Looks like your on it! Make sure if your adding water directly to the tank, when you add prime dose for the entire volume of the tank not just the water added. Also if i were you id get a cheap hob filter to add to your filtration. cant hurt
Tank refuses to cycle
- Thread starter Beetlebug515
- Start date
I have been dosing for 150 gallons on my 75 gallon tank because I add water directly. And I think I have a solution for my filtration. The Penn Plax filter I have now holds more than enough media for my tank. Way more. The problem is it allows a LOT of bypass by design. I'm thinking of ditching the baskets entirely (the whole filter is nothing but stacked baskets) and cutting open cell foam pads to size, adding one piece of tube on the inlet side that runs to the bottom of the filter, and stacking foam pads in there along with all of my bio media and what not. So inlet, coarse foam, normal foam, normal foam, bio media, normal foam, outlet. The end result should eliminate any bypass, double my bio capacity, and operate like a giant eheim classic style filter. I found a store that sells the same foam that sponge filters are made of and it would cost about 15 bucks.
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I think most everyone on MFK would say get the liquid API test kit. The dechlorinator is no big deal--just put it in the tank water right before you refill. No need to put the fill water in a separate bucket, put the prime in the bucket, then put the bucket water in the tank--I never have. Stop dosing bacteria--it's probably a waste of money at this point.
As for the water changes, I'd normally say stop water changes, but you have fish in the tank. So, I guess you need to do water changes to keep nitrite levels down--assuming you have nitrite. that's about it.
And do you add dechlorinator to your water when you do water changes? At first I read that you double dose prime each water change, but then I read that you have never dechlorinated in the past? If so, that might be the problem--although your test strips read 0 chlorine in the water.
What kind of water are you using? Tap water from a city water system?
As for the water changes, I'd normally say stop water changes, but you have fish in the tank. So, I guess you need to do water changes to keep nitrite levels down--assuming you have nitrite. that's about it.
And do you add dechlorinator to your water when you do water changes? At first I read that you double dose prime each water change, but then I read that you have never dechlorinated in the past? If so, that might be the problem--although your test strips read 0 chlorine in the water.
What kind of water are you using? Tap water from a city water system?
I never dechlorinate before adding to the tank. Add city tap water directly to tank, dechlorinate with double dose, turn filter back on.
Skip feeding for a day or 2 and retest, if ammo going down to 0 then you don't have enough BB to keep Nitrate down fast enough, and watch your feeding habit or install another filter to keep up with bio load.
Yep. same test kit I have, and nitrites are high. Gotta be right because your strips said the same thing. Nitrate is high, too. I think between your 1 liter of matrix, the rock in the aquarium, and the glass and substrate, you should have plenty of place for BB to grow. Only thing I can see that you're doing that I've never done while cycling is water changes. I do fishless cycle, or use comets I don't care about when I cycle, so I don't care how high levels get while cycling. Maybe adding clear water so often has been halting the growth of bacteria that use nitrite? But then you'd have no nitrates--you have 80 ppm in the picture above, and that didn't come out of your tap. Bacteria must have made those nitrate levels rise if you haven't added any plant fertilizer to the tank, right?
What I would do is nothing, just wait it out--no water changes. But, that might kill some fish.
Last time I did a cycle, I only read nitrite for a day or two, so I don't know why you've been reading nitrite for so long. Can you get some media from a cycled tank to seed your tank with? Just put it in a porous laundry bag in the tank.
What I would do is nothing, just wait it out--no water changes. But, that might kill some fish.
Last time I did a cycle, I only read nitrite for a day or two, so I don't know why you've been reading nitrite for so long. Can you get some media from a cycled tank to seed your tank with? Just put it in a porous laundry bag in the tank.
Thanks for all the pointers guys. The nitrate looks darker in the pic than it actually is. I'm at about 20 ppm on that right now. After those tests were posted, I went to pull apart my canister filter to add a bit more matrix. It was then that I discovered that the inside seal on the pump housing had stopped....... sealing. It caused almost a complete bypass of all of my filter media. I decided to take decisive action. As I am new to the forum, please feel free to delete/ move this post if need be. I know some places are really anal about posting. That being said, prepare for an unbearably long post and possible thread derailment.
My canister was about two months old so I took it back to my LFS (conveniently located a mere 30 minutes away) and while they were unable to give me any type of store credit due to warranties and distribution whatever, they did give me a brand new one and let me keep all of the bits from the old one. They also gave me a deal on another one. So I bought it. I brought home 2 new Cascade 1500 filters and a bunch of free matrix (sort of an apology I guess?) The following took place this afternoon. On my back porch.
The filter. You can see the space allowed for water bypass on the sides. Not even taking the leak into account, its not an ideal setup.
The smaller, more protruding nubbin is the inlet to the filter.
I jammed some 3/4" ID tube on said nubbin and used a mini torch to soften the rubber and form it to the nubbin allowing for easy installation.
Threw two cut coarse sponges in the bottom to keep the matrix clean.
Stuck the hose in and filled 6 liters of media around it.
Tossed in two large bags of carbon, along with 100 ml of purigen and a bag of chemipure.
Cut a blue poly pad roughly to size.
Tossed the supplied plastic grating on the top to hold it all in.
Not the best picture, but I managed to drop the inlet nubbin perfectly to the hose. End result?
The second filter still has the baskets in it, but is filled with nothing but poly floss for mechanical filtering. Lots and lots of poly. All the media in the modded filter is actually "fluidized" for lack pf a better word. When I stop the water flow, it all settles down and rises back up a bit when I open the flow again. Each of these filters are rated at "350GPH". My Aro isn't too happy about the extra current, but I'm sure he will adapt. If this doesn't lower my nitrites in a few days I should probably just off myself and save everyone else the trouble. Hopefully this comes out in the right format. If not, I will edit accordingly.
The filter. You can see the space allowed for water bypass on the sides. Not even taking the leak into account, its not an ideal setup.
The smaller, more protruding nubbin is the inlet to the filter.
I jammed some 3/4" ID tube on said nubbin and used a mini torch to soften the rubber and form it to the nubbin allowing for easy installation.
Threw two cut coarse sponges in the bottom to keep the matrix clean.
Stuck the hose in and filled 6 liters of media around it.
Tossed in two large bags of carbon, along with 100 ml of purigen and a bag of chemipure.
Cut a blue poly pad roughly to size.
Tossed the supplied plastic grating on the top to hold it all in.
Not the best picture, but I managed to drop the inlet nubbin perfectly to the hose. End result?
The second filter still has the baskets in it, but is filled with nothing but poly floss for mechanical filtering. Lots and lots of poly. All the media in the modded filter is actually "fluidized" for lack pf a better word. When I stop the water flow, it all settles down and rises back up a bit when I open the flow again. Each of these filters are rated at "350GPH". My Aro isn't too happy about the extra current, but I'm sure he will adapt. If this doesn't lower my nitrites in a few days I should probably just off myself and save everyone else the trouble. Hopefully this comes out in the right format. If not, I will edit accordingly.
