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29 gallon tank still not cycling after 5 days

20K views 83 replies 9 participants last post by  gzarr 
#1 ·
Hey, I got a 29 gallon tank for Christmas and set it up the same day. I had heard about fishless cycling before, but I have never used it. I put fish food in to put in ammonia and turned up the heat to about 82 degrees F. I didn't leave the light on, but I turned it on today. Today I got back from a 4 day trip to my grandparents' house. I checked the nitrite and nitrate. Both were at 0. Then I checked the ammonia. It was also 0. There is decaying fish food at the bottom of my tank. When I put in some decorations I got for Christmas at my grandparents' house, all the decaying, fungus covered food got stirred up. So I scooped most of it out with my net and put in some new food. Should I just go to the store and buy some pure ammonia to put in my tank? I thought the bacteria in the tank would have converted some of the ammonia to nitrite by today, but there's not even any ammonia in my tank! What happened? I added some Stress-zyme (beneficial bacteria in a bottle) to my tank today, I hope that helps. My tank is cloudy, so shouldn't there be some ammonia or nitrite or nitrate?
 
#34 ·
I don't have any real plants, just artificial ones. And the algae is green. I have some Stress-Zyme (live bacteria) and have seeded my new tank from my 10 gallon. Will water that hasn't had water conditioner in it kill bacteria? Because I seeded my new tank with gravel before adding water, so it was still wet, but I think I might have killed off the bacteria on the gravel. There's still some in my 10 gallon tank that I could use for seeding. My ammonia is still really high, and no nitrites at all are showing up on the tests. But I do have some nitrate. I have algae in both of my tanks, but I'm treating the 10 gallon tank right now and the algae is dying off.
 
#35 ·
Green like...Hair? Like fuzz? Like lil green spots on glass/ plants? Like slime?
Always always always use water conditioner and yes chlorine on bacteria can kill them, if not to say will kill them.

What are you doing on the other 10g to "treat" against algae there?

Specially in new set ups I'd strongly recommend staying away from chem usage.
 
#36 ·
I agree with Angel on avoiding any chemical to deal with algae (or snails, or ... anything else). It is more important long-term to establish a balance so these things are not problematical, not masking the problem as the algae will likely come back when fish are added (they effect the biological equilibrium) and away you go again. Since you don't have live plants, you have no competition for the algae, but in this case you can turn off the tank light without worry to combat the algae. B.
 
#37 ·
In the 10 gallon I'm using Ammonia Destroyer, for tanks with live plants, because I thought I would have plants until my pleco ate the sprouts. I'm not doing anything but having a normal light schedule in my 29 gallon. I used water conditioner as soon as I had filled my tank up to the top on the first day. I used some more substrate from my 10 gallon to seed my new tank further. The algae is in little hair-like clumps and is very short. It's the same kind in both tanks. It's on my thin-leaved artificial plants, so how should I get it out? I think there's a little in my 10 gallon's filter too. I'm really low on water conditioner. I got a coupon with my new tank and I was going to get some today, but my LFS closed at 6:00 instead of 9:00 like it does on weekdays. I'm going to get some tomorrow so I can change water freely.
 
#38 ·
Sounds like thread or Fuzz algae to me, which is EXTREMELY common in new set ups. Reason for that it develops when there's low CO2 (in your case, no fish, no CO2) and lil or no nutrient levels and / or ammonia spikes. Which judging from all I read so far, this is all the case in your tanks.

So if this was my tank, this is how I'd battle it: Heavly plant the tanks. Get a comprehensive fertilizer and dose per directions (usually 1x week) and once tanks are cycled add appropriate fish stock.
These measurement in combo with letting your tanks cycle and establish will outgrow / eliminate that algae quick.

I donno what this Ammonia Destroyer really is, never heard of it, never used it. But I just really wanna urge you, specially in new set ups, using any chem's but a conditioner and plant fertilizer can be very dangerous and hinter your tank a lot to properly establish a balanced bio system. Any cases I followed so far, chems used caused more harm then good and the only way it ever actually became better was when people stoped tempering with the water.

