No Nitrites, And Ammonia Won't Go Down After A Month...?

I started cycling my tank in early October, and it has been a month since then. I waited two weeks after adding pure ace hardware ammonia, and when nothing changed, I impulsively bought tetra safestart and put that in. Nitrates went up, and ammonia went down slowly for a few days, and then it stopped. Waited another week or two to see and nothing. No nitrites, and ammonia and nitrates still at about 4ppm and 20ppm respectively. Did water changes at the advice of a friend, which I regret now. Added more chemicals, being impatient, (Dr. Tims one and only), and the same thing has happened again. About a week has passed and ammonia has barely gone down. Maybe from 1ppm to .75 though I don't believe it has changed, and nitrates are at 3ppm. Nitrites still 0. Does anyone have any advice?

My tank is a 29 gall, at 80 degrees, and 8.2 pH. From everything I've learned, chemicals or not, cycling shouldn't be stalling for over a month.

 

It’s take anywhere from 2 weeks to around 2 months, you aren’t stalled. The reason for no nitrites is because you added TSS, that usually has enough nitrite oxidizing bacteria in it to skip that part. Water changes will not have a negative affect, so I wouldn’t regret it. One thing I can see is that you have a Biowheel 150, which isn’t enough filtration. So a lack of surface area could contribute to length of cycle.

 

Why wouldn't a Biowheel 150 be okay? It was advertised up to 30 gallons, and from what I read about it that was true, but is it not? Should I upgrade to the 200?

 

You should be getting 8-10 X your gallon amount, so optimally you should get ~290 gallons per hour. So with 150 gallons per hour you’re getting about half of what you should be. I wish they would stop rating them, but it’s just a way to sell their product honestly. I bet in theory, you’d be able to keep a tank cycled with it, but it definitely would get clogged/not clean the water well. I’d recommend an Aquaclear filter anyway.

 

Okay, I'll trust you on this. Honestly, it makes sense as to why everything would be moving so slow- which size Aquaclear should I get? The 20 to 50 gallon I am assuming...though I obviously wasn't so sure before

 

On my 29 gallon I have an Aquaclear 70, which does 300 gallons per hour. Amazing filters. However, don’t take off the biowheel because you’ve built up a lot of bacteria, so you’d have to start over. If you can, run them side by side for a while, or try to get the media from the biowheel into the Aquaclear.

 

Alright! Thank you for the advice- I really hope this helps with my cycling issues. That, or just help with my impatience.

 

I started a fishless cycle with Ace Hardware ammonia on Sept. 30 and found myself in the exact same spot as you on Oct. 30 (minimal ammonia loss, no nitrite, some nitrate, then stall). I ended up wanting to change my substrate out, so I dumped all of the water and started over a couple of days ago. This time around I am only dosing ammonia up to 2ppm rather than the advertised 4ppm with advice from a few fishkeepers here on the forum. I also added Dr. Tim's Freshwater One and Only this time around. I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one experiencing this. I guess we'll see how it goes.

 

Some tanks just cycle at different speeds than others. My 37 gallon has been cycling for 8 weeks and I'm just at the nitrites stage. I remember when my tank stayed at 1ppm ammonia for weeks! But it'll pass just have patience and don't add too much chemicals, you'll see the light at the other side soon enough.

 

Some tanks just cycle at different speeds than others. My 37 gallon has been cycling for 8 weeks and I'm just at the nitrites stage. I remember when my tank stayed at 1ppm ammonia for weeks! But it'll pass just have patience and don't add too much chemicals, you'll see the light at the other side soon enough.

I've got a six and eight year old whom have been waiting for fish for over a month now; if I don't make something happen soon, I'm not going to be very popular around the house.

 

What this site needs is a sub forum for the fishles cycle. Patience is needed here!! So many new people are trying to cycle this way and either fail or think they’re failing. Used to be a lot of people on here who preferred the fishless cycle. I’ve used the fish in cycle myself. Rather look at fish than ammonia drops .
As to the 150 yes that’s not enough I have a 350 bio-wheel on my 29gal. I think it’s a great filter you just have to change out the media. I use from back to front a sponge some floss and than a bag of matrix. Been using this same 350 for close to 10 years now.

 

What this site needs is a sub forum for the fishles cycle. Patience is needed here!! So many new people are trying to cycle this way and either fail or think they’re failing. Used to be a lot of people on here who preferred the fishless cycle. I’ve used the fish in cycle myself. Rather look at fish than ammonia drops .
.

We have a sub board for cycling here with useful stickies for fishless & fish in cycling

Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle - Aquarium Fish Forum

 

Sorry! Right after I posted that I thought I bet they do have a sub-forum for this. . One day I plan to venture deeper into this site .