15 Gallon Tank Trouble cycling new tank

Hi,
Just found your forum and am super excited to get some legit advise as I feel I've been getting some unhelpful advise from the store I have been going to.
I started a 15 gallon Fluval Flex tank 11 days ago.
After 4 days I went to the Aqua Dome and spoke with a person there about my tank size and how long I'd had it running and had them test the water for me. I told the woman I wanted African Dwarf frogs, she said "perfect".
Over the past week all three have crossed the Rainbow Bridge, we've started referring to my tank as Murder Tank. The store I bought them from said "yeah they aren't good for starting tanks as they are sensitive" and suggested daily water changes to try to save the remaining frog buddies after the first one died.
I don't want to harm anymore creatures cycling this tank, any advise on how to complete the cycle without adding fish?
I checked the water levels this morning and got the following results:
Ammonia- 0.25
Nitrite- 0.25
Nitrate- 0
PH- between 6.8 and 7.0
Any advise would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

 

Hi,
Just found your forum and am super excited to get some legit advise as I feel I've been getting some unhelpful advise from the store I have been going to.
I started a 15 gallon Fluval Flex tank 11 days ago.
After 4 days I went to the Aqua Dome and spoke with a person there about my tank size and how long I'd had it running and had them test the water for me. I told the woman I wanted African Dwarf frogs, she said "perfect".
Over the past week all three have crossed the Rainbow Bridge, we've started referring to my tank as Murder Tank. The store I bought them from said "yeah they aren't good for starting tanks as they are sensitive" and suggested daily water changes to try to save the remaining frog buddies after the first one died.
I don't want to harm anymore creatures cycling this tank, any advise on how to complete the cycle without adding fish?
I checked the water levels this morning and got the following results:
Ammonia- 0.25
Nitrite- 0.25
Nitrate- 0
PH- between 6.8 and 7.0
Any advise would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Honestly
..honestly..it may sound mean but get 4 gold fish,do a big water change and put the gold fish in they will live through the cycle and seed your filter media with a decent bio so when you add in your main fish you wont overload the system and then you take the gold fish out...return them to the store,I have cycled all 3 of my tanks this way and they are extremely stable for my main fish to walk right into.

 

If your going to use fish to cycle your tank then I wouldn't put 4 goldfish in a 11 gallon even if they are small. Do 1 or 2 depending on size or a group of 6 zebra danios instead.

Using fish to cycle a tank is OK but check the water daily and do water changes when ammonia and nitrites are above 1 ppm.

Goldfish and danios are Hardy but they are still living things and chucking them in and leaving the tank alone to cycle is pretty harsh on them!

 

Here is a thread for Fish less cycling. The cycle takes roughly a month plus or minus to get established. If you dont want to sacrifice any more fish this should help you out.
Four Methods of Fish Less Cycling | Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle Forum | 48446

 

If your going to use fish to cycle your tank then I wouldn't put 4 goldfish in a 11 gallon even if they are small. Do 1 or 2 depending on size or a group of 6 zebra danios instead.

Using fish to cycle a tank is OK but check the water daily and do water changes when ammonia and nitrites are above 1 ppm.

Goldfish and danios are Hardy but they are still living things and chucking them in and leaving the tank alone to cycle is pretty harsh on them!

Hey I'm nice, I double down the prime and use 2 bottles of tetra safe start hahaha....maybe I shoulda told them that as well...:/
I mean honestly you could just let the a.d.fs decompose in the tank and that would also help...morbid but true

 

did you buy food for the frogs? put some food in tank and let it turn into ammonia. or a piece of shrimp or fish from your lunch/dinner and let it decompose. or buy a small bottle of pure ammonia.

 

Honestly
..honestly..it may sound mean but get 4 gold fish,do a big water change and put the gold fish in they will live through the cycle and seed your filter media with a decent bio so when you add in your main fish you wont overload the system and then you take the gold fish out...return them to the store,I have cycled all 3 of my tanks this way and they are extremely stable for my main fish to walk right into.

