Tank refuses to cycle

[Beetlebug515]

My nitrate has been SLOWLY climbing. Hardly any more than what my tap is at. I just haven't seen nitrites drop to 0 yet. The strips do show 0 in my 20 gal which has been running for about 18 months. I'll pick up a liquid master test kit this weekend and see what it says. As far as bio filter goes, I'm using 1 liter of seachem matrix. Supposedly enough for a 200 gallon tank. I've never used it before, but even if it could only actually support half that I should still be fine. Does anyone have any experience with it? Or the Penn Plax filter for that matter?

 

[Beetlebug515]

I was at work last night so I wasn't able to do this but here are 3 tests I took this morning. Left is the problem tank, middle is my 20 gal fry tank, right is my tap. Also posted is the scale. This seems pretty consistent to me. Also my tank for no reason at all.

 

[ragin_cajun]

So, I read that as saying--in the problem tank strip all the way to the left in the photo.
Nitrate=10-20
Nitrite = 5
GH = 300 (Very hard)
Chlorine = 0
Alkalinity = ideal
pH = OK (glare).

I think the nitrite test is off. I don't think you should have any nitrite at all in your tap water. But.....I don't see the ammonia measurement anywhere on the scale card?

Are you using a dechlorinator when you add new water ? Prime, Pond Prime, Novaqua, something like that? You're doing almost daily water changes with, I assume, municipal water that contains chlorine/chloramine, you need to dechlorinate that before you put it in your tank.

Seachem Matrix is good stuff. I use 12 Liters in my big tank for months now and it's great. Lots of people here use it.

 

[Beetlebug515]

I double dose prime with every water change. Forgot about ammonia. Its a different test. ph is about 8-8.2 I would like to get that down at some point in time after I get this nitrite issue sorted. I'll be honest, I have never dechlorinated before I add to the tank. My gravel vac is attached to my water connection outside with 20 feet of hose in between. Using 2 ball valves I can siphon and then immediately refill. I turn off and isolate my canister filter with ball valves, siphon/vacuum, refill, add prime, wait ten minutes, restart filter. Could this be my problem? Again, I don't really have an issue with ammonia. It's like the cycle is bogged down at nitrites.

 

[Beetlebug515]

To be clear, this is the normally recommended test kit?

http://www.amazon.com/API-Freshwate...438185557&sr=8-1&keywords=api+liquid+test+kit

 

[Pomatomus]

It definitely takes longer to get your nitrate-producing bacteria than nitrite-producing. It looks like you're starting to get some of it, but holy hell if that test is correct then that is some insanely high nitrite. I'd go with a real kit instead of test strips though.

Oh and prime can cause false positives sometimes. Perhaps that is contributing to your issue. I'd also stop dosing bacteria, as you have starter populations already

 

[Beetlebug515]

Prime can cause false nitrite positives - stop dosing prime to get accurate results - chlorine kills off bacteria - tank gets high nitrites. Damned both ways it seems. I've been starting to think that my canister isn't forcing enough water through my bio media. There seems to be an excessive amount of bypass allowed in the filter. There is about a quarter inch of space between the baskets and the wall of the filter.

 

[Gill Blue]

I'll be honest, I have never dechlorinated before I add to the tank.

chlorinated water burns the gills of fish the same way chlorine gas will burn your lungs.
and in case that isn't enough, the chlorine is added to kill microbial life, which is what your biological filtration is.

 

[Beetlebug515]

So if I do a 20 gallon change, I should fill and individually treat water in a bucket repeatedly until my tank is full again? 10 minutes of exposure to diluted tap water is damaging my fish and killing my bio filter?

 

[Beetlebug515]

So to sort this all out, I should do the following:

1- Get API liquid master test kit
2- Dechlorinate BEFORE adding water to tank
3- Stop dosing bacteria
4- Cut back on feeding
5- Continue water changes

Anything else?