Tank not cycling?

[james20]

I have a 20 gallon. I tried to cycle it with fish food but nothing happened. I have had it with fish for 2 weeks it with fish and STILL nothing is happening. I tested it and everything is zero. Are they wrong? They are an API liquid test. The water has a stale scent to it.

[Cascade]

Just a couple of questions that came to mind... What kind of a filter are you running on the tank? Are you adding any additive besides de-chlor to the water?

[james20]

Just a couple of questions that came to mind... What kind of a filter are you running on the tank? Are you adding any additive besides de-chlor to the water?

Im using an Aqueon Quiet Flow 20. I have added a product Eco Cycle, but it's probably fake, so I don't use it anymore.

[Cascade]

Huh, interesting. At the very least, even if you did absolutely nothing and had a couple of fish in a bowl of water (not recommended, I'm just making a point), you should have ammonia start to build up. The fact that your ammonia is reading zero makes me think that the test kit might be bad. You might take a sample of your water to a LFS to get a second opinion on the parameters.

I'm sure the seasoned vets here will have a much better idea of what might be going wrong, I know I'm just scratching the surface here... but it is really odd that you would be reading zero across the board.

[james20]

I know! It's smell hasn't changed from the stale scent. It doesn't smell like ammonia, as I know that smell, nor does it smell like a cycled tank which is a mild, earthy odor as I know from experience.

[lowlight]

Might be a dumb question but is your filter working properly?

[james20]

Might be a dumb question but is your filter working properly?

Yes, it's just fine.

[rich311k]

Is the food dissolving, any rotting peices floating around? Add larger quantities, you will see ammonia it has to happen. Rotting food means ammonia.

[Mark Hewitt]

I have a 20 gallon. I tried to cycle it with fish food but nothing happened. I have had it with fish for 2 weeks it with fish and STILL nothing is happening. I tested it and everything is zero. Are they wrong? They are an API liquid test. The water has a stale scent to it.

What are you using to test it with?

[Lady Hobbs]

Could be that Eco-Cycle you used is skewing the test results. Make sure your heater is turned up to 80 and add an air stone if you have one. Bacteria loves oxygen and heat. If you have a family member or friend who has fish, grab some of their filter media and cram it behind your filter cartridge.

Your filter is not adequate for your tank size. The Aqueon Quiet Flow 20 is for tanks "up to" 20 gallon with 20 gallon being the very max it can filter. In other words, more adequate for probably a 5 or 10 gallon.

[james20]

Could the Eco Cycle really be causing this? I just am wondering what that stale smell is...

[Little Embers]

You stated that you now have had fish in the tank for 2 weeks! Are they the fish listed in your signature James? Ammonia should start to be detectable around the 3rd day after adding fish and you should definitely be getting readings.

My main concern is for the fish, are they acting OK (the Oto's may not fair well in the uncycled/cycling tank or in too high a temp.) and now you have fish in there, are you keeping up with partial water changes? What temperature is the tank kept at?

The smell possibly could be from the eco cycle, but if you have stopped using it and are doing p.water changes, the smell should dissipate. Are all the fish still accounted for....perhaps one has died, although that should definitely produce an ammonia reading.

[james20]

You stated that you now have had fish in the tank for 2 weeks! Are they the fish listed in your signature James? Ammonia should start to be detectable around the 3rd day after adding fish and you should definitely be getting readings.

My main concern is for the fish, are they acting OK (the Oto's may not fair well in the uncycled/cycling tank or in too high a temp.) and now you have fish in there, are you keeping up with partial water changes? What temperature is the tank kept at?

The smell possibly could be from the eco cycle, but if you have stopped using it and are doing p.water changes, the smell should dissipate. Are all the fish still accounted for....perhaps one has died, although that should definitely produce an ammonia reading.
All the fish are fine, and the sig is right.

[rrutter81]

I had a problem a long time back where i had stagnant water and the tank would never cycle. I believe that other free floating micro-organisms and substrate bacteria won over the nitrifying ones. At least thats how it seemed.

I dont know if your substrate was used or if you purchased it new but I did a complete deep cleaning of it and the filter with chlorox bleach. Once it was pristine clean I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed (mostly the gravel) to get rid of any traces of bleach. Wiped the tank inside as well.

After everything was bombed with chlorox (and rinsed in a paranoid way) I set the tank up with the water/conditioner and made sure the tank ran for an hour with a charcoal filter. Testing the water also showed that my ph was normal compared to the tap. (higher would mean trace bleach)

Start again and make sure you have a bubble wand or air stone. Keep temperatures around 85 (i tried 90 but it didnt work as well).
(sorry i thought you were cycling fishless) I dont know the kind of fish that are in there so I cant recommend higher than 80 although all my tropicals love 87.

I (Suggest microbe-lift special blend + microbe-lift nite out 2) as they have worked well in speeding up the cycle quite a bit. Just use it once and let it go.

Good luck!