# Tank wont cycle and it has been 3 months!



## mbh1101 (Oct 8, 2012)

I have a 36 gallon bow front freshwater aquarium. I have a 17 watt t8 full spectrum light, aqua tech power filter, and i keep the temp. about 72 degrees. Also i have a air pump with two airstones on each side of the tank. I have it stocked with 3 glowlight tetras to get ammonia in the water. It has been reading .25 ppm in ammonia for the past two months. So i started feeding them a little more. The ammonia is now at .50 ppm but still no traces of nitrite or nitrates. Also there is some but very little algae growth.


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## madyotto (Mar 24, 2012)

mbh1101 said:


> I have a 36 gallon bow front freshwater aquarium. I have a 17 watt t8 full spectrum light, aqua tech power filter, and i keep the temp. about 72 degrees. Also i have a air pump with two airstones on each side of the tank. I have it stocked with 3 glowlight tetras to get ammonia in the water. It has been reading .25 ppm in ammonia for the past two months. So i started feeding them a little more. The ammonia is now at .50 ppm but still no traces of nitrite or nitrates. Also there is some but very little algae growth.


use a gravel vac or run your hand through it to loosen any waste allowing your filter to pick most of it up 

rinse your filters in old tank water as you do a water change a good 50% of the water


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## SeaHorse (Dec 27, 2010)

Hi mbh1101. What type of test kit are you using? Strips or liquid? Have you tested your tap water? Mine is .25 Ammonia straight out of the tap so I cannot do a water change and expect lower numbers. Is your situation possibly the same? Also what type of water conditioner you are using? Prime is excellent for neutralizing Ammonia, NI and NA but will still show readings, it does not remove them.
Hope others will chime in here with more info/options.

I'm not sure the relationship of Bacteria in the aquarium and Algae... Algae is too much light and over feeding. 
Thinking your temp should be a little bit higher. Glow light tetra... 74-82 degrees from our profiles. 76-78 maybe?

What is your PH?


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## AbbeysDad (Mar 28, 2011)

You should be able to cycle a tank in 4-6 weeks. 
If you're at 3 months, there's something wrong in that you may be doing something that inhibits bacteria colony development. Are you conditioning your water properly before doing water changes (even slight amounts of chlorine can stifle bacteria)?
Are you only rinsing filter media in tank or treated water?

You might consider adding a few bunches of floating plants.
You might also consider using one of the bacteria in a bottle products such as Tetra SafeStart, Seachem Stability, API QuickStart, Dr. Tim's one and only, Aquabella...

Also, ensure that you use the API Master Freshwater test kit, it has not expired and you shake the regents and follow the instructions very closely. Note that regent #2 of the nitrate test requires EXTRA shaking to ensure it is well mixed.

Hope some of these thoughts helps some. Keep us posted.

AD


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## mbh1101 (Oct 8, 2012)

I am using liquid, and i have not tested my tap water yet so that may be it. To me it seems like I'm just not getting ammonia what so ever or very small traces. If I add to much water conditioner can that kill off the bacteria for the nitrogen cycle? Because I have been just kinda dropping some in when I do my water changes?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SeaHorse (Dec 27, 2010)

What is the brand name of the conditioner so that we can review. Are you measuring and adding based on the volume of water being changed?


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## mbh1101 (Oct 8, 2012)

Ok so I feel stupid now. I am using aqueon water conditioner and just realized that it detoxifies ammonia. 
I just tested my ammonia in my tap water and it is reading pretty high at 1.0 ppm. My water in my fish tank is reading about . 30 
What are the steps I have to take now knowing this to cycle my tank.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SeaHorse (Dec 27, 2010)

mbh1101 said:


> Ok so I feel stupid now. I am using aqueon water conditioner and just realized that it detoxifies ammonia.
> I just tested my ammonia in my tap water and it is reading pretty high at 1.0 ppm. My water in my fish tank is reading about . 30
> What are the steps I have to take now knowing this to cycle my tank.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Had to be more to the story!! 
Not that I can answer the question! Hoping Byron will see this thread and give you some advice. I'm learning from him as I go too!


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## Chris7 (Jan 2, 2012)

Another thing you could try is go to your local aquarium store and see if you can get some gravel or filter media from an established tank. That way you will get instant bacteria into your tank, just a thought;-).


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## SeaHorse (Dec 27, 2010)

I'm thinking that another source of water may be what is required. Your water at 1.ppm out of the tap may be too high to use, or at the very least cutting it some with another source. 
Prime is an excellent water conditioner that can be used at 5 x strength in emergencies but not sure if it can be used continually in this manner. 
If nec, is there another water source you could use?


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## mbh1101 (Oct 8, 2012)

Not that I can think of. Do all dechlorinaters detoxify ammonia or only some?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## madyotto (Mar 24, 2012)

mbh1101 said:


> Not that I can think of. Do all dechlorinaters detoxify ammonia or only some?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


does your LFS (local fish store) not sell RO water ?


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## mbh1101 (Oct 8, 2012)

Ya but buying 30 plus gallons of water and hauling it just seems like a little to much. Could I not just add the water with the high ammonia because I want my ammonia to spike anyway and then once it cycles i can start using detoxifiers ?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SeaHorse (Dec 27, 2010)

My sense is that if you keep adding high volumes of ammonia water that you can't keep up no matter what... but I'm not the expert in this. hoping someone will chime in and help.


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## mbh1101 (Oct 8, 2012)

I went to the lfs and they gave me some microbe lift special blend to add bacteria to my water. My ammonia is low in my tank so we will see if I got ripped off or not. I will let y'all know!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## madyotto (Mar 24, 2012)

mbh1101 said:


> Ya but buying 30 plus gallons of water and hauling it just seems like a little to much. Could I not just add the water with the high ammonia because I want my ammonia to spike anyway and then once it cycles i can start using detoxifiers ?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


no you don't need 30 gals of RO (reverse osmosis) water if you change 25% that makes it 7.5 gals you would need per change 

then if you only use half RO and half tap water as an example 1 PPM (Particles Per Million) Ammonia will become 0.5 PPM your filters have approx 15 X's more chance of handling 0.5 PPM than they do with 1 PPM.

so go and get 4-5 gals of RO and try this is should cycle in one change if you already have it started and using something like Interpet filter start


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