Help!!! Ammonia stuck at same spot during cycle

[drizzy_052248]

I started out with plants that are grown attached to decor - java fern and anubias. I didn't feed these and they grew fine, though being slow growing they don't take up much ammonia. Floating plants don't take much care, just thinning out when they threaten to take over. I have frogbit on both my tanks now and it is a suitable size for a 10 gallon. I do feed this, I just use a less than recommended dose of Seachem Flourish Comprehensive Supplement once a week, the day after a water change.

Yea i just searched it up, and where im from they dont have frogbit which sucks

 

[Essjay]

Do you have Salvinia where you live? I had that years ago and it did great until it died off in a heatwave. But if you could source some it would help you get the tank ready for fish, even if later down the line you decided to remove it (a bit at a time)

 

[drizzy_052248]

Do you have Salvinia where you live? I had that years ago and it did great until it died off in a heatwave. But if you could source some it would help you get the tank ready for fish, even if later down the line you decided to remove it (a bit at a time)

no ill be on the lookout and researching different types of low maintenance plants though! i will be doing a WC soon after i get off work so i'll update the test results here in a couple hours. Thanks!

 

[drizzy_052248]

Hey guys, so i jus did a wc which ill update it in an hour or so, but after i was done i was just researching like whats wrong with my tank and then i heard that you can get a tank crash, ive heard it before, but i dont rlly know what it is and im guessing you guys do, so i was just wondering if its a possibility that my tank had crashed and if it has, what are some things i can do to prevent that and stop it in order to cycle normally, thanks

 

[Essjay]

Cycles can crash during fishless cycles when too much ammonia is added. When nitrite reaches 15 to 16 ppm, it inhibits the growth of the nitrite eaters and the cycle stalls.
A cycle can also crash if the pH drops below 6.5 as the bacteria stop multiplying at low pH.

It is easy to tell if the pH is the cause by testing it.

But using fish food as the source of ammonia, it is very unlikely that nitrite has ever got that high. When it is too high, the tester shows the highest colour on the chart but yours does not show that maximum colour. Sometime it happens that nitrite is so high the tester can't cope. When this happens, the tube turns purple as soon as the drops are added, then turns a sort of steel blue after the 5 minutes. Your photos show the normal light purple of a nitrite below the max on the chart.


In short - you are unlikely to have a stalled cycle, just a slow one.
But the way to reset a stalled cycle is by doing a big water change then adding more ammonia (or fish food) which is what you are doing. A water change can also speed up a slow cycle.

 

[drizzy_052248]

Cycles can crash during fishless cycles when too much ammonia is added. When nitrite reaches 15 to 16 ppm, it inhibits the growth of the nitrite eaters and the cycle stalls.
A cycle can also crash if the pH drops below 6.5 as the bacteria stop multiplying at low pH.

It is easy to tell if the pH is the cause by testing it.

But using fish food as the source of ammonia, it is very unlikely that nitrite has ever got that high. When it is too high, the tester shows the highest colour on the chart but yours does not show that maximum colour. Sometime it happens that nitrite is so high the tester can't cope. When this happens, the tube turns purple as soon as the drops are added, then turns a sort of steel blue after the 5 minutes. Your photos show the normal light purple of a nitrite below the max on the chart.


In short - you are unlikely to have a stalled cycle, just a slow one.
But the way to reset a stalled cycle is by doing a big water change then adding more ammonia (or fish food) which is what you are doing. A water change can also speed up a slow cycle.

Thanks for the reply, oh ok so bascially a tank that crashed is just a worse stalled cycle? pretty much ok so then yea i dont have that lol. im gonna post the test updates in a hour or so just so it can get settled and stuff but ok thank you i was just wondering lol, talk to you soon!

 

[drizzy_052248]

Cycles can crash during fishless cycles when too much ammonia is added. When nitrite reaches 15 to 16 ppm, it inhibits the growth of the nitrite eaters and the cycle stalls.
A cycle can also crash if the pH drops below 6.5 as the bacteria stop multiplying at low pH.

It is easy to tell if the pH is the cause by testing it.

But using fish food as the source of ammonia, it is very unlikely that nitrite has ever got that high. When it is too high, the tester shows the highest colour on the chart but yours does not show that maximum colour. Sometime it happens that nitrite is so high the tester can't cope. When this happens, the tube turns purple as soon as the drops are added, then turns a sort of steel blue after the 5 minutes. Your photos show the normal light purple of a nitrite below the max on the chart.


In short - you are unlikely to have a stalled cycle, just a slow one.
But the way to reset a stalled cycle is by doing a big water change then adding more ammonia (or fish food) which is what you are doing. A water change can also speed up a slow cycle.

Alright well I officially give up i don't know what to do, here are the test results for ammonia and nitrite

 

[Essjay]

Those results were after the water change? How much did you change?

 

[drizzy_052248]

Those results were after the water change? How much did you change?

as much as i could, around 80%

 

[Essjay]

So the 20% you didn't remove had the ammonia and nitrite that is in the latest photo. Both show only a tiny amount.

