29 gallon tank still not cycling after 5 days

Freddy

Technically since Christmas, but really for about a week, since an ammonia overload might have killed off most of the bacteria I seeded the tank with.

HollyinWA

Same thing with me....since two days after Christmas. Thought it was cycled and added three more fish (which I knew I should not have done) and then got a big spike. At least now it is at 0 Ammonia and working on the Nitrite part. I cannot wait for it to be ready!

Glad things are going better for you too. :)

Freddy

Are you still adding ammonia to the tank, or are the fish still in there? You should add ammonia to keep the bacteria that break down ammonia initially alive, or if it takes too long for nitrites to go down, the first bacteria will starve. Glad to hear your tank's doing well too!

HollyinWA

Thanks for post. I started out cycling with fish but then the ammonia got too high. I took them out and have been feeding the tank with food. I could not easily find straight ammonia around here. I assume doing it with food now would be the same as doing a fishless cycle with food. I have been feeding the tank food twice a day.

Freddy

I feed my tank with food once every two days, to give the bacteria a chance to start growing on the food. I added some yesterday, and the ammonia level has actually gone down! The bacteria are growing fast!

HollyinWA

Isn't it a great feeling when it is going in the reverse? Mine is at 0 now, but I am still waiting for the darn Nitrites to go to 0. I hate this wait.

You have fish in there, right? I forget now.

Freddy

Nope. Just food. My tank could use some plants, it's filthy! Terrible cloudy water, and as of last night, the nitrites were off the charts. I expected this, there was still a ton of ammonia after an 80% w/c. Too bad I can't add any fish that would normally survive cycling, no fish could survive in my tank...

HollyinWA

Oh, I thought your ammonia was coming down. Mine has been at zero for two days now. The Nitrites are still too high though, so I still have to wait. My tank is really clear, but I know that it is still not ready.

What kind of filtration do you have. I have a BioWheel (one size up from what I would "have" to have for this size tank), and a sponge filter. It is only a 14 gallon.

I hope things start to go the other way for you. I bet you will notice a difference soon, especially since you do have a high Nitrite reading. I wonder why though you still have so much ammonia. What is the count on it?

Freddy

The ammonia's low, but it was high. Remember, I accidentally added 10 tsp of pure ammonia when I had the first, cheapo kit that measured 0!

And the new kit isn't API, like I thought it was. It's a Tetratest Laborett, and it doesn't have a nitrate test kit! All I wanted to measure was nitrite, but nitrate would be a plus! Now I paid $10 extra for stuff I don't need!

Freddy

Yay! :green yay: My tank finished cycling!