Cycling stalled please help!!

Mark602

Only bought it last week! Never touched filter but I haven't been waiting very long between adding water conditioner then adding water to tank maybe couple of mins! I always try not to disturb the substrate or I get loads of crap floating around.

faronem

Do you mean you've only be dechlorinating for the past week?
Is the entirety of the tank dechlorinated?

Mark602

Yeah the tank is dechlorinated it's a new bottle I only got a little bottle supplied with the tank which I used to fill the tank then top up as water evaporated, I only just started changing water this week hence the new bottle.

zof

Its alright to add you dechlorinator then add tap water a few minutes later, stop using the bacteria supplement for now. When you are doing top offs you are doing it with treated tap water correct? Invest in a gravel vacuum to help remove decaying organic matter in the gravel when you do water changes. Again ignore your LFS instructions since they have done so well for you so far and start doing daily 50% water changes until you get your ammonia down to about .25

Mark602

Yeah always used treated water for top off's, I have a gravel vacuum but was told not to use it until tank has finished cycling, I did a 50% water change yesterday and will do the same again today, when I get my new test kit I will post the results and hopefully with a bit of help get it sorted.
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Mark602

I have my new test kit and the results are ammonia 2.0 nitrites 0 nitrates 0 ph 7.6 temp 26 degrees, I've just done a 50% water change after testing, It's 13 weeks this weekend and still nothing happening. I don't know what's wrong!!

afremont

Exactly what brand dechlorinator are you using? How much are you adding? I can't understand how you wouldn't have nitrItes after this long. I let my daughters betta fish do a natural cycle (with weekly 50% water changes) just to see how long it would take and I was seeing nitrItes after about one week. The 10 gallon tank was cycled in approx. one month. It's like something is sterilizing your tank and killing all the bacteria. You already had real fish in there so there should have been plenty of "seed" bacteria to get things going. Is it possible that you forgot to dechlorinate at some point?

zof

Strange indeed, I'm afraid at this point unless someone else comes in and has a great idea a completely start over might be necessary if you don't see nitrites or nitrates in a week or two. As afremont said give us the exact name of dechlorinator you are using and check for any expiration dates. Only other thing I can think of is to look up your water districts website and post it here so we can look over the quality report to see if anything is disturbing the cycle that way.

Besides that if I was in your shoes I would look for a complete start over, meaning find a temporary hold for your fish while you completely tank everything out of the tank (gravel, decor, heater, filter, everything) and clean it really good with tap water then let it dry and do the same with the tank. Then start completely fresh, add water, heater and filter and dechlornator. Then add fish back in but not any decor or gravel until the cycle starts (you see nitrites), just to eliminate those two from the possibilities of the problem. Don't add anything else besides what was listed, such as no bacteria supplement or any more fish. And hopefully you can start seeing some results.

excal88

Are you still using the nutra fin dechlorinator? the most recommended one is prime by seachem. I personally use ultimate, but that's me. As zof mentioned, try looking up your water district's info. By some off chance, it is possible that they added more chlorine to the water due to some issues, and that the amount of dechlorinator might not be enough. That's a long shot, but I saw that happen to a few friends.

In terms of decorations, did you rinse off the plastic plants and gravel before adding them into the tank with hot water? Sometimes the plastic plants have some film or coating that leaks out into the tank if not properly washed and could be killing the bacteria. Same goes with the gravel.

Hope some of this helps, best of luck to you!

Jakiebabie

Hey Mark602. Sorry for your troubles.... please test your TAP water and tell us what the 3 readings are. Amm NI and NA. I have Ammonia of .25 straight out of the tap so for me to do water changes and expect any less would be silly. So know your tap water readings.
Are you shaking the chemical bottles for the correct time limits. This is critical. Are you waiting the time liimits for each test... i.e. 5 min if required or forgetting and waiting too long and coming back a half hour later? Please re-read the test steps to make sure you have not missed anything. It is easy to do.
Are you reading the tube colours against the card in DAY LIGHT... over by a window. Don't use lamp light or bright sunlight.
Are you matching the temperatures EXACTLY of the current tank water to the New De-chlorinated TAP water with every bucket load!!??
My understanding is that cycling can take up to 6-8 weeks... yes in 12 weeks you should have seen something by now but if you were not testing with the correct API kit at the time, you could have missed some readings that might have been there.

Is it possible for you to post us a picture of your tubes and colour cards?
I don't think you need to do a tear down... you must have some good bacteria in your tank. And you have been adding a bacteria suppliment... I've used them before, I don't any more as my tank is mature.
For dechlor I have switched to PRIME. Even tho it is a bit more expensive you use only a capfull for 50 gallons so it will go much farther than any other stuff. And you can start with a smaller bottle to cut costs.
Don't worry about vacuuming the bottom yet. We don't want to do too many things to a tank EVER at one time. Work slowly... you are not dealing with huge ammonia issues right now so you have the luxury of taking your time.
Could you post a picture of your tank for us?
Once settled you will not add more than 2-3 fish at any one time so the bacteria can catch up to the bio load. Unless they are really small and you are adding a school.
Hang in there... you will get thru this.