My Cycle Must Be Magical/Possessed

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knyptozoologist

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Okay, so after my first problem of not being able to get the ammonia to climb at all I have a new problem.

I finally managed to get my hands on the Ace hardware brand of ammonia (no surfactants, yay!) and dosed my tank up to 4ppm ammonia.....This was on Saturday when the filter's been running for two weeks and the tank's had SOME ammonia (and thus the opportunity to be growing bacteria) for that time......

Now I'm still getting readings of 4ppm ammonia and NO nitrItes or nitrAtes.

I'm at a complete loss on what to do. I realize it takes some time for a tank to get going, but considering the filter's been running for a few weeks I should have enough bacteria to get SOME of the ammonia broken down by now....What's happening?
 
it sounds like the cycle hasnt started at all and you still have ammonia or you have more ammonia that what that kit can read
Whats the max reading on the test kit youre using?

You can do a 50% water change and see if it reduces your ammonia as well

Do you or a friend have an established tank? one that has already been cycled?
 
I cycled my tank with my axie in so did water changes every day and it took me about 3 months lol. I guess some tanks can be more stubborn than others.

Like Mackinthebox said, if you could get media from another tank it would speed the process up.
 
I did about a 30-40% water change yesterday and the ammonia dropped to about 1.5-2ppm so I think I'm just going to leave it at that for now.

At the same time a friend came over and brought me some gravel from one of her VERY well-established tanks so I added that in as well.

I'm not sure if either will help as I've been struggling with this cycle for almost three weeks now, but I'll take readings in a few days to see if anything's changed, though honestly if another week goes by and everything's at the same level I may just drain the whole thing, refill it with new water and just do the cycle with the axies and daily water changes like Beks mentioned.
 
Im sure i read somewhere that nothing much appears to happen for weeks (like 3 or 4) then all of a sudden it will all kick in and nitrite will appear then nitrate but it can take up to like 8 weeks.
 
Sorry for stealing this thread (I hope I'm not gonna) but I still don't understand a wee thing about this whole cycling thing. Usually I leave a tank running with everything in it (no axies) for 2 - 3 weeks and then I think it's okay. When I test the water it looks the same like my tanks with axies so I guess it went pretty well.

But what happens when you have set up a tank. What would happen. What would happen next, and after that. I still don't get it. And I'm stupid. In the beginning I just ignored the whole cycling thing and I never had a dead axie, but I want to understand a bit more about it. I can find some info about cycling tanks for fish, but I'm not sure if you have to pay more attention when setting up a tank for lotls.

*End of stealing*
 
layna said:
Im sure i read somewhere that nothing much appears to happen for weeks (like 3 or 4) then all of a sudden it will all kick in and nitrite will appear then nitrate but it can take up to like 8 weeks.
Click to expand...

I feel like I'm being impatient for not being able to wait, but I just figured SOMETHING would be happening by this point. Especially since from many of the posts I read it sounds like at least nitrItes were appearing faster at least, but I'm going to let it sit, test it in a few days, then figure it out. I keep saying I'm not in a rush because axies still aren't available where I'd like to buy them, but I'd hate to get a call this weekend that they have some and feel incredibly distressed because I've been struggling with this tank for close to a month.
 
I usually seed bacteria from other filters into my own so my cycle usually takes about 4 weeks
I normally see a dip in ammonia and a rise in nitrates on the second week
for it to stay steady for 3 weeks seems abnormal to me... but then again I do seed bacteria from filter media in established tanks...
 
knyptozoologist said:
I feel like I'm being impatient for not being able to wait, but I just figured SOMETHING would be happening by this point. Especially since from many of the posts I read it sounds like at least nitrItes were appearing faster at least, but I'm going to let it sit, test it in a few days, then figure it out. I keep saying I'm not in a rush because axies still aren't available where I'd like to buy them, but I'd hate to get a call this weekend that they have some and feel incredibly distressed because I've been struggling with this tank for close to a month.
Click to expand...

I have the same problem. But I have bought an axie and its being held by the seller until my tank is ready. So of course nothing is happening. And no, I don't know anyone with a tank to take something from, so I sit here with nothing happening. I came close to emailing the seller to tell him to keep the money and damn near drained the tank and throw it in the trash.

I will give it two more weeks and if nothing happens then I will throw it in the trash. I'm tried of this ****!
 
ask the seller for some sludge from his filter ;) that should jump start it!
 
knyptozoologist said:
I'm not sure if either will help as I've been struggling with this cycle for almost three weeks now, but I'll take readings in a few days to see if anything's changed, though honestly if another week goes by and everything's at the same level I may just drain the whole thing, refill it with new water and just do the cycle with the axies and daily water changes like Beks mentioned.
Click to expand...


To be honest you're probably best doing the cycle without the axie in. I found the axie at my local pet store and nobody sells them around here so I rushed to buy him. We had a few scary days where the ammonia shot up. It's much safer doing a fishless one.
I understand how frustrating it is, there was one point where I thought mine would never actually cycle. It will happen when you least expect it ;)
 
Did anyone read this?
I thought it explained everything quite well, and it helped me under the cycling process
The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community

As long as the filter ect is running 24/7 and you have added enough ammonia (4ppm or slightly more), it will all happen by its self, although i did have a problem with the ph lowering and crashing my cycle, to resolve it i ordered some crushed oyster shell (bird grit) off ebay and added a good two handfuls in a stocking and voila my cycle happened, but it took like 8 weeks for mine as i didnt have any media from another tank available.
 
I had the exact same situation, and then my axies got here, and my apt is really too warm for them in tubs, so I did a big water change, and put them in the tank, and did a partial change every day. Nothing was happening for a good 3 weeks even with gravel from an established tank in a net bag, but then I took out the carbon pack from my canister filter, and replaced it with extra bio media, and bam, I got nitrites like 3 days later. Don't know if it was a coincidence, but I've heard around here that carbon isn't really great for an axie tank (has to be replaced every 30 days, or it'll leach the toxins back in), and can absorb some of your nitrogen cycle components, slowing your cycle.
 
I never realized it takes that long to cycle. In working at a fish store I didn't even know there was such a thing as fishless cycling since we'd tell people to run their tanks for a week or two, then slowly add fish. I've been trying to do this and everywhere I've seen the steps on HOW but no one ever mentioned just how long it takes for anything to start happening which is WHY I've been freaking out over nothing happening. After doing almost two complete water changes thinking something is wrong is when someone finally posted saying it takes 4-8 weeks for the ammonia to even start to drop.
 
Yeah it takes ages, but when it starts it usually gets done pretty quick! :D
 
Well hopefully I'll see a drop soon...I may have done a few water changes, but the filter's been running for about 3 weeks straight...though I do have a question about that....

It's currently sitting in one of the back corners of my tank and I was wondering if it might be better to move it into the center? Not necessarily for a filtration advantage, but I'm using a sponge filter and figured it might create better oxygen circulation if placed in the center back rather than a corner.
 
It would circulate your water better.

When I'm running a big tank without a canister filter, I usually put the filter on one side and a sponge filter on the other, just to keep the water turning over. It eliminates stagnant spots.
 
Holy cow I think I'm finally in business!

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