Cant seem to get my tank to cycle! )):

[HiediK]

Hello everyone! I'm new to this forum (and forums in general, so forgive me) and to the aquarium hobby. I have a tall 6-sided 20gal freshwater tank, currently stocked with a Dalmatian Molly, 2 Golden Panda Lyretail Mollies, an electric yellow Cichlid, and Redtail Shark (a total of 5 small fish, they are all 3inches or smaller in size). I've had the tank for a few months, and no matter what I do or how much TLC I give it, I can't seem to get it to cycle properly. I've watched countless YouTube videos, read countless articles online, and spent hundreds (and hundreds) trying to keep my fish healthy. I have just about every kind of water conditioner you can think of. I've recently tried introducing live plants to help, and they did at first- I added 2 plants and miraculously my tank went from cloudy and green to almost perfectly clear(!), but just as quickly went back to green and cloudy, even after introducing new plants. I do regular partial water changes, I leave the filter media as long as possible before changing it and I put the new filters in the tank water for a few days before changing them to start bacteria colonies. I've tried changing up the lighting schedule and cut way back on feedings, and I bought a new filter rated at 30gal to give my tank better circulation and filtration. Nothing seems to be working. Please help! I love my fish and would be so sad if anything were to happen

 

[Essjay]

What are the current ammonia and nitrite readings?

For a fish-in cycle, you need to do a water change every time either of them read above zero. The water change must be big enough to get the level(s) down to zero.
Water conditioners won't help during cycling, except to remove the chlorine or chloramine in tap water which would otherwise kill the bacteria we want to grow. All water conditioners do this.

Changing the filter media is not good either, I'm afraid, as that's where the bacteria live. When you replace them you remove a lot of the bacteria. Putting new filter media in the tank for a few days won't replace the bacteria thrown away as it takes several weeks for them to colonise new media.
All you need to do with media is wash it in water you take out during a water change - gently, you don't want to dislodge the bacteria in there.



Green cloudy is an algae bloom, tiny algae which live floating in the water. One way to get rid of it is to wrap the tank in something thick so that no light can get in, turn of the tank lights and leave the tank wrapped up for 3 days - don't even open the lid to feed the fish. This usually clears an algal bloom but........ unless you take steps to prevent it coming back, it will come back.
How long are the lights on for? Too long can cause algae to grow.
How much food to you feed the fish? Too much food means left over food decomposing and feeding the algae.
You mention regular water changes but how often and how much do you change?
Do you clean the substrate when you do water changes?
As you are cycling the tank, do you do water chnages whenever there is a reading for ammonia? Ammonia in the water is a cause of an algal bloom.

 

[FF_Member146894]

I've watched countless YouTube videos, read countless articles online, and spent hundreds (and hundreds) trying to keep my fish healthy.

evidently not.

a Dalmatian Molly, 2 Golden Panda Lyretail Mollies, an electric yellow Cichlid, and Redtail Shark

i can't even begin to explain how incompatible these fish are.
do you have a water test kit? if i am to further advise, water parameters are needed.

 

[HiediK]

What are the current ammonia and nitrite readings?

For a fish-in cycle, you need to do a water change every time either of them read above zero. The water change must be big enough to get the level(s) down to zero.
Water conditioners won't help during cycling, except to remove the chlorine or chloramine in tap water which would otherwise kill the bacteria we want to grow. All water conditioners do this.

Changing the filter media is not good either, I'm afraid, as that's where the bacteria live. When you replace them you remove a lot of the bacteria. Putting new filter media in the tank for a few days won't replace the bacteria thrown away as it takes several weeks for them to colonise new media.
All you need to do with media is wash it in water you take out during a water change - gently, you don't want to dislodge the bacteria in there.



Green cloudy is an algae bloom, tiny algae which live floating in the water. One way to get rid of it is to wrap the tank in something thick so that no light can get in, turn of the tank lights and leave the tank wrapped up for 3 days - don't even open the lid to feed the fish. This usually clears an algal bloom but........ unless you take steps to prevent it coming back, it will come back.
How long are the lights on for? Too long can cause algae to grow.
How much food to you feed the fish? Too much food means left over food decomposing and feeding the algae.
You mention regular water changes but how often and how much do you change?
Do you clean the substrate when you do water changes?
As you are cycling the tank, do you do water chnages whenever there is a reading for ammonia? Ammonia in the water is a cause of an algal bloom.

Thank you so much for your reply! Ammonia levels are a little high, around .05ppm, and nitrite/nitrate levels are always at 0 (which is why I've been assuming I'm having a cycling problem, it seems to be that the ammonia isn't being converted at all). I do water changes once a week, and I use a gravel vacuum to clean the substrate, and I usually change about 40% of the water. Tank lights are on for about 10ish hours a day, I have thought about blacking the tank out for a few days but I don't want to kill the live plants I have in there. For the last few weeks I've only been feeding them about a pinch of food a day, alternating between flakes for the mollies and cichlid pellets. I forgot to mention mention in my original post that I also use AmGuard to try to battle my ammonia problems and have tried adding live bacteria (I know most of them don't actually work, but I was desperate). I've only changed the filter once in the last two months, and that was a week ago because it was so clogged with algae. I've thought about doing a complete water change but wasn't sure if that would help anymore or just make it worse by killing bacteria ):

 

[FF_Member146894]

around .05ppm

how did you manage to measure 0.05ppm ammonia and 0 nitrates? what do you use, electronic testers? can you show the results? i'm pretty certain that 0.1ppm ammonia in tap water is legal, and there are frequently nitrates in tap water, too. the only way that you would get those levels would be by doing a 100% water change. it just doesn't add up ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[P J]

Fit a UVC filter and do not clean your filters for 4 months unless they are Totally clogged and the flow is restricted, make water changes of 10% a week. Gently swish filters in used tank water do not squeeze the filters. Do not over feed. Be patient don’t add useless chemicals and always dechlorinate tap water when adding. Make sure there is water surface turbulence to ensure oxygenated water e.g. a power head filter. Stop changing your filters You are throwing out goodness.