Worth Starting Again?

[Danny Boy]

Ok, many will have seen the trouble I've been having with my fishless cycle...after 17 days and steadily dropping ammonia levels (from 8+ppm down to 2ppm) I have no nitrites.

Could something have stalled the cycle? I did fart about with things, changing the amount of ammonia to be added as I got different advice.

Now that I know (kind of...) what I'm doing...is it worth doing a 100% water change and cleaning out my filter to start from scratch?

Tried really hard with this...but it seems to be going nowhere at present.

 

[WILDER]

0 nitrite reading means your tank has cycled, what are the others stats in ammonia,nitrate.

 

[WILDER]

Didn't your nitrites raise to high levels then they drop to 0.

 

[rdd1952]

Doing the 100% water change would be ok. That still sould leave you with a little ammonia in the tank since you really can't change all the water (some will still be in the substrate). Just keep the filter wet and also fill the tank back up as soon as possible so that any bacteria on plants, glass, etc don't dry out and die. Since your ammonia dropped during the original attempt, I feel certain you have some bacteria present already and it would be a shame to lose that. I still don't understand why you don't have any nitrites or nitrates.

One other thing and you have probably answered this in the other thread or threads, you did use dechlorinator (that removes chlorine and chloramine) didn't you? If not, that is the problem.

 

[Danny Boy]

I'm at a loss myself really...

To answer the questions posed...

Yes, I added dechlorinator.

No, I have never had any nitrites or nitrates in the first place.

I'm worried now that what I've been adding may not be pure ammonia...it's the only thing that seems it could have been.

It has no ingredients listed on the bottle...but does not fizz or do anything unusual when shaken.

I'm stuck.

)

 

[rdd1952]

Sounds like pure ammonia to me. A couple other things that could have an effect are the water temperature and the pH. Ammonia becomes ammonium (non toxic form) at temps below 60 or a pH of 6.0 or lower. If your temp and/or pH are that low (which I doubt) then that could cause it. I think I would go the 100% water change route and try again. Something obviously went wrong but I can't figure what.

 

[Danny Boy]

pH is 8, and steady.

Temp has never been below 22 celsius, although it has been altering as I get used the the thermostat on the heater.

I think I will start again. D'oh!!