Tank will not cycle

[domi1113]

Hello all,

thank you in advance for any help...

I'm at the point of frustration and almost ready to quit...

I've had my tank for 6 months now... about 3 months ago we were leaving for 14 days, so i bought an automatic fish feeder.... well, accidentally, that fell into the tank with all the food - i scooped as much out as possible.
ever since then, i can not get my tank to cycle... I've tried everything I've been told. i do not know what to do any longer... i use the vacuum every time i clean the tank... I've tried everything when it comes to cleaning and doing water changes, daily, every other day, waiting a couple of days... no matter what i do, when i change the water, 4 hours later my ammonia is through the roof, super dark green when tested... I've tested the water i use for the tank, comes back as no ammonia.

I've lost some fish... I'm using ammo lock to keep the current fish alive.
i tried to get a couple catfish, they lasted about 3 days...
I've used the bacteria start up, i went through 3 bottles of it, putting a cap full in each day, no luck

i've moved to feeding them every other day or every third day to make sure i'm not over feeding.

its a 54 gallon corner tank... has about 7 chichilds in it now... i have 2 Ehim cartridge filters

how can i get the tank to cycle and ammonia down?

I'm at a loss and ready to throw in the towel...

 

[Splashdaddy]

Is it possible the inside of the tank has been cleaned with some form of cleaning product in the past? Perhaps the ammonia is residue from that? Whatever the cause, I'd suggest finding a temporary home for your fish and doing a deep clean on the tank and the substrate. Perhaps even change the substrate. Then start over again using the start up product.

 

[Colin_T]

Have you cleaned the filter?

Remove all the rocks, ornaments and plants, then do a complete gravel clean and big water change.

Wash ornaments, rocks and plants with tap water and then redecorate the tank.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence.

Make sure the pH is above 6.5.

 

[domi1113]

On Saturday i removed all decorations, did a big water change and left the decorations out and the ammonia went from over 8 to more in the 1-2 range... i've been doing about a 40% water change daily and ammonia is still in that 1-2 range so much better but not perfect... Nitrate is still 0...
I do get a cloud of dust when i put vacuum in the rocks

 

[Colin_T]

You need to keep the gravel cleaner in the substrate until there is no more dirt being sucked out, then move to another spot and repeat.

Have you cleaned the filters?
If the filters sucked up the food it will be producing ammonia inside them and you will need to get it out to stop the ammonia.

 

[domi1113]

I have cleaned the filter out a couple of times... I actually have 2 Ehim canister filters.... they do get clogged fairly easily it seems - water pressure slows down, i clean and it picks back up but i don't see alot of debris in filter, its just the media gets extremely dirty and seems to block water flow.

 

[Splashdaddy]

Have you checked your hoses? Might be something stuck in there. I primed my fluval filter a few times when the flow was poor and the pressure ejected some debris. Flow has been strong since.

I'm getting the picture that your substrate is to blame for your ammonia. Might be an idea to change it completely.

 

[domi1113]

Thats what I'm thinking and may be my last effort...

I only have one tank and about 9 Chicilds.... am i ok, removing the current substrate(gravel) while leaving the fish in and replacing with sand... then following day do the water change? my only concern is i have no where to move fish while doing this unless i have them in a bucket

 

[utahfish]

Over cleaning can also lead to ammonia spikes as cleaning filter media ,gravel, ornaments kills beneficial bacteria.Ammo lock also puts ammonia in a form that cant be used by beneficial bacteria essentially starving the beneficial bacteria. Stop using the ammo lock stop cleaning everything just do water changes until your tank re cycles

 

[Neon1977]

Over cleaning can also lead to ammonia spikes as cleaning filter media ,gravel, ornaments kills beneficial bacteria.Ammo lock also puts ammonia in a form that cant be used by beneficial bacteria essentially starving the beneficial bacteria. Stop using the ammo lock stop cleaning everything just do water changes until your tank re cycles

I agree! The worst thing you can do is use ammo lock! It made my cycling process 10x harder! Feed fish a tiny amount every other day until the cycling process is done! Daily water testing with a liquid test kit and changing at least 50% of the water if the ammo or nitrite reads above 0 or nitrate reads above 20.0 then continue to test daily. Once a week wipe down the inside of the glass with a regular scrourer that hasn’t been used previous and you will only use for your fish tank working your way downwards, empty at least 25%-50% of water depending on your parameters again, siphon your gravel and rinse sponge filter/foam or both in the water you have taken out from your tank. That’s it! No products no secret formulas. This is what I’m currently doing on day 3 of it and have seen a huge drop in my ammo, nitrate and nitrite!

 

[domi1113]

Question... I'm being told it could be because my filters are not strong enough...
I'm using Ehim 250's

 

[utahfish]

Question... I'm being told it could be because my filters are not strong enough...
I'm using Ehim 250's

Even if your filters werent strong enough one of the purposes of a filter is holding filter media for beneficial bacteria to grow on, if there is no beneficial bacteria because one keeps removing it or starving it or killing then all a filter is doing is pushing ammonia around.
Your tank is devoid of beneficial bacteria, unfortunately by constantly deep cleaning gravel the gravel bed has a limited amount of beneficial bacteria, taking ornaments out and washing them kills/decreases bacteria on those surfaces. Changing out filter media and cleaning out filter media decreases/kills bacteria on those surfaces.
Basically youve reset your cycle by killing so much bacteria and adding the ammo lock is keeping it from growing back because its starving.
Ditch the ammo lock stop cleaning and changing everything and just do water changes as your tank cycles.