Fishless cycling help

[Bruce H]

Hey Guy's,
I am attempting to cycle a 29 gal. aquarium for an axolotl, I started the cycle on 10/11/20 using dr. Tim's one &only and ammonium chloride, the tank was bare bottom with 2 large sponge filters and some decorations the temp was 68 to 70 degrees f. day 2 after adding the ammonium I tested water. ammonia was at 4.0ppm and nitrite at 0.00ppm I tested for 8 days with no change. I reached out to dr. Tim's and received a response that bare bottom, sponge filter aquariums were very hard to cycle. I contacted my axolotl breeder and asked for help I was instructed to add large river rock to the bottom, a hang on mechanical filter and a heater to bring the temp up to 80 degrees, I did all this and after 4 days am still testing the same 4.0 ppm ammonia and 0.00ppm nitrite. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Colin_T]

It normally takes between 4 & 6 weeks to cycle an aquarium, longer in cold water.

Some things can help speed things up.
1) Keep the ammonia under 5ppm (4ppm is ok but I usually use 3ppm).
2) Have lots of aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise the oxygen levels in the water.
3) Have the water temperature around 28C to encourage the bacteria to grow faster.
4) Keep the pH around 7.0 if possible. Don't let it drop below 6.0 because the bacteria don't like acid water.

You can change the water every now and then if nothing is happening. Just do a 90% water change and add some more ammonia.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

You can add a liquid filter bacterial supplement as well. I recommend adding a double dose every day for a week and then pouring the rest of the supplement in. Add it near the filter so the bacteria get drawn into the sponge where it belongs.

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It doesn't make any difference whether you are cycling a bare bottom tank or one with gravel in. It just takes time.

Maybe do a water change, redose so there is 3ppm ammonia, and wait.

 

[Retired Viking]

I have used Tetra Safe Start Plus which has the correct bacteria to jump start your tank, The small bottle handles tanks up to 60 gallons.