Please Help!

[Dlee13]

Wow off topic but kinda crazy you're talking about lunch...it's just past midnight here. Lol. I would try the Stability- it can't hurt. The safestart works a little differently, you add the entire bottle at once. I was told that my 4pmm ammonia probably overwhelmed the bacteria so I would assume the same is true for Stability. I would start out with 0.5pmm which would be closer to an actual fish-in cycle like the product is intended. If you get it to cycle that you can gradually increase the ammo later to whatever your bioload will be. Also I've heard that you may skip the nitrite spike with these bacteria boosters.

hahaha well it's 12:42pm Sunday where I live! Yeah there's another similar product called API quick start and it has roughly the same kind of feedback as Seachem so I'm going to give it a try since I got nothing to lose. With Seachem you add it daily over 7 days so I'll buy it tomorrow and add it daily and hopefully that plus the ammonia can get it started. Some people have great success with them so I guess it's just luck of the draw, just like fishless cycling LOL

 

[Liberty2k4]

I'm finding out that fishless cycling is indeed luck of the draw! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday afternoon I've got exactly 12 hours before I get there! Kinda makes me feel better knowing that someone half a world away is having the same problem as me! Oh the benefits of high speed Internet!

 

[jwh0818]

Make sure you read the fine print in the stability. I used it with no lasting results but it could be different for you

 

[Dlee13]

I'm finding out that fishless cycling is indeed luck of the draw! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday afternoon I've got exactly 12 hours before I get there! Kinda makes me feel better knowing that someone half a world away is having the same problem as me! Oh the benefits of high speed Internet!

Yeah I read one thread about a guy starting to believe that fishless cycling was just a prank people played on noobs and I know how he felt LOL. Thanks I wish I could but I have 4 assignments due this week so I'm working on them non stop enjoy your sleep and Sunday though! Haha yeah if it wasn't for you and others having the same problem I probably would have given up already!

Make sure you read the fine print in the stability. I used it with no lasting results but it could be different for you

Thanks for the warning! I've had abosolutely no progress over the past 5 weeks so even if it doesn't work it's worth the try. Did you Dd ammonia while using the Seachem stability?

 

[jwh0818]

Yeah I read one thread about a guy starting to believe that fishless cycling was just a prank people played on noobs and I know how he felt LOL. Thanks I wish I could but I have 4 assignments due this week so I'm working on them non stop enjoy your sleep and Sunday though! Haha yeah if it wasn't for you and others having the same problem I probably would have given up already!

Thanks for the warning! I've had abosolutely no progress over the past 5 weeks so even if it doesn't work it's worth the try. Did you Dd ammonia while using the Seachem stability?

These "BB in a bottle" are meant for fish in cycles. You can dose ammonia up to 3ppm and add stability an hour later. I used fish food my whole cycle

 

[Dlee13]

These "BB in a bottle" are meant for fish in cycles. You can dose ammonia up to 3ppm and add stability an hour later. I used fish food my whole cycle

Yes I understand they are meant for fish in, but I have read of people using them as a kickstarter for fishless cycle and having good results. Since I have tried many different things over the past 5 weeks except for bacteria in a bottle, I think it's worth the try.

I bought the Seachem Stability and have added it to my tank so hopefully it helps my cycle get started!

 

[Liberty2k4]

Yes I understand they are meant for fish in, but I have read of people using them as a kickstarter for fishless cycle and having good results. Since I have tried many different things over the past 5 weeks except for bacteria in a bottle, I think it's worth the try.

I bought the Seachem Stability and have added it to my tank so hopefully it helps my cycle get started!

Good luck and let us know how it goes! How much ammonia did you decide to go with?

 

[Dlee13]

Good luck and let us know how it goes! How much ammonia did you decide to go with?

Thanks but I'm not getting my hopes up about it! I just left it at what it was which is around 3ppm of ammonia, might be a problem for it but oh well lol.
If I get time I actually plan to try ask another lfs for seeded media from their tank!

 

[Fishperson]

Have both of you (Dlee13 and Liberty2k4) put seeded media in your tank, with basically no results? Or did you get some amount of nitrites?

