Betta Fish Forum banner

Endless Cycle : Again I Know!

2K views 31 replies 5 participants last post by  Oldfishlady 
#1 ·
To begin with, i'm open to any possibility you guys can think. I want to be able to list every reason why my cycle isn't moving towards the Nitrite phase and cross them out one by one to figure the problem out.

Today's readings:

pH - 7.5
Ammonia - 0.6 or a bit less (yellowish)
Nitrites - 0 (Water is crystal clear)
Nitrate - 0 (Water is crystal clear)

Test Kit used:
Nutrafin Test: Mini Master Test Kit ( http://www.petland.ca/nutrafin-fresh-water-mini-master-test-kit.html )

The tank is a 21 gallon with an aquaclear 30 as filter. The tank has been set up to cycle fish-in either on the 22 or 23 of November 2012 till now. (About 9 weeks) I've read that a cycle take 6 to 8 weeks to be completed and i haven't even seen any nitrites yet.

Could it be over-cleaning?
I change water every 2 days (about 25%) and always use my gravel vacuum to remove water and fish waste. Could it be the fact that I vacuum too much? I have never done a 100% water change.

Filter Media?
I have never yet cleaned nor exchanged my filter media yet. Should I do something about that or is it okay?

Overfeeding?
I have 3 female bettas and 2 plattys in there. How do I know when i'm over feeding and what will over feeding do exactly?


Those are the reasons I could list. Do you guys have any other reasons how a cycle is stalled? I need help! I want to be able to stock more fish but i want the tank to cycle first and it is endless!
 
See less See more
#2 ·
I've never been too sure about cycling a tank but have you tried maybe adding in a bacteria supplement? My favorite is Tetra Safestart or Jungle Start Zyme. Or adding in some gravel or filter media from an already established tank (if you have one)? I was looking it up on google and those were a couple of tips from different websites.
For filter media in general, the aquaclear 30 has a carbon filter right? I also learned this the hard way that you never really need to do anything with it except rinse it out every once in a while. I would say to not do anything with it because the bacteria is still building up.
Overfeeding will increase the chance for algae to grow and ammonia to spike. If there's a lot of left over food from feeding time, you could be overfeeding (but with bettas there's hardly anything left over lol).
I'm sure someone who has more experience can give you better advice, but just thought I'd give you some ideas and help kick start your thread!!
Good luck getting your tank to cycle...it can be so very frustrating!
 
#4 ·
Well if you don't trust a product then I definitely wouldn't use it!! Most Walmarts carry Jungle Start Zyme if you have one in your area (I trust it and it's a capful per 10 gallons). Well that's a bummer! If you have a friend with an established tank you could get it from them?
I'm sorry I can't be of more help!
 
#6 ·
Lol same here!
I only gravel vac twice a week and when I do it's a spot clean and then a deep clean. A lot of food and waste hides there and can increase the ammonia and bacteria. Usually I just scoop out a gallon or two of the old water twice a week. So maybe use the vac less often? I know some people may disagree but it might help to boost your bacteria by enticing them to settle in your tank.
 
#7 ·
Ahhh okayy because in the beginning i did WC everyday so vacuumed everyday and now it is every 2 days, so i was thinking this might be the problem. And people say when there is green algae the tank is fish friendly or something like that?
 
#8 ·
You could also probably cut back on the water changes like every 3 days? For a 29 gallon with only 5 fish they won't be producing much waste or ammonia. Unless that's what you are supposed to do to promote nitrites then stick wih every 2 days!
And green algae indicates that not only do you have enough light for the tank but they grow with nitrates/nitrites (can't remember which one).
 
#10 ·
Then they are very small lol
That is still puzzling...it sounds like you are on top of it and are testing regularly for it. One site said that the cycle may take as long as 3 months but I'm not sure. Maybe take a water sample to your fish store and ask them to test it? Just to see if they give any suggestions as to what you could do to increase them. I always thought you wanted 0s across the board lol
 
#12 ·
Since you have a test kit on hand-I would cut back on your water changes and only make a 50% weekly with vacuum in all areas you can reach without moving anything. Test daily and make 50% water ONLY based on test results of 0.25ppm or greater Ammonia/nitrite.