You're not wrong. I unintentionally did it this way when I was unexpectedly was given a batch of goldfish to take care of for someone going through some personal stuff. Had no clue what I was doing but when I gave them back a couple months later I had cycled tanks the all the goldies toughed it through and decided to get some fish for myself.

 

You're not wrong. I unintentionally did it this way when I was unexpectedly was given a batch of goldfish to take care of for someone going through some personal stuff. Had no clue what I was doing but when I gave them back a couple months later I had cycled tanks the all the goldies toughed it through and decided to get some fish for myself.

I read and read on aquaponics and the natural nitrogen cycle in rivers...plants need fis poop they both need oxygen,one hand washes the other and go lol.

 

Here is a thread for Fish less cycling. The cycle takes roughly a month plus or minus to get established. If you dont want to sacrifice any more fish this should help you out.
Four Methods of Fish Less Cycling | Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle Forum | 48446

Thank you all for the advice and very helpful link.
The tank seems to be on the road to cycling properly, I tested today and got low Ammonia and Nitrate no Nitrite.

did you buy food for the frogs? put some food in tank and let it turn into ammonia. or a piece of shrimp or fish from your lunch/dinner and let it decompose. or buy a small bottle of pure ammonia.

I have blood worms purchased for the frogs, I think there's still some here and there in the tank I fed Freddie the frog the day he passed... I added tetra safe start yesterday and today got my first Nitrate reading above zero.
Would you suggest to add more blood worms?

 

Thank you all for the advice and very helpful link.
The tank seems to be on the road to cycling properly, I tested today and got low Ammonia and Nitrate no Nitrite.
I have blood worms purchased for the frogs, I think there's still some here and there in the tank I fed Freddie the frog the day he passed... I added tetra safe start yesterday and today got my first Nitrate reading above zero.
Would you suggest to add more blood worms?

Welcome to Fishlore

Tetra Safe Start is bottled bacteria. For it to help cycle a tank it has to have an ammonia source so seeing low ammonia in this tank isn't a good thing. Without it the bacteria in the bottle will just die off. I know the instructions don't tell you this important fact. I think they just assume there will be fish in the tank providing the very important ammonia source.

Since this is a fishless cycle you have to provide the ammonia. Some sources can be decomposing flake fish food (I wouldn't depend on blood worms), a piece of shrimp or bottled ammonia. I feel sure the nitrate reading you got came from the bottle.

 

Thank you for the advise.
I have an extra column for media, any suggestions what I should add?
The tank came with Biomax and charcoal, I added ammonia remover to help the frogs...it didn't work sadly.
The tank has a lot of algae growing..like a lot. Anything that would help combat that? I've been weary of adding a chemical to help and have just been scrubbing it off when I clean the tank but it pops back up quickly.

 

Thank you for the advise.
I have an extra column for media, any suggestions what I should add?
The tank came with Biomax and charcoal, I added ammonia remover to help the frogs...it didn't work sadly.
The tank has a lot of algae growing..like a lot. Anything that would help combat that? I've been weary of adding a chemical to help and have just been scrubbing it off when I clean the tank but it pops back up quickly.

A piece of sponge cut to fit will be a good addition. Personally I would remove the charcoal. It really isn't needed. I would put more permanent bio media in its place. I run a mixture of matrix, ceramic rings, lava rock and chunks of crushed coral in my filters. If your pH is stable the crushed coral isn't needed but any of the others will be great places for bacteria to grow.

How long are you leaving your light on? Do you have live plants in this tank? If not you may want to do a total blackout. The lack of light may help kill of the algae. If you've not done so lately you may want change out half the water. There may be too many nutrients in there and they are feeding the algae. the water change will dilute them.

Are you still fishless cycling? How is it going?

 

Thank you for the advise.
I have an extra column for media, any suggestions what I should add?
The tank came with Biomax and charcoal, I added ammonia remover to help the frogs...it didn't work sadly.
The tank has a lot of algae growing..like a lot. Anything that would help combat that? I've been weary of adding a chemical to help and have just been scrubbing it off when I clean the tank but it pops back up quickly.

