Tank Not Cyclin :(

I

iovaykind

Fish-o-natic
Jun 20, 2005
38
0
0
New York
I've had a fish tank that I've been trying to cycle for over two months now. The ammonia level just stays at 2ppm, and there are no nitrites or nitrates. I am not stressing anything out except two RES(turtles), because turtles don't really care about the cycling process. Can anyone help me out? Here are the tank specs:

Size:29 gallon tank
Substrate:None
Temperature:71-78F
Inhabitants:2 RES
Filter: Aquaclear Mini w/ two biomax's and foam
Heater:None
pH:6.8

What am I doing wrong, no nitrites ever showed up, and no nitrates either.
 
try adding a few fish with bio-spira. my 29 gallon seemed to do the same thing but i had fish in it. so i added bio-spira and it worked. i think the cycling was taking so long cause my bio-load was to small. good luck.
 
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If you add any fish to a turtle tank, make sure they are cheap because they will get eaten eventually. Turtles are very messy eaters and big waste producers, so there may be detectable ammonia for a long time to come if not always. With no heater it may take a while yet for you to see nitrite and nitrate show up. Just try to keep the water changed and add some kind of biological waste reducer to keep it as clean as possible...don't forget some calcium supplement too, with a low pH and time a turtle's shell can get very soft and that is not good.
 
I don't want to add any fish yet..as an ammonia level of 2ppm is almost enough to kill all fish. What else are my options, I don't want to go with ammonia absorbers and stuff like that because it really makes it unnatural. Why doesn't the nitrite or nitrates show up in the tank yet? It's been almost 2 months already, and there is ammonia for the nitrites to develop on.

Isaac
 
i dont know whats up with the nitrites and nitrates but if you do a lot of water changes that will get the ammonia down a lot. are you trying to cycle the water with turtle waste? im no expert but i think i would do a 100% water change add bio-spira with a few fish and the tank will be cycled in like 3 days and that would be that. with the turtles i would imagine youd have to do a lot of water changes after that to keep the ammonia undetectable.
 
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I was going to ask the same thing. I'm having a hard time right now with my 29 g newt tank. It "uncycled" when I treated them for a bacterial infection and it just isn't cycling again. I think my Zoo med turtle filter is just inadequate to circulate the water, let alone filter it. Try adding another filter or replacing the mini.
 
I understand it is too small but that doesn't stop the cycle does it? There are two biomax's in it which help with the biological filtration. There are absolutely no nitrites, or nitrates. Even if there wasn't a filter, there would still be nitrites and nitrates if there was ammonia. What is happening with my tank? It isn't cycling :mad2:
 
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