Possibly No Bacteria In Water?

[pnyf]

So I've had my tank up and running for about 7 weeks now. It is a 3 gallon tank with a betta and some live plants. I've been testing my water regularly and have yet to get a test that registers any nitrite.
This has me confused because I would think that this length of time with having between 1 and 2 ppm ammonia would have started a culture of bacteria that would be converting ammonia into nitrite.
Is it possible that there was no bacteria in the water to start with? About a month or so before I set my tank up a "brain eating amoeba" was found in the water supply. Understandably people were concerned and there was an increase in chemicals to the water to make sure all the amoeba was taken care of.
http/www.wbrz.com/news/emergency-rule-to-clean-drinking-water/
Would these increced chemicals have killed all the bacteria I was planning on being there to start my cycle?
Thanks
Peter

 

[Fishmanic]

do you use a dechlorinator water conditioner?--if not, you should

 

[macphyter]

pnyf-
  I had a similar problem, and the reason turned out to be the water from my water softener.  Once I switched to the hard water, taken before it entered the softener, I suddenly got a nitrite spike.  Not sure if you have the same situation, but I thought I'd mention it.
 
Also, how often have you been changing your water?

 

[pnyf]

do you use a dechlorinator water conditioner?--if not, you should

I do. I've been using Topfin Water Conditioner.

pnyf-
  I had a similar problem, and the reason turned out to be the water from my water softener.  Once I switched to the hard water, taken before it entered the softener, I suddenly got a nitrite spike.  Not sure if you have the same situation, but I thought I'd mention it.
 
Also, how often have you been changing your water?

I do about a 50% water change every 2 or 3 days when my ammonia gets to about 2 ppm.

 

[the_lock_man]

 

do you use a dechlorinator water conditioner?--if not, you should

I do. I've been using Topfin Water Conditioner.

pnyf-
  I had a similar problem, and the reason turned out to be the water from my water softener.  Once I switched to the hard water, taken before it entered the softener, I suddenly got a nitrite spike.  Not sure if you have the same situation, but I thought I'd mention it.
 
Also, how often have you been changing your water?

I do about a 50% water change every 2 or 3 days when my ammonia gets to about 2 ppm.
 

 
Something, somewhere, is clearly preventing your bacteria from growing.
 
It is possible that an increased level of chlorine or whatever that has been killing these amoeba has eliminated the trace bacteria that start the colonies in the filter. You could try going to your LFS, explain the situation and ask either for some of the mature filter media from their display tanks, or at the very least to take some of the gunk from their filter - anything that will introduce some bacteria into your system.
 
Do you change your filter media regularly, like the manufacturers tell you to? If so, that could also be the problem, as you may well be chucking away whatever fledgling bacteria you have.
 
I must also advise you to increase your water changes - you really need to be keeping the ammonia level below 0.25ppm, not 2ppm. Ammonia is highly toxic, and will be burning the fish's gills and internal organs, causing a huge amount of damage, and potentially shortening the lifespan of the fish. Your filter will still cycle with the lower levels of ammonia (once you get the colonies going), but your fish will be a LOT happier.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Unless your pH us above 8.0, .25 or .5 ppm of total ammonia will not harm most fish as long as the exposure doesn't last for a lot longer than ammonia should be present during a proper cycle. Ammonia exists in two forms NH3 (unionized or free ammonia) and NH4 (ionized ammonia aka ammonium). The first is extremely toxic while the second is not. Test kits normally measure the combined total of the two. How much of the ammonia will be in each form depends on the pH and temperature of one's water. The higher these two parameters go, the more of the ammonia is in the form of the Toxic NH3. While this is not a scientific paper, here is how SeaChem states it:
 

Free ammonia is uncharged and is a gas dissolved in water. It can pass unimpeded through membranes such as fish gills. This allows it to interfere with the normal excretion of ammonia and is believed to account for its toxicity. Ionized ammonia is a charged particle and does not exist as a gas. It cannot pass through membranes and is, therefore, relatively nontoxic. It does, however, function as a proton donor, like the hydrogen ion, and, in high concentrations, produces external burns that are identical to acid burns. This is often seen in crowded gold fish ponds and shipping containers. The external “burning” properties of ammonia in high concentration at low pH should not be confused with the respiratory toxicity of free ammonia.

from http/www.seachem.com/Library/SeaGrams/Ammonia_Management.pdf
 
Here is how the Univ. of Fl. puts it:

 

Interpreting the Ammonia Test
In healthy ponds and tanks, ammonia levels should always be zero. Presence of ammonia is an indication that the system is out of balance. Therefore, any ammonia in a pond or tank should alert the producer to start corrective measures. Un-ionized ammonia (UIA) is about 100 times more toxic to fish than ionized ammonia. This UIA toxicity begins as low as 0.05 mg/L, so the result of the TAN test needs to be further calculated to find the actual concentration of UIA. To do this calculation, the temperature and pH need to be measured.

from http/edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa031#FIGURE%203
 
Therefore for anybody to have any idea how harmful any reading for total ammonia might be, they must know the pH and temp. and then use tables or a special calculator to determine the levels of each form of ammonia.
 
The biggest problem here is you are cycling with fish. There is really no excuse for doing this. The best solution is to add sufficient bacteria to the tank to pretty much cycle it instantly or very close to that fast. The other option is to remove the fish by having a friend temporarily keep it for you or by returning it to the store for credit. Tell them one you have gotten the tank cycled without risking the fish that you will return for it.
 
And yes it is likely you hit the problem on the head. Most water systems in the states tend to rely on chloramines rather than chlorine. At the normal levels chlorine is used in water systems the amount that might come out of one's tap is rarely a danger to the nitrifying bacteria once they are established in their biofilm. Even within the water system itself some bacteria can survive normal chlorine levels. And once the water crosses from the public supply system onto private property, the bacteria tend to thrive is the less used portions ofour pluming systems. However, when the amount and duration of chlorine exposure is increased to deal with the sort of emergency you describe. It is possible to kill a lot of the bacteria.
 
However, there are other reasons a cycle can stall- low pH, low KH (carbonates) low O levels.