Nitrite/ammonia Problem

[Dieses Madchen]

So, I acquired an oscar tank with two 8 inch oscars. It is 47g (do not judge) and they have never seen a cycled tank. Both oscars have HITH and I am trying to get the tank cycled so that oscars can get well. I have media from 5 different tanks in the filter trying to support the bioload of these two guys and right now the ammonia is 0.25 and the nitrites are 0.5. I cannot get them to drop. I have 1ppm of ammonia in my tap water, so a water change will spike the nitrites. Any ideas?

 

[Malawi MaD]

Got any larger, tough plants to throw in there?? Should help a little with the ammonia. If not is there any other tank the oscars can go into? So you can fully cycle their tank

 

[Shovelman]

Ok ok heres what you gotta do! Take all the water from your other tanks and put it in your new ones! BAM! OMEGA BACTERIA COLONY! Because all the bacteria is in the water column, therefore its bad to do water changes!

^^^^^^^^
it was a joke.......anyways hope someone can help you!

ps: dont forget to wear gloves when working in these tanks!

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Well, I do not have a tank in my house that can accomadate two 8 inch oscars. They will spike the nitrites of any tank I put them in. I bought the tank and planned to rehome these guys, but when I saw they were sick, I wanted to get them well. Turns out the previous owner was changing the filter cartridge every month. They guys are 6+ months old and never seen a cycled tank!

 

[snake007]

Hope it works out for you and them

.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Just put a good amount of Seachem Purigen and some zeolite/clinoptilolite in the filter. They will remove the ammonia.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

If I add that to the filter it will remove the ammonia from the water, yes, but it will also remove any ammonia produced by the fish, therefore depleting any food for the abacs and destroying the cycle. No thank you.

 

[Tizer]

If I add that to the filter it will remove the ammonia from the water, yes, but it will also remove any ammonia produced by the fish, therefore depleting any food for the abacs and destroying the cycle. No thank you.

there will always be trace ammounts of ammonia in any tank, so small that our test kits cant register it. If the water hits your media first, before the additional aformentioned products, it will still cycle, slowly and safely. Its good advice, i'd act on it.

To be honest, even if it his it first, it will still cycle, these products dont trap everything.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

If I add that to the filter it will remove the ammonia from the water, yes, but it will also remove any ammonia produced by the fish, therefore depleting any food for the abacs and destroying the cycle. No thank you.

there will always be trace ammounts of ammonia in any tank, so small that our test kits cant register it. If the water hits your media first, before the additional aformentioned products, it will still cycle, slowly and safely. Its good advice, i'd act on it.

I'm glad you got in first Tizer. My reply wouldn't have been so..ummm..constructive!

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Prime neutralizes the ammonia as well though. Is this not just as safe?

 

[Tizer]

Prime only does it on a temp basis, the bonding doesnt last forever.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Prime neutralizes the ammonia as well though. Is this not just as safe?

If that's your solution why did you ask for help in the first place?

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Excess Seachem Prime will only lock up ammonia/nitrites/nitrates for 24 hours, after that the normal ionic levels for the temperature and pH of the water will resume.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Excess Seachem Prime will only lock up ammonia/nitrites/nitrates for 24 hours, after that the normal ionic levels for the temperature and pH of the water will resume.

My concern at this point, is that I do not want to keep dosing the tank with prime. But the cycle seems to have stalled. I know from the first two day of trying to get this tank in order, that these fish produce 2-3ppm of ammonia a day! My current bioload is keeping up with all of that but this last little 0.25, which has been sitting there for 2 days. It is also keeping up with the nitrites up until this last little bit at well. Why the stall? The pH is 7.3 and the nitrates are 40ppm, which makes me think that wouldnt be why the stall. And because the biologial filter is meant to handle so much at this point in time, I am very skeptical on using a product that removes ammonia, even if there are still trace ammounts as this well not feed the current colonies. This is why I am now at a loss.

Prime neutralizes the ammonia as well though. Is this not just as safe?

If that's your solution why did you ask for help in the first place?

Because it is my temporary solution to not using products that will diminish all of the ammonia that feeds my current colonies. While there will still be trace amounts of ammonia after using ammo-lock and zeolite, it is not enough to feed a colony that is keeping up with the 2-3ppm of ammonia a day that my oscars produce. I am trying to figure out how to get out of this current cycle stall.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Have you made sure you have excellent aeration? With such a high bioload that will certainly stall the cycle if insufficient.

Also if you have a large spare filter, you could run it in a container of tap water with purigen/zeolite and remove the ammonia before it ever enters the tank.