Need Help Please - Fishless Cycle

Emma*

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Im new and set up a fish tank 8 days ago for tropical fish. Haven't yet added any plants or fish. Been adding food but still after 8 days no ammonia. Nitrite levels have gone to 0.25 but Nitrate levels have gone to 40. Haven't checked PH levels yet, temp of water is 24c. Added stresszyme the first day of adding water and the 7th day. Also added tapsafe to the water. Havent yet done a water change, what is going on, why are the Nitrates 40? I also filled a bucket of tap water and tested it for Nitrates and that was 40 - can anyone help? Filter and pump are working fine. Thanks
 
Im new and set up a fish tank 8 days ago for tropical fish. Haven't yet added any plants or fish. Been adding food but still after 8 days no ammonia. Nitrite levels have gone to 0.25 but Nitrate levels have gone to 40. Haven't checked PH levels yet, temp of water is 24c. Added stresszyme the first day of adding water and the 7th day. Also added tapsafe to the water. Havent yet done a water change, what is going on, why are the Nitrates 40? I also filled a bucket of tap water and tested it for Nitrates and that was 40 - can anyone help? Filter and pump are working fine. Thanks

:hi: to TFF

First off, stress zyme is no good and will not do anything to your tank. I would stop using it.

What kind of test kit are you using?

You want to get pure ammonia in a liquid form form your local hardware store. This is the best ammonia to use for a fishless cycle.

Also, what is your tap water reading of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

If you can, raise your temp to 84F/29C, as this is optimal for the growth your beneficial bacteria.

-FHM
 
Im using the fresh water masters test kit, the one with the test tubes. The PH level in my tank is 7.6. Tap water ammonia, nitrite levels are 0 but the nitrate is 40 - so ive got lots of nitrate in my tap water? Its confusing, I would have thought ammonia would have gone up by now, i have fed the tank fish food 4 times in 8 days. So would putting the temp up help things along?
 
That is a little strange that you are not seeing any ammonia yet? But, I would get some pure ammonia, as a fishless cycle is going to be a little hard to properly perform without the proper ammonia source.

It could be that the fish food has yet to break down and produce ammonia.

A tap water reading of 40 ppm is not uncommon. There really is no need to worry about it.

-FHM
 
Welcome to the forum Emma*.
You can try to do the fishless cycle using fish food decay and we know that it works. The problem that I see with it is what you are facing right now, it is hard top predict the ammonia production or to control the ammonia levels while using fish food. That is the main reason that most fishless cycles are done with pure ammonia instead. It lets you measure out the ammonia addition and readily measure the nitrites or nitrates that result from bacterial action.
 
Hi Emma*,

You may no doubt see us discussing this in more detail over in the dudley thread with Neale (saw you there I believe) but I in fact agree with what OM47 has said in the post above. Dosing pure household ammonia will give a beginner much more control over the fishless cycling process (it removes the type of food and the amounts from the equation.)

~~waterdrop~~
 
Agree what has been said above. Household ammonia is a much easier and more accurate way of fishless cycling the tank.

Also just another note, make sure your filter doesnt have any zeolite present in it, if it does this would explain why you are not seeing an ammonia reading and the zeolite will need removing.

What type of filter is it?

Andy
 
Whats zeolite and how do you get rid of it? Ive got a Interpet internal power filter, it came with the tank. Its been 8 days now with water in and ive added food 4 times (i think ive said this all before!) should i be seeing ammonia by now then? I will definitely have to buy some to get the cycle started!
 
Whats inside the filter?

I presume there are a couple of foam pads, is there any product such as chippings inside a container or pouch? If so, what colour is it?

Andy
 
No, no chippings inside a container or pouch! Yes theres 2 foam pads, one plain and one carbon which need replacing every 6 weeks which is a pain! But as the ammonia and nitrite levels are 0ppm why is the nitrate level 20ppm, i also have nitrate in my tap water, could that be a problem?
 
No, no chippings inside a container or pouch! Yes theres 2 foam pads, one plain and one carbon which need replacing every 6 weeks which is a pain! But as the ammonia and nitrite levels are 0ppm why is the nitrate level 20ppm, i also have nitrate in my tap water, could that be a problem?
First off, you should never replace any foam or biological filtration media unless it is falling apart and cannot be used properly.

Activated carbon really is not needed in a filter. I, and A LOT of other members on here, do not run carbon in our filters, we instead just have it handy in case of an emergency.

Yes, the reason you have nitrate in your tank is because you have it in your tap water. This is not worry about though.

-FHM
 
No, no chippings inside a container or pouch! Yes theres 2 foam pads, one plain and one carbon which need replacing every 6 weeks which is a pain! But as the ammonia and nitrite levels are 0ppm why is the nitrate level 20ppm, i also have nitrate in my tap water, could that be a problem?
First off, you should never replace any foam or biological filtration media unless it is falling apart and cannot be used properly.

Activated carbon really is not needed in a filter. I, and A LOT of other members on here, do not run carbon in our filters, we instead just have it handy in case of an emergency.

Yes, the reason you have nitrate in your tank is because you have it in your tap water. This is not worry about though.

-FHM

I must sound stupid! Oh course thats why i have nitrates in my tank! Thats a pain. Thanks about the pads, saves me some money, wonder why they put carbon pads in the filter then if there not really needed!
 
If you run carbon in your filter, the activated carbon itself on stay good for about 3 days, after which time you need to replace. So, if you wanted to keep carbon in your filter, you you be replacing it about twice a week.

-FHM
 
If you run carbon in your filter, the activated carbon itself on stay good for about 3 days, after which time you need to replace. So, if you wanted to keep carbon in your filter, you you be replacing it about twice a week.

-FHM

So I could just replace the carbon foam with a plain one then? It says that i have to replace the carbon foam with carbon foam! Cant I have 2 plain foams. It says the carbon foam removes treatments so if treatments are being used the foam should be removed. This is a pain, why put it in if it causes problems!
 
Just have a pouch of carbon on hand. For now, just put another piece of foam in there.

-FHM
 

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