Once you start seeing nitrAte for several days without ammonia/nitrIte spikes you are most likely cycled. Continue to monitor prams daily for another week-then reduce to every 2 days-As long as you haven't had any ammonia/nitrite spikes and still showing nitrate of at least 5-10ppm-I would reduce testing to weekly.

To make sure, you don't have any live plants in the tank...correct....

Also, if you haven't already-do a base-line test on your source water-with and without your dechlorinator.

I don't know anything about the testing products you are using-but you might want to take your water to a pet shop to be tested to rule out problems with your test product. Be sure and find out what kind of test products they use and get numbers for everything-Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and if they will do the KH/GH get that too. See if they will let to watch them do the test too.
 
#15 ·
What type of plants re they? Live plants can cause what is known as a silent cycle. The plants utilize the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to grow so this can lead to 0ppm readings on your tests. You prob dont have enough plants in there to cause this but its something you should be made aware of
 
#16 ·
I don't think that's what it is. The ammonia would still be 0 in a silent cycle. I don't think it would hurt to switch to a better water conditioner... I don't think there's a big difference between them but Tetra just doesn't seem to be an overall great brand.
 
#19 ·
Okay i also have a 10 gallon cycling. It first had a fancy goldfish in there. I remember last time i tested water i had ammonia in there about 0.6. Then i bought a bigger tank and moved the goldfish in there. I then added a betta in the 10 gallon. This is the only tank that I treated with the free bottle of nutrafin cycle I got with one of my tanks just to see if it really works.

I tested for water today and my readings were:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0

Does this mean that my tank has really cycled or does this just mean that because i removed the goldfish and replaced it with a smaller bio-load, the BB died and everything is re-starting?

I have the feeling it is not cycled because i have 0 nitrates though :/
No live plants and last WC was 3 days ago if that matters.

Thanks!
 
#20 ·
Test daily. Wait until you get a reading of something. This will probably take a week, longer with live plants... Also, I'm not familiar with the nutrafin test kit but I know the API test kit have very, very specific rules to follow on the nitrate test in particular and I've seen many people mess up test results by getting the nitrite/nitrate test directions confused.
If the tank is cycled, you will eventually get a nitrate reading. If not, you are going to get an ammonia and/or nitrite reading.

Edit: Also, your BB should not have died as long as you kept the filter running, it had some sort of food source and you never put any untreated tap water in the tank. If your BB did die off you would likely notice an ammonia spike.
 
#22 ·
That is correct....Once you have nitrate of at least 5-10ppm without any ammonia, nitrite spikes for several days-you are most likely cycled-with your current stocking in the 10gal with a single Betta-this might take up to 6 weeks-more or less.

When you have lots of active growing live plants(more than a few)-like-heavy feeding/fast growing stem and floating plants-The active plant growth will use ammonia first as the food source and it may take a long time if ever to see the nitrate reading we look for to tell us cycling stage/completeness. However, the cycle is still happening-silent....the hobby grade test products only test on a ppm(parts per million) level and we will always have ammonia and other byproducts to feed the BB for the nitrogen cycle. With the silent cycle-you need lots and lots of plants that are in active growth-a few plants and/or slow growing plants might not filter the water to safe levels for the livestock.
 
#29 ·
What's the kelvin? I leave the lights on during the entire day so that would be 8-10 hours and off during the night. And here are pictures, can you also tell me what plants these are?

This one has been gaining alot of new leaves on the bottom of the stem

Aquarium decor Freshwater aquarium Aquarium Aquatic plant Vegetation


Aquarium Plant Aquatic plant Botany Aquarium decor
 
#30 ·
The first one looks like water wisteria-a nice stem plant-you can pinch the top and replant it and the mother plant will bush out more-the leaves themselves can be floated and will sprout roots so you can plant them too.

The other plant-if I am looking at the right one-is also a stem plant called Ludwigia repens(natans) (or it might be mexican oak leaf)-it tends to get leggy and drop bottom leaves-I lay mine on the substrate with a rock on top of it so it will root from all nodes when it gets leggy-it tend to creep a bit across the substrate.

I keep my light on 10h/day in the cooler months and 12h/day in the warmer months.

Kelvin is your color temp-you want 5000k-7500k with 6500k being ideal
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top