Cycle Making No Sense After 4-5 Weeks

[gazb5590]

I have currently had my fish tank running for around 2 and half months now but a month ago I done a 98% water change because the ammonia levels risen after someone accidently washes 1 of the filter sponges in tap water. Since then I have been stuck on the ammonia stage of the cycle for 4-5 weeks now with no sign of the nitrite rising. My ammonia levels have risen to as high as 3ppm but at the moment are currently under around 0.25ppm. Also the nitrate levels have raised to 5ppm twice now in the past month but dropped straight back down to 0 within days. I am using amquel+ to detoxify the ammonia and it seems to be doing a good job cos I've had no casualties or any fish looking sick as things stand (except for the 2 killifish that managed to jump through a small hole in the lid of the tank). Another problem I have is that within the past week the PH has dropped from 6.8 to around 5.7 for no apparent reason what-so-ever but not sure if this is related in anyway. Just wondering if anyone's got any help or advice? Thanks for reading

Tank size: 145 litres
pH: 5.7 (usually around 7)
ammonia: 0.25 but rising up and down
nitrite: 0ppm (stable)
nitrate: 0ppm but has risen to 5ppm twice
tank temp: 25.5c

Tank inhabitants:4 glowlight tetras, 4 neon tetras, 6 yo-yo loaches, 1 male betta, 1 female betta, 1 female crowntail betta, 5 african dwarf frogs, 1 rainbow shark and 1 L162 clown plec

Exposure to chemicals: Amquel+ (every 24 hours), API Stress Coat (once a week), Seachem flourish & seachem iron once/twice a week

 

[Mowbz]

The pH is likely the problem, its crashed. You'll need to raise the pH to get it working again. The best pH for a cycles is around 8 or slightly alkaline, and you're way off this.

Whats the pH from your tap?

 

[gazb5590]

The pH is likely the problem, its crashed. You'll need to raise the pH to get it working again. The best pH for a cycles is around 8 or slightly alkaline, and you're way off this.

Whats the pH from your tap?

Just tested it again and the PH has gone up to 6.2 after I put a bit or coral in yesterday. The tap water is coming up at 8.1/8.2 which is a lot higher than when I've tested in the past has it is usually around 7

 

[gazb5590]

Done a water change yesterday and the PH is at 6.9 now

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Is there any way you could be confusing NitrItes with NitrAtes ? Your NitrAtes will only ever drop like that after a big water change and/or a heavily planted tank. Also, try some crushed coral in your filter itself, failing that add some Bicarb Of Soda, 1 tablespoon per 30L of water. Looks to me like you may live in a soft water area, a KH/GH liquid test would prove this.


Terry.

 

[HayzH]

Is there any way you could be confusing NitrItes with NitrAtes ? Your NitrAtes will only ever drop like that after a big water change and/or a heavily planted tank. Also, try some crushed coral in your filter itself, failing that add some Bicarb Of Soda, 1 tablespoon per 30L of water. Looks to me like you may live in a soft water area, a KH/GH liquid test would prove this.


Terry.

DONT ADD BICARB IN A FISH IN CYCLE....

plenty of BIG W/c needed x

 

[gazb5590]

Is there any way you could be confusing NitrItes with NitrAtes ? Your NitrAtes will only ever drop like that after a big water change and/or a heavily planted tank. Also, try some crushed coral in your filter itself, failing that add some Bicarb Of Soda, 1 tablespoon per 30L of water. Looks to me like you may live in a soft water area, a KH/GH liquid test would prove this.


Terry.

No I've got all 3 test kits (api) and on 2 occasions the nitrates have raised and then dropped. There are a good few plants in the tank but I wouldn't go as far as to say heavily planted. In the past I used to have quite hard water with the raising to as high as 8 but that was when I had dry coral rock in the tank. I was going to do the crushed coral in the filter method but now the PH is back up to 6.9 decided to just see how I get on. I've ordered some nutrafin cycle to hopefully kickstart the cycle again back in the right direction but not sure if this would be enough to do so. The only other thing I can think of is that with using amquel+ to medicate the water I might be gettin false readings has I've heard can be a result of using it

 

[The Taffy Apple]

D'oh, didn't read the fish-in cycle bit properly, so apologies.

PS- We live in a consumer world and the vast majority of 'bacteria in a bottle' have never been proven to work. Your best move would be to get a mature media donation from someone.. it could be someone you know who has a mature, healthy tank or have a look in the media donation page on this forum. Either way, best of luck.

Terry.

 

[gazb5590]

Just checked the water again and The ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels have all gone up. my ammonia is now at 3ppm, nitrite 0.25ppm and nitrate 5+ppm.
I started using nutrafin cycle 4 days ago so this could have put it back on the right track also it states that it makes ammonia and nitrite safe so am guessing the ammonia readings are actually readings of ammonium. Also the PH has risen to 7.4

I was going to do another water change in the next day or 2 but not sure if I might be best off doing this once I'm fully on to the nitrite stage has it looks like it's just about to tick over and I don't want to do anything to disturb the cycle.

 

[the_lock_man]

The conversion of ammonia to ammonium is only temporary, so I would suggest you do BIG water changes quickly, to get that ammonia level down.

 

[gazb5590]

The conversion of ammonia to ammonium is only temporary, so I would suggest you do BIG water changes quickly, to get that ammonia level down.

I've had ammonia readings in the water for over a month now but I have been using amquel+ every 24 hours to make sure the ammonium stays that way rather than convert back to ammonia. I'm going to test the water again tomorrow and hopefully the nitrite has raised and the ammonia has dropped. Also I can usually tell when the ammonia is creeping back up because some of the fish become aggressive and the male betta usually attacks and chases the females but all seems peaceful at the minute. I'm going to keep a close eye on it and if it's not dropped drastically in the next couple of days I'll do a water change and see how it goes from there. Just don't want to mess it up as the time before last I done a huge water change I was on the nitrite stage of the cycle and summat happened which caused the ammonia to spike and the cycle to start all over again which was probably down to 1 of the filter sponges being washed by mistake in tap water but it had taken effect within the hour of the change (if not less).