Deperate Help Needed

[gregcool]

Hi guys.
Cut a very long story short...
I have a 90 ltr tank whith a filter pump system that came with it( fluval) this is my first tank i have ever set up and before i new this forum i was adviced to take home put amonia in and after 3 days start adding fish.
well some of you have been folowing my jurney and that i have learned some understanding along its way...prob is its been 3 - 4 weeks since i started to cycle this tank and its only just finnished its first cycle of amonia in all this time and i added enough to bring it back up to about 4ppm and it went down to 0.50 in about 18 hrs so i felt i was final getting some where fianly....so i added more to bring it back up to about 4 ppm again and tested it today 13 hrs latter and now its only gone down 1 ppm to just over 3 ppm green... as a test result so now im getting very dishartend and loosing interest in this whole thing..some of you will prob just say well you havent got what it takes ...but try to remember when i ventured into this i was a complete novice and was told by the shop keeper that after 3 days im ready ( im not to know any different ) so forgive me to any real experianced fish keepers if i ofend with this atitude..and my crap spelling...so my last thaughts are to just get rid of it ....my god dam friend has just thrown all sorts of fish into a 120 ltr tank with no cycling as like me he has had no expereance and i have told him all about what i have learned and 2 weeks after him doing this , all his fish are alive and looking very well..so im gutted for me its not workin.... prob all my own falt.as at the begining doing a fishles cycle i have put about 10 plants in from the beginingand have had the lights on daily....i have recently learned that i should have had nothing in the tank just substrate and cycle in the dark,,,my filter has been slowing because the constant clogging up with crap......so can anyone sugest a new approach for me before i give up,,,someone told me to strip the tank cleen everything and start all over again with nothing other then substrate and no lights no fish ......please help guys i would like to get this right....thanks for everything you have done and any advice for this depresing prob...Greg

 

[Harlequins]

aww don't get disheartened,you are doing the right thing going fishless,

you say your filter has slowed down,whats it clogging up with? use some of the tank water and give the media a light rinse,if you wash it too much you will destroy some of the good bacteria.

Have you been testing for nitrite,just wondering if its producing any has your ammonia was dropping,
Whats your ph? -if this drops too low it will stall the cycle...

 

[gregcool]

well it already stalled a few days back and i was adviced to give the filter sponge ect a very gentel shack to dislodge any muck and my ph was about 7 at that time
yes there is some traces of nitrite

 

[Curiosity101]

3-4weeks to cycle a tank fully is VERY fast. 6-8weeks is much more likely, so at the moment I'd say you're flying through quite nicely and should be very happy with the progress it's making.
But just to agree with harlequins, give the pads a swish in some old tank water when you do a change.
And post up your nitrIte and pH readings.


Oh and don't look at your friend with any sort of envy. We can all vouch for the fact that things wont stay all happy and rosey in his tank. 2 things could happen, either 1. The fish soldier on and simply die prematurely (normally between 3-6months after the tank is set up), and alot of new fish keepers (who think fish are only meant to live that long), just go 'oh it was there time, they were old'. or 2. They will at some point in the near future start getting every disease in the book. Normally starting with whitespot, as healthy fish can normally fight off the parasite just with a good immune system.

Edit: Also what are you Nitrates at? I vaguely remember reading that extremely high nitrates will also stall a cycle.

And I forgot to mention about the cycling with plants thing. There is nothing wrong with it at all. The only reason people advise against it is because free ammonia (that you put into the tank) + light (which you have to put on to keep the plants alive) = Algae.
So it's obviously easier to do a cycle in the dark cause then when it's don't you have a nice fresh tank to look at, no algae or anything. But there really isn't anything wrong with doing it the way you are.

 

[gregcool]

well thats reasuring thanks for that ....can you tell me shall i keep putting the lights on for the plants growth and i am to understand not to do any water changes ( i havent done any ) i was told 1 big water change at the end of the cycle......so can i understand
1 keep monitering
2 keep adding amonia till it clears in upto 12 hrs
3 keep lights on for plants ?
4 test for nitrites ( what do i need to do if nitrites are showing , or is this just a sighn that tank is working corectley
5

also i have been adding co2 daily shall i keep adding this

 

[gregcool]

just tested my nitrite and its gone from 0.15 ppm on the 29th jan

to 1ppm today what does this mean , does this meen as the nitites go up the amonia level comes down quickley ?

 

[finalfantay85]

NitrIte levels rise as the ammonia gets processed so it shows that you have a decent colony of bacteria getting rid of the ammonia. Now you just got to wait for the nitrIte processing bacteria to catch up.

Don't get disheartened. I'm doing a fishless at the moment and after just over a week the only thing that's happened is a pH crash, no ammonia processing for me yet lol

 

[K-Holed]

Nitrites going up is a good sign. It shows that the bacteria responsible for processing the Ammonia are present. You'll come to a time when that nitrite will go off the chart.

 

[gregcool]

excellent reasurance guys thanks for that.....just one more question if you would.

do i continue adding my co2 daily as i have been from day 1


also i put plants in from day 1 and they are all doing well , but 1 week ago i had some deliverd from an online store that was recomended by a very good sorce and since they have been in just over 1 week , they are all going brown and the grass clumps i got have gone from green to brown and all look to me like they are dead or dying,what poss reoson for this could there be