5 Weeks No Cycle

[BroadStBullyFan]

I found this website before I bought my tank so I had read about fishless cycling. I set up my 10 gallon exactly as it should be according to everything I've read while lurking. heater is set at 84 degrees and I used pure ammonia to get my level up to a 4 on the chart. ph is at 8 and I did use a dechlorinator. I also have plenty of aeration. nitrite is still at 0, ammonia has never dropped at all. Is there something I am doing wrong?

 

[LionessN3cubs]

wow and I thought I was bad off...had my tank set up since easter with no results either! Course I made a mistake in putting in too much ammonia so 2 of the 3 weeks I've been working on this dont even count!

 

[pirate monkey]

Hi Bully and to TFF!

Firstly, well done to you for doing a fishless cycle, and for being patient for 5 weeks! Hopefully we can help you with your problem...

You're not the only one - another member here, Waterdrop has also been cycling for weeks!

So...

Have you also been testing for nitrites and nitrates? The results of all three of these tests will give a bigger picture of what is going on.

What sort of test kit are you using? (liquid/strips) Liquid tests are much more accurate than strips.

I'm sorry if this all sounds a bit patronising but not everyone knows all the ins and outs of the cycling process!

Something that can certainly help you out a bit is if you can get some mature filter media from somebody - maybe a friend or your lfs. If not here is a list of members willing to donate some filter media

If you have kept a diary of what you have done so far, it may be useful to post this so we can see what's been going on. If you haven't it might be an idea to start doing so - you can use this thread to post. Plenty of other people have done this and get a lot of feedback and advice by doing so.

If you could post your most recent readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and we'll see where you're at!

HTH (hope this helps)

 

[backtotropical]

Hi BroadStBullyFan,

Firstly, to TFF.

Couple of questions.

Which ammonia are you using? I ask because if there are other ingredients than ammonia, water and chleating agents, it can adversely effect your cycle.

Also, which filter are you using? Is it switched on? (I know that sounds silly, but its a possibility.)

Which test kits are you using and how old are they?

and finally,

How much ammonia did you add? Is it possible you could have added too much?

Cheers

BTT

 

[waterdrop]

Yep, tomorrow I hit the official 8 weeks (Day 56)!

This weekend past I was able to do some careful re-checking and verified that my AOBs are still dropping my Ammonia very fast all the way down to zero, so they still pass the test. I guess a starter population of NOBs must be in there because a lot of Nitrates get produced quite fast even after a complete water change, but unfortunately my Nitrites are still spiked up there around 4 or 5 whenever I look. I'm content to be patient this week, although if the chance arises I've now decided to move on to substrate and live plants, hoping that that little change might somehow help my NOB population.

[Note: many who followed the bits here and there about my process know it wasn't normal. I'm one of the rare ones with extremely soft water (GH=0-1) and my pH dropped to 6.0 quite a few times before I realized this might be a serious issue. Then the process was also probably slowed by quite a few water changes to get that pH back up, only to see it drop right back the next day. Finally I decided it was safe to raise the GH. I now put it at 4 after a water change and the pH holds all week. All these shenanigans probably slowed things down.]

Your friend,
~~waterdrop~~~