CAL.16V Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 setting up a 8ft x 2.5ft x 2.5ft .. its been running for nearly 2 weeks.. started feeding the tank after the 2nd/3rd day with some flakes.. didnt have a test kit till the other day to test... at about the 5th day i washed out some canister media from a 4ft in the 8ft tank water in a bucket and added the water staright into the sump onto the crushed coral media tested it the other day and both ammonia and nitrites are at 0 and so 2 big chunks of fish fillet and 24hrs later still no reading.... so basically i missed the first week or so of monitoring as i had no test kit... now nothings coming up which is starnge so does this mean that the small amount of bacteria i added from the canister filter media being washed out in the tank water is eating the food source and so i did not get a spike in ammonia or anything? seems a little to quick for me as it took about 3 weeks nearly to cycle the 4ft.. also added about 350ml of cycle the other day too before i added to fillets.. what i am also thinking is that the prime which i double dosed nearly is not showing any ammna on the Hagen test kit??? think it says it removes 2ppm which it should have gone higher then by now... with the bottle of prime, i hope i didnt stuff it by leaving the cap off for 2 days i think after forgeting to close it after a water change... ph is steady on 8.0 dont have a test kit for nitrate to see if in fact there is good bacteria and if its fine to add fish after doing a water change the flakes in the tank are starting to grow fungus, i guess from lack of water movement in the tank on the bottom.... does this mean anything like not enough good bacteria as it should have eaten the flakes by now or would the flakes still stay there after a few days??? was expecting them to dissolve if enoiugh good bacteria Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWs Fish Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 If you have 0 nitrates the tank has not cycled. You need to have a nirate reading and 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite for it to be cycled. I had a sismilar probelm, so I did the following: Went to a cleaning chemical factory and bought ammonia solution (25 percent concetrated). I put about 20 ml of it in my 4fter. This is toally clear - NOT cloudy ammonia from the supermarket. Make sure it doesn't bubble when u shake it up. That will kick start the cycling process. If you choose to do this make sure there are no fish or plants in the water and make sure you have eye and skin protection when handling the ammonia as it is a dangerous chemical. HTH mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettmck Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 why not just use SERA Nitravec.... simple easy and hassle free and tank ready in 7-10 days every time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWs Fish Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 It doesn't really cycle the tank... It just adds bacteria that helps to cycle the tank. If there is no ammonia to start with, it will do nothing at all... I realise that what I am saying might sound a bit weird, considering ammonia is so undesirable in the tank. There is more than 1 way to cycle a tank... I'm just offering an alternative approach. I'm not saying my way is the best way but: I tried adding nitrovec 4 weeks ago and it came up with nothing. I added the ammonia a week ago and its pretty much half cycled. I'm getting ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings. I'm just wating for all the ammonia and nitrite to be converted to nitrate and I can add my fish straight away and not worry about any spikes Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAL.16V Posted August 15, 2007 Author Share Posted August 15, 2007 thanks, i know the process... dont have a nitrate test kit unfortunately.. wierd that no ammonia is coming up so not sure if its teh prime hiding it or nt... couldnt find any ammonia in the supermarket but all teh other tanks i just kick started with fish flakes.. put in 2 big fish fillet pieces into this one.. need to buy a nitrate kit to see if theres enough good bacteria that its cycled allrady and has high nitrates , which i doubt but ammonmia should be showing up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWs Fish Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 From my understanding Prime does not remove ammonia, but simply converts it to a non toxic form. Therefore, if ammonia is present, it should still come up on the test kits even if prime has been added. And, yes a nitrate test kit can mean the difference between "New Tank Syndrome" and a successful cycle. HTH Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAL.16V Posted August 16, 2007 Author Share Posted August 16, 2007 still ammonia and nitrite on 0 .... the fish flakes and raw fish pieces in the tank have got fungus on them so assuming its from lack of water movement at the bottom?? my 4ft tank has fungus like this on a fake plant on one side of the tank from lack of movement so think its from this.. should i remove the food and put in new food? or is it ok to leave it there and rot?? am i getting a reading of 0 becasue i have not put enough ammonia source in as the tank holds about 1300L and teh sump has another 200L in it ??? might try the ammonia in a bottle but havent been able to find some yet... anyone else got any ideas or come across something liek this?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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