Help! Fishless Cycling Stalling

[craigieboy01]

Hi All, Ive been Fishless Cycling on my Fluval Edge since mid December, I know that seems a very long time and i have tried to be patient, but getting fed up now, i'm using pure ammonia and also using an Api Master test kit, so i think my results should be quite accurate, Its taking about 1 week for my Ammonia levels to go from 5ppm to 0ppm, surely it should be moving quicker at this stage?? Only thing i have really done to the small tank is 2 top up the water, i also changed from gravel to sand after a couple of weeks, i know that probably slowed it down a bit. Any help would be appreciated??? Thanks Craig

 

[waterdrop]

Not sure if I'm just forgetting which of your threads its in but there's a reason that people post their fishless cycling logs. In your case the log would now have about 500 pieces of data for us to look at. That's potentially a lot more information than a couple of general statements. It might be that temp (84F/29C) wasn't maintained for a long time. It might be that pH crashed for a while with water being changed.. things like that. You don't have any Zeolite in there, right? Do you have any areas you felt might have been a problem?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[craigieboy01]

Not sure if I'm just forgetting which of your threads its in but there's a reason that people post their fishless cycling logs. In your case the log would now have about 500 pieces of data for us to look at. That's potentially a lot more information than a couple of general statements. It might be that temp (84F/29C) wasn't maintained for a long time. It might be that pH crashed for a while with water being changed.. things like that. You don't have any Zeolite in there, right? Do you have any areas you felt might have been a problem?

~~waterdrop~~

Hi Waterdrop, I have kept a written log of all my checks, i did actually have an issue getting the temperature to roughly 84% as i had a non adjustable heater for the first couple of weeks, I have maintained a constant 7.4 to 7.6 Ph, I'm pretty sure i dont have any Zeolite in the filter. Dont know if that helps any? Thanks

 

[waterdrop]

Sounds on the surface like you are doing everything right then. There's no way water is able to get around your biomedia without going through it, right? (ie. you feel confident about the way the filter is functioning and are seeing some staining on the biomedia?) The ammonia is clear and did not foam when shaken? You haven't been putting any other chemicals in the water, right?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[chrisbassist]

when you top up the water are you treating it?

 

[OohFeeshy]

What's the nitrite doing? I'd consider doing a water change, if you haven't done one yet it's possibly you're getting a buildup of nitrite or nitrate that's inhibiting it somewhat.

 

[craigieboy01]

Thanks for the tips everyone, I had been adding the correct dosage as required of Interpet Filter Start at the begining of the Cycle but stopped after reading it wasnt doing any good, I havent removed filter and checked but Defo some staining on Media. Had a Nitrite spike back in mid Jan, but dont always check Nitrite and Nitrate every time i do Ammonia check, but recently every time i have checked Nitrite is 0ppm and NitrAte is 10ppm, so i think that seems ok?? As for water treatment, I treated water at start of set up but havent treated top up, was thinking i didnt need to until i done my big water change before planting and stocking??? Craig

 

[roadmaster]

Thanks for the tips everyone, I had been adding the correct dosage as required of Interpet Filter Start at the begining of the Cycle but stopped after reading it wasnt doing any good, I havent removed filter and checked but Defo some staining on Media. Had a Nitrite spike back in mid Jan, but dont always check Nitrite and Nitrate every time i do Ammonia check, but recently every time i have checked Nitrite is 0ppm and NitrAte is 10ppm, so i think that seems ok?? As for water treatment, I treated water at start of set up but havent treated top up, was thinking i didnt need to until i done my big water change before planting and stocking??? Craig

Is possible that water you are using for top off contains Chlorine or Chloramines. If this is the case,I would be treating the top off water with dechlorinator such as PRIME or AMQUEL + otherwise,,I believe the chlorine from source water could be hampering the growth of bacteria needed.

 

[craigieboy01]

Thanks Roadmaster, I will treat the water now, I'm using Tetra Aquasafe. Just done all tests now and think i have seen a problem, my Ph level is 6.0, I take it i need to get that raised, any ideas??? My Ammonia level has been at 4ppm since my last ammonia top up 1 week ago, my Nitrite is still 0ppm and my NitrAte level is still 10ppm.

 

[chrisbassist]

Yeah, it's not good that you aren't getting any nitrites. Means none of the ammonia has been processed.

Yes ph is too low the bacteria prefer it pretty high, maybe doing a few water changes will bring it back up? What's your taps ph?

And yes, always treat, chlorine will at the least slow things down, at the worst kill the bacteria

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, you've had a pH crash, stopping the cycle. WD (must run, sorry)

 

[OldMan47]

At a mere 6.0, your cycle has stalled. As soon as the pH comes back up it should pick up where it left off. A water change as suggested should be able to bring the pH back up but there are lots of ways to go about that. Another tried and true method is to just add some bicarbonate of soda, baking soda. It will raise the pH rather easily but can act way too fast for a tank with fish in it. For a fishless cycle, it can get you going again in just a few minutes. The few minutes is the problem that I have using it when I have fish in the tank. Water parameter changes with fish in the tank should be done slowly.

 

[craigieboy01]

Think thats me up and running again, done a big water change, checked and topped up Ammonia accordingly, also checked my tapwater Ph 7.6, so hopefully wont be to long to go.