Gotta question for all

[imma24]

Back then we filled the tank with conditioned water, ran it three days without filter media to make sure all Chlorine had dissipated, then run with filter media for the rest of the three week period. Water is obviously treated with a lot more chemicals now.

As for filtration, I'm running an Aqueon50 with the original filter media in ita Fluval U1 sat one end with a sponge, mainly to provide some circular current, and a 80 gallon rated Sponge Filter at the other end driven by a Whisper 10-30. Plenty of surface disruption and I should be adequately filtered although I have a 55/75 on order from the LFS.

I just did another 50% change this morning, letting the water circulate a bit before I test again.

If you condition your water, there is no need to let it sit for chlorine to dissipate - the conditioner takes care of that immediately - running a filter with filter media without adding any ammonia won't cause the cycle to start. How do you know that your original cloudiness was a bacterial bloom if you hadn't added any ammonia - unless your tap water has ammonia in it maybe?

[Dave Waits]

Just did another 50% water-change,waited about 1/2 hour for the water to mix and tested again. Same reading, did the test twice. I should have seen some kind of drop in Nitrites. At this point I'm wondering about the test kit. Maybe the Nitrite test solution was mixed wrong and is too strong.
Driving me insane!

Oh! Andrea, back then we really didn't trust water conditioners that much. The three day run was insurance. Old Habits die hard.

[ddavis1979]

I had a very similar experience in the same time frame, however, I was doing a Fish-In cycle.

So week 1 had zeros across the board.

Week two ammonia spiked at 2ppm.

Week 3 I have 0 ammonia, 5ppm nitrite, and 20 ppm nitrate.

Week 4 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 10ppm nitrate.

Here are the catches.

My tap water had chloramines which released additional ammonia into the tank. Whenever I did a water change, my ammonia was increasing....bad news huh. Make sure to test your tap.

Also during water changes, you can slow down your tanks ability to process the nitrites.

Its not very nice to the fish, but my recommendation is to leave your tank alone for the most part and let it run its cycle. Also, Seachem Prime will help to de-toxify the ammonia, and nitrites in your tank until bacteria has a chance to eat it.

Here is my formula for success. Every 3 days do a 25% water change with a double dose of Prime. 24 hours after your water change, add 1-2 ounces of your Stability or Start Smart (your good bacteria booster).

It took one month and 4-6 fish deaths, but 20 fish survived and my tank is cycled now.

I wish you the best of luck.

[Dave Waits]

Another thing that is puzzling me is that my fish show no signs of stress. No clamped fins, no quick gasping for breath, no rapid gill movement, not darting about or hanging at the top of the tank.

BTW, sent an E-Mail to API about the Nitrite solution. Until I hear back from them I'll keep up the every other day water-changes.