Ammonia

[IovaykInD]

My tank has been set up with two RES for a month now, and the ammonia is still 1.00 ppm. It has been this way for a long time, and the ammonia won't ever rise. Nitrite is still 0 ppm, and nitrate is very low. What could be wrong? I know the RES are letting off waste and food decay should put in ammonia, but it never goes above 1.00 ppm.

Isaac

 

[StarOrbs]

They are probally only producing enough waste so it stays at 1 PPM. If it's always at 1 ppm that probally means your tank is still cycling.

 

[IovaykInD]

Does that mean it won't cycle, since there is not enough ammonia? Them producing not enough waste is a very good possibility, because they are only hatchlings. But won't the ammonia still rise from them producing more and more waste everyday? There is no nitrite yet, so I was wondering if the tank is really cycling, or something is wrong.

Isaac

 

[IovaykInD]

UPDATE:
The tank has reached 2ppm, but still no nitrites. The tank has well been set up for over a month and a half now and still no nitrites? What could be wrong? I didn't add anything other than dechlorinator to the tank, so what could be stopping it from cycling?

Isaac

 

[sinistral]

What's your pH? What kind of filter do you have?

 

[glolite]

You need to add enough ammonia to bring the reading up to 5.0. In my 27 uk gallon this took 200 drops of ammonia on the first day. Then add 6 drops of ammonia per gallon per day or enough to keep it at 5.0. The nitrites will the spike on about the 4th or 5th day. Then add 2 or 3 drops of ammonia per gallon until the nitrites disappear. If you add some gravel from an established tank or some filter material to begin with it speeds up the process. When the nitrites read nil your tank has cycled. Check for ammonia then do a 25% water change if positive, check again and if nil and add fish. Good luck.
Glo

 

[sinistral]

You need to add enough ammonia to bring the reading up to 5.0.

He's cycling with two turtles (RES = red eared sliders, I believe).

Figuring out why ammonia isn't falling is the priority, IMO.

 

[glolite]

ok I don't know and beg to authority

 

[IovaykInD]

That's correct, RES= Red Ear Slider.
If anyone understands why my ammonia levels aren't dropping, please help me. It's been over a month

 

[sinistral]

Guess I'll inquire again...I'm interested in knowing the pH and about what filter you have. Having a low pH can retard growth of the bacteria that you want. You also may need a bigger filter. I believe RES's are pretty messy (I'm open to correction about this). If there isn't enough surface area to colonize you'll never grow in enough bacteria to cycle the tank (high ammonia levels can also retard growth).

 

[IovaykInD]

Sorry for not answering you...I guess I forgot when I was replying
The pH is 7.2
And there is an Aquaclear Mini in it(I know this is suppose to be for a 20 gallon tank, but I have a 29. ) This might be the reason, but why is the ammonia level rising so slowly? Also, the Aquaclear Mini has a 100gph rating, but the tank is only 29, which means 3 times an hour all the water had gone through. It might retard the cycle, but THAT much?

Isaac

*EDIT*
RES are really messy, you're correct. But wouldn't that help the cycle? The ammonia level doesn't rise, only a bit every week I WANT it to rise so I get nitrites!!!

 

[sinistral]

Hmmm...what else is in the tank aside from the RES? I agree with you, it's rather atypical to have such a slow ammonia rise without development of nitrites. On the other hand, really slow cycles are possible.

Another possibility off the top of my head: something is happening to the bacteria to cause a die off, possibly during water changes.

You might try upgrading the filter-- it would be really hard to overfilter a tank with such messy creatures in it.

Here's a quote from this webpage:

My rule of thumb is arrange filtration rated for a tank 3 times the size of what the turtles are in . Do NOT factor in only having the tank partially filled; a half-filled 20 gallon tank should get a filter rated for a 60 gallon tank, not a 30 gallon. This assumes a ‘turtle load’ of about 3 turtles up to a year old in a 20 gallon long, perhaps 4 adult basking turtles in a 75 gallon tank, etc…

EDIT: I just reread your original post and had another thought:

It's not so much how many times the water turns over in the tank, but primarly how much capacity your filter has to house bacteria, and then how effectively your filter can expose the resulting bacteria to well-oxygenated water containing nitrogen.

If your filter is rated for a 20g tank, you will probably have inadequate bacterial colonies to completely convert ammonia to nitrIte. You *will* have a sufficient amount of bacteria to convert *some* ammonia to nitrIte. You will then have a vanishingly small amount of nitrospira to convert the nitrIte to nitrAte.

This would explain the slow rise of ammonia, the zero nitrItes, and the low nitrAte reading.

My conclusion would still be to get a larger filter as the quote above suggests.

 

[IovaykInD]

I haven't changed the water since it's been set up. Turtles don't really care about ammonia and stuff, that's why they are good for cycling. The tank is understocked, so there's no way that the filter cannot handle the bio-load. If I had a 29 gallon tank, fully stocked, with only a 20 gallon filter, then I would need to upgrade. Get what I mean?

Isaac

*EDIT*
Also, I've removed the carbon media of the Aquaclear, and put more bio-media. So that it can support more than 20 gallons. But still, that only helps support the fact that it's not because the filter doesn't have enough media for the bio-load.

 

[sinistral]

Hope things work out