Slowwwww Cycle

[looksrshady]

I started out doing a fishless cycle it lasted for a week and i caved and added fish now im doing a fishy cycle and its been 35 days and still no signs of nitrite, I did add biospira when i added the fish but i think it was dead cause it was half brown and half white i dunno.Ive tried getting gravel or media from all lfs near me and none agreed to it even if i offered to pay for it they said it isnt a good idea since i dont know whats in their tanks and i could catch something and ruin mine and i was thinking in my head Uh Duh! im buying fish from your tanks arent i lol.

Tank has .25-1 ppm amm,0 nitrI and like 3-5 NitrA i was doing 40-60% water changes daily to keep my fish alive but i heard doing so much pwcs could cause the cycle to stall so now im doing about 50% changes every 3 days or so or unless i see the fish looking stressed or really dirty water from food.

The tank is 29 gallon AGA with whisper 30 power filter ive only rinsed the filter and sponge once in tank water when i did a pwc because the flow was really low.I use either prime or stress coat for conditioner.My stock is 3 pink danios,2 platies (sunburst and hi fin),1 red eyed tetra and a convict.Got the convict as a juvi and im aware of it possible killing off my stock as it gets older and i know i should have more than one tetra but it was the last at my lfs so i decided to get it.I feed them 2-3 times daily trying not to over feed ,I tend to over feed them right b4 i do a water change but im trying to stop that lol.

Their diet consist of freeze dried blood worms or brine shrimp,frozen blood or shrimp,live shrimp and wardleys tropical flakes.I check the water daily with api liquid kit and im starting to think that my kit is old is there any way of finding out if its still good or not? because i dont trust my lfs to test my water for me,they would do or say anything to make a buck.Should i just go out and get a new one and hope it isnt expired too? lol

I keep the light on for about 10 hours daily sometimes 12,still no algae growing.Dont know if thats normal or not but im happy i dont got any yet.Im almost positive my tank isnt cycled yet cause of the ammo in the tank.I also tested my tap water and it has ammo in it could that affect the cycle in any way?



Any ideas plz this is taking forever im getting temped to add more fish and i dont want to stall the cycle even more or kill them.The wife is pretty much attached to the fish as to so am i so returing them is no option.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i think they key is getting the water changes right, do 10-20% changes every day, little and often works best in cycling tanks.

you have roughly the right bioload for a cycle with fish, i wouldn't add any more until you're sure it's cycled.

the ammonia is a sure sign it's not cycled yet, adding tap water containing ammonia (so long as it was small amounts) wouldn't be a problem in a cycled tank, the filter would soon eat it up so the fact that it's not all getting processed shows it's not cycled.

how long have you had the test kit, they have a shelf life of around a year.

i would find another fish store that you trust and ask them to test the water if you're unsure.

cycling with fish takes much longer than fishless cycling as the levels of ammonia need to be much lower to keep the fish safe. irony is that if you'd waited and carried through the fishless cycle it'd probably be done now and you could stock the tank. all you can do is learn a lesson from this, you need patience for fishkeeping. just keep up small daily water changes until you get 0 readings for ammonia and nitrite then leave it a month before adding any more fish.

 

[looksrshady]

Well i decided to go out and get some plants since no 1 would sell me media or gravel and after 36 days i finally see purple nitrite not blue so its working woohoo..