My cycle isnt working? I even used an established biowheel .. help

[depthC]

I got a new 10g tank and I am using an established biowheel on it and placed the new one in my already established 10g tank with a penguin mini filter too. So I have a good deal of ammonia in the tank, even goes off the chart for measuring ammonia. And after 2 weeks the ammonia is still high and no nitrites. Why isnt my fishless cycle working? I did it on my 45g tank and it went all good. Is the biowheel a good bacteria starter or not? Thanks

- depthC

 

[geKo]

Since you dont have any fish in the 10gal using about two handfull of rocks from a established aquarium will help alot.

I would also use some aquasafe to make sure their is no harmfull metals in the water causing spikes. Two weeks isnt that long so you will need to have some patients.

Remeber when you do a fishless cycle it will take longer for your levels to reach the point you want them to be at because their is no fish poop to help the process along. By adding rocks from another aquarium it will give your 10gal what it needs to get the process going!

 

[NJ Devils Fan]

Originally posted by geKo
Since you dont have any fish in the 10gal using about two handfull of rocks from a established aquarium will help alot.

I would also use some aquasafe to make sure their is no harmfull metals in the water causing spikes. Two weeks isnt that long so you will need to have some patients.

Remeber when you do a fishless cycle it will take longer for your levels to reach the point you want them to be at because their is no fish poop to help the process along. By adding rocks from another aquarium it will give your 10gal what it needs to get the process going!

1st paragraph- It wouldn't matter if there were fish in the tank or not for you to add some substrate from another tank.

3rd paragraph- The fish poop will not speed up the process. In fact, fishless cycling is quicker then fishy cycling. Fish poop will just keep adding to the ammonia level. The tank will establish the bacteria at it's own rate. Adding objects from an established tank will help put some beneficial bacteria into the tank and it will use the ammonia to reproduce. It will help the cycle take 2-3 days shorter, not weeks though.

 

[geKo]

1st paragraph- It wouldn't matter if there were fish in the tank or not for you to add some substrate from another tank.

I know it wouldnt matter. Fish or no fish adding rocks from another tank is a good idea. What im saying is when you have fish they poop on the rocks and it helps. It only makes since that if you put a fish in a tank with fish poop on the bottom it is going to be more stable for the fish than without fish poop. May not help a lot but it is for sure going to do something!

3rd paragraph- The fish poop will not speed up the process. In fact, fishless cycling is quicker then fishy cycling. Fish poop will just keep adding to the ammonia level. The tank will establish the bacteria at it's own rate. Adding objects from an established tank will help put some beneficial bacteria into the tank and it will use the ammonia to reproduce. It will help the cycle take 2-3 days shorter, not weeks though.

fishless cycling is not quicker than cycling with fish. Iv tested both ways and without fish the tank took 4 more days to reach ideal levels!

 

[SLO-Dean]

alot of factors determine the rate of bacterial colony growthm water temp. amount of ammonia and amount of seed bacteria.

I've never tried fishless cycling, as I don't care to watch an empty tank for a month.
I just add my fish and allow the bacteria colonies to grow along with the tank.

 

[Rob1114]

They both take about the same amount of time on average...the only difference is the size of the colonies afterward.

My opinion is that while looking at an empty tank for a month isnt appealing...it's better than looking at a tank full of dying and sick fish for a month.

 

[RedTurquoise]

Do a water change! It is possible to add too much ammonia therefore hinder the cycle.

As for adding rocks and whatnot, dont bother! If you have already added an established bio wheel, rocks with or without fish poop will not make a difference to the cycle. More so, it can add disease to your tank as internal disease usually come out the back end!

 

[depthC]

I know the benefits of adding seeded material already ive did a fishless cycle before. But I think you may be right RedTorquoise. I have a lot of ammonia in the tank so ill do a water change and see what happens. Also wouldnt it be a good idea to raise the temp of the tank to like 80 degrees to speed up the growth rate? Its common sense that heat makes atoms&molecules speed up so i beleive this will work.

I have an established biowheel and some gravel from another tank to help it out but i guess with too much ammonia its not going to do ne thing. Thanks RT.

- depthC

 

[RedTurquoise]

Too much ammonia will actually harm bacteria cultures.

Yes, increasing the heat to 80F will increase mulitiplicaiton of bacteria however do not raise it much higher as heat will also kill off bacteria (around 92+F).

 

[madhippoz]

Yes, do not over due the Ammonia, if anything error on the side of not enough. If you read my other post I had a goof with my cat and Ammonia in my new 77gal tank. I ended up over 3 or 4 days having to do 2 50% water changes just to get my Ammonia back down to around 4ppm. It was off the chart, waaaaaayyy off the chart prior to that. I basically lost 4 days off of my cycle because of this goof right at the start. It's almost like starting over. I'm almost at the first week now, my ammonia is sitting tight at 4ppm, I have my temp set to about 84-85 degree's. No Nitrites yet, but I saw my ammonia take a slight dip last night, so perhaps this evening I'll see some Nitrites!

 

[depthC]

Well i did 2 50% water changes and the ammonia levels only went down a little bit. Why? Also i noticed that by feeling the gravel its really slimy so i guess bacteria is growing but just not enough to dimminsh all the ammonia. Ill keep doing the water changes by why did the ammonia only go down a little bit?
thanks

- depthC

 

[madhippoz]

How much Ammonia did you put in that 10gal? As my other thread mentions, my cat tried to climb me as I was doing mine and I actually dropped the bottle of Ammonia in the tank. I ended up with about 1/5 of a 1.8litre bottle of Ammonia in my tank. After the first 50% water change it was still around the Max that my test kit measures. After the second 50% change it dropped to about 4ppm.

 

[depthC]

Well not nearly as much as u did i guess. Ill keep doing the water changes and tell you how it goes.

- depthC

 

[madhippoz]

Oh, I forgot to mention though, that my tank is a 77gal...so take that into proportion.

 

[depthC]

Okay well i got it down to 1 ppm then added 3 drops of ammonia and just checked it and its 3-4 ppm. So i guess its in a good range to produce some good bacteria. So should i keep adding ammonia or should i wait till nitrites show up to add more ammonia? Thanks

- depthC

 

[NJ Devils Fan]

Originally posted by geKo
I know it wouldnt matter. Fish or no fish adding rocks from another tank is a good idea. What im saying is when you have fish they poop on the rocks and it helps. It only makes since that if you put a fish in a tank with fish poop on the bottom it is going to be more stable for the fish than without fish poop. May not help a lot but it is for sure going to do something!

If your fishless cycling, then the fish poop will make no difference since the poop is ammonia and you are directly adding ammonia.