hi there, I am in the porcess of setting up a new tank fo rmy son, its just a small one,about 10 litres and came with an internal filter called a duetto dj 50. Its different to the filter in my larger tank in that it contins sponges and stones,so i've not been able to use any of the media from my other filter to get it going as the sponges dont fit.We cleaned everything in de chlorinated water befor setting it up and dosed the tank with ammonia to fishless cycle. The ammonia level has been well up around 6-8ppm for the last 3 weeks but theres no sign of any nitrites as yet. (im testing with the liquid test kits not the strips).In my other tanknitrites started showing round 10-14 days into the cycle, and thats a much larger tank, so i kinda expected to be getting some form of reading for them by now. I'm wondering if its the different type of filter that is preventing the tankfrom cycling properly, although i dont know why that would be. Should i just continue to be patient and wait for nitrites start showing or is there something else I should be doing?The ammonia reading has been consistently at 6-8ppm wihout me topping the ammonia levels up so as far as i i can tell the bacteria dont seem to be growing at all. HELP!
Question Re Fishless Cycle
- Thread starter ennazus
- Start date
Miss Wiggle
Practically perfect in every way
drop the ammonia down a bit, levekls of ammonia too high can actually inhibit bacteria growth, try and get it to around 4/5ppm if you can. also what is your pH.
Might sound like stating the bloomin obvious but it doesn't occur to people sometimes. you know you can just cut the sponges down from your tank so that they fit. even getting a small amount of media in there would help.
alternatively to cycle the tank you can take the filter from the small tank and run it in the main tank for 2 weeks, then pop it back over to the small tank and add ammonia, you'll likely find it's cycled completely in this time or if not completely then it'll be nearing the end of the fishless cycle.
whole lot easier than testing and mucking around with ammonia. you really only ever need to fishless cycle once!
Might sound like stating the bloomin obvious but it doesn't occur to people sometimes. you know you can just cut the sponges down from your tank so that they fit. even getting a small amount of media in there would help.
alternatively to cycle the tank you can take the filter from the small tank and run it in the main tank for 2 weeks, then pop it back over to the small tank and add ammonia, you'll likely find it's cycled completely in this time or if not completely then it'll be nearing the end of the fishless cycle.
whole lot easier than testing and mucking around with ammonia. you really only ever need to fishless cycle once!
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Agree with MW on all these points.
As she says, running the filter in the older tank may be the easiest. On the other hand I can picture if your son is small he may be excited to have "his own" filter running on his tank (my son likes his equipment!) and so you might be looking to keep things running on the little tank possibly. In that case, MW's other tip that you can cut sponges is a good one: You could buy a replacement spong for your big tank's filter and cut a chunk of fresh sponge that would exactly and tightly fit a chunk that you cut off to take to the smaller new filter, if that makes sense?
If it helps, we do often read reports from new members that their ammonia has not dropped in 3 weeks (ie. they must have had very, very few A-Bacs to start off their A-Bac growth.) Definately want the pH to be reasonable and for their to be a little calcium and iron in trace amounts, so I'd start by reporting pH as MW asked.
~~waterdrop~~
As she says, running the filter in the older tank may be the easiest. On the other hand I can picture if your son is small he may be excited to have "his own" filter running on his tank (my son likes his equipment!) and so you might be looking to keep things running on the little tank possibly. In that case, MW's other tip that you can cut sponges is a good one: You could buy a replacement spong for your big tank's filter and cut a chunk of fresh sponge that would exactly and tightly fit a chunk that you cut off to take to the smaller new filter, if that makes sense?
If it helps, we do often read reports from new members that their ammonia has not dropped in 3 weeks (ie. they must have had very, very few A-Bacs to start off their A-Bac growth.) Definately want the pH to be reasonable and for their to be a little calcium and iron in trace amounts, so I'd start by reporting pH as MW asked.
~~waterdrop~~
rabbut
I don't bite, all that often...
Might be worth a quick waterchange. This will often spark things off in a "frozen" cycle 
Thanksfor all your replies.PH is 7.5. Cant believe i didnt think of just cuttimg the sponges down, DUH! I'll reduce the ammonia slightly, would it be best to do that with a water change i'm assuming? Then i'll add some cutdown sponge from my other filter to try and get things going.Thanksfor the help,i'lllet you know how i go.(yes my son is 7 and is very excited about his own tank and fishes, but also very impatient!!)
rabbut
I don't bite, all that often...
Yes, ammonia can be reduced via a waterchanges and this is the recomended way to do it 
Sometimes tricks like cutting up sponges are so obvious that you just don't think of them, because they are under your nose 
All the best
Rabbut
Sometimes tricks like cutting up sponges are so obvious that you just don't think of them, because they are under your nose All the best
Rabbut
Miss Wiggle
Practically perfect in every way
indeed they are! plenty of people don't think of it though. 
let us know howyou do in a few days with some sponges in there and less ammonia.
let us know howyou do in a few days with some sponges in there and less ammonia.
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Ah good, at age 7 you might try finding and printing the chart of the Nitrogen Cycle in wikipedia. You can post it on the tank and talk him through it a few times, then have him help with creating graphs of the morning and evening measurements you take of ammonia, nitrite(NO2) and pH, and the occasional nitrate(NO3). My son found a spiral-bound notebook in the store that had 3D pictures of many fish on the front cover(!) and we made that be the aquarium notebook/logbook. You also might try to find some photographs of bacteria and possibly even a willing teacher that would show bacteria through a microscope. There's ideas galore!
~~waterdrop~~
drobbyb
Bowhead
I can't wait for my daughter to get her first tank (she's got a few years!) I just hope she falls in love with the hobby as I did. It taught me responsibility and gave me structure.
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