Help! When will this cycle be complete!??!

[gmiller1122]

Hi, all. Great to see AC back up and running.

I have been doing a fishy cycle for 7 weeks now. I have changed 15-40% of water every other day. Still, the ammonia is .5 (before water change) and pH is 8.4.

The tap water has pH of 7.0.

Is it too much water change or not enough? Too many fish (I started w/5, then 7, then 10, each time waiting 2 weeks -- this was suggested by the LFS)?

I am reading conflicting advice in the few books I have. Some say daily water changes of 50%. Others say twice a week changes of 15%. Some say a cycle should be complete after 4 weeks. Others say it may take 2 months (Which I am getting close to!)

So, any thoughts on why this is taking so long? I am getting pretty frustrated!

Tank specs listed below.

Thanks,
G

 

[wataugachicken]

every time you add fish, the bacteria need to increase to get rid of the extra ammonia and other chems, so you will go through another mini-cycle with each addition. i don't think two weeks in between is enough in a new tank, since you were adding more before the cycle was finished for the earlier ones. keep up with water changes (enough to get rid of the excess ammonia - test before and after and do more changes as needed to keep it under .25) and stop adding fish until your ammonia and nitrites are at 0 consistently.

once the tank is cycled you can do the 15% a couple times a week. really, you should observe your tank, see how quickly it gets dirty, and figure out how much water you need to change and how often.

 

[gmiller1122]

Thanks, watau.

It is now 12 hours after my last water change, and the ammonia is between .25-.5. The pH is also 8.4 (normal pH of tap water is 7). This seems awfully fast.

This suggests that I change the water now (I can't though -- not until tonight). I guess I will try daily changes of 10-15%.

Any other thoughts?

Thanks,
G

 

[zazz]

You just have to test the water before and after water changes and change whatever amount of water it takes to keep your ammonia and nitrite levels down.
It makes sense that it is taking this long as the previous poster explained. It also makes sense that the amonia levels will rise quickly because you have plenty of ammonia sources and not nearly enough bacteria to handle the ammonia. You will be needing to be doing this at least daily for a while longer. It won't last forever.

Don't worry about what books or (especially) what lfs employee says. Go by what your tests say and you will be ok.

Oh, also, don't worry that you are changing Too Much water. There is plenty of ammonia being introduced to the tank for the bacteria colonies to grow. It is vey Important to keep the levels down so that your fish can survive the wole thing. You really dont want to start having sick fish.
a little more patience and perseverence and you will have a nice happy tank.

 

[JSchmidt]

I agree with the above. Also, you should note that by adding new fish before the tank had cycled to accommodate the earlier fish, you have prolonged the cycle by upping the amount of ammonia that must be oxidized. If you had stuck with the original fish, there's a good chance you would be done by now.

Patience and water changes are the order of the day.

Good luck,
Jim

 

[daveedka]

Just an FYI to add to the other accurate responses.

The Ph is something you are looking at incorrectly, and probably don't need to worry about. Take some tap water put it in a shallow bowl and let it sit overnight. then test Ph. I will bet it comes out in the range of 8.4 !!

Most water companies force a specific Ph in order to protect the pipes. They use Co2 to do this. Once the Co2 gasses off the Ph will raise to it's normal level at atmospheric equalibrium of gasses. This is very common, and is really the only standard explaination for Ph jumping u after going into your tank.

Additionally, 8.4 may sound very high, but most fish will acclimate and live happily in about any reasonable PH. There is far too much bad advice going around when it comes to PH levels.
Dave

 

[RTR]

What is the disinfectant in your water supply, chlorine-only or chloramine?

What conditioner are you using? Does it specify that breaks the chlorine-ammonia bond and neutralizes both the freed clorine and the freed ammonia? And is your ammonia test kit Nessler's reagent based or salicylate-based? If you are using the wrong conditioner and/or the wrong test kit, you may not be reading ammonia correctly, or may just be reading the ammonia released from chloramine.

 

[gmiller1122]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone!