Been a month now and have some questions

[Wind_Danzer]

My Eclipse 5 has been cycling now for 4 weeks come tomorrow. I have not yet changed the filter media though just did a 50% water change and cleaned up the innards of the filter itself (swooshed it around the water in the tank some, there wasn't much to really clean) like the owner's manual said to do.

The blue filter is covered with what looks to be good white bacteria but the past tests still show high levels of ammonia and nitrites (both have not hit "0" yet) and more recently I have noticed a stinky odor coming from the tank when the top is opened. I have been doing 25 - 50 percent water changes every week and did a gravel cleaning once in this time.

Spike is doing fine and doesn't seem effected by any of this.

I have bought new filters and have enough for the next 3-4 months, in your best judgment oh wise fish raisers.... should I change the media?

 

[Fishckabibble]

if you have a carbon pad i would switch that out, it should help with the odor.. is this a fish less cycle? if its not then the odor may be comming from a deceased fish that you havent found and would explain why your reading are coming out so high. or it could be from leftover food rotting in the tank.

 

[Wind_Danzer]

It's got a betta in it, and all the others died of rookie mistakes within the first week. It very well could be food but I don't feed the betta much.

 

[MissFishy]

Don't change the filter media, that will just slow down the cycle. Some tanks take longer to cycle than others. What is the temp of the tank? The colder it is, the longer the cycle takes. Poke around the tank and see if there are any dead fish/rotting food lying around that may be raising the ammonia levels. Otherwise you just have to be patient. Keep doing the water changes to keep Spike happy, and test the water every couple days. When the levels drop, they drop quickly. Have you tested for nitrates yet?

 

[Wind_Danzer]

The levels have consistently been at 1 and .05 for ammonia and nitrites respectively these 4 weeks. Last test was done after the water change and the numbers were still the same.

I have not tested for nitrates yet just because the kit I got doesn't have the test in it. I figured that I'd just wait for it to hit 0/0 with the other tests.

Oh and the media wasn't bacteria like I though when I took it out, it was algae.... no algea in the tank anywhere I can tell though. That was also the odor in question as after changing the media (yes I did change it) it doesn't stink anymore. I had that in for the first 4 weeks.

No dead fish to speak of, and there might be fine food particles there on the bottom but it can't be a lot with the Betta eating most or all his food every time I put it in. I did do a gravel cleaning not this last water change but the change before.

Water temp fluctuates from 77 to 81 through the day and is at 79 right now.

I was thinking maybe I should get a cleaner fish now that is hearty for anything the Betta doesn't eat? That would solve the problem of extra food.

I was also eyeing other chemicals to help with the removal of ammonia today. I have been using Nitromax that says it helps to cycle the tank faster by adding good bacteria but I'm beginning to believe it is snake oil.

I'm hoping the little 5 gallon will be good to go in 2 more weeks...

 

[micah2012]

My first tank was a 20 gallon high and it took 3 months to fully cycle, be patient. I would also suggest not to change the media, I did and that was one of the reasons it took my tank so long to cycle. I was told to not clean my gravel during the cycle due to a lot of the bacteria being in the gravel. However, in my opinion, it isn't a bad idea to slightly clean once in a while to not build up excess food. And with your ammonia already showing high readings there is no need to allow any build up of food. As for a bottom feeder I've never owned a Betta but I think there are some that you could get away with, however I would wait for your ammonia to come down. Going from an Ammonia free tank at the pet store to a high Ammonia tank could poison the fish quickly.

 

[MissFishy]

Stop putting the "Nitromax" in. I've never heard of this stuff or whats in it, but most of the "cycle" products are crap. That may be doing something to your cycle. Also, instead of ammonia clear or whatever you're using, just do water changes. That could be doing something to your cycle as well. Take some of your water to the fish store and have them check for nitrates. Your temp is good, so that isn't slowing down the cycle. Other than that, just be patient.

 

[Wind_Danzer]

I was wondering if the ammonia clear stuff would come in handy but I haven't bought it yet. I'll stop using the NitroMax. BTW, here's a pic of it, you can get it at the specialty fish store near me.

Nitromax takes ammonia control to the Max! Rapidly reduces ammonia and nitrite levels. Each bottle contains 25 billion live nitrosomonas and nitrobacter.

 

[MissFishy]

All I'm going to say about "Nitromax" is:

What the....?! Nitrosomonas? Nitrobacter? I'm no marine biologist I guess, but sounds like BS marketing to me. The bacteria wouldn't be alive if it weren't refridgerated or fed daily.

 

[Wind_Danzer]

I need to keep it in the fridge according to the package and it's good for 9 months.

Nitrosomonas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nitrobacter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia