Fishless Cycle Not Working

kchung

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Hi I have a 20 gallon tank running for about 20 days now and am attempting a fishless cycle using pure ammonia. This is my first fishless cycle attempt. I have been testing ammonia everyday now and it has not dropped at all. There are also no nitrites present. What am I doing wrong? This is definitely testing my patience. Thanks for your help.
 
Hi, don't panic!

1. How much Ammonia did you put in?

2. What test kit are you using?

3. What filter do you have?

Don't worry about the Nitrites, they won't be there until the Ammonia starts processing.
 
Hi, don't panic!

1. How much Ammonia did you put in?

2. What test kit are you using?

3. What filter do you have?

Don't worry about the Nitrites, they won't be there until the Ammonia starts processing.

I put in enough to reach around 2.0-4.0ppm

I am using the API test kit

I have an Aqueon Quiet Flow 10 .

I should also mention this tank is brand new (Aqueon 20 gallon starter kit from Petco) and I did not have anything to seed it with.
 
Ok coo, API test kit is good. Have you tried testing your tap water and comparing it just to make sure it's not faulty? I don't know of that filter but is it definitely big enough for your tank?

Silly question but you have only added the Ammonia once? You may just be having a slow start, mine didn't go back down to 0 from 5/4ppm for the 24 days the first time. It might help to try and get something to seed it with. You should try asking in your LFS.
 
Hi,

Test your tanks PH and post the result please

If the Ph drops to around 6 then it's likely the cycle will stall, in this case you would need to do a large water change to raise the ph back up then redose ammonia


Andy
 
I am using the Ace Hardware Janitorial Strength Ammonia.

PH is between 6.8 and 7
 
Ph below 7 is not ideal and that could be slowing your cycle.
 
What should I do next? This is incredibly frustrating, its been over 20 days.
 
Is ur ammonia the correct sort? I'm not familiar with that brand.

When u shake the bottle does the liquid foam? And does it contain anything else apart from ammonia and water?


Andy
 
No, no liquid foam when I shake it. The only ingredients listed are 10% Ammonium Hydroxide, contains no phosphates.
 
No, no liquid foam when I shake it. The only ingredients listed are 10% Ammonium Hydroxide, contains no phosphates.

Ok thats good :good:

The only thing I can attribute your slowed cycle to is the low PH Besides that, may I suggest you take some time to read other logs (that use the same method)both here and on other sites
 
A cool trick to raising your pH during a fishless cycle is to add common baking soda. This will raise your pH quite nicely, though with a pH of 6.8 your bacteria will not have stalled.

Many factors could play a part including chemicals that may have gotten into the tank before you bought it. Did you rinse the tank out before you added the gravel and filled it? Do you have any sort of air freshener in your home including the kind you plug in? Do you use carpet or fabric refresher?

These things can and will get into your tank, especially if you use an air pump with airstone and can wreak havoc with your tank.

When you set your tank up did you use a good quality water conditioner? Did you rinse out your filter and all of it's parts including the media?


I'm just trying to think of anything that may be keeping your bacteria from developing.
 
The janitorial ammonia from Ace is definitely the right stuff. I have a bottle of it myself for cycling new filters. A pH of 6.8 to 7.0 should be OK for starting a cycle. Although you could lose some pH over time as the ammonia is processed to nitrites and then moved forward to nitrates, the original pH of at least 6.8 will allow your filter to cycle as long as it does not drop. A 3 week start to process the first dose of ammonia is not too unusual but it is far from the best we have ever seen too.
 

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