Need help cycling again :(

[larn]

Hi, i started a thread a few weeks ago but since then i have had more problems... sorry for posting another seperate thread, i just need to get my situation more noticed.

About 4 weeks ago I Began cycling a large tank for my 3 axolotls, the tank consists of various plants, pots, rocks, and tiles for the floor. I had transfered some of the water inside the filter from a (unconfirmed) cyclyed tank. I put fish food into a stocking as well as some substrate from the other small tank.

I tested the water and found the ammonia levels dropped quickly and so did the nitrites which confirmed to me that the small tank did have the good bacteria, it cycled in about 2 weeks, so i thought great i will remove the water and add fresh water . At this point i was about to make a terrible rookie error that would put me back to square one, i added water straight from the tap, thinking i would leave it to sit in the tank. So obvously i killed off the bacteria, I didn't realize this at the time and when i noticed nitrites where showing up in the tests, i was very confused.

What makes this situation worse was i was cycling the small tank too and did the same thing after it cycled, so now i have 2 tanks starting from scratch. so my poor fish are in a temp holding tank which i need to change the water daily as well as the poor axolotls (in seperate tubs)

So... A while ago I started the process from the start, i added some household ammonia to speed things up and used the same stocking i had from before with the prawn and fish flakes, but now i think this had been in there so long and now i see little bugs swimming around in there:errr::errr::errr: the tests show high level of ammonia and nitrites.

Am i suppose to remove the food after a while and put new food in? or should i just try using ammonia with no food? i am very confused now and feeling very upset

 

[mewsie]

Oh dear! I once accidentally dipped my hand in the tank after washing it with anti-bacterial handwash... not realising I'd not rinsed my wrist properly. Killed off the cycle in two tanks!!! GAH!

Won't do that again. Slap on the wrist for using tap water - get into the obsessive habit of dechlorinating anything, and letting it stand for a day, too, if you can.

I'm not 100% - hopefully someone will come along and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think household ammonia is way too strong to be using for this.

Can I just check - are your axolotls in the tank you need to cycle?

If not, I would be patient and cycle the tank using bits of food and keeping a close eye on the levels as they start to change. When you are back to 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites, you can acclimatise and add the lotls.

If the lotls are in the uncycled tank now, you'll need to be doing partial daily changes to keep those levels safe.

 

[larn]

Hi mewsie

The axolotls are in large sandwich boxes which i do daily water changes, I monitor them each day, remove waste and feed them to their mouths..

I think i need to remove all the water again because as i said there are some complex organisms in there which have developed very quickly and are mutiplying. I think because i left the fish food inside too long....

The ammonia is just a way of speeding up the process, the fish food turns into ammonia, but if you put pure ammonia inside it is faster i think.

any suggestions are welcome.

 

[carsona246]

Household ammonia is not too strong for cycling, you just have to add the correct amount. I havn't looked it up in a while, but I'm pretty sure it was like 1-2 drops per ten gallons? Using it allows you to control exactly how much ammonia you add to your tank, instead of the guess work of adding fish food. You're aiming for about 4 ppm's of ammonia in the tank(fishless cycling) and you just let it sit till the ammonia levels drop. Once they drop, add enough ammonia to get it back up to 4 ppm's. Keep that up until your tank has cycled. If your ammonia level is too high, it can actually harm the bacterial growth, so try to keep it around 4 ppm's at the highest. What you're probably seeing is cyclops in the tank, or maybe planaria, they won't harm the cycling process, so only change the water if the ammonia is way too high.

 

[larn]

I have just changed the water but this time i used a dechlorinator, I think i read 5 drops per 10 gallons, i have about 15 gallons in the tank, so maybe i will put about 7 drops in, then tomorrow i will do a test. thanks

 

[mewsie]

Ahhh, is that what it is? Thanks Carson! Tbh - I wouldn't even know where to get household ammonia :S

What are the organisms like, Iarn? Are they in the big tank? Some organisms can be just part of a healthy eco-system, some can be bothersome to the lotls, or a sign that something is awry with the water. Can you get a pic or are they too tiny?

 

[larn]

I have changed the water now so it's too late, they were about 7mm long and worm like, they sort of shuffled along near the surface.

I bought the household ammonia in Boots, yeah it's not easy to find it.

I tested the water yesterday the ammonia reading was only about 1ppm so i put more in and today did a test and it was 0ppm and the nitrites were about umm
.. can't remember but it was low. So i guess the bacteria is growing:lol: but seems a bit too quick, hmmm