Because if nothing has happened, then I really think it would be best to start over. There might be something in the substrate, or maybe some chemicals got into the tank. If stability doesn't work, then you might want to just bleach everything and start over. Because it's been like, almost 6 weeks for you liberty, and almost 4 weeks for you Dlee, and you both have just seen some nitrites, right? I know it seems unethical, but have you considered adding a comet goldfish, or a few zebra danios, and letting the ammonia rise to maybe .5 ppm? I just really think that if stability doesn't work, and it's been almost 4 weeks and 6 weeks, then maybe you should start it with a fish in, and then take the fish out once you start seeing nitrites and/or nitrates.

 

[Dlee13]

Have both of you (Dlee13 and Liberty2k4) put seeded media in your tank, with basically no results? Or did you get some amount of nitrites?

Because if nothing has happened, then I really think it would be best to start over. There might be something in the substrate, or maybe some chemicals got into the tank. If stability doesn't work, then you might want to just bleach everything and start over. Because it's been like, almost 6 weeks for you liberty, and almost 4 weeks for you Dlee, and you both have just seen some nitrites, right? I know it seems unethical, but have you considered adding a comet goldfish, or a few zebra danios, and letting the ammonia rise to maybe .5 ppm? I just really think that if stability doesn't work, and it's been almost 4 weeks and 6 weeks, then maybe you should start it with a fish in, and then take the fish out once you start seeing nitrites and/or nitrates.

I have never put seeded media in my tank, if I can find someone to give me some then I would but I've had no luck so far. I originally had 0.25ppm of nitrites and about a 1ppm or so drop in Ammonia over a 24 hour period but that only lasted for 3 days which ended about a month ago. Tomorrow will be exactly 5 weeks since I first set everything up.

I'm not 100% sure but I think I may have topped my Ammonia up too quick which is what killed my cycle, but I'm just guessing. I am actually very tempted to do a fish in cycle but the problem I have with that is I do not have the time atm to do daily water changes. The other issues I have with that is if I was to do a fish in cycle, since I can't get my bacteria going without fish wouldn't it just be pointless to try with fish? Also if I was to add some Zebra Danios, what do I do with them after I take them out? I don't have a second tank.

 

[Liberty2k4]

Have both of you (Dlee13 and Liberty2k4) put seeded media in your tank, with basically no results? Or did you get some amount of nitrites?

Because if nothing has happened, then I really think it would be best to start over. There might be something in the substrate, or maybe some chemicals got into the tank. If stability doesn't work, then you might want to just bleach everything and start over. Because it's been like, almost 6 weeks for you liberty, and almost 4 weeks for you Dlee, and you both have just seen some nitrites, right? I know it seems unethical, but have you considered adding a comet goldfish, or a few zebra danios, and letting the ammonia rise to maybe .5 ppm? I just really think that if stability doesn't work, and it's been almost 4 weeks and 6 weeks, then maybe you should start it with a fish in, and then take the fish out once you start seeing nitrites and/or nitrates.

I have never seen nitrites at all. I do think that there may be an issue with my substrate though and I have ordered some tahitian moon sand that should be arriving next week. I am going to completely tear down and start over when it gets here. Hopefully that will work but if I don't see results in a couple weeks (after starting over) I have thought about doing fish-in as a last resort. Thank you!
Edit: I got two seeded sponges from angelsplus with no luck.

 

[librarygirl]

Hi all--

Yes it did take 8 months to cycle my tank fishless; I think I still hold the record on that one. Never figured out what the problem was although it seemed to be linked to my water. Still not sure. Anyway, I read through this thread and I don't see anything off-hand that could be messing with your cycles. You could try draining the tank, swishing the filter media in fresh dechlorinated water, refill the tank and double-dose the PRime, let it get up to temp and redose ammonia only to 2, add some ground up fish flakes, add an air stone if you don't already have one for extra oxygen, and see what happens. Your PHs are fine, the type of ammonia you are using seems fine (as long as there's no surfectants, etc in it), temp is fine, you're both dechlorinating the water. If this doesn't work the other two options are what I did, which is change water sources entirely (can be pricey if it's a large tank and you may have to manually add minerals....not a route I'd go unless you get desperate) or try a fish-in cycle. I'll think on it more and if anything else comes to me I'll let you know. Keep us posted!

