Ammonia Levels Just Dont Go Down Quick Enough

[geo7x]

hi there, i have been fishless cycling my 54 litre tank for almost 6 weeks now, and I am still waiting for the ammonia levels to go from 4 to 0ppm in 12 hours, but it is not getting there any quicker, it still takes like 4 or 5 days and has been that way for ages its getting really annoying and im getting really fed up with it. everythings been going to plan but the ammonia just isnt going down quick enough and ive just tested it and its still at 2ppm and has been pretty much since this morning and even yesterday. i dont have any fishkeeping friends that can give me media or whatever. What can I be doing wrong?

 

[polypterus]

My initial guess is it may be cycled. You may just be adding more ammonia than your filter can handle. Or alternatively you may not have been adding enough to get the bacteria to grow. During the initial cycling process you don’t want to let ammonia go to zero because you will be starving your bacteria.

A few questions my help debug this. What kind of filter(s) are you using? Are the Nitrites down to zero? Did they go up and come back down and some point? Are the Nitrates going up? Are you still adding ammonia? Have you been doing water changes? Because until your tank gets cycled you don't want to do them yet. Also if you have been changing water, have you been using water conditioner? If so does your tap water have chloramines and does your conditioner handle that? Also some test kits may give false readings with certain water conditioners.

 

[geo7x]

thanks for the reply, my nitrites do come down, and have been at zero, but arent now, but almost, thats what has been odd is that my nitrite goes down pretty quickly. And I havent been doing water changes. Im using an external filter that came with the tank. I dont think its cycled because it isnt going to zero in 12 hours or less yet. Any more opinions?

 

[polypterus]

Yeah sounds like it isn't cycled fully. Nitrites should basically sit at zero. What kind of filter is it? Is it a canister of some sort or a back filter? Does it have a sponge, floss and/or carbon? Most importantly have you been cleaning it? If you rinse out the sponge in tap water you can kill your bacteria.

 

[geo7x]

sorry, dont know too much and media and hat kinda thing, all i know is that its built into the hood, and i havent touched it or washed it or anything so that should be ok. oh, and the nitrite goes up when i add ammonia at first, then after a day or two is nearly at zero, and it does go down to zero about when the ammonia does

 

[geezer]

Are you putting any dechlorinator in? if you are then that could be making it take ages

What I would do is buy some beneficial bacteria, pour loads of the bottle in towards the intake of the filter.

it helps get the process going a bit quicker.

good luck with it

 

[geo7x]

ok, but how can dechlorintor be making it take ages?

 

[polypterus]

sorry, dont know too much and media and hat kinda thing, all i know is that its built into the hood, and i havent touched it or washed it or anything so that should be ok. oh, and the nitrite goes up when i add ammonia at first, then after a day or two is nearly at zero, and it does go down to zero about when the ammonia does

Well Ok here's my guess. You are letting your ammonia sit at zero too long so you starve your bacteria and it starts to die off. At this point you might want to add one hardy fish. My guess is that you probably have enough bacteria to handle that. The fish will keep things on an even keel instead of having your ammonia and nitrite spike up and down. Of coarse once you add the fish you don’t want to add any more ammonia. Test your water and when it looks good (zero ammonia and zero nitrites) you can and more fish slowly.

 

[geezer]

ok, but how can dechlorintor be making it take ages?

the chlorine added to the tank may have killed the bacteria who were trying to start the filter. Or the ammonia in the chloramine could be more than the new bacteria colony can handle.

 

[Boids-n-more]

If you dechlorinate the water before adding to the tank it won't kill the benificial bacteria. If you add water with chlorine or chlorimine it will hurt and destroy some benifilial bacteria. I have never done a fishless cycle but what i like to do is seed some filter media for about 6 to 8 weeks before i set up another tank. if you like live plants in your tank put them in they help with the good stuff too.

 

[geo7x]

ok thanks for all the suggestions everyone, do you reckon I should add some hardy fish then? Are glowlight rasboras hardy enough? I think the cycle might be almost there and adding a few fish may be what it needs to give it a final push?

edit: geezer, i was adding dechlorinator, which gets rid of chlorine in the water, so there is no chlorine in there, so it is not harming the bacteria

 

[geo7x]

bump

 

[Majjie]

You have checked that there is foam or something in the filter - for the bacteria to grow on, right?

Also you didn't say what the nitrate levels were. If you've been adding ammonia for six weeks and haven't changed any water - the nitrate should be sky high. If it isn't - something's wrong. If it is - I'd try a really big water change - then add some more ammonia and see what happens.

With fishless cycling you should be able to stock the tank all at once - not try one or two fish to start with. If the filter is cycled and you do that - then most of the bacteria will starve from the low levels of ammonia produced by so few fish.

 

[geo7x]

yes im pretty sure there is something in the filter, there are 3 baskets, 2 have some kind of black sponge, and one has ceramic beads (i think) in. Yes the nitrate levels are waaaaay off the chart. Do you really think that doing a water change will make a difference?

 

[furryrabbit]

yes im pretty sure there is something in the filter, there are 3 baskets, 2 have some kind of black sponge, and one has ceramic beads (i think) in. Yes the nitrate levels are waaaaay off the chart. Do you really think that doing a water change will make a difference?

the black sponge is most likely carbon . this is ok - but i would replace at least one of the carbonm sponges with filter wool/floss - or even better - if you can find the blue juwel sponge in an lfs or whatever than that is very good at holding beneficial bacteria have you checked if there are any tff media donors in your area

edit - and wate rchanges ALWAYS make a difference , lol