2 weeks later - my fishless cycle is going nowhere

C

combuddy91

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Oct 31, 2007
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Hello everyone, I am currently 2 weeks into my cycling (sort of)

Around the first week or so I started off with tossing fish food in the tank. My ammonia levels were around 0.5 ppm for a few days even when I was adding a lot. Nitrites were at 0 all the time. There was cloudy water but I am pretty sure it was due to the large ammount of decaying food. Then after reading some more fishless cycling articles they said I needed to have around 5 ppm of inital ammonia. I realizes that fish food would be unrealistic in achieving this ammount.

After I got some clear ammonia - I added to to my tank achieving 4-8 ppm (I am pretty sure its 5 because my test kit doesnt read between 4 and 8). For a another week or so the ammonia level remained at 5 and nitrite still at 0. Then I raised my temperature to about 81.

About 2 or 3 days ago I got gravel from a diease free (I hope) fishtank from one of my mom's friends. In my opinion, it was a really small ammount - fitting easily in my palm with 1 scoop. I dumped into the filter with my bio-media hoping it would bloom with the ammonia. Immediately there was cloudy water but after a few hours it had settled down.

I have been testing for ammonia and nitrites and they are still the same - 5 ppm and 0 ppm. The water is clear except when I stir up the gravel - then it gets really cloudy.

What the heck am I doing wrong?

I have a 29 gallon with a fancy overhead power filter.

Thanks!
 
You just need to give it more time.... It may take another week or so for nitrites to start showing since basically just started adding pure ammonia about a week ago (from how I read it anyway) You may want to watch the ammonia levels pretty close for awhile too if you added alot of fish food the first week it may start breaking down and cause your ammonia level to get even higher. Just be sure to keep ammonia levels under 6ppm as I have heard that over 6ppm can start killing off good bacteria ..... I would try and keep it in the 4ppm range to be on the safe side.
 
When I was cycling my tank, I had used the adding ammonia method from the start. It took close to 4 weeks before I saw any spec of nitrites that where measurable. After about another week, they shot up like a rocket. Just give it time. Or you can go with a fishy cycle if you are getting impatient and want to see some action.
 
You can't rush nature. All you can do is try to influence it. The bacteria will develop at it's own pace. The fish food takes time to start decomposing and releasing ammonia, so really, you probably only started the real cycle when you added the ammonia. Give it time, and it'll happen. I personally have only deal with fishie cycles, which work well, but require closer attention to the water parmaters.
 
you're doing nothing wrong - it just takes time for the bacterial colonies to develop. Keep it :D
 
Thanks for the info, its calming to see that my case isn't abnomral. I am currently using API Liquids Kits for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, and for pH - test strips. I think I have a mismatched heater - always a 7 or so degrees higher than when I set it so sometimes I have to turn it off. Will temeprature flucuations be harmful to the bacteria?
 
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