Tank not cycling?

kitten_penang

good luck. we all learn through trial and error.if you never try you'll never know =)

marshallsea

Thank you, Ive cut way back on feeding and am keeping the water changes flowing. Hopefully ammonia will drop to 0 in a few days.

jaysee

I'm surprised that the tank hasn't cycled yet.... I wonder what would happen if you just left it alone for a week or two. I'm not saying that that's the best thing to do, but I think it's something I would try if I were in a similar situation.

I would not just assume that it's a matter of over feeding. You don't have many fish in the tank so the extent of whatever over feeding is limited. What I mean by that is that you will feed a smaller amount of food over feeding a smaller number of fish that you will a larger number of fish, corresponding to a smaller overall bio load than a heavier stocked tank would have. Assuming a regular feeding schedule of the same magnatude of over feeding, it would be a constant supply so the bacteria colony would grow to meet the supply.

The filter ought to be able to handle the bioload of 3 over fed platys. What do you have for filtration again? I don't remember, have you seen nitrites?

marshallsea

I have 0 nitrites and nitrates for some time now. I havent tested on a regular basis as I got frustrated and just started doing water changes every day. But for the last two weeks they have been 0. Last week ammonia was .50ppm. This week ammonia has been .25ppm. My tap water has 0 ammonia. 2 hob's, 1 aquatech 10-15 with standard media, 1 topfin 20 with sponges.

jaysee

What are your nitrate readings? Do they increase over time?

marshallsea

In the last two weeks they have been 0 or between o and 5.0. Today they are 0.

jaysee

but you have been doing daily water changes. I would be curious what the readings are after several days without a water change.

marshallsea

I would like to see that also. Ill skip a day and test at 48 hours or maybe 72 hours. That might be the push it needs. Thank you.

Maxillius

I also suggest to use some prime to detoxify ammonia since ammonia in water will be toxic to the bacteria eating it , rendering it harmless will help the bacteria feed and reproduce rapidly
dont vaccume dont clean anything untill your cycle is done I would also add just one water change per week and using prime to detoxify any ammonia present. water changes are a good thing but can make your cycle almost never ending since you literaly remove the ammonia each time then the bio load never really has a time to adjust.

marshallsea

Thank you for the good info and I've been using prime. I agree and am going to back off the water changes, let nature take it's course and see what happens.