Problems Cycling Cold Water Tank

[clareanded]

Hello!

I was hoping for some advice / pointers on what we are doing wrong with our new cold water tank. It is an 80 litre tank and has been cycling for 3 weeks, the fittler is a fluvial 3 plus. We have used stress coat to de-chlorinate the water and stress zyme (on day 1, 7 & 14) to introduce the bacteria. The tank also has about half a douzen plants which I would be expecting to keep the nitrate in check but this doesn't seem to be happening (see stats below):

26/04/2007
Ammonia - 0
PH - 8
Nitrite - 0.8
Nitrate - 20

04/05/2007
Ammonia - 0
PH - 8
Nitrite - between 0.3 and 0.8
Nitrate - 20

We have used PH Down from API and also NitrateMinus (Tetra Aqua) but seemingly to no effect. 3 days ago I did a 50% water change (50% de-chlorinated tap water & 50% RO water) but this hasn't done anything either. There a 4 ramshore snails in the tank, we are breeding them as food for our ever hungry Mbu Puffer! They were only introduced a week ago so cannot believe that they are a factor.

Does anyone have any ideas why the water is not cycling properly and the levels not coming down?

Cheers,

Ed

 

[KiltedOne]

Hello!

I was hoping for some advice / pointers on what we are doing wrong with our new cold water tank. It is an 80 litre tank and has been cycling for 3 weeks, the fittler is a fluvial 3 plus. We have used stress coat to de-chlorinate the water and stress zyme (on day 1, 7 & 14) to introduce the bacteria. The tank also has about half a douzen plants which I would be expecting to keep the nitrate in check but this doesn't seem to be happening (see stats below):

26/04/2007
Ammonia - 0
PH - 8
Nitrite - 0.8
Nitrate - 20

04/05/2007
Ammonia - 0
PH - 8
Nitrite - between 0.3 and 0.8
Nitrate - 20

We have used PH Down from API and also NitrateMinus (Tetra Aqua) but seemingly to no effect. 3 days ago I did a 50% water change (50% de-chlorinated tap water & 50% RO water) but this hasn't done anything either. There a 4 ramshore snails in the tank, we are breeding them as food for our ever hungry Mbu Puffer! They were only introduced a week ago so cannot believe that they are a factor.

Does anyone have any ideas why the water is not cycling properly and the levels not coming down?

Cheers,

Ed

I am by no means an expert on this subject but I am currently doing a fishless cycle at the moment, you can see my table of test results at the following http/www.fishforums.net/Fishless-Cycle-Q...on-t192879.html my nitrite levels droped to 0ppm 2 days after the last result in the table.

As far as I know you do not have to adjust the PH or Nitrates as they are reduced when you do a large water change at the end of the cycle, it took over 3 weeks before my Nitrite reading droped to 0ppm, the Nitrate levels will keep rising as long as you keep feeding them Ammonia. I never did any water changes or added any stress zyme to introduce bacteria, I'm sure they will happen on their own.

Hope this helps.

 

[GoldLenny]

Are you fishless cycling this tank using the "add ammonia and wait" method?

Am I clear that all you have in the tank is a few snails and a half-dozen plants? Were you planning on adding fish or was this going to be a planted tank with snails?

What kind of substrate did you use?

Give us your baseline tap water tests so we can get a handle on things since your tank water chemistry is affected by the various additives in it. Run the cold water for a minute. Then fill a gallon bucket. Test it for pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, KH and GH. Add your dechlor product (I think you can finish using the stress coat since you have it). Wait 24-48 hours and test it again. Post the numbers. Quite often, the numbers will change due to buffers wearing out or CO2 outgasing once the water is exposed to the air and light.

As far as all of the additives in the tank, most of them are not needed. The Stress-Zyme does not work as advertised... as you are seeing. The only product that I have seen work as advertised is Bio-Spira which has to be kept refrigerated. I hear there is a similar product in the UK. The pH Down is obviously not working since your pH is 8.0 and the Nitrate Minus is not needed in a tank with plants and a small bioload... nor should it be used in a normal tank either. PWC's (partial water changes) is the way to control nitrates in non-planted tanks. Plants will utilize them as a food source in planted tanks. Stress-coat is not needed... even if you had fish... but definitely not needed in a planted tank with a few snails. I use the API Tap Water Conditioner which treats for chlorine/chloramine and heavy metals. I stay away from most other chemicals unless absolutely needed... which in most cases, they are not.

There are natural ways to deal with water chemistry issues rather than dumping various chemical additives into the tank. If you need to lower your pH, you can use peat moss in your filter reservoir.

 

[clareanded]

Thanks for replying. The tank is for some goldfish too which have outgrowed their current tank and we want to move them over but only when the water is cycled of course!

We are not adding any ammonia, to be honest it is something that I am not 100% clear on and have often had different information on. I think that we should be doing this though? I assume this means starting over?

Tap water stats are below

Ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5
PH - 8
GH - 10
KH - 13

I have added stress coat and will post new stats in a day or two's time.

Thanks again for getting back to me.

 

[GoldLenny]

Without a source of ammonia, the tank will not complete the nitrogen cycle unless you use a product like Bio-Spira. It's the only one I know of that actually works as advertised... as long as it stayed refrigerated through the shipping until purchased and used. The other so-called bacteria-in-a-bottle products simply do not work as advertised.

You should read up on fishless cycling http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861 and you could move the plants and snails to your tank with the fish while you fishless cycle the new tank. If you "seed" the filter on the new tank with some gravel or extra filter media from your old "cycled" tank, that will speed things up.

What you are doing now will not make the new tank safe for fish.

P.S. - I'm not sure where "Norwich" is. You should add a State or Country to your location. If you are in the UK, Bio-Spira may not be available but I hear something called Bactinettes (or something like that) is the same thing as Bio-Spira. Just make sure any bacteria-in-a-bottle product is kept refrigerated at the store and that they guarantee it was never allowed to become warm.

 

[clareanded]

Sorry, Norwich is UK. We have bactinettes over here and use it in our tropical aquarium. In fact tomorrow I am going to head out and buy some for the cold water tank!

I appreciate all of your help, we are kind of new to all of this but it is good to get advise from someone who is experienced.

Thanks again and will read about fishless cycling now....

 

[GoldLenny]

Another thing you could do, if your other tank is fully cycled for the current bioload, is just clone the old tank into the new bigger tank. This would mean moving the filter system, the gravel, decorations, etc., to the new bigger tank. This would transfer most of the N-bacteria to the new tank along with the fish so you would not really have any cycling issues to deal with. If the old tank is not healthy or not fully cycled, then you have to consider other options.