dg512055

Well I thought it would go faster than this. I must be doing something wrong. I set up my 20 gallon about a month ago. We put in 5 neons and waited. I got the API test kit after I started reading about the cycle. After a week I was still not getting ammonia, so we brought home 5 red eye tetras. (I know I shouldn't have but the wife insisted). I have tested amminia and nitites every day and have been changing water when NH got between .5 and 1.0. The fish are all doing well and eat like crazy. I have a Penguin biowheel with one stock filter and the old filter pad that came with the tank kit that I ran for a week with the neons. The old pad has no carbon and the biowheel filter still has carbon. I have been adding Tetra Aqua Safe to tap water before I add it to the tank. I have also added some Stress Zyme a few times. The water is fairly hard, pH about 7.8, temp stays at 77F. I have gravel, some fake plants, and a large hollow tree. I also have had aeration through a 12" air stone since start-up. I was thinking that I should have nitrites show up by now, but that and nitrates are still zero. I am keeping NH down with water changes pretty much daily. Anyone have any suggestions?

sirdarksol

Just to verify here:
You are only adding Stress Zyme and Tetra Aqua Safe.
You are not changing the filter media.
You have not seen any nitrites or nitrates in a month.
You have not added any ammonia-absorbing resin to the tank (it looks like white carbon).

Frankly, I don't know what to say. I can't imagine anything you could do that could create this issue.

Lucy

Wow, you may just win for the longest cycle yet. I know a couple of members whose cycle took forever.
As you know, cycling with fish takes longer than a fish less cycle because for the sake of your fish, you have to keep the ammonia level down. The bacteria needs the ammonia to develop. It's like a double edged sword.

A couple of things, I know Stress Zyme says it will kick start the cycle but a lot of products contain bacteria that will actually use up the ammonia not allowing the beneficial bacteria to develop. I'm not saying Stress Zyme is one of them but it's a possiblity.

The other thing that comes to mind is the #2 nitrate bottle needs to be shaken, banged around and whacked on a table to get the crystals mixed otherwise you'll get a false reading.

Good luck, I hope you get it figured out.

sirdarksol

Ah. Thank you, Lucy. I didn't realize that Stress Zyme was one of those products. I was thinking it was something to improve the slime coat.

Stress Zyme contains a terrestrial bacteria that can't survive for long in the aquarium, which is why it says to add it every week. Your aquarium basically becomes addicted to the stuff. It may also be the reason you're having these problems.

CHoffman

I would have to agree..It sounds like your doing everything else right. I would say the Stress Zyme is the culprit..It does take much longer with fish but you should be seeing some nitrites by now..That kinda stinks..sorry..This will be a long cycle for you..

Edit:...Hey I see on your aquarium info you have Easy Balance listed...Have you used that??...I bought some of this before I new what I was doing so I have a bottle here...It does alter Nitrates.ph and alkalinity..I dont' know if that would change anything. But I would think messing with the nitrates during cycling when your doing daily waterchanges isn't necessary..It may also be throwing things off..Not certain on that but if you don't have to use it I wouldn't.

dg512055

Wow! Thanks for all the advice. I will cease the Stress Zyme altogether and keep changing water. I actually kind of enjoy it. I have not added any ammonia absorbing materials to the tank. I also did read the post about the Nitrate #2 bottle and I whacked it on the table several times and shook it for at least 3 minutes. One other thing I did was I got a used filter pad from a buddy and dropped it in the tank during the week I had the 5 neons only. The filter was wet (but rather cold) when he got here with it and I just dropped it in the tank and let the original filter run. I add the recommended dose of AquaSafe to my bucket and then add water from the bath tub faucet. I then stir the water with my hand for a few seconds and then pour it in the tank. I usually change 5 gallons at a time. I will just keep at it and learn the new meaning of patience. As long as the fish are doing fine I will do what it takes.

cg49me

You might try grabbing a bottle of Tetra SafeStart - I've been using it to get the cycle in my tanks going, and so far it seems to be doing the job. The 100mL size is plenty for a 20gal tank.

agabr123

yeah, especially since you have fish in there already i'd definitely recommend TSS. as far as i know it's the only product out there that you can just add once and the bacteria is self sustaining and the cycle will finish in one week. just follow the directions on the bottle good luck!

Fla_Larry

hey, how about a Top 10 longest cycle list

docjr03

I read an article somewhere that if your filter/gravel get real dirty, it fosters ammonia producing bacteria which can choke out the good AOB/NOB's... I went through the same thing you did as far as cycling with fish and doing daily water changes. About 2 1/2 weeks in, I took out the carbon in my filter media, rinsed it in tank water and fairly aggressively vacuumed the gravel all without appearing to interrupt my cycle. Hope this helps, good luck!

dg512055

I have wondered about gravel vacuuming. How much is too much during this time? I have ordered some SafeStart because I can not find it around here. I was also wondering what amount of ammonia is needed to get the good bacteria going? If there is too much, will it hurt the progress? If there is too little will the cycle never start? My water changes have been holding the ammonia at about 1.0 for several days. Still no nitrites or nitrates. What would be my next steps after getting the TSS in in a couple of days?