Edit on the lights: Easiest to do is get 2 timers at your homestore, they're less then $5 there, hook up the tanks to 10-11hrs daily setting and done. Also excess lights can support algae growth.
 
#39 · (Edited)
I haven't had anyone PM me about my pleco that I'm trying to give away, and I'm afraid he'll eat my plants if I plant my new tank. I'm selling a few things on ebay so I can get money for driftwood (I finally found some at my LFS - yay!:-D) and get some java moss or something to plant on that.

Oh, by the way - I haven't used anything but water conditioner, Stress-Zyme, and ammonia in my new tank, so no chems in there (except ammonia)

And I have a question about seeding my tank further. I have blue gravel in my 10 gallon, but natural gravel in my 29 gallon. I would rather not mix the different colors, so I put some smooth river stones from my 10 gallon into my 29 gallon. But I think the bacteria got killed when I put water in before adding water conditoner. So could I put some gravel in my 10 gal.'s filter? It's an external hanging filter. Or should I use the filter from my 29 gallon in my 10 gallon? I thought I had heard about people doing that... But my filter on my 29 gallon is too big for the hole in my 10 gallon's cover. What should I do about that?
 
#40 ·
I seen it..Had you posted it BEFORE I got mine i'd have taken him in asap ...sorry....
But now won't eat your plants, I can gladly post you pic's tomorrow of the updated 45 &55g...I think the jungle coming out of my 45g by now speaks for itself on the pleco matter lol

Heck just be careful with the java moss...look what it did to me :lol: it was as wide & tall as 10g and about 12" deep....so what about 1 sq ft maybe more...it was a giganto ball I can tell ya that

Thumbs up on the chems matter (i misunderstood then sorry for that).

Actual beneficial bacteria is in your gravel yes, but the most colony's of BB you will find in your filter. So if you can take the filter pad out of your established tank and just 'wash it' into the new tank (then put the pad back where it came from the old filter) that'd be perfect right there, then you really don't need no more nothing else to cycle or seed the tank.
I seeded all my new set ups this way, all I sued was water conditioner and 'filter muck as I 'professionally' call it:lol: checked my water parameters for few days and stocked fish, never had a single one dead on my this way.
 

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#41 · (Edited)
Well it could take a while for me, my ammonia is still reading around 7.0-8.0 ppm, with no nitrite.

And I just made my first harvest of my whiteworm culture, and my fish love them. They don't seem to know how to eat them, but the gulped some of them down right when I put them in there. It took a while, but now I have another source of food for my fish.
 
#43 ·
I wonder if it would help to do like a 50% WC to get rid of some of that ammonia...might take a long time for the bb to build up enough to eat all that ammo then it will really take a long time to cycle.

Mine is cycling fine now, with a nitrite reading t hat's growing (no traceable nitrate but I bet I get a reading tomorrow). Still adding fish food. I'm just enjoying taking care of the plants in there. I figure if I can keep them alive for a few weeks then I deserve some fish :)
 
#42 · (Edited)
Wow, Angel079. Your tank really got invaded with java moss!:lol: I'll have to be careful with how much I put in.

Oh wait, I said "ammonia destroyer" earlier. I mean Algae Destroyer.
 
#44 ·
Oh wait, I said "ammonia destroyer" earlier. I mean Algae Destroyer.
I really wouldn't suggest using that at all in a new tank set up. The problem with this stuff is, its masking your initial problem that's causing you algae. So time & again unless the initial problem is battled, its gonna come back and you'll use this stuff over & over and that's not good, specially not if you plan on having pretty live plants. Stop the cause, stop the algae. ;-)
 
#45 ·
No, I was using Algae Destroyer in my other 10 gallon setup. In my new 29 gallon, I've only used water conditioner, Stress-Zyme, and clear ammonia.
 
