Tank cycling...will it ever end?

S

suzanne

Guest
Hi Everyone,

Well I'm on day 11 of my tank cycling and I don't really know what's going on.
When I first started the water got cloudy, then cleared up. Now it's gone cloudy again and I can't figure out why.
I've also been feeding the tank with a frozen food / flake food paste to add a source of ammonia.
So far my readings are:
Ammonia 0.5
Nitrite 1
Nitrate 5

Is this normal? This is my first time doing a fishless cycle and I have no idea of how it's supposed to go....

Any advice or comments for me?
 
Hey, I would stop using frozen food and just wait the rest of the cycling out. I think that the bacteria just needs some time to eat what frozen food it has. Give it a week without adding food and test again. The tank sounds like it is off on good track
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Hell yeh! Like Rheann said - sounds like it's on track. I'm cycling my tank too and at 3 weeks, I had 0.25 ammonia and 0 everything else! I'm nearly 5 weeks into cycling now and I've only just registered a nitrite reading (0.25)... ammonia is still on 0.25 and no sign of nitrates yet.

Don't stress Suzanne, it sounds like your tank is doing really well.
 
i'm on day 11 and last i checked i had bugger all readings
sad.gif
"but" i had to clean my filter on my "cycling" axie tank and i used tank water to swish it around and got lots off it and put that water into my new tank and havnt tested since then.
hope i get results soon i'm hanging to put my axies in there new home
happy.gif
 
I think you will find the reason your water keeps getting cloudy is because of the growing bacteria.

Its called a bacteria bloom. The bacteria multiply rapidly to consume the waste, then when its gone starve and die again. Thats why you water goes clear again.

This is pretty normal in a cycling tank.
 
Yipppeeee....

At least I know it's all going according to plan. Phew...I'm hanging out to get my axie into his new home too..
Then, I can use the other tank so I can get him a friend (maybe even a girlfriend
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) and keep him/her in quarantine for a few days before I introduce him/her to little dude in their new home.
 
30 days at the minimum for adding fish/plants, and 1-2 weeks before adding a tank buddy..



~John
 
why 1-2 weeks before putting him in after quarentine? you can put them both in together if it works out to be the right timing with the cycling and quarentine
 
This is often recommended to allow the bacterial populations to increase sufficiently to deal with the initial additions without risking too high of a spike until the bacteria catch up.

Ed
 
Okay,

I'm on day 16 now...getting there. I tested again on Sunday and my readings were
Ammonia 0.5
Nitrite 1
Nitrate 20

So my Nitrate has gone up but the rest has stayed the same. Does this sound right? I know that nitrate is the last in the cycle so does this mean that my tank may be ready earlier than 30days????? I'm a bit confused as I thought this should be the last to rise....

I will also make sure that I quarantine any new tank buddies for little dude for three weeks. I am not planning to get another until little dude has already gone into his new home so that way it'll be enough time to make sure the bacteria is equipped to deal with the extra load and to make sure the new guy doesn't have any nasties....
 
Sorry..Another thought just occurred to me.

I know this might sound a bit silly but...
As Ive used the flake fish food/frozen food paste method and it's now just lying in the bottom of the tank rotting away...will this decompose once the tank has finished cycling or will it still be there and I need to scoop it out once the cycle has finished??????? Also does this mean that the tank will not finish cycling until this is removed??
(I think next time I'll stick to frozen brine shrimp.lol)

Maybe I shouldn't think...it just makes things more complicated! lol
shocked.gif
 
if the food is still there after cycling you can remove it suppose. the bacteria is built up so if your axies are in after it will have their poop to feed on to keep it alive. it could just dissapper.
To Ed, i must not have been using my brain that night lol, i know you have to build up the bio load in the tanks, i had to do that with my Oscar tank, cause man do those fish poop!
p.s. sorry if my spelling is off i can hardly see the screen due to a fat cat whose name i wont mention
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*bv* the part in stars is her typing for me
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As the bacteria levels increase, you should see the level drop to zero (or really close) even though there is still some stuff rotting in the tank. At this point, when you do your water change, you can remove it as the axolotls will supply the needed ammonia to keep the bacteria going.

Hi Sharn,
It is a good question as a lot of people do not think about the bacterial population needing to grow to deal with the increased amount of waste.

Ed
 
hope u dont mind me asking the question here
didnt think it was worth starting a new post..
i'm on day 15 of cycling and havnt seen any changes @ all yet ph 7.6 all readings 0
one question i havn't seen yet is if u have a canister filter, what kind of medium should i use as there are so many. i have 6 x seperate baskets and had 3 x carbon 3 x ceramic cylinders, but i have since taken all the carbon out and only have the cylinders in now. i this ok ?
i thought the carbon might be stopping it cycling properly
 
Hi Rob,

What are you using for an ammonia source?
Unless you are using a zeolite (white chips)mixed in the carbon, regular activated carbon does not remove ammonia from the water. If you are using using one of the ammonia binding systems then you will need to remove it from the filter and replace it with regular carbon.
If you are not using any ammonia binding resins in the filter then I would suspect that there is something wrong with the test kit.

Ed
 
Hi Ed
i am using frozen brine shrimp for ammonia
in the filter i now have standard "fluval" ceramic cylinders in the bottom 2 trays and in the top 4 trays i have biomax porous cylinders. i have no carbon in there at the moment, was thinking to maybe ad it after cycling ?
i was using normal activated carbon...
i added another cube of frozen brine shrimp last night so i will do readings again tonight and post what they are.
my tank is 36x18x18" got about 150-160ltr's i add 1 x cube of brine shrimp at a time is this correct ?
i'm pretty sure my test kit is ok cause i get readings off my other tank with my axies in it.

the other tank with my axies in is cycling too
"but i do daily water changes" cause when i got my axies i didnt know about cycling.
i also put the poo from my axie tank into the cycling tank..


(Message edited by kharmakazi on November 30, 2005)
 
Sorry all...yet another question..Hopefully last one.

Day 17 and my tank readings are:

PH = 7
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 15
Ammonia = 0.1

Now should I be spiking the tank with ammonia again or do I assume that once the ammonia hits 0 my tank is cycled.
It just seems like an awfully quick cycling...
Please give me some advice as I really have no clue, this is my first time doing it properly.
 
Hi Rob,
If the water changes are large enough then you could be disrupting the cycle.

Suzanne,
I would add the food source one more time and when the ammonia drops to zero do your water change and you are set to add the axolotls.

Ed
 
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