Something's not right here.....

[MeganL3985]

I'm 4 weeks into my cycle......the ammonia is not dropping at all....and i'm getting funny color results with the water tests. The ammonia is coming up at dark blue/green not green like the color charts. The Nitrites are a magenta color at first, then after the 5 minute waiting period its like a clear/gray color. Nitrates are at a .50 still...not moving. Somethings just not right. I read the directions like 50 times to make sure I was doing everything properly. And I dont think all 3 tests are bad.....so i'm just so confused and frustrated.

[2manyfish]

Is there any way you could take a water sample to your LFS and see what readings they get??

[MeganL3985]

Yeah I could, its the whole way across town though (20 minute drive). I might just do that tomorrow though.

[~Erik3.8.07~]

try testing your tap water or something to make sure your tests are reading properly

[MeganL3985]

Yeah I will go ahead and do that too.

[CAF]

Either there is something wrong with the test kit, or there is WAY too much ammonia in your tank. When you smell the water does it smell like a kitty litter box?

[MeganL3985]

I dunno, I haven't smelled it. But I really think theres probably a lot of ammonia...I was going to cut it down some, but with everyone telling me just to be patient, I didn't want to mess it up by dropping the amount down. If it is too much ammonia, how should I deal with it? Replace water until I get it down to 5ppm?

[CAF]

If I remember correctly it is like a 20 minute drive for you to get to your LFS... give them a call and ask if they carry Marc Weiss Co Products. If they do ask if they have any Bacter Boost in stock. If so when you get your water tested, go ahead and get some. It is an outstanding product and works really great at cycling tanks. I use it in my tanks when cycling and the product works pretty much as advertised. 2 days and done.

I personally would go ahead and do a 75% WC and retest after your test results come in. Your ammonia eating bacteria may be in overload.

[MeganL3985]

So basically changing out some water won't completely kill my cycle...since there is some bacteria in the filter right? So i'd just take some of the water out and make sure my ammonia doesn't get too high? I will check on the bacter boost though.

[CAF]

So basically changing out some water won't completely kill my cycle...since there is some bacteria in the filter right? So i'd just take some of the water out and make sure my ammonia doesn't get too high? I will check on the bacter boost though.
While there is bacteria in the water the majority is in the substrate and filter media. WCs don't effect the amount of bacteria significantly.

[MeganL3985]

Okay, I did 2 bucket changes (6 gal total), i'm gonna let it mix for about an hour and i'll check the water again after dinner. I don't want to take too much out, so i'm gonna monitor it until I get it back to 5ppm where its suppose to be. Then leave tonights daily ammonia dose out, until I check to see if its the same or dropped, tomorrow. Is it possible that my tank is cycled enough to handle a normal fish load, but there was (possibly) too much ammonia in there to be able to tell?

[CAF]

I don't know enough about the "fishless" cycle, but a month cycling seems WAY too high.... Do you have live plants in the tank?

[MeganL3985]

Nope...I dont have any decor in there. Just the filter, heater and bubbler for extra oxygen. I was indecisive about my decor so I figured i'd go ahead and start cycling without the decor.

[CAF]

I couldn't tell you why there is no Nitrate yet then..... it just seems wrong...

[MeganL3985]

I tested the water again and it was still a blue/green color....a lightly less "black" looking this time. lol I changed 3 buckets this time (9 gal)....I really need to invest in a python...haha I'll test it again in about 45 minutes and see where i'm at then. I tested my other tanks with the same kit and they were at 0....so i must just have wayyyyyy too much ammonia in there. I'm wondering...now I don't know if this would be possible or not. But when I first put the ammonia in my tank I never shook up the bottle or anything. It took me about 2/3 of a Tablespoon to get the tank to 5ppm....i'm wondering if the further down the bottle I got, the stronger the ammonia was? I dunno if ammonia needs to be shook or not? Who knows, i'm just glad i'm starting to figure out what this problem is.

[CAF]

You don't have water you have a slightly water based ammonia solution in there LOL....

[MeganL3985]

Hahaha I guess so :11: :hmm3grin2orange:

[MeganL3985]

Wow I just did another 3 gallons....lol Last test was on the blue/green but more green level this time. hahaha omg I feel like such a dolt......I just kept adding the ammonia each day like I was suppose to....I guess I should've tested more often. I definitely had a water based ammonia solution .....oiy.....

[gm72]

Sorry to hear of these delays, Megan. I guess maybe I get lucky with my fishless cycles and have zero problems. You'll get there though!

[MeganL3985]

Its down to 5ppm now. I'll recheck in the morning and see if its changed at all. How long does it usually take a cycled tank to drop from 5ppm to 0?

[MeganL3985]

*Bump* don't want to start another thread for one question, if this gets buried today. lol

[ruecole]

I think once you've got enough bacteria in your tank, the ammonia should drop in about 24 hours.

I cycled using shrimp pellets, not pure ammonia, but once the bacteria started eating the ammonia, it disappeared almost immediately. The nitrites, on the other hand, took about three or four days to drop to zero. (I'm guesstimating the readings, since the scale doesn't go lower than .25, but it went something like: .25, .10, .01, .01, 0)

Hope that helps!

Rue

[MeganL3985]

Yep it helped, thank you much :)
Atleast i'm not starting over completely. Last night before I went to bed it was between 5 and 6ppm. When I tested a couple hours ago, it was at 4ppm. So atleast I know theres some bacteria in there :)

[CAF]

I'm glad things look like they are starting to work out.

[zackish]

What are you using for a source of ammonia?

[richberstler]

As I mentioned in a previous post, trying to accelerate the process only brought me trouble. This seems the same in your case. I don't pretent to know much, but I have read a bunch on this site.

The key seems to be patience, something hard to find when you're ready to get the tank going. Definitely hard for me anyhow. I found with my fish cycle a little extra food helped, based on something I read where a fishless cycle was done with some food added to create the ammonia.

Another thing I read suggested not to do massive water changes because the tap water's chlorine content kills bacteria. To be safe I stopped trusting the chemicals to treat tap water and just left it go naturally.

Hope that helps, but if someone else suggests different by all means listen to them! lol