Mert16

My tank has been set up for about five weeks now. I do water tests every three days and do weekly water changes. Add aquarium salt and use aquasafe to remove chlorine. and in all this time my ammonia levels are real high. I did my first monthly clean up of the tank, changed the filter cartridge, scrubbed the glass, cleaned the plants, and siphoned the rocks. with the water change I added Cycle to speed up the amounts of beneficial bacteria. and after two days, its still high. Is it possible the test kit I have is no good. My fish seem great and swimming, eating, and the water is crystal and looks healthy. Please help!

sgould

A couple of things to help you out:

1) Don't change the filter cartridge until your cycle is 100% complete. The highest concentration of bacteria grow in filter media, so changing that out in an uncycled tank will slow you down. Changing it out in a cycled tank can cause a mini-cycle, as filter media contain the largest concentration of nitrifying bacteria. It is not necessary to change the media monthly the way the manufacturers recommend. Just swish the cartridge around in tank water every couple of weeks.

2) Stop using the Cycle. It doesn't work and can actually cause a series of mini-cycles.

Hope that helps!

susitna-flower

Welcome to fishlore Mert.

Your tank is still in its cycle stage, which can be really hard on your fish. If you have read the links here on fishlore to the nitrogen cycle, you will find out most here do not feel the product cycle has any good effect on your tank.

If you want to be sure the cycle is completed safely and in the shortest period of time, use bio-spira....it is not available at some LFS's , but can be purchased from www.drsfostersmith.com .

The beneficial bacteria that are developing in your tank grow ON things like your tank glass, decorations, gravel, and in your filter....
All the cleaning you just did really set back your cycle, and if I were you I wouldn't do any more "wiping down, scrubbing, or changing out of filter material until your tank if fully cycled. You will know this because the ammonia and nitrites go up, then drop down to 0, and at the same time the nitrate goes from 0 to between 5-10.....

You should do water changes, if you haven't put bio-spira in. The water changes take out some of the toxic water, and does not effect the bacteria, since they are on surfaces, not floating in the water....

COBettaCouple

Hey, Welcome to Fishlore.

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm - check this article about cycling the tank. I would recommend not using salt or Cycle.

The way we do our filters is we cut these filter pads to fit our filters:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113808
That and a filter sponge is all that we put in the filter. We only run carbon when needed. To clean our filter pads and sponges, we swish them around in a container of tank water when we do our weekly cleaning & partial water change, then put them back.

I'd recommend doing 25% water changes every other day with weekly cleanings while the tank is un-cycled. This helps keep the toxins from getting as high.
Aquasafe is a good conditioner. We started with it, but as you have fish in the tank, I'd REALLY recommend Prime. It will help protect your fish from damage by locking the toxins.

What are you using to test with? What's your latest ammonia & nitrite readings? The best time to test the water is right before you're going to do a water change.