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LP23

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Im cycling a new tank at the minute to put a betta fish in, however after a week of adding bacteria start up, ammonia is still sky high and this white particulate is covering everything from plants to wood to stone, and i think in the filter too. This is just after a water change (of which i have been doing more frequently but with no effect), but ammonia is still high and this stuff seems to come back extremely quickly. I think it may be a fungus of some kind but im only used to the web-like white fungus that would grow on driftwood, not this. Any ideas of what it is and what i should do about it.

parameters: pH:7.3
Temperature: 27 degrees Celsius
Ammonia: 4.0ppm
Nitrites and Nitrates have stayed zero which has made me worry the cycle isnt even working
Tank size:6.5 gallons (30 Litres)
 
It is not the bacteria we want to grow in a tank.

Is there a fish in the tank at the moment or is this a fishless cycle? If there is a fish in, you need to do as big a water change as necessary to get the ammonia down to zero.
 
essjay said:
It is not the bacteria we want to grow in a tank.

Is there a fish in the tank at the moment or is this a fishless cycle? If there is a fish in, you need to do as big a water change as necessary to get the ammonia down to zero.
Click to expand...
There are no fish in the tank at the moment no.
 
That's a relief, with ammonia at 4 ppm :)


Which bacterial starter have you used? I know that some do contain ammonia.
 
Their website doesn't mention ammonia in the safety data sheet.

Have you added any ammonia? If not, maybe run a small container of water and add a bit of the Cycle, then test for ammonia to see if it does come from there.
What exactly is in the tank? The photo shows wood and some plants but they won't create ammonia and shouldn't account for the bits.
 
essjay said:
Their website doesn't mention ammonia in the safety data sheet.

Have you added any ammonia? If not, maybe run a small container of water and add a bit of the Cycle, then test for ammonia to see if it does come from there.
What exactly is in the tank? The photo shows wood and some plants but they won't create ammonia and shouldn't account for the bits.
Click to expand...
Im not at home right now but i know there is a bucephalandra, monte carlo, echinodorus of some variety (the tall one) and one more im not sure of. There is also some ohko stone and i had to remove one of the plants as it just turned brown and rotted which may be some of the reason for the ammonia. However i did add a small amount of fish food as i was told it was a more inexpensive way of adding ammonia for the bacteria.
 
Rotting plants and fish food decompose to make ammonia, so yes, they could account for it. The food going off may also account for the bits. A lot of plants can't cope with a lot of ammonia in the water which may have been the problem with the plant which died.

Can I suggest removing as much food as you can find, them monitor the ammonia level. When it drops to zero (eventually!) then add a bit more. But less than you added at the start.


Bucephalandra is a slow growing plant - I have a couple of species. It won't like bright light while the other plants will. Another thing you can try is floating plants. If you could arrange the tank so that the buce is under the floaters, it will help. Floating plants also remove ammonia - plants take it up as fertiliser and floating plants are particularly good for this. The betta, when you finally get one, will also appreciate them. Look for water lettuce or Amazon frogbit or water sprite.
 
essjay said:
Rotting plants and fish food decompose to make ammonia, so yes, they could account for it. The food going off may also account for the bits. A lot of plants can't cope with a lot of ammonia in the water which may have been the problem with the plant which died.

Can I suggest removing as much food as you can find, them monitor the ammonia level. When it drops to zero (eventually!) then add a bit more. But less than you added at the start.


Bucephalandra is a slow growing plant - I have a couple of species. It won't like bright light while the other plants will. Another thing you can try is floating plants. If you could arrange the tank so that the buce is under the floaters, it will help. Floating plants also remove ammonia - plants take it up as fertiliser and floating plants are particularly good for this. The betta, when you finally get one, will also appreciate them. Look for water lettuce or Amazon frogbit or water sprite.
Click to expand...
Thankyou. I had tried to remove a lot of it a few days after i added it but a lot of it got lost under the sand and gravel. I definitely want to get some floaters the betta i used to have loved them.
Should i just keep doing water changes or is there anything i can do that will help to solve the issue?
 
Until you get some floating plants, I would remove as much food as possible, and a water change to get ammonia down but not to zero. For one betta in a tank this size, you only need to use 1 ppm ammonia to cycle - that's all I used for my betta's tank and it was plenty.
Once you get floating plants you may well find that the ammonia that was left disappears and no nitrite. If this happens, you can then go betta shopping :)
 
essjay said:
Until you get some floating plants, I would remove as much food as possible, and a water change to get ammonia down but not to zero. For one betta in a tank this size, you only need to use 1 ppm ammonia to cycle - that's all I used for my betta's tank and it was plenty.
Once you get floating plants you may well find that the ammonia that was left disappears and no nitrite. If this happens, you can then go betta shopping :)
Click to expand...
Thankyou so much.
 
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