My tank will not cycle!

Hello, I am new to the hobby but I have done so much research on subject that I thought I knew what I was doing, apparently not. I bought a new 20 gallon tank and it has been running for about a month now and there's no signs of the cycle starting. I have a quartz sand substrate, a few Seiryu rocks, some spider driftwood, 3 java ferns, java moss and spangles on top. I upgraded the filter to the Fluvul 50 for extra media space and increased filtration. So far I have used 2 bottle of tetra safe start with no luck. All of my parameters have been constant too. Temperature is 78 degrees, pH holds steady at 8.0, and I have dosed with pure ammonia up to 2ppm. In the month it has been running, there hasn't been any sign of nitrites or nitrates. I am at a complete loss as to why it will not cycle. All water was treated prior to adding it to the tank. Does anyone have any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

 

Welcome to Fishlore!

It doesn't look like there are any fish in your tank?

If not, are you using something (maybe fish flakes?) as an ammonia source to start the cycling process?

 

I simply started by feeding my tank with fish and shrimp food everyday as if there were already fish or anything else in it. I also had more plants that helped with rotting leaves etc I guess. Also, don't change the filter media during cycle. Don't do water changes as there is no need for it without livestock. I was at 0/0/0.5 after a month.

 

No, I am doing a fishless cycle and dosing with ammonia, once I got the filter set up, I have not touched it. It's just strange that after using safe start on 2 separate occasions, I still have no signs of cycling. Is it possible I bought 2 bad bottles? I got them both from Walmart which doesn't have the most impressive aquarium section.

 

No, I am doing a fishless cycle and dosing with ammonia, once I got the filter set up, I have not touched it. It's just strange that after using safe start on 2 separate occasions, I still have no signs of cycling. Is it possible I bought 2 bad bottles? I got them both from Walmart which doesn't have the most impressive aquarium section.

What kind or brand of ammonia are you using?

 

Great value (walmart brand) clear ammonia, it doesn't say there is anything else added to it so I assumed it was pure

 

Great value (walmart brand) clear ammonia, it doesn't say there is anything else added to it so I assumed it was pure

I don’t know if this is true, but. . .
Great Value Ammonia? | Aquarium Water Forum | 182350

 

Oh no, so now what do I do?!?!

 

Oh no, so now what do I do?!?!

Did you check your bottle to see if it contains Surfactant?

 

It foamed like crazy when I shook it so I assumed it did

 

It foamed like crazy when I shook it so I assumed it did

Welcome to Fishlore

Sadly the soap in your ammonia is preventing the growth of bacteria.

I would start out with some water changes to get that ammonia out of there. I would remove as much water as I could, refill and do it again 2 or 3 more times. Scrub down the inside of the glass as you do this. You want to remove as much of the soap/ammonia as possible. It may be easier to just remove everything from the tank. Wash everything separately and rinse the tank really really well.

Once done if you are using cartridges in your filter replace it with a new one after you get the tank cleaned out. The filter media will have soaked up the added ingredients in the ammonia. If you are using a HOB filter clean the inside of it too. We want to make sure all of the soap/ammonia you added is out of there.

If you have one nearby check out Ace Hardware. They should have pure ammonia. Shake the bottle, It shouldn't foam. If it does don't use it. If you shake it and the bubbles almost immediately go away it is pure ammonia.

 

I have done 2-75% changes so far, I didnt even think about scrubbing the glass or the filter so thank you! Should I completely change out my sponges or will some really hot water clean them up? I also have ceramic rings, will they be ok or will I have to get new ones as well? After the water changes, I did remove everything from my filter and threw in a charcoal bag, I dont use charcoal so this is one I kept from a kit I bought. Do you think that will help at all with the rest of the surfactant in the water?

 

I have done 2-75% changes so far, I didnt even think about scrubbing the glass or the filter so thank you! Should I completely change out my sponges or will some really hot water clean them up? I also have ceramic rings, will they be ok or will I have to get new ones as well? After the water changes, I did remove everything from my filter and threw in a charcoal bag, I dont use charcoal so this is one I kept from a kit I bought. Do you think that will help at all with the rest of the surfactant in the water?

Rinsing the type of media you have should be sufficient. We just want to be sure to clean everything in the tank as well as we can. The charcoal isn't going to hurt and since it will pull medications from the water it may very well help in this case too. If possible you may want to remove and replace with fresh charcoal a couple of times. If you just have the one bag of charcoal it may be enough though.

 

After doing a ton of water changes and cleaning, the tank is spotless and ammonia is down to 0 ppm. I have ATM colony bacteria on the way as well as Dr tims pure ammonia. All water is treated and ready to go. Hopefully this does the trick and I will update when I know more. Thank you everyone for the help, it is awesome to be a part of this forum!