 

[Dlee13]

Hi all--

Yes it did take 8 months to cycle my tank fishless; I think I still hold the record on that one. Never figured out what the problem was although it seemed to be linked to my water. Still not sure. Anyway, I read through this thread and I don't see anything off-hand that could be messing with your cycles. You could try draining the tank, swishing the filter media in fresh dechlorinated water, refill the tank and double-dose the PRime, let it get up to temp and redose ammonia only to 2, add some ground up fish flakes, add an air stone if you don't already have one for extra oxygen, and see what happens. Your PHs are fine, the type of ammonia you are using seems fine (as long as there's no surfectants, etc in it), temp is fine, you're both dechlorinating the water. If this doesn't work the other two options are what I did, which is change water sources entirely (can be pricey if it's a large tank and you may have to manually add minerals....not a route I'd go unless you get desperate) or try a fish-in cycle. I'll think on it more and if anything else comes to me I'll let you know. Keep us posted!

Hey library girl!

Wow so long, I can't believe you didn't just give up with it in that time, I don't think I could be so patient! I'm starting to think it may be the hardness of my water so I'm going to get some Baking Soda later and see if that helps. I already have an air stone and I dechlorinate my water. I plan to try raise my PH up to around 8 since it's sittin at around 7.3 then I'm going to continue to dose stability and see how it goes, if there's no change by the weekend then I'll do another 90% water change, rinse the media again and try beg some pet stores for some seeded media! Thanks for the help Librarygirl and let us know if you think of anything else ^^

 

[Liberty2k4]

Tank is back up and running. Washed EVERYTHING in hot tap water and vinegar solution then rinsed thoroughly with dechlorinated water. Removed substrate and put in new Tahitian moon sand. Also decided to take out my artificial texas holey rocks because they still have a resin smell to them even after being washed repeatedly and sitting in the tank for the past 5 weeks. Maybe they are the true culprit?? I'm going to try to cycle as is with pure ammonia. If it cycles I may try to add the rocks one at a time and monitor the parameters closely to make sure they are not having an impact on the cycle. I really hope they are not the issue because I love them!

 

[Liberty2k4]

Hey library girl!

Wow so long, I can't believe you didn't just give up with it in that time, I don't think I could be so patient! I'm starting to think it may be the hardness of my water so I'm going to get some Baking Soda later and see if that helps. I already have an air stone and I dechlorinate my water. I plan to try raise my PH up to around 8 since it's sittin at around 7.3 then I'm going to continue to dose stability and see how it goes, if there's no change by the weekend then I'll do another 90% water change, rinse the media again and try beg some pet stores for some seeded media! Thanks for the help Librarygirl and let us know if you think of anything else ^^

How is it going with the Stability?

 

[Dlee13]

How is it going with the Stability?

Hey sorry for no reply!

The stability didn't work unfortunately, I seen a drop in the first few days but no Nitrites or Nitrates at all, might not have been able to handle the 3ppm of Ammonia. I've had so many assignments plus GTA V came out so I haven't even tested in over a week. The water looks horrible because I did a water change then forgot to turn the filter back on so I'm going to do a large PWC today and get it started again now that my assignments are done.

How is your cycle going, have you seen any drop yet?

 

[Dlee13]

Now I went to do a water change and my filter had died, possibly my heater too since the water has been very cold every single day. I really don't know if I should fix them both, it's been nearly 3 months now and this cycle has been going nowhere.

 

[Liberty2k4]

Oh that sucks! I'd probably quit too if all my equipment broke down! I started my tank over from scratch and am back in the waiting stage. No ammo drop yet but it's only day 6. Haven't tested yet today.

 

[Liberty2k4]

Today's nitrite looks different! Not sure if it is actually progress yet but I posted new thread to get opinions. Tap is on the left, tank on the right.

 

[Dlee13]

Yeah it does! I still really wanna get the aquarium started so I think I'm just going to order a Fluval U2 filter! For all I know intake on my old filter was probably horrible from the start which didn't help the cycle! How did you manage to get the last 25% of water out of the tank?

They're definitely a different colour, maybe it's a slight bit above 0ppm but still below 0.25 which is how you get that colour?!?