What am I doing wrong?

[weedkiller]

wont be long... patience young jedi

[cassperr]

Originally Posted by weedkiller wont be long... patience young jedi

Ya, thats what I keep telling myself. Just have always seen and heard of people buying a tank and tossing fish in the same day that this is a little different.

I was just reading through our PMs

[emc7]

Yep, people cycle with fish all the time. Sometimes its fine and sometimes all the fish die.
Be proud of yourself for doing it this way.

[weedkiller]

Originally Posted by emc7 Yep, people cycle with fish all the time. Sometimes its fine and sometimes all the fish die. Be proud of yourself for doing it this way.

exactly, it may be 'just a fish' to some.... if thats the attitude, why on earth are they considering having fish, usually they are the ones who are more likely to get bored of the water changes and let the fish swim in their own stew

[C. King]

I know, right? To me, fish are little lives who are totally dependant on me, so I must take that responsibility seriously. I enjoy trying to learn about each one's needs, and natural environs. If I lose one, I take it personally. When I was in the fish biz, customers would sometimes fuss when I wouldn't sell them a set up & fish the same day. I always had them come back the following week, water samples in hand. I know how exciting it is to set up, and how waiting for the cycle feels like eons, but the satisfaction of success is worth it!

[cassperr]

That's how I feel. When I actually read into it, I was amazed at how I did everything wrong

[kcrunch]

I dont think that people intend to hurt the fish but it just kinda sorta happens or they dont get something hardy to cycle the tank. I used fish but before they were too big After cycling I gave them away fortunately they didn't die. But I did lose a few fish starting out I think all of us have at some point in time and that is natural....

[cassperr]

So its been a little over a week and im not noticing any changes in my results as I test daily. This is todays result. I have done nothing to tank since the water change. The temperature is at 82 like always.


it seems like its just stuck. Any advice?

[wooferkitty]

if you don't want to do a fishless cycle I use feeder guppy's or leftover minnows from fishing, yes the chance of sickness in the tank goes up but given time and water changes it all works out great plus if feeders die no one cares

[weedkiller]

what ammonia are you using? cant understand why its stalled like that unless summin has been added that has stayedresident in the tank that is leaching summin that is killing the bacteria, whats in your tank?

[lohachata]

i have no idea what those little tubes are telling me...haven't used a test kit in decades..
but..........if it were me i would stop adding ammonia......do 4 or 5 40% water changes in a week ; and add a few fish..

[weedkiller]

Lets go from the beggining.....
You add dechlorinated water...
Start your filters and heater
Add ammonia and wait till it drops
When it drops check nitrite till it drops
Check nitrate and water change if nitrates high with dechlorinated water
Is there anything you have done different?

[cassperr]

I've not added ammonia since the last time I posted.

Yes that was the basic order I did stuff. Just havnt got past the stalled nitrite part.

[lohachata]

a couple of things to keep in mind....
it is rare that people do the tests properly...when you test.....before and after the equipment needs to be cleaned with deionized water....never allow hands or fingers to touch anything that may come in contact with the test sample or equipment...i.e.putting a finger over the top of the tube when shaking it...
testing water used to be part of one of my jobs...
there is a possibility that one or more of your test reagents are bad and giving you a false reading...
i would still just get some feeder fish and put them in...see how that affects the stalled cycle.

[wooferkitty]

use feeders if you want to know if your tank will kill fish.......