Cycle stopped?! Help pls!

[tojoaopaulo]

Hello friends,
I set up one 80 liters tank at 01/16 and I started to cycle.

Setup:
Basalt, 1 tetra wishper 30 filter, 1 thermostat adjusted to 34 celcius, PH 7
1 artificial ceramic(decoration) and 1 trunk (bought after measure ph near from 8)

On day 17, I started adding Stability (daily at the recommended dose) and I put a dose of ammonia.
Measuring was for approximately 4PPM. (A little above the desirable, I think)

Day 21 ammonia recorded about 2PPM and about 0.25 of nitrite, at the end of the day, I added a little more ammonia, raising it to about 3 PPM.

I continued with Stability and did not add any more ammonia to the present day.

On day 23, measured ammonia and nitrite, the ammonia continued at about 3PPM and the nitrite at about 0.5.

At day 25, I measured again both and remained at 3PPM of ammonia and 0.5 of nitrite.

Day 27 I did one more test, hoping for the amount of ammonia to go down and it seems that the cycling was frozen in time during those days, 3PPM of ammonia and 0.5 of nitrite.

Although the indication is only 7 days, I continued to put Stability.

For lack of confidence I measured PH and was close to 8. I know that oscillating the PH is normal, but from 7 to almost 8 it seems to me very not?

I did not understand what raised the PH so much and if it is harmful during the cycling.

After measuring the pH at 8 I bought a trunk, to try keep PH close to 7.
The trunk came from a cycled tank, what I think that should accelerate my cycle.

Day 29, measured again, and the parameters keep same. Added more double dose of stability.

Day 31, again, same results. =( =( =(
I really do not know what to do. What do you think?
Can someone help me?

Sorry for the English.

 

[docpark]

Hi tojoaopaulo:

A higher ph is helpful in establishing the beneficial bacteria.

What is your water temperature? If you can raise it to at least 82F that would be helpful.

Also, if you can add aeration (for example, an air stone connected to an air pump) that might also help.

Every cycle is different. Thirty days is not unusual. Keep testing ammonia and nitrite until you begin to see a drop in ammonia and increase in nitrite.

There is no need to add more Stability. If you wish to use a bacterial additive, consider Tetra SafeStart if it is available to you. SafeStart will sometimes work. If you decide to use it, do water changes to bring the ammonia down to about 2ppm.

 

[tojoaopaulo]

TY, a lot! =)
My thermostat is adjusted close to 90F.

I do not know how the pH came to 8 since there is nothing alkalizing in the tank (I think).
I stopped stability until I registered some alteration again in the amonia.
I think that Tetra SafeStart not is available in my town =( ...

What I found most strange was that the cycle started and stopped. And I'm already at day 15 and the ammonia does not go down. Not to mention that besides the stability, I bought a trunk of a tank already cycled, theoretically some bacteria should also help to accelerate the cycling, but it seems that also had no difference.

 

[tojoaopaulo]

Day 17, same parameters =( ... nothing changed =(
I know that it's not recommended, but I'm thinking to do a TPA if I read the same at weekend.

 

[docpark]

Hi tojoaopaulo:

I'm sorry, I may have misunderstood your original post -- you are on Day 17 of the cycle?

 

[tojoaopaulo]

Hi dockpark,

Yes, today is 18 cycling day

 

[eaglesaquarium]

What's the gH and kH of the water?

Please lower the temp, 90 is actually too high.


What is the pH of your tap water after leaving it sit for 24 hours?

Do you have splashing of the filter water back into your tank or any other aeration?

 

[docpark]

Hi dockpark,

Yes, today is 18 cycling day

****************************************************
Thank you, tojoaopaulo. Since it is only the 17th day, I would continue monitoring the ammonia and nitrite for a few more days to see if the cycle begins to progress.

 

[tojoaopaulo]

Updating...

Sorry, I have not yet bought Gh and Kh kits.

"What is the pH of your tap water after leaving it sit for 24 hours?"
Great... that's it! I test and after 24 hours it's 7.0~7.2 ... tap water starts in 6.6~6.8

Thank you very much for help me and updating.

Saturday I was measuring the parameters and finally changed ...
Amonia went to close to 1 and the nitrite went up to 2.8.
Since here in RJ the water evaporates very quickly, I completed a little of what had evaporated. (6L in 19 days + -)

Today I measured again, practically zero ammonia and nitrite to 2.8 (arrived in color very fast)
I added some ammonia to get close to 1 PPM and now I'm hoping to download.

Many thanks to all of your friends =)

 

[docpark]

Updating...

Sorry, I have not yet bought Gh and Kh kits.

"What is the pH of your tap water after leaving it sit for 24 hours?"
Great... that's it! I test and after 24 hours it's 7.0~7.2 ... tap water starts in 6.6~6.8

Thank you very much for help me and updating.

Saturday I was measuring the parameters and finally changed ...
Amonia went to close to 1 and the nitrite went up to 2.8.
Since here in RJ the water evaporates very quickly, I completed a little of what had evaporated. (6L in 19 days + -)

Today I measured again, practically zero ammonia and nitrite to 2.8 (arrived in color very fast)
I added some ammonia to get close to 1 PPM and now I'm hoping to download.

Many thanks to all of your friends =)

******************************************************
That's good news. You should start detecting nitrate soon, which will be the final stage.

 

[Gruntle]

So now you're here in the cycling guide:

If at any time after the first ammonia addition (Dose #1) you test and ammonia is under .75 ppm and nitrite is clearly over 2 ppm, it is time to add more ammonia (Dose #2). Add the same full amount as you did the first time. Now, begin to test the ammonia and nitrite levels every other day.

So I'd bump your ammonia to 3ppm and start testing every second day.