My tank won't Cycle!

SullenGirl

SullenGirl

Small Fish
#1
Aug 10, 2005
31
0
0
44
Ontario, Canada
www.spritzcreative.com
#1
I've had my 29g tank for almost 3 months now. It has yet to cycle! The ammonia is finally down to a safe level but the nitrites are very high, at about 2.0ppm. My nitrates have just recently shot up to 20ppm. What am i doing wrong? I changed the water 10% every couple of days to bring down the ammonia and that worked but its not helping the nitrite levels. I purchased three plants being told it would help with Nitrite and i've had them for over a week now, still haven't seen a change. I haven't been able to put new fish in my tank since i've gotten it cause i want the water chemistry to be good. I have 5 fish left. Also if this makes a difference, ive been changing my filter cartridge once a month, now i'm being told you shouldn't? Whats up with that?
 

V

vinodhv

Large Fish
#2
Jul 26, 2005
125
0
0
41
chapel hill, nc
#2
hey. changing your filter cartridge gets rid of beneficial bacteria that builds up in them. I made that mistake as well when i cleaned my tank for the first time. people on the forum told me to rinse the cartridge out and to reuse the same one. hope that helps
 

E

Exevious

Large Fish
#5
Nov 20, 2003
197
0
0
North Dallas, Texas
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#5
I dont change my filter till water starts flowing out the pick-up tube section.
I might rinse it a few times before even replacing it.

And I will only rinse or change it between tank cleanings.. I do a algae scrub/gravel vac/25-30% water change every 2-3 weeks depending on conditions or water loss.

If its time to replace a filter, then I will do it 2 weeks after the last cleaning... and wait 2 weeks to do the next cleaning. Kind of a 4 week stretch.
 

SullenGirl

SullenGirl

Small Fish
#7
Aug 10, 2005
31
0
0
44
Ontario, Canada
www.spritzcreative.com
#7
Thanks for the info everyone. So i assume that my problem is from changing the filter then. Ok i'll give it a rinse once and awhile instead. Its gross looking right now, but i guess thats a good thing?! I'll see what happens in a couple weeks. It hasn't been changed for a month now so we'll see if that makes a difference. Thanks for the input. I'm new here (as of two days ago) and i've read tons upon tons of forums so far. Its all very informative!
 

bigfoot150

bigfoot150

Superstar Fish
#9
Dec 17, 2003
1,023
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42
Alameda, Ca
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#9
One thing I used to do when I changed my filter is to take a small cutting of the old filter media and place it behind the new filter. That way the bacteria on the old media would naturally flow onto the new filter. This way you have a new filter and keep the bacteria in the filter. Bacteria reproduce quickly where there is a good nutrient supply so they will spread fairly quickly to the new filter and any changes in ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels will be minimal.

I also noticed that you purchased some plants to help with your problem. Plants can more or less eliminate nitrate in a tank but only if the tank is well stocked with plants and the needs of the plants(lighting and nutrients) are properly met. I highly suggest you look into keeping plants but as mentioned they will have their own needs that will need to be met. If you are interested the best place to start is to read up on the needs of a planted tank and of course feel free to ask lots of questions over in the planted tank section of the forum.
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
#10
May 16, 2003
8,589
10
38
43
Colorado
#10
Welcome to the tank :)

Just wanted to say that the sticky post is locked just so it doesn't get cluttered I think. I dont think its really locked for any reason persay...just thats how we decided to put it up.
 

SullenGirl

SullenGirl

Small Fish
#12
Aug 10, 2005
31
0
0
44
Ontario, Canada
www.spritzcreative.com
#12
hey guess what?!?!? my tank has cycled!!! yeah!!!! i just checked the readings today, and Ammonia and Nitrite are at 0ppm, and Nitrate is fairly low. Woohoo! i'm so excited. And i'd like to attribute the sudden change to the following things i did differently.
1. I stopped feeding my fish so much. I cut they're daily dose in half, they always look hungry but i read in another forum that thats a good thing?
2. I added "Cycle" more than usual.
3. I did not change my filter but instead rinsed it in declorinated water
4. I did a 30% water change
5. Added some plants, let them get settled in, bought a light timer to regulate lighting hours.

So that is exactly what i have done so far and within 5 days my tank has finally cycled. Like i said i'm radiculously happy.

So now comes the part of adding more fish cause i haven't been able to since i've gotten my first batch 3 months ago!

Thanks guys and gals, you rock
 

skjl47

skjl47

Large Fish
#15
Nov 13, 2010
712
0
0
Northeastern Tennessee.
#15
Hello; This is something that I did for years and did not fully appreciate the ramifications. In the gravel, I would bury an air bubble powered sponge filter in the back corner of a community tank and just leave it with a steady air stream. I never had any cycling problems when washing the filter medium in the outside filter in tap water (I allow the media to air dry if i plan to reuse it) or replacing it with new media. I also have had some outside filters in which I could place a layer of glass marbles and just leave them. I eventually learned about beneficial bacteria and now understand that these items made a decent culture medium.
 

skjl47

skjl47

Large Fish
#20
Nov 13, 2010
712
0
0
Northeastern Tennessee.
#20
Hello; I guess that I need to look at the initial post to see the date? Is ther some other way? This does very little to reasure me about the security of the internet. Are These folks doing this for fun or is it practice to refine their abilities? I do not expect anyone to know the answer.
 

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