Tank Will Not Cycle

Dmosier · Feb 9, 2006

OK I will start by saying on my honor I will do a fishless cycle next time but I did not know any better this time and my tank had fish in before I found this site.

Ok my tank. It has been set up for 2 months. I have never had any nitrite or nitrate. I currently have zeolite in the filter to hold the ammonia down so I do not have to do daily water changes.

stats:

55 us gal tank
2 silver dollars
1 red fin shark
8 sword tails

PH: 7.2
ammonia: .5 PPM (water change today)
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0

I use a profin 60 filter from petsmart (OK that is why I did not know about fishless cycle)

Any idea why the tank will not cycle.

smmetz · Feb 9, 2006

are you rinsing your filter media in tap water when you change your water? If so, dont rinse it more than once per week, and rinse it only in old tank water.

kev_kb · Feb 10, 2006

Do you have access to gravel or filter media from another tank? Maybe ask your lfs for some.

pokagon55 · Feb 10, 2006

It is poss. that zeolite is the problem. Ammonia is suppose to be able to peek to allow for the nitrites to form. Regular water changes will delute the ammonia to help the fish. Or it cuold be not enough bio-load on the tank. Rule if thumb is 1 inch per five gal. when doing a fish cycle.

Dmosier · Feb 11, 2006

Thanks,

For the answers.

No I stopped rinsing the filter media in tap water about a month ago after I found this site. Only rinse once a week with old tank water.

I only put the Zeolite in about a week ago as my job will not allow daily water changes all the time (have to travel some). Plus my LFS told me to try to let it sit for a week or so to see if it would start to cycle. No luck. The ammonia is still between .75 and 1.5 so i don't think the ammonia level is the problem.

I am thinking of adding a new filter to the tank but I really don't think the filter system is the problem. I have tried everything the LFS suggested but no luck. Really don't like to see the fish stressed I have kept them alive so far but............

Any help would be appreciated.

Tolak · Feb 11, 2006

What type & how much dechlorinator are you using for water changes?

Dmosier · Feb 11, 2006

Tolak said:
What type & how much dechlorinator are you using for water changes?

Using Stress coat only the recommended amount.

Tolak · Feb 11, 2006

Winter water sometimes gets weird. It's a seasonal problem here, less water gets used than during the sumer, and the runoff contains some road salt. To combat this, the water company increases chlorine, chloramine, & buffers.

I use Prime to dechlor in the winter, double the dose. You can go up to 5 times the recommended dose with Prime, I just did a 4x dose in a hatching tank, it worked fine. This may be something to look in to.