Ammonia not coming down, no nitrite and nitrate!

[sandarora]

Hi community, looking for some guidance with nitrogen cycling. I am setting up a tank from scratch (sort of). This is an old tank on which I am doing a hard reset. Its previous inhabitants died few weeks back. They were with me for close to 11 years. I have done a reset of the tank with all new layers of the Aquaclear 50 filter and new gravel as well. I am doing fishless cycling using DrTim’s Aquatics Ammonium Chloride Solution and following the chart/recipe for fishless cycling from Dr Tim's website. I had dechlorinated the water using API Stress Coat. For the beneficial bacteria, I had added the dosage from API Quick Start on day 1. I have been following the chart but the water readings were only showing ammonia till day 6. So I added Quick Start again based on dosage for a 40 gal tank. But on day 8, I am still only getting ammonia close to 4 ppm. Picture attached. Nitrite and nitrate are 0. Pls guide and let me know if I am missing something here.

 

[seangee]

That chart is not realistic. Read this guide which is more like the real world.
Typically the Add Fish stage happens after about a month but can take longer.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Welcome to TFF.

Agree with the above, forget that chart you posted and follow the cycling link provided.

As for the Stress Coat, it "contains the healing power of Aloe Vera", which doesn't "heal" but actually harms fish...replace it with either Seachem Prime, or API Tap Water Conditioner.

What is the temp of the tank?

 

[sandarora]

Hi, getting back to this thread. Today is day 40 of the aquarium cycling. I have been following the link which was shared above for the instructions for fishless cycling. Yesterday was dose #10 of ammonia (full dose which translates to 120 drops of DrTim ammonia liquid for my tank capacity). After the ammonia dose, ammonia in the tank is measured around 2-3 ppm after 1-2 hours. Ammonia is still not coming to zero within 24 hrs. It is taking 2 days for ammonia and nitrite to come to zero. Tank temperature is maintained at 85 degrees. Pls guide. This seems to be taking much longer than usual even as per this link --> https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. All you need is the tap water conditioner and the Quick Start. The conditioner detoxifies any of the chemicals your public water people put into the tap water to make it safe to drink and the bacteria starter will remove the ammonia and nitrite, so your bacteria colony is in place. You can add a few fish at this point and simply change half the tank every few days to remove the nitrate. So, as long as you keep up with your water changes, your fish will be fine. Add some nice plants like Java Fern, Anubias, Anacharis and some Dwarf Water Lettuce and you're back in business.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[Ram419]

I agree with 10 Tanks. Sounds like you just need to get the ammonia and nitrites down to 0ppm. So don't dose any more ammonia. Make sure the nitrates are not above 40ppm. Once you have that then fish are ready to be added.

 

[seangee]

What is your pH? The process takes longer in acidic tanks. Have you put plants in it?

 

[sandarora]

Hi, sharing the test numbers for day 41 --> pH - 6.4, Ammonia - 2, Nitrite - 0, Nitrate - 40. I don't have any live plants in the tank. It only has a heater, bubbler, gravel. Temp is maintained around 85 degrees. I had added dose #10 of ammonia 2 days back on day 39. Ammonia hasn't come down at all. It seems that the nitrogen cycle has become very inconsistent. Dose #9 of ammonia of 120 drops (same as dose #10) was gone in 2 days. But since the blogs suggested that ammonia should be gone in 24 hrs, I added ammonia again. But this time, it is not coming down. I have not done a water change since I started the cycling so the nitrate is high as expected.

 

[seangee]

I would suggest a 75-90% water change. The cycle slows significantly in acidic water and almost stops at pH 6. The good news is that at your current pH the ammonium present will not harm fish (its ammonium rather than ammonia in acidic water). The bad news is that lowering the pH is a by product of the cycle so when you do do a water change the pH in your tank is likely to rise and potentially put your fish at risk.
Change the water and test for pH after 24 hours. If the pH does indeed rise you will find the cycle probably completes very quickly since you already have the bacteria.
FWIW low pH is not a bad thing, especially if you plan on keeping soft water fish. 2 of my tanks have pH < 6.
If you are planning on adding plants (recommended!!!) now would be a good time to do so to allow them to establish before you add fish.