Fishless Cycle .. Please Help!

[Sc0tt8]

Hi Guys,

I thought i'd bide my time before i come asking for help.. But now i'm really starting to lose my patients with this fishless cycle!!!

I'm now into day 37 (yes that's right 37!) and i'm still getting the same readings that i had in day 1!!

At present:

PH: 7.9
NH3: approx 4
No2: 0
Temp: 28.5

This has literally been the same reading since day 1, the only thing to really report is that i changed 100% water on day 10 due to using incorrect (Homebase frothing version) ammonia. As mentioned i haven't yet seen any drop in NH3, i did see an increase in No2 on day 4 when it rose to a whopping .25 & then on day 6 rose to .5.. But literally since then i have had no movement whatsoever...

I'm getting really impatient with this now, and am considering putting some fish in to speed this sloooooow process along (i know this isn't the best thing to do).. Any guidance please guys? This would help massively.

PS. This is my first cycle. I have a 95l elite tank c/w minor decorations + bog wood (only recently added), Elite heater set to 28/29 degrees (constantly on), tetratec airpump (on during the day) & fluval 3+ filter (on all the time). Light is on occassionally & i'm using API master test kit to test water.

Regards,

Sc0tt8

 

[Tropical_Fish]

When you did the water change did you clean the filter and tank did get rid of the chemicals from the tank?

So you started again on day 10 - so you're really only on day 27? - Still I'd expect it to have started doing something!

I wouldn't put fish in, as if you can't grow the bacteria now - then it won't make any difference with fish so the doesn't seem any point.


You might be best to get some fresh filter media?

 

[waterdrop]

Agree, if you can't get any movement on the fishless cycle then putting fish in will only make matters much worse. You need to get to the bottom of your problem. You should have seen some movement in either ammonia or nitrite by this time and the fact that you haven't means something is probably wrong. I'm traveling and not able to get a good internet connection much but I'd suggest you carefully review each type of media you have in your filter with the members, how much volume of it you have, the type filter, the tank size etc... the type test kit... all those basics should be gone over to see if some problem shows up. The basic stats you're giving look ok of course, but something else might be wrong. As always, you should also be keeping an eye out for any way to get mature filter media from someone, as it also may just be the case that for some reason your tap water doesn't have hardly any of the two species of autotrophic bacteria we need.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Sc0tt8]

Thanks for the replies...

Tropical fish - Yes chemicals were back down to zero after i completed water change. Yes, i started over on day ten, so in effect, i'm on day 28 now.. Good point regarding the fish,, think i'm just annoyed at the time this is taking!

Do you mean fresh filter media? Or mature?

Waterdrop - Again, good point with regards to the fish.. My bad! .. OK. Filter = Fluval 3+ c/w 2x foam media & 1xpolyester media (all filter media came with the filter) size of foam = 7.5" X .5" X 2.75" as advised by amazon. Tank size = 95l. Test kit = API master test kit bought from reputable seller on eBay.With regards to mature filter, i've asked 4 LFS, but no luck yet,, they just point me in the direction of the usual suspects. Tap water test results =

PH = 7.6
NH3 = 0
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 5-10ppm

Is there any other information that could be of use?

Thanks again,,Sc0tt8

 

[OldMan47]

One point that you have not addressed yet is where you are and have you looked at the media donor list. I am one of hundreds of people all over the globe willing to share enough media to get someone started. There is a Donors link in my signature area that may connect you with someone nearby who can give you that bacterial sample to get you going.