Shawnie

if you use the TSS, you are suppose to add the fish right with it and leave it for 7 days..then go from there...where you have been adding the ammonia, depending on the level of it, that might be enough without the fish ...but you cant starve the tss bacteria..so either you will have to conitnue to add the ammonia daily with tss, (although that is not recommended as it can alter the tss) or completely change out the water and make sure there is no ammonia in there so you can add fish with it like its suppose to be

dg512055

OK, still no signs of nitrite yet. Doing water changes to keep the ammonia down. I have ordered some Safe Start that should be here friday. I also broke down and ordered 2 oz of Fritz Turbo-Start. This is supposed to be good stuff. I must be shipped next day (ouch!) and kept cool. That should be no problem this time of year. Both of these products should arrive at the same time, so I am leaning towards the Fritz first. If anyone is interested, I will make updates after adding the Fritz.

cg49me

I've never heard of this Fritz stuff... You might want to do some research to make sure its got the right kind of bacteria - if the instructions say to add periodically for the life of your tank, don't use it!

dg512055

Tons of information here:

http://www.fritzpet.com/turbo-start-700/

cg49me

Cool - looks like the right stuff... If it makes any difference, I used SafeStart on my 29gal, and it cycled in 11 days!

cerianthus

This products makes sense since shipped overnight and has specific expiration time. This may be very close to live strain shipped overnight.

docjr03

AOB: ammonia oxidizing bacteria
NOB: nitrite oxidizing bacteria
1) I have only been in the aquarium game for about 6 weeks, so take that into account when you read my advice, but...
2) My tank cycled with fish in less than 4 weeks with daily water changes. I vacuumed the gravel every couple of days- it was probably more than I needed, but I wanted a really clean tank for the fish's sake.
3) My research on AOB's and NOB's has lead me to conclude that substrate is not nearly as critical to the cycle as the filter.
4) My ammonia never got over 0.5ppm with a ph kept between 6.4 and 7.0, and my fish seemed to get through just fine. Also, the NOB's are hindered somewhat in the presence of high ammonia, so if you have fish in the tank, I would think less is better for those reasons.
5) As far as adding bacteria to the tank is concerned, most people will say that water changes will disturb the TSS's effectiveness, and I can't argue that since I have 0 experience with it. However, I read an independent study that used Cycle to cycle some tanks, and the authors concluded that although Cycle had the wrong bacteria, the right ones did develop. They concluded that the product probably had other helpful ingredients that the correct bacteria needed. That tells me that you could probably change water with it, but you would be risking a slow down of the process. If it were me, I would have a hard time not knowing how much ammonia was building up in the tank for that first week not being able to do water changes. But that's just me; I still feel a pang of guilt every now and then over doing a fish cycle...

Hope this helps and Good Luck!

dg512055

My Fritz Turbo has arrived. It came in overnite on UPS, nice and cold. The packaging was first rate. I have done a 50% change tonight with plenty of AquaSafe in the new water. Ammonia was 1.0 before the change. I plan to add 1/2 oz of the Fritz in the morning, and wait a few days to add another 1/2 oz. (The dosing rate is 1 oz per 40 gallons). There should be plenty of ammonia for them to munch if they are still alive. I still show no nitrites though. Don't know why, but we will see if the Fritz is up to the job in a few days. I got in some TSS also as a backup plan just in case. The fish seem to be doing fine so far, and they will eat all I give them. I still would like to get a cycle kicked off soon for my sake and theirs.

cg49me

Good luck!

dg512055

I have been 4 weeks without nitrites and ever increasing ammonia that I have kept under control with water changes. 24 hours ago I added 1/2 oz of Fritz Turbo Start 700 to the 23 gallon tank. This morning the ammonia has not risen any (.25 - .5) and I am getting a hint of nitrite. I also added a small teaspoon of baking soda to get the alkalinity above 100 (it had been about 70). Currently in the tank are 5 each: neon tetra, red eye tetra, and serpae tetra. They have all been in the tank for almost 5 weeks.

cerianthus

From my experiences, cycling with fish took about 6 weeks on average, seen it faster and slower depending on tanks.

I did read upon Turbo Start and seemd logical being shipped overnight. I have used Bacteria shipped over night from Lab similar to Turbo, but it still took time for them to settle before seeing drop (The reason why I dont do it anymore. I just use water, some gravel, and filter from well established tank w/ much better results w/o spending extra buck). You are almost there. Watch out for nitrite spiking since added Turbo. Small and more frequent water changes will take care of nitrite spike w/o disturbing what has established and what is trying to establish.
Hope all goes well.

shih-tzu mom

Hi: i have a couple of question's for you-1-do you have live plant's and 2-have you added salt to your aquarium?? If you have that could be the reason for no nitrates-nitrites lol as salt will lower them and so will plants. Hope this helps you bella

dg512055

I have no plants and no salt. Alkalinity was in the 70 range until I added a little baking soda. I am dechlorinating with Aqua Safe. Up until I added the Turbo Start 700 and the baking soda, there has been no trace of nitirite or nitrates until today. Ammonia would always rise until the next daily water change for the past 4 weeks. Something is happening now. I will have to wait and see if the cycle will sustain itself. I have 3 more doses of the Fritz if I need it. All fish eat well and seem OK.

Thanks

dg512055

For 4 weeks I had ever increasing ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate (1.0, 0.0, 0.0). After adding 1/2 oz of Fritz zyme 700 Saturday morning, I now (Monday night) have 0 ammonia, 0.5 nitrite, 20 nitrate. It looks like this stuff works really well. I have done no water changes since last Friday night. I am keeping a watch on all parameters and so far no big changes in Ph or alkalinity. I am looking for the nitrites to start dropping soon. Keep your fingers crossed.