A Few Questions About Cycling

[b3cca]

If it's been running since Jan with fish in then surely it should be cycled by now and if it isn't then there must be some underlying reason why not.
 
What kind of filter is it ? what cartridges does it actually have inside for bio media ?
If you have just changed out all the old filter cartridge and media then you will be back to square 1 and starting everything all over again.
 
Do you treat and condition your water for Chlorine on every pwc ?

 

[daizeUK]

Okay, just did a 50% water change, changed the filter cartridge, and added the safestart. 

 
The purpose of changing your filter cartridge is to prevent disease so why not change 100% of your water?
Your water last tested had nitrites in it, you don't want to keep those nitrites.  Get rid of it, start over again from scratch.  There's no point keeping the water if you've changed the filter.
 
Becca - I believe the tank suffered fish loss back in January and then was unused until recently, hence why it is uncycled again.

 

[goldfish98]

 

Okay, just did a 50% water change, changed the filter cartridge, and added the safestart. 

 
The purpose of changing your filter cartridge is to prevent disease so why not change 100% of your water?
Your water last tested had nitrites in it, you don't want to keep those nitrites.  Get rid of it, start over again from scratch.  There's no point keeping the water if you've changed the filter.
 
Becca - I believe the tank suffered fish loss back in January and then was unused until recently, hence why it is uncycled again.
 

Thats correct, the tank was dry for a few months. I plan to do another large water change today, i'm thinking 80%

 

[daizeUK]

Is there a reason you don't want to change all of the water?
 
Just in case you didn't know, the 'good' nitrifying bacteria are most likely to live in your filter than in the water, whereas any lingering disease may be present in both the water and the filter.  By changing the filter cartridge you have already most likely lost all of the good bacteria.  There is no benefit to keeping any water which has been previously fouled.

 

[goldfish98]

No real reason besides the fact that I just did it not even 7 days ago. But if you think its best, I will. 

 

[daizeUK]

Well the only reason to change your filter cartridge is to help prevent any disease, so if you don't change the water I think you may as well keep the old filter.  Judging from your water stats the old cartridge was halfway cycled.
 
The Tetra Safestart will not instantly cycle your tank.  It may help to re-introduce some helpful bacteria but those bacteria will need ammonia to feed on.

 

[goldfish98]

Did the 100% change, adding flakes each day to the tank to build up ammonia.

 

[WILDER]

Turning temp up also helps speed things up.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

True... temp at 80-84 is optimum, with increased aeration - as higher temps hold less oxygen than lower temps.
 
If you dosed Tetra Safe Start and then did a water change, you likely will get no benefit from the water change.  Reading the directions on the bottle of Safe Start says that once you've added it, not to do a water change for several days.  (See, unlike the bacteria in their 'natural state' the ones in the bottle are dormant and in the water column until they have a chance to 'latch' on to a surface.)
 
Further, because this bacteria isn't on a surface protected by a biofilm, they are actually very susceptible to ammonia over doses, so its best to dose at 1ppm rather than the 3ppm recommended in our cycling article, and increase the testing frequency to daily.