Ditch the charcoal,it doesnt do much of anything,get some black lava rock instead or more biomass and some sponge,you need to rob minerals and metals from the water column to quell the algae, I use tomtaoes,philodendron and pothos to help with this,suspend the roots in the water,this should help.
I'd also consider a power head at the bottom of the tank or a wave maker to get the bottom part of the column disturbed , place it at the opposite side of your filter,point it towards the filter.

 

A piece of sponge cut to fit will be a good addition. Personally I would remove the charcoal. It really isn't needed. I would put more permanent bio media in its place. I run a mixture of matrix, ceramic rings, lava rock and chunks of crushed coral in my filters. If your pH is stable the crushed coral isn't needed but any of the others will be great places for bacteria to grow.

How long are you leaving your light on? Do you have live plants in this tank? If not you may want to do a total blackout. The lack of light may help kill of the algae. If you've not done so lately you may want change out half the water. There may be too many nutrients in there and they are feeding the algae. the water change will dilute them.

Are you still fishless cycling? How is it going?

Thanks, I'll try that.
Yes it is going good, except the algae flare up. I have several plants in the tank, all covered in the algae now, including some red river floater that aren't doing as well as my other tank. The red river floater in the other tank is taking over, lol. Would adding more of that to the algae infested tank help?
The wood in the tank also has some really grosss looking stuff growing on it, I scrubbed it off and let it dry out completely but it came back pretty quickly once back in the tank. Hopefully adding some more bio media and lava rock will help. Does it need to be black specifically?
The filter output has two wands I can redirect, maybe that would help? Aiming one toward the bottom and one toward the top?
Sorry so dumb, thanks for your help!

 

Black or red lava rock either one,In my opinion the black lava rock is just a little more porous and adding more live plants will kill off the algae blooms

 

The gross stuff on the wood is normal. It is just the good bacteria starting to eat any bacteria that was already on the wood. It will eventually go away. You want the good bacteria to adhere to the wood to help with cycling and future ammonia additions.

 

I have red lava rock. Black may be more porous. I don't know that for a fact though. I have some in my filters and also some scattered in the bottom of my tanks. I have found it helps hold plants down long enough for them to spread roots in my sand substrate.

 

Okay, I'll try that. To answer your earlier Q-the light is on a timer that goes on at 8am and off at 10pm.
-and correction I have Carbon not charcoal media that came with the tank, lol. I have more biomax I can add and I'll get some lava rock.
I just tested the levels and got the following:
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - .25 ppm
PH - 6.6
Nitrate - 5.0 ppm

It's been about a week since I did a water change, should I worry about that Nitrite level? Thank you too much for all the advise!

 

Years ago I thought charcoal/carbon was necessary mainly because it was enclosed in the cartridges I used. I have since learned that we really don't need it. In my humble opinion it just takes up space that is better used for other bio-media. It does have its uses. Such as removing medications after treatment is complete and for removing odor should a tank start smelling not so good.

A pH of 6.6 is kinda low. What is the pH straight out of your tap? If it is higher than this a water change should get it up closer to the level of your tap water. The reason I mentioned it is because the cycling process tends to slow down as the pH goes lower. I don't recommend chasing a specific pH number but your cycle will move forward better if the pH could be kept up to at least 7. If it is higher straight out of the tap and then drops once in the tank running crushed coral or crushed oyster shells in your filter will hold it up to the same level as your tap.

Since this is a fishless cycle water changes don't need to be done as often as it would if fish were in there but a water change at this point should get the pH up. My main concern about recommending a water change is it will also be removing ammonia. Have you told us what your ammonia source is? If it is decomposing fish food water changes will remove too much. If it is bottled ammonia you could just add more as needed so the water change wouldn't be an issue.

I know it sounds like I am talking around in circles but I am trying to work with your particular tank. If you were using bottled ammonia adding enough ammonia to get this tank cycled would be easier to make recommendations.

To answer your question. No, since there are no lives at stake when doing a fishless cycle the nitrites you are seeing are not a problem. Once the cycle is complete you will see 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and some nitrates. The cycle isn't complete until the nitrites drop to zero.