naturally.

 

[LyndaB]

I didn't do anything to try and cycle the tank, like I said I couldn't spare the time to look after the fish properly

Why do you have fish if you can't look after them?

I'm not at all convinced that you understand what we're talking about when we refer to "cycling". Please read this article through and it should really help: I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?!

 

[Rjoepenk]

Why do you have fish if you can't look after them?

I'm not at all convinced that you understand what we're talking about when we refer to "cycling". Please read this article through and it should really help: I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?!

I completely resent that; you're totally out of order there. If you bothered to read the post properly you will note the past tense being used: I COULDN'T spare the time, so I didn't buy any fish until I did have time. Now I do have the time, and I am trying to look after them, but nobody starts as an expert, do they? I'm bound to make mistakes and it appears that I've screwed up my cycling process, like countless others have before me and will continue to do after me. It's not that I didn't want to do the research or that I didn't understand what Cycling was, I'm just new at this, that's all.


Rutrag:

That's very helpful, thanks. I will continue with my daily water changes and see how it turns out; my Nirtite has gone up from yesterday already so hopefully the bacteria are colonising to a degree now. Will keep you posted on how it goes...

 

[Bearchumjs]

I did a fish in cycle with a betta in my 5 gallon tank. Well, it started with a gourami and I didn't know what cycling was. I came to this forum because he got sick. Learned about cycling, he died, put in a betta and finished cycling. It took about a good 5 or 6 weeks before my levels evened out. It was the best feeling when I saw no ammonia and just nitrites! Then I had to wait for the nitrites to disappear. Once that happened I was so happy! I was growing tired of doing 25-50% water changes everyday and sometimes every other day. Then when the cycle was over I felt like I had nothing to do. So I got a 55 gallon. Lol! Anyway, just stick with it. Test daily. Do water changes as needed. I was told not to let ammonia get over 1. Good luck!!

Btw, what fish do you have?