Day 56 Of Infish Cycling - Now Cloudy Water Pics Inc!

[mrvillicus]

Hi guys, some of you may know that ive been doing an in fish cycle for a while now, im now on day 56, the water results had been consistent for around 2 weeks where 0 ammonia was produced and nitrites were creeping up until I added either Prime or did a water change. I've now ran out of prime about 5/6 days ago and the waters changed again. For the last three days ammonia has been very high with nitrite and nitrate being NIL! I woke up this morning to 9 dead neon tetras ...I did a test and the ammonia is NIL with high Nitrites now! Ive done two water changes since 6am and i want to find out what is going on? its driving me mad!!

Was it an ammonia spike which had created ammonia munching bacteria which in turn has created higher nitrites? How long will this "spike" last? is this the final stage of my cycle?

Any help is greatly appreciated,

Thanks Ben

 

[tomtomtom1230]

Do you still have a source of ammonia in the tank?

 

[mrvillicus]

yes, the fish!

 

[4seasons]

I added either Prime or did a water change. I've now ran out of prime about 5/6 days ago and the waters changed again.

Did you switch dechlorinators when you ran out of Prime? If you did water changes without using a dechlorinator then you killed off the bacteria that you have been trying to grow all this time and are now starting all over.

 

[mrvillicus]

well for the most of the cycle ive used sodium thiosulphate in pure form as dechlorinator, then i added the prime as needed and im still using the dechlorinator

 

[tomtomtom1230]

Are you dosing the Sodium Thiosulfate correctly?

EDIT: You should only need Prime OR Thiosulfate, not both together - 2.5ml (about half a teaspoon) is enough to treat 100 litres worth of water where Prime is concerned.

 

[mrvillicus]

yep dosing it correctly, anyways a dechlorinator doesnt neutralize ammonia or nitrites I really cant understand what it is

mmmm i wonder of the problem is chloramines...maybe my dechlorinator isnt removing chloramine??

 

[mrvillicus]

nope its not that because on the internet it says thiosulfate neutralizes chloramine too, and the dose rate on my tub says 2 teaspoons will treat 2000l of water with a chlorine level of 1ppm, therefore i guess anything less than that amount really would be ok

BINGO....Chloramine poses two significant headaches for aquarists. First, chlorine-neutralizing chemicals such as sodium thiosulfate only neutralize the chlorine portion of the chloramine, neglecting an even bigger problem: deadly ammonia. The consequences can be devastating to fish. Although a tank's biological filter will (eventually) convert the ammonia to nitrate, the time it takes to do so may be longer than what your fish can tolerate.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Just stick to Prime dude

 

[mrvillicus]

I cant believe ive wasted all this time and money not realising that the sodium thiosulfate wasnt nitrifying the ammonia Ill go get some prime from my LFS and will stop using the sodium and just use the prime, hopefully once that rids the ammonia then the filter should catch up quite quick as this is draggin on way too long now haha

 

[Cupster]

Good luck!

 

[mrvillicus]

just been to buy some api water conditioner, got home to this!!...

 

[zain611]

I think you may need to change your sponge as this is what i did when my ammonia was always rising and nitrates and in 4 weeks my tank was cycled for the first time when i got my cerrant tank

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Haha, sorry dude! But it does indicate to me that you are re-cycling as a bacterial bloom like that is usually the first stage! Fingers crossed it will all fly through!

 

[mrvillicus]

OH poooooooooooooooooooooo!! surely if i change the sponge ill lose all the good bacteria ive allready got??