Why won’t my tank cycle?

[Sofishticated]

So I’ve had a 120L tank for 3+ months now, and my readings say it isn’t cycled. I use an API freshwater test kit. I ghost fed it every day and did 10% water changes every day. I also added live beneficial bacteria to the tank. My readings say it isn’t cycled yet and I was wondering if anyone had advice?

 

[cynic]

So no ammonia added, just fish food?

 

[Stiphodon]

This may be a stupid question but do you have a filter and if so is your filter plugged in and on?

 

[fluttermoth]

Could you post the actual numbers from all your tests, including pH and hardness if you know them, please?

Do you have fish in the tank and, if so, how many and what kind? Do you have live plants?

 

[daveandmarion]

This happened to us so we went water change crazy every day for week and had a beer to celebrate when peramiters finally read what we needed. We have also had problems due to snails cuttlefish getting burried and started to rot. and a hollow log started to rot inside. There is ussually something going wrong somewhere so check you have not been over ghost feeding and anything that could possibly be rotting at this stage peramiters should be coming on well. It is so frustrating when you give it your all, best advice dont give up keep with the WC it just may be taking longer than ussual.

 

[daveandmarion]

Oh and if someone you know has fishtank running well get some of their filter media. It still takes a while I also reccomend put in whole bottle of fresh start.

 

[Essjay]

If you want to use a 'bottled bacteria' the best two are Dr Tim's One & Only and Tetra Safe Start.

 

[Sofishticated]

Thanks so much for the replies! I went to my local fish store and et said myself my tank was ready to put fish into it, not sure if I read it wrong I guess so... can anyone recommend how to introduce fish once I’ve got rid of the snails and hydra?

 

[Essjay]

What are the readings for ammonia and nitrite?

I would not take the word of a shop. Most if them don't believe in fishless cycling and will tell you to get fish regardless of whether there is ammonia and/or nitrite in the tank. After all, if they die you'll go back and buy more. A win-win situation for them.



Why do you want to get rid of the snails? They are an integral part of a tank. They are only a problem if they over run a tank, and that is usually caused by giving the fish so much food they can't eat it all, and the snails eat the leftovers.
As for hydra, a lot of fish will eat them. The only way to kill them is by adding chemicals to a tank but that is not advisable if there are fish in the tank, or will soon be added. The main problems caused by hydra is that they can kill tiny fry.

 

[Sofishticated]

I currently don’t have any fish in the tank, and there are hundreds of snails all over the tank which has got out of control which is why I’d like to get rid of them. If it’s necessary I can wait a while before it’s safe to add fish. My ammonia is around 0, it’s hard to tell because of how close the test kit colours are but it’s definately not 0.25. My nitrite is 0.

 

[daveandmarion]

If you want to use a 'bottled bacteria' the best two are Dr Tim's One & Only and Tetra Safe Start.

yea I agree meant to say safe start. sorry