Tank Not Cycling

[pirate monkey]

We got ourselves a juwel trigon 350 on saturday evening we attached a structured background, then left it 24hrs to cure. We then filled the tank with water, put the new filter sponges in along with some mature media from our community tank, and added some ammonia.

On monday I realised that we hadn't put any dechlorinator in (filled tank with hose to safe our backs from buckets!) so I added enough dechlor for the volume and left it a few hours.

later on I added some more mature media from the community tank, and squeezed some gunk of another sponge from the community filter, moved some plants across, put bogwood from the community tank, and also put some gravel from the community in a stocking and stuck that in the filter too.

I've tested the water everyday, and the ammonia hasn't dropped. Worried that I put too much ammonia in I did a water change yesterday (only about 10% but that's all I could manage on my own...) today there is still no change.

What's going wrong? I'd expect with all the mature filter media, bogwood etc that something should be happening by now! I'm wondering if we didnt leave the sealant long enough to cure. Thing is, my boyfriend is a roofer, and he often uses silicone sealants at work, and being silicone, it is waterproof from when it is first applied. If it is waterproof, there's no way it can leach any chemicals into the water, otherwise it wouldn't be waterproof.

I can understand having to leave sealant to cure for ages if you're building an aquarium as it won't be strong enough to hold the glass together with water in until it has cured, but we only used it to stick a background on, and left it for 24hrs.

sorry for all that blurb...

in summary: why isn't our tank cycling even tho we've got mature media? Is it the silicone sealant, and what can we do?

Temp is ~28C, plenty of aeration

 

[doresy]

Ok......

Firstly, silicone is best left 48 hours but 24 should be ok......hopefully it was Aquarium Safe silicone....yes? (If not then it may all have to come out as it may well contain, among other things, anti fungal treatment )

The un-dechlorinated water killed off any bacteria in the matured media you first added

When you did add dechlorinator it will have worked instantly and now all your second efforts will be worthwhile

However, if it were me I would not take up valuable space in the filter with the stocking full of gravel as very little bacteria is present in gravel. Instead, now you have it in a stocking why not suspend it next to the filter intake.

You are testing (API master kit?) so what level is the ammonia (5-6ppm is good) If you go too high it will stall cycling.

Adding matured media and gunk is a wonderful thing but not always a miracle worker......be patient

 

[pirate monkey]

Yeah it was aquarium silicone!

The stocking with gravel in it is quite literally just plonked on top of all other media, so not taking up any room, so I think I'll probably leave it there for time being. I was just trying everything I could think of, after reading about how other people's tanks cycle in a couple of days, wishful thinking on my part.

I added ammonia as calculated by the aquarium calculator link for 5ppm but I think the test (API by the way ) shows it to be slightly higher - hence the water change. tbh I have difficulty telling the colours apart so I've been testing for nitrites to be on the safe side but they're still sky blue...

I just wanted to check we hadn't done anything too wrong, but if all it needs is patience and time that's fine! Gives us plenty of time to get all the decor sorted out - at least we don't have to rush that part!

Do you think I should change more water just to make sure the ammonia wasn't too high in the first place?

Thanks for your help doresy!

 

[doresy]

Good to hear that Aqua silicone was used and API test kit.

The ammonia should show a limey green (just off yellow) If it's a vivid green then do a 30% water change and test again.

I wouldn't test for nitrite for at least 7-10 days even if m/media was used it'll only frustrate you but do keep an eye on the ammonia. Let it go down till its hard to see any green which will be around 1ppm. It will go....honest!

Then test for nitrite and watch it rise! All tanks behave differently, my last one took nearly 10 weeks (some members found that hilarious ) M/media should always be used where possible but don't expect miracles

 

[pirate monkey]

Went away for weekend, got back sunday and tested the water, ammonia has dropped slightly and have some nitrites present! woohoo!

Thanks doresy for your reassurance