10 Gallon Tank Cant get my tank to re-cycle

Tank size: 10 gallon
Planted?: yes, heavily
Most recent parameters
Temp: 75°
Ammonia: 1, brought up to 2ppm
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0

Hi guys. Recently ive been trying to get my tank recycled after I abandoned it for a couple months, but i cant seem to get it going again. It was cycled at one point, but after i made the mistake of changing out my old filter with a new one and doing a 80% water change, i killed off most of my bacteria. Ive been going at trying to get it cycled again for about 2 months now with not much success.
My process has been; letting my tank drop to 0 ammonia, bringing it up to 1-2ppm, adding quick start, and seeing how long it takes to drop again.
You see, my most recent readings of nitrate and nitrite were 0, but there have been points where i got higher readings after dosing ammonia. It took a couple of days to get a reading though. Its like my cycle is buffering or ‘cycling’ really slowly.
Anyone have any other ideas on how to get this started up again?

 

How long is your ammonia taking to drop? I used a beneficial bacteria product (I don't remember which but not quick start) to cycle and never really saw many nitrites. Could be that happened to you too and the plants are taking all the nitrates?

 

How long is your ammonia taking to drop? I used a beneficial bacteria product (I don't remember which but not quick start) to cycle and never really saw many nitrites. Could be that happened to you too and the plants are taking all the nitrates?

It varies, sometimes it takes a week, sometimes it takes 2 weeks. But i always seeing some nitrites and nitrates after the drop so i know something it going through.

 

It varies, sometimes it takes a week, sometimes it takes 2 weeks. But i always seeing some nitrites and nitrates after the drop so i know something it going through.

Ah yeah that's definitely too long for the possibility I was thinking. Hmm. Odd. I don't have a ton of experience with weird cycles outside of my previous comment. Hope someone else has some tips for you!

 

Ah yeah that's definitely too long for the possibility I was thinking. Hmm. Odd. I don't have a ton of experience with weird cycles outside of my previous comment. Hope someone else has some tips for you!

Appreciate the help anyway

 

Hi all,
I would stop adding the quick start or any more bottled bacteria, because even you think it still had some bacteria. If you have nitrates you don’t need to add bottled bacteria of an kind.

Keep adding a little ammonia.

Doing 80% water changes will not effect the cycle in an established tank.
Changing 40% of the water three times in one day will not effect the cycle in an established . When doing multiple water changes on one day wait four hours between them for the sake of the fish.

You probably know this now? But I write for anyone reading this who will not or can not ask their own questions. No need to ever change the filter pads, cartridge or sponge media . Not for years.

 

If ammonia is turning to nitrite and nitrite is tuning to nitrate, then it's cycled. It might not be cycled to take a full stock of fish right away, but cycled to take a light stocking of fish at first and then just expand your stocking from that point slowly.

I get the whole fishless cycling thing, I just don't agree that it takes 2ppm ammonia in less than 24 hours to have a cycled aquarium and it can be cycled with far less being processed in that time,, and fish kept safely as long as you take stocking slowly and let the bacteria colony size up for the fish load along with it as you slowly stock.

As long as ammonia is turning to nitrite and nitrite is turning to nitrate, it's cycled. Just take it easy on stocking your tank and do it over time.
Not everyone can get to 2ppm in 24hr, or 3 or 4 or 5ppm for various reasons, but most folks don't even need it to be that capable before introducing fish.

 

When adding bottled bacteria it’s possible to have a strain of bacteria consuming ammonia and nitrites without it being the self replicating kind actually found in an established aquarium. This sewage bacteria can give a person the impression of a working nitrogen cycle without actually having the correct bacteria. This bottled bacteria may be suitable to keep fish alive while the true bacteria colonies grow? But it’s worthless when doing a fishless cycle.( imo)

This is why I suggest not adding any bottled bacteria and seeing what is really happening with the ammonia .
I agree with you SparkyJones , but would not suggest someone else add fish just yet.

 

So I started with a fishless cycle as well, but I did not have any plants in my tank as of yet. I actually bumped my ammonia up to 5 ppm and added the bottled bacteria Seed. I did this twice over the course of about a month. Once I was seeing my Ammonia drop within 24 hours, it would usually drop about 1 or 2 ppm in 24 hours. I let the bacteria bring the ammonia down to about .25 ppm. I then added 10 (I think) neon tetras. That was the only thing in my tank for about 2 or 3 months. I did this for two reasons, Tetras are notoriously hearty and I wanted to ensure that I was actually getting beneficial bacteria (as in all of it). I suspect that your Nitrites and Nitrates are being sucked up by the plants like there is no tomorrow. HOWEVER, I am not saying that you should add fish, I am simply telling you what I did. If you can, your best bet to ensure that ALL of the beneficial bacteria is added to your tank would be to get some media or gravel from an established tank. I have known LFS to sell these or even offer up small portions of used media to help hobbyists cycle a tank.

 

Hi all,
I would stop adding the quick start or any more bottled bacteria, because even you think it still had some bacteria. If you have nitrates you don’t need to add bottled bacteria of an kind.

Keep adding a little ammonia.

Doing 80% water changes will not effect the cycle in an established tank.
Changing 40% of the water three times in one day will not effect the cycle in an established . When doing multiple water changes on one day wait four hours between them for the sake of the fish.

You probably know this now? But I write for anyone reading this who will not or can not ask their own questions. No need to ever change the filter pads, cartridge or sponge media . Not for year

I actually changed out my entire filter, like switched from an overhang to a sponge filter. I also had to remove some things from the tank, the whole reason i did a big sweep of the tank is because i was having an overgrowth of brown algae and the only way to get rid of it was through removing infected items. It worked, but ruined my cycle i believe.

So I started with a fishless cycle as well, but I did not have any plants in my tank as of yet. I actually bumped my ammonia up to 5 ppm and added the bottled bacteria Seed. I did this twice over the course of about a month. Once I was seeing my Ammonia drop within 24 hours, it would usually drop about 1 or 2 ppm in 24 hours. I let the bacteria bring the ammonia down to about .25 ppm. I then added 10 (I think) neon tetras. That was the only thing in my tank for about 2 or 3 months. I did this for two reasons, Tetras are notoriously hearty and I wanted to ensure that I was actually getting beneficial bacteria (as in all of it). I suspect that your Nitrites and Nitrates are being sucked up by the plants like there is no tomorrow. HOWEVER, I am not saying that you should add fish, I am simply telling you what I did. If you can, your best bet to ensure that ALL of the beneficial bacteria is added to your tank would be to get some media or gravel from an established tank. I have known LFS to sell these or even offer up small portions of used media to help hobbyists cycle a tank.

Unfortunately, this is my only established tank. I guess my best bet now is to try and see if anyone can give/sell me some media.

i forgot to add that i had a huge boom in the algae the past few weeks that i did not have before. Like, having to clean the wall 1-2 times a week just so i can see inside the tank

When adding bottled bacteria it’s possible to have a strain of bacteria consuming ammonia and nitrites without it being the self replicating kind actually found in an established aquarium. This sewage bacteria can give a person the impression of a working nitrogen cycle without actually having the correct bacteria. This bottled bacteria may be suitable to keep fish alive while the true bacteria colonies grow? But it’s worthless when doing a fishless cycle.( imo)

This is why I suggest not adding any bottled bacteria and seeing what is really happening with the ammonia .
I agree with you SparkyJones , but would not suggest someone else add fish just yet.

Ah i see, i mentioned to inari that i also had a big boom in algae the last few weeks. Could this mean something? I know usually algae is caused by excess ammonia.