#46 ·
Ok, I just did a huge w/c, and the ammonia reading is now 4 ppm. Should cycle normally now!:-D
 
#47 ·
Let's hope for the best for you and your fish :)
 
#48 ·
How soon should I expect to see nitrites? I have a strip test kit for that, it's one of those Quick Dip 5-in-1 test strip kits, and it measures pH and hardness and (I'm guessing) alkalinity correctly, but I'm about to get a liquid nitrite test kit.
 
#49 ·
Uhm on the strips, it'll take ya a while, won't show up on the strip until its way sky rocketing...if you could get a liquid test you'll see it go up much sooner. Usually if all is set up right, few days.
 
#50 ·
I just put in my filter cartridge from my other tank, it's the same one I put in my tank a while earlier. I think I should take it out, my 10 gallon's beginning to suffer an algae invasion, and there's some in the filter... Would taking the filter cartridge and putting it in my 29 gallon transfer the algae problem between the tanks? There is a little algae growing on the cartridge.
 
#51 ·
The algae will thrive only if there are conditions to support it. If you keep your 29 healthy then no. I transferred som java ferns from my friend's tank and it had all kinds of black beard algae, and it never spread. It just sort of went away. Because my tank is (knock on wood) healthy. I think algae is a symptom, not the problem (Angel079, would you agree with this?)
 
#52 ·
What does your algae look like? Green spots, green slime? Black fuzz? Green thin hair?

Algae in new set ups is EXTREMELY common simply because of the system being out of balance at this point, add to this the rise & fall of ammonia's and NO's et volia a wonderful mixture for algae. So try describe what it looks like and i'll help you the best I can.
Just please do NOT mask this problem with chemicals now, that would be no good at all in a new set up.
 
#53 ·
It's thin green hair-like algae. But it's longer than the previous algae I described, and isn't in little clumps.
 
#54 ·
Oh ok, so its the same algae then before, no add new developing on top of that...I already suggested what to do about that few pages back, so just ride it out :)
 
#55 ·
There's an API total kit at my LFS, but there's also an API nitrite test kit at the same LFS. The total kit costs $20, and the nitrite kit costs $10. Should I just buy the nitrite kit and wait until it tests 0 to add fish, or should I buy the whole kit so I can also test pH, hardness, and alkalinity? The total kit comes with another ammonia test kit, so I would have about 200 ammonia tests, but I've never needed to test for ammonia once my 10 gallon tank was cycled.
 
#57 ·
Today, the reading is...

4 ammonia
0 nitrites :-(
0 nitrates

:-:)evil: My tank STILL isn't cycling!!! How is this possible?! I seeded my tank from my existing one, using gravel and filter material, I added commercial bacteria, I gave the bacteria plenty of ammonia to digest, and STILL nothing is happening! It's been about 3-4 days since I brought the ammonia down to 4.0, so they should have done something with it! I gave the tank an amount of ammonia from day 1! I don't know how much ammonia the fish food gave the tank, but there should be some nitrites! After 13 days, my tank has not cycled AT ALL. I think something's wrong! :-(
 
#58 ·
Patience! Sometimes the cycle can take upwards of two or even three months. If indeed the ammonia levels were too high for even ammonia-eating bacteria to survive and this new, lower ammonia level has only been around for 3-4 days, you can consider yourself only 3-4 days into the cycle. Zero nitrites at 3-4 days in is pretty commonplace.
 
#59 ·
Okay. :|:) That calms me down a little. At least I've got a little more experience in cycling tanks now. Always have a liquid test kit.:)
 
#60 ·
There are refrigerated bacteria that work better than some of the non-refrigerated stuff (this is true for the brand i used anyway) that I've used to jump start cycling. I wonder if there's something about the type of ammonia or the strength or something. When I seeded from my 30 gallon to my 10 gallon I stuck a little jar of gravel from my old tank righ tunder the intake tube in my ten gallon filter. It worked after one or two days. I couldn't believe it.
 
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