Fishless cycle not progressing after 3 months

[Darryl2000]

I've been trying to cycle my tank for 3 months and I'm not seeing any movement in ammonia, nitrite or nitrates.

It's an unplanted tank, I dosed ammonia using Dr. Tim's and used Tetra Safestart about 2 months ago to try and get the cycle kickstarted. The most I saw was an increase in nitrite to 0.50ppm, which disappeared within the next two days. It's possible it converted to nitrate (I wasn't measuring nitrate at that stage).

However, it doesn't explain why I haven't seen my ammonia drop for months on end. I have dechlorinated all my water with Tetra Aquasafe. I've now been using Seachem Stability for 4 days and I'm STILL not seeing any parameters change.

Why on earth is my ammonia not dropping?

Parameters:

• Tank size - 105L
• Tank temp - 25°C
• pH - 8.4
• Ammonia - 1 ppm
• Nitrite - 0ppm
• Nitrate - 40 ppm (comes out of my tap as this)
• KH - 180ppm
• GH - 180ppm

Should I just restart the whole cycle (dump all the water and refill?)

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Essjay]

That does sound a bit odd. Your pH and KH are high enough that they won't slow the cycle down. How much ammonia (in ppm) did you add at the beginning, and are you using the method on here or a different one?

To be honest, I would empty the tank and start again. A huge water change often gets things going.



As a side issue - what did you use to test the GH and KH - a liquid tester or strips? It's just that you give your location as London which is well known for having very hard water. Some strip testers don't measure any higher than 180 ppm, so if you used that type of tester your GH could be 180, 200, or even over 300pm. This is important as GH affects the type of fish you can keep. 180 is suitable for a lot of soft water fish, but if your GH is really a lot higher, you'll need to look at hard water fish.
If you have got strips with a max of 180, can I suggest you look on your water company's website for hardness - you need a number and the unit of measurement as there are several units they could use.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Agree with the above, start over...empty the tank, refill, dechlorinate the water (if applicable), and dose with the ammonia, according to instructions given here: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

Get this liquid test kit: https://apifishcare.com/product/freshwater-master-test-kit

If your tap water is chlorinated, use a good conditioner such as Seachem Prime or API Tap Water Conditioner before beginning the cycle.

Raise the tank temp to around 82F (28C), and add a bubbler, if you don't have one already.

You don't need bacteria boosters, stabilizers, or any other chemicals besides the water conditioner and ammonia; the more chemicals in the water, the more we complicate things.

Follow the directions in the above link precisely, and you should see positive results.

 

[Colin_T]

If you have been adding ammonia regularly for 3 months and the filter has been running continuously during that time, I would do a complete water change, wait a few days, then add some fish.

What sort of filter is on the tank?
Have you cleaned the filter?
Is the filter run continuously?

 

[Darryl2000]

That does sound a bit odd. Your pH and KH are high enough that they won't slow the cycle down. How much ammonia (in ppm) did you add at the beginning, and are you using the method on here or a different one?

To be honest, I would empty the tank and start again. A huge water change often gets things going.



As a side issue - what did you use to test the GH and KH - a liquid tester or strips? It's just that you give your location as London which is well known for having very hard water. Some strip testers don't measure any higher than 180 ppm, so if you used that type of tester your GH could be 180, 200, or even over 300pm. This is important as GH affects the type of fish you can keep. 180 is suitable for a lot of soft water fish, but if your GH is really a lot higher, you'll need to look at hard water fish.
If you have got strips with a max of 180, can I suggest you look on your water company's website for hardness - you need a number and the unit of measurement as there are several units they could use.

At the start I added 4 ppm ammonia.

I am using tester strips to test the water. However, these strips can measure KH up to 240, but GH only up to 180.
I followed your advice and looked on my water supplier website, according to them the GH of my water is 257ppm.

Not sure if that changes anything in to regards to the cycling, however I will keep it in mind when I'm buying my fish.

So overall you recommend emptying out the tank and refilling? How much ammonia do you recommend dosing at the start?

 

[Darryl2000]

Agree with the above, start over...empty the tank, refill, dechlorinate the water (if applicable), and dose with the ammonia, according to instructions given here: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

Get this liquid test kit: https://apifishcare.com/product/freshwater-master-test-kit

If your tap water is chlorinated, use a good conditioner such as Seachem Prime or API Tap Water Conditioner before beginning the cycle.

Raise the tank temp to around 82F (28C), and add a bubbler, if you don't have one already.

You don't need bacteria boosters, stabilizers, or any other chemicals besides the water conditioner and ammonia; the more chemicals in the water, the more we complicate things.

Follow the directions in the above link precisely, and you should see positive results.

Thank you for the advice, I haven't come across that guide yet. I've got Seachem Prime (originally I was using Tetra Aquasafe). Unfortunately my heater is fixed at 25C so I can't alter it.

Is a bubbler necessary to cycle a tank? I thought it was okay to just have the filter splashing water on to the surface.

Do you recommend adding the Seachem Stability as well at the start?

 

[Darryl2000]

If you have been adding ammonia regularly for 3 months and the filter has been running continuously during that time, I would do a complete water change, wait a few days, then add some fish.

What sort of filter is on the tank?
Have you cleaned the filter?
Is the filter run continuously?

I haven't continuously been adding ammonia because it hasn't been dropping, so it's never been below 1ppm.

Tetra EasyCrystal Filterbox 600 is the name of the filter.

I haven't cleaned the filter or changed the cartridge since I set it up, and yes it's constantly running.

 

[fisman]

At the start I added 4 ppm ammonia.

I am using tester strips to test the water. However, these strips can measure KH up to 240, but GH only up to 180.
I followed your advice and looked on my water supplier website, according to them the GH of my water is 257ppm.

If you have the money I would get the API testing kits. They test way more accurately than the test strips.

 

[Darryl2000]

If you have the money I would get the API testing kits. They test way more accurately than the test strips.

I do have the API Freshwater Master Test Kit, I just use the strips to test the water hardness.

 

[fisman]

That makes sense, you made it sound like you only use the test stips though. That's why I recommended the test kit.

 

[fisman]

Don't know what to say about the tank though. Good luck. Just wanted to make sure you were testing accurately.

 

[Utar]

Your not cycling because using bottled bacteria is not working. I never used this at all. My first aquarium was a 10-gallon tank I setup over five years ago. I didn't do anything, never added bottled bacteria and it took two months to complete a cycle. It was a fish in cycle (didn't know any better at the time) with corys and neons, which most died during the process. But it finely cycled and what was left of my fish lived through it.

From then on I did fishless cycle with ammonia and used cycled media moving it from one tank to another which sped up cycling time considerably. Do you know anyone else that has a cycled tank and can borrow a bit of their cycled media?

 

[Darryl2000]

Your not cycling because using bottled bacteria is not working. I never used this at all. My first aquarium was a 10-gallon tank I setup over five years ago. I didn't do anything, never added bottled bacteria and it took two months to complete a cycle. It was a fish in cycle (didn't know any better at the time) with corys and neons, which most died during the process. But it finely cycled and what was left of my fish lived through it.

From then on I did fishless cycle with ammonia and used cycled media moving it from one tank to another which sped up cycling time considerably. Do you know anyone else that has a cycled tank and can borrow a bit of their cycled media?

No, unfortunately I don't know anybody else who has a tank, but I've heard that is the best way to get a cycle started.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Thank you for the advice, I haven't come across that guide yet. I've got Seachem Prime (originally I was using Tetra Aquasafe). Unfortunately my heater is fixed at 25C so I can't alter it.

Is a bubbler necessary to cycle a tank? I thought it was okay to just have the filter splashing water on to the surface.

Do you recommend adding the Seachem Stability as well at the start?

Get an adjustable heater, the beneficial bacteria you are trying to grow multiply faster in warmer water.

Warmer water tends to hold less dissolved oxygen, hence the need for the bubbler, though it's not absolutely necessary...but, the 2 combined will aid/speed the cycle.

No need for Stability or anything else than ammonia and Prime...stuff like Stability and "bottled bacteria" are simply a waste of $....the bacteria you need to cycle occurs naturally.

That being said, if you could steal some established media from a cycled tank and place it in your filter, you may (but not always) have a faster cycle.

 

[Essjay]

Tetra Safe Start can and does work. However, if the bottle has been allowed to get too hot or too cold at any point between the factory and your tank, the bacteria could be dead. The UK has been through the coldest April since 1922 and imagine a bottle of TSS left in a lorry overnight in that weather! I know you bought your bottle before that, but it gives you an idea of what can happen.

GH is not implicated in cycling, just for choosing fish once the cycle has finally finished. Make a note of that 257 ppm.

3 ppm was chosen for the method on here because it is more than a sensibly stocked tank of fish makes in 24 hours so it will grow more bacteria that actually needed, and 3 ppm when added according to the timetable in the method won't produce enough nitrite to stall the cycle.

I've looked up the filter and there's nothing in there which would interfere with the cycle. Some filters contain zeolite or something similar to remove ammonia but this one doesn't (or at least it isn't mentioned)

I agree with SlapHppy7, the cycle will go faster in warmer water. Buying an adjustable one would be sensible. Keep the fixed temp one in the cupboard as it's always useful to have an emergency spare.