Ammonia not going down as fast as it used to

[TissueTenant]

Hello! I got a 20 gallon tank for christmas and I've been cycling it since then. The timeline has been like so:

December 25th: set up tank, added 64 drops of Dr. Tim's ammonia (about 3ppm)

December 31st: Ammonia was at 0.5ppm, nitrite at ~3ppm, nitrate test had a bit of colour but not up to where the thing starts counting yet. Added 64 more drops of ammonia (up to 3.5ppm)

January 2nd: Ammonia at 2ppm, nitrite at ~5ppm, nitrate still just slightly coloured.

It's now January 4th and the ammonia is still at 2ppm.


I'm wondering why the ammonia was converted so fast at the start, but now it's hanging at 2ppm? My other parameters are:
pH: 7.5
Alkalinity: 300ppm
Hardness: 0ppm
Temperature: 82 degrees

I haven't added any chemicals or anything other than dechlorinator when I add more water. I've added some more plants over the course of the cycling, as well, but those should make the ammonia go down faster if anything, right? I have the light on for 8 hours per day, and the rest is spent in darkness since I've heard the bacteria are photophobic.
Am I doing something wrong? Why is it stalling like this? Should I be doing something different? Thanks in advance!

 

[jaylach]

You are talking 10 days from setup to now. That is not enough time for a tank to cycle. Give it more time.

Tank looks nice BTW.

 

[TissueTenant]

Oh, I'm not expecting it to be fully cycled yet or anything. I was just wondering why the ammonia hasn't gone down at all in a few days, when it went down a lot faster before. Is there any reason it could be stalled or I killed the bacteria somehow? Or do they just get full and not eat for a while?

 

[Slaphppy7]

Do you have a bubbler going in the tank? Warmer water holds less O2, which your beneficial bacteria need to grow; a bubbler would increase surface agitation, and promote gas exchange

What kind of test kit are you using?

 

[TissueTenant]

I don't have a bubbler, but the filter output makes lots of bubbles and stuff when it falls.
I use TopFin 5-in-1 test strips for most things, then API liquid test for ammonia.

 

[Slaphppy7]

I don't have a bubbler, but the filter output makes lots of bubbles and stuff when it falls.
I use TopFin 5-in-1 test strips for most things, then API liquid test for ammonia.

I'd wait it out, then...follow the fishless cycling instructions...and get an API Master Test Kit

 

[TwoTankAmin]

GH should not be 0. Are you sure of this number? Is it possible you mixed up the KH and GH test results? Some of what makes up GH is needed by the bacteria but what makes up KH, carbonates and bicarbonates, is essential. I do not know how accurate these two test are using strips. The API liquid test for KG and GH are pretty good, But most of us rare,y need ti use them regularly. If you have a local fish or pets store that has a fish dept,. you can take a sample of your tank and/or your tap water to them and they will normally test these for you.

Please confirm you got the tests right and if they are, then please test your tap water for KH and GH and report them.

It s easy to forget that the bacteria need more than oxygen and ammonia. pH/KH/GH tend to work together. So when GH and KH are higher so is pH and vice versa.

Finally, what dechlor are you using? Those that claim to detoxify ammonia do so in a way that makes it less available to the bacteria, i,e slows the cycle.

 

[TissueTenant]

I've been worrying about my super low GH too haha. I'll definitely try getting a master test kit ASAP and retest it! I was planning on putting some crushed oyster shells in my filter to raise it if it really is that low, is that a good idea?
I'm using top fin water conditioner, it doesn't say anything about neutralizing ammonia (unless chloramines counts?)
Thank you for all the help, everyone!

 

[seangee]

I've been worrying about my super low GH too haha. I'll definitely try getting a master test kit ASAP and retest it! I was planning on putting some crushed oyster shells in my filter to raise it if it really is that low, is that a good idea?
I'm using top fin water conditioner, it doesn't say anything about neutralizing ammonia (unless chloramines counts?)
Thank you for all the help, everyone!

What fish are you planning to keep? I have several tanks where GH & KH are negligible, but these all have soft water fish. Personally I would not use crushed oyster shells because the hardness would change every time you do a water change and you would never achieve a stable environment. If you want to raise the hardness use a supplement so your params are always the same. Is the KH (alkalinity) in your source water also high?

 

[TissueTenant]

I was planning to keep honey gouramies, cherry shrimp and some ember tetras or harlequin rasboras. I ordered some seachem stability to alter the hardness instead of the oyster shells! My tap water has the same pH, hardness, and alkalinity as my tank water (tested again just now).

 

[jaylach]

I was planning to keep honey gouramies, cherry shrimp and some ember tetras or harlequin rasboras. I ordered some seachem stability to alter the hardness instead of the oyster shells! My tap water has the same pH, hardness, and alkalinity as my tank water (tested again just now).

Have you truly tested your tap water as to PH? You can't just test right out of the tap. You need to put tap water in a container and let sit for at least 24 hours and then test. Test the PH straight out of the tap and then again after letting the water sit for a day. While not 100% the results will normally be quite different. The results on the water that has sat for a day will be the more accurate.

 

[TissueTenant]

I didn't know about letting it sit out! I'll try putting some in a container and check tomorrow. Thank you for the tip!

 

[jaylach]

I didn't know about letting it sit out! I'll try putting some in a container and check tomorrow. Thank you for the tip!

Ya, it wasn't that long ago that I learned about needing tap water sit for a day before testing PH. Sinjce I've learned this I've played with this a bit. The biggest difference I've seen was straight out of the tap showing a PH of 6-6.2 yet, after the water sitting for a day, the PH showed as something like 7.6. This is usually more noticed during the summer when water companies add extra junk to change the PH to lessen leeching from metal water pipes but can often be seen year round.

 

[powerdyne6]

I did my cycle with Dr. Tims and it took about 2 months to complete

 

[seangee]

I was planning to keep honey gouramies, cherry shrimp and some ember tetras or harlequin rasboras. I ordered some seachem stability to alter the hardness instead of the oyster shells! My tap water has the same pH, hardness, and alkalinity as my tank water (tested again just now).

All the species mentioned will do well in soft water. For a 20G you may want to consider lambchop rasbora (Trigonostigma espei) instead of harlequins as they are smaller so you could have a better display (i.e. bigger group). Double check that cherry shrimps are not gourami food - I think they may be and the shriplets definitely are. FWIW I have 30-40 ember tetras in a 20G, IMO that is way more intesting than having a bigger variety of fish

Life as a fishkeeper is definitely easier if you don't have to mess with the water parameters. If you do have to raise the GH (and you will if you keep cherry shrimp) I would look at something like Salty Shrimp GH+. Seachem likes you to buy lots of different products which mean regular testing to keep things in balance. I use the Salty Shrimp GH+/KH+ in my shrimp tank (my KH and GH are both 0) and its a simple 1 scoop per 10 litres of water that I add. Never changes and I never have to test.