Ready to give up

[AquaDummy]

A couple of weeks ago I was about ready to add fish to my tank (fishless cycle looked done). Unfortunatly I had to go on a business trip so my wife basically just kept adding ammonia for me till I got back. I got back yesterday and ammonia and nitrite were .2 and .1 respectively. So I did a 70% water change. After the water change readings were as follows: (I have a hard time with the color scales)

ammonia .5
nitrite .6
nitrate 10
ph 7.2
kh 60

so I wanted to make sure things were still okay plus something came up and I couldn't get the fish today. So I added some ammonia - it went up to 1.2

This morning I was thinking that I will do a 25% water change to bring the nitrates down and then go get fish. However after my tests I think I'm going to give up on fish as I have a hard enough time just keeping an empty tank. Here are my readings this morning:

ammonia .6
nitrite 1.6
nitrate 50
ph 7.3
kh 110 (I added a bit of baking soda as I though the kh was too low yesterday)

So today I added more ammonia since I have no idea what happened and why my cycle seems to be all messed up again... I could sure use some advice as I'm starting to think getting into fishkeeping is too hard and way too complicated for me.

 

[airbrnebkr]

Just my advice. Quit adding ammonia. I would just stop messing with the tank and give it a few weeks to run its course. Just test the water a couple times a week and write your results down on a piece of graph paper. Sounds to me like the more you mess with it the more funky it gets so Don't give up just let it run its course.
Doug

 

[Blinky]

If you don't give the tank a source of ammonia to feed the bacteria, the bacteria won't survive.
Leaving the tank without fish or ammonia for a few weeks will probably be sufficient time to lose everything you've cultivated, so I wouldn't do that. Not sure why you're having trouble when it looked like you were almost done, but if you're getting nitrAte readings, that means both types of bacteria have moved in - all that's happened is there probably aren't enough of them for the amount of ammonia in the tank right now. Give the population time to grow and stabilize, you'll be fine.
If it's any consolation, I'm going through a fishless cycle right now and I know how frustrating it is to look at an empty tank day after day.
The motto with fishless cycling is, after all, patience, patience, patience

 

[PumaWard]

I wouldn't add ammonia unless its at or close to zero. I also wouldn't just let it sit for a few weeks as the bacteria needed for the cycle will be dead without ammonia and nitrite for a food source.

Also, your bacteria should be able to completely convert 3ppm of ammonia over to nitrate in one night before you start adding fish. That means, you add 3ppm of ammonia in at night, and by the next morning your levels should be 0 ammonia and nitrite, and whatever the nitrate level is.

HTH

 

[Rava]

You can do it, AD! I can't help, myself, as I've never done a fishless cycle, but I can sympathize with the empty tank syndrome. I've been staring at mine for weeks now, and it's really starting to bother me! Don't give up though, it really will be worth it in the end! Just tell yourself these are minor setbacks. Stepping stones you trip over on the way to success.

And don't forget to look forward to the day you post that you've put your first fish in. I'll be waiting to celebrate.

 

[xytrix01]

*In my best adam sandler voice* YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!

 

[AquaDummy]

Not sure if this is important to the situation or not but I forgot to mention something. When I left for my business trip, I had some green algea on my clay pot. When I got back the algea was gone. Not sure where it went or why?

I also used nutrafin aqua plus for my water conditioner. Does that have any affect on the bateria.

This morning it seems the ammonia is dropping pretty good but nitrites are still up there so something happened to the bacteria that takes care of nitrites after my big water change..

 

[anonapersona]

If a water change upset the cycle, it makes me wonder if your water was properly treated for chloramine or chlorine.

 

[AquaDummy]

Well you got me there - I have no idea how I would know that? I basically did what I read numerous forum threads on what to do. I changed water with a DIY Python and added Aqua Plus as I was adding fresh tap water.

Basically I poured in about 10 capfuls (to be safe I thought) in the tank and then filled 'er up. I really needed only about 6 caps but figured the extra would be better than not enough.

 

[anonapersona]

From a google search that got me to the Hagen site (bolding added)

"Aqua Plus contains a patented formula that provides fish with natural herbs known to have calming effects. Along with the capability of neutralizing chlorine and breaking the chloramine bond when first introducing water or doing partial changes, Aqua Plus provides complete conditioning. Biological stability is key to providing consistent water quality."

This phrase "breaking the chloramne bond" means that if you have chloramine, it releases the ammonia and treats the chlorine... only the chlorine. The ammonia is still there, dangerous. the nitrite consuming bacteria don't like ammonia, so the big water change and big ammonia spike has upset them.

So, if you have chloramine, you now need to use something else to treat the ammonia.

Do a test, draw a gallon of tap water, test for ammonia, add the required amount of Aqua Plus, then test for ammonia again. The first test should be zero, the second test will be zero if you have chlorine, or positive if you have chloramine.

Or just call the water department and ask what they use, if they ever use the other things, and get a full test report while you have them on the phone, file it, one day you'll want that info.

The green algae is a clue to the ammonia, also. Algae likes nitrate, but likes ammonia more.

Get something that treats chlorine and ammonia, Prime does, there are others also. Prime allows the bacteria to process it slowly, some others lock it up and starve the bacteria.