IF you can source some fast growing plants, another water change should get them down to zero (or at least as near to zero as the testers can manage) then with the plants in the tank it should be safe to get a few fish. Few is the important word here.
Your main problem seems to be sourcing plants though. Rather than suggest plants then you say you can't get them, can you tell us what plants you can get, please, then we can suggest which ones would be the best to use.

 

[drizzy_052248]

So the 20% you didn't remove had the ammonia and nitrite that is in the latest photo. Both show only a tiny amount.

IF you can source some fast growing plants, another water change should get them down to zero (or at least as near to zero as the testers can manage) then with the plants in the tank it should be safe to get a few fish. Few is the important word here.
Your main problem seems to be sourcing plants though. Rather than suggest plants then you say you can't get them, can you tell us what plants you can get, please, then we can suggest which ones would be the best to use.

potted plant, anubias, moneywort, hornwort, green cabomba, amazon sword, java fern, corkscrew vallisneria, water wisteria, green mondo grass, scarlet templet, red ludwigia, acorus, bamboo, curly bamboo. Those are all the live plants that i can get, but i dont want one where its high maintenance, like i dont wanna put fertilizer, none of that, just put it in and thats it. But yea those are the plants, im guessing your gonna say to get either a java fern or a hornwort so do i need fertilizer for those and how do i keep them alive? Thanks!

 

[Essjay]

It depends on whether you want to have live plants permanently. If you don't, floating plants would the better option as they can be removed once they've done their job (a few at a time).
Hornwort can be left to float. When I had some I anchored it down by wrapping the stems round branched wood, but it can also be left to float. Mine grew so fast I was constantly thinning it out and I got rid of it in the end because it was strangling the other plants.
Java fern is grown attached to decor but it's a slow growing plant which won't take up much ammonia. The same with anubias.

If you don't intend to keep the plants once they've done their job, they should be OK without fertiliser. Water changes will help replenish the minerals they use up. But if you decide to keep them, a liquid fertiliser is all you need for plants like hornwort.

Most of the other plants on your list need to be planted in the substrate. If you want to keep them that's fine, but if you don't you'll have the bother with uprooting them all to remove them.

 

[drizzy_052248]

It depends on whether you want to have live plants permanently. If you don't, floating plants would the better option as they can be removed once they've done their job (a few at a time).
Hornwort can be left to float. When I had some I anchored it down by wrapping the stems round branched wood, but it can also be left to float. Mine grew so fast I was constantly thinning it out and I got rid of it in the end because it was strangling the other plants.
Java fern is grown attached to decor but it's a slow growing plant which won't take up much ammonia. The same with anubias.

If you don't intend to keep the plants once they've done their job, they should be OK without fertiliser. Water changes will help replenish the minerals they use up. But if you decide to keep them, a liquid fertiliser is all you need for plants like hornwort.

Most of the other plants on your list need to be planted in the substrate. If you want to keep them that's fine, but if you don't you'll have the bother with uprooting them all to remove them.

well i mean if i do get plants i would want to keep them, so theres no plants out there that can live without fertilizer?

 

[Essjay]

Most plants do need fertiliser. Some, like amazon swords, take it up through their roots so we use root tabs (lumps of solid fertiliser) put in the substrate near the roots. Others take it up through their leaves so they just need a dose of liquid fertiliser added once a week the day after a water change (because most water conditioners bind metals, the ferts should be added the same day as water conditioner). With plants that grow and grow, you may need to trim them when they get too big. Given that this is a 10 gallon tank, you don't want plants that will grow enormous.


I don't have many types of plant - just several which grow on decor, frogbit and recently a few crypts. Other members know a lot more about growing plants than me, and they'll be able to help you decide which plants would be easiest for you and at the same time grow well enough to remove any ammonia that the bacteria can't manage.

Can I suggest you start a new thread in the planted section, list the plants you can get and ask which would be suitable for 10 gallons. You'll get more help that way.

 

[drizzy_052248]

Most plants do need fertiliser. Some, like amazon swords, take it up through their roots so we use root tabs (lumps of solid fertiliser) put in the substrate near the roots. Others take it up through their leaves so they just need a dose of liquid fertiliser added once a week the day after a water change (because most water conditioners bind metals, the ferts should be added the same day as water conditioner). With plants that grow and grow, you may need to trim them when they get too big. Given that this is a 10 gallon tank, you don't want plants that will grow enormous.


I don't have many types of plant - just several which grow on decor, frogbit and recently a few crypts. Other members know a lot more about growing plants than me, and they'll be able to help you decide which plants would be easiest for you and at the same time grow well enough to remove any ammonia that the bacteria can't manage.

Can I suggest you start a new thread in the planted section, list the plants you can get and ask which would be suitable for 10 gallons. You'll get more help that way.

Do you know any plants that do not need fertilizer? thanks