 

Hi guys! I have a 10 gallon aqueon led tank with 1 betta, and 1 nerite snail. I have had my betta since February. He was originally in a 3 gallon and since he was my 1st fish I was doing an in fish cycle. The 3 gallon never cycled and I moved him to the 10 gallon in april. I do weekly 20% water changes. I use prime and stability, and more recently flourish for my java fern that has been turning brown. My api master kit consistently reads 0 across the board. It has now been 7 months and still all 0 readings. My fish and snail have been totally fine this whole time. In the past 2 weeks my betta has turned very pale, and I removed the majority of the plastic decor and plants as I read they can be toxic. Any advice on what to do to get my tank to cycle???

 

To be totally honest I don't think you have a problem. The bio-load of your one fish and snail is so low seeing zero's across the board is what I would expect to see. Your java fern could be consuming the low amount of nitrates being produced. As long as you are seeing no ammonia or nitrites you don't have a problem.

I don't know where you read that about the plastic decor and plants. If you are using decor and plants made for an aquarium I can't see them being a problem. Maybe removing items from his home is stressing him out. Lots of fish can lose color when stressed.

 

To be totally honest I don't think you have a problem. The bio-load of your one fish and snail is so low seeing zero's across the board is what I would expect to see. Your java fern could be consuming the low amount of nitrates being produced. As long as you are seeing no ammonia or nitrites you don't have a problem.

I don't know where you read that about the plastic decor and plants. If you are using decor and plants made for an aquarium I can't see them being a problem. Maybe removing items from his home is stressing him out. Lots of fish can lose color when stressed.

Thanks for the reply!! I recently got this very large plastic plant and that was the only change, and the only thing I could attribute to him losing color. then I had a bunch of people tell me that the spongebob pineapple was extremely toxic, so I took that out. Since taking those out yesterday and dosing with stress guard, he looks SLIGHTLY better. I was told on another post that because my tank wasn't cycled, that could possibly be the cause of his stress and color loss. I'm not sure what else I could be doing to make the tank cycle though Should I maybe not vacuum the gravel during water changes? I read that sucks out a lot of good bacteria, but when I do it, it's full of snail and fish poop, so I figured it was neccessary ‍♀️‍♀️

 

You are not pulling out bacteria when you gravel vac. Since you have a snail in this tank I do recommend you vacuum out the snail poop. Please don't let anyone get you upset about not seeing nitrates. Not seeing them doesn't necessarily mean the tank is not cycled. I explained why you may not be seeing nitrates. Seeing them is a sign that a tank is cycled but not seeing them doesn't mean you have a problem. Please don't try to fix something that may not need fixing.

I don't know anything about the sponge bob decor. Have you have it all along? If so then i don't think it is a problem. Was the new plant rinsed well before putting it in the tank? Is it a plant sold specifically for aquariums?

Quite often we can cause more harm than good when trying to fix a problem that really isn't a problem. Changing things in the tank could have stressed him out. Keep doing your weekly water changes and don't worry about not seeing nitrates.

 

You are not pulling out bacteria when you gravel vac. Since you have a snail in this tank I do recommend you vacuum out the snail poop. Please don't let anyone get you upset about not seeing nitrates. Not seeing them doesn't necessarily mean the tank is not cycled. I explained why you may not be seeing nitrates. Seeing them is a sign that a tank is cycled but not seeing them doesn't mean you have a problem. Please don't try to fix something that may not need fixing.

I don't know anything about the sponge bob decor. Have you have it all along? If so then i don't think it is a problem. Was the new plant rinsed well before putting it in the tank? Is it a plant sold specifically for aquariums?

Quite often we can cause more harm than good when trying to fix a problem that really isn't a problem. Changing things in the tank could have stressed him out. Keep doing your weekly water changes and don't worry about not seeing nitrates.

I havent done anything different in a long time besides adding that large plastic plant, so hopefully that is the cause of him losing color. I ordered a ceramic little hide for him just in case the pineapple spongebob thing could be at fault also. Thanks for that info!! I keep hearing that my tank is not cycled due to no nitrates, but agree that I have a very small bioload in there with plants, so everything you said makes sense. I'm hoping his pretty colors come back though and that he is not dying here are some before and after pics.

 

His colors may not be as vivid as they once were but he still looks like a very healthy little boy. Bettas colors have been known to change as they age. What is happening may be perfectly normal for him.

 

I hope so! Although I dont think it is natural since it happened pretty suddenly. He is still eating, but he is slightly less active and hanging out in different places than he usually does. I do think I may possibly be overfeeding him a bit, so I'm going to make sure that doesnt continue. Thanks for all your helpful advice!