1 Month Later And Still Nothing

[LongS]

It has been 1 month since i began my first fishless cycle on my elite 95 tank. As of yet my ammonia levels haven't even dropped below 4ppm.

What am i doing wrong?

Here is what i did before i started: i removed the carbon cartridge as advised from my elite jet-flo 100 filter. (was told this would slow process down if they were in the filter.)
I raised temperature to 29-30 degrees celcius (84-86F).
Added 4ml of ammonia to tank and raised the levels to slightly more than 5ppm.
Tested dailly for any drop in levels but no significant drop.

Water Stats: Ammonia=4ppm Nitrite= 0

The Ph is very high in the tank compared to my tap water. Its 8.0 in tank but 7.2 from tap. Something i thought would correct itself. Could this possibly slow things down?

The only other reason i can think of is i have left a gap where the carbon cartridge used to be? and haven't put anything in its place. would this have that much of an affect on things?

Today i added some live plants to try and keep myself interested and motivated in carrying on this cycle, Although i am starting to lose patience with the whole thing and mabye thinking of going straight for a fish-in cycle and starting again.

PLEASE any feedback would be better than looking at this empty tank for another month.

Longshlong

 

[doresy]

Hi, sounds like you are doing things right.

Firstly, what ammonia solution are you using?

Secondly, fill the space with more foam media, preferably matured media (ie from a donor filter)

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Longshlong,

You don't seem to be having much luck at all, but I'm confident we can get you back on track soon.

There are a few things which commonly prevent a filter from cycling

• pH Crash - If the pH falls too low (usually around 6 or below) the cycle will stall, however your pH appears ok. Is the pH you quote a recent reading?
  
  Too much ammonia - If ammonia levels get too high (around 8ppm +), the bacteria will not grow. Which test kit are you using and are you sure its 5ppm?
  
  Wrong type of ammonia - Some ammonia solutions come with surfactants, dyes etc. These tend to mess about with the cycle. Which ammonia are you using?
  
  Lack of oxygen - Whilst this would be much less common than the others, it is always worth adding some extra aeration. Do you have surface movement?

Cheers

BTT

 

[LongS]

Hello there doresy, thank you very much for the quick reply. The ammonia i am using is called Amo clean household ammonia. It is VERY strong smelling and burns the nostrils if sniffed.

Says it contains ammonia solution 9.5%, and then has ec no, which if i remember correctly when typed into google, came up as a pure ammonia and water solution as far as i could understand anyway.

I have a very small tank with a matured filter. The problem is that it only has one sponge in it.

i could buy another brand new sponge and fill the gap but can't imagine this would speed things up greatly?

Have you known any tank to take this long to start processing ammonia before? Is this quite common?

 

[LongS]

Hi there backtotropical, thanks for the reply! yes the PH reading has literally just been done. so i'm not sure it is this.

However i could have possibly added a little too much ammonia in the first place. This sounds to me like the most likely reason as when we first added it, it was showing the absolute darkest green (which is 8ppm). The test kit is an API master test kit. The liquid drop kind. (heard they were the best).

I have put the type of ammonia i am using above. It doesn't foam or bubble too much when shaken. The bubbles pretty much disappear straight away. But does smell VERY VERY strong. Also on the back it says nothing about any other chemicals although i am far from an expert.

About the surface movement. I have the filter running with one of them long bars along the back that drop water into the tank and create lots of bubbles in the tank so there is definetly enough airation in my opinion.

It sounds like too much ammonia in the first place. Do you agree? would there be no bacteria at all then in the filter?

 

[backtotropical]

Hi,

Yes it sounds like too much ammonia. I'd recommend a large water change (say 50 - 75%) to bring ammonia levels down to a level easily within the range of the test kit. The trouble with the test kit reading 8ppm is whether the level is 8ppm or 80ppm, the test result would be the same because the test can't go any higher.

Even if it is reduced to 2ppm for now, that would be fine, so long as we can see the drop when it happens. You could always raise levels to 5ppm again later once you know the cycle is progressing.

Do a big water change, measure ammonia levels again, then post an update here.

Cheers

BTT

 

[LongS]

ah ok thats lovely pal. I'll do a massive water change as soon as i get in from my work tomorow and post an update as soon as i get the levels to a suitable level. Thanks again guys for the help!