[HELP] Tank NOT cycling

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Marineland c530 is rated for tanks up to 150 gallons from what i have read and it would work if you only had fish . But with red eared sliders in the tank you are way under-filtered id recommend you buy another one and double your filtration not to mention the extra bio filtration will put your levels in check you can buy all the chemicals you want but the ammonia produced by a turtle is too strong and you will recycle your tank with chemicals forever trying to keep the levels down . More biofiltration is the best way to go and im sure much cheaper in the long run.
 
fish junkie;4335982; said:
Marineland c530 is rated for tanks up to 150 gallons from what i have read and it would work if you only had fish . But with red eared sliders in the tank you are way under-filtered id recommend you buy another one and double your filtration not to mention the extra bio filtration will put your levels in check you can buy all the chemicals you want but the ammonia produced by a turtle is too strong and you will recycle your tank with chemicals forever trying to keep the levels down . More biofiltration is the best way to go and im sure much cheaper in the long run.
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Another c-530?~!!

but the water is so clear i don't have THAT many fish :WHOA:
I'm sure I don't have to buy another already


well my ammonia isn't that uncontrllable
the reason it was 4 before was because I didn't do water changes for 3 weeks plus it wasn't cycled yet and i Just added fish, but i think after it's established ammonia won't be a problem plus the filter is fine, i have an EMPTY tray which I can buy more bio media- problem solved.
 
UPDATE GUYS HUGE UPDATE

I had tested the water 2 days ago, i changed the water yesterday
and today look what I see

Ammonia: 1.5 PPM

pH: 7.0 ppm

Nitrite .5 ppm YESSSS FINALLY i need no ammonia tho, so superbac won't be waste

nitrate: 2.0 ppm


WOOT finally i'm seeing something

can someone pleease tell me what to do now i see nitrite, shoudl i do water change or what?
 
naten;4336766; said:
I'm sure there are some chemicals out there that you could put in now
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now? superbac in coming next week hmm..

but i have nitrites in tank now a bit of nitrate, what should I do?
Isn't nitrite harmful too, should I do water changes
 
No, you don't need any chemicals to starve or interfere with your cycle. That would be very counterproductive at this point.

Don't worry too much about the nitrIte, really. If you keep the ammonia in check with water changes, the rest of the parameters tend to balance out fairly well. Once your stability arrives and you add it, your cycle should be complete rather quickly. A little high nitrIte for a day or two isn't really much compared to ammonia. Unless the nitrIte goes into the dark purple range, let it ride and stay focused on the ammonia.
 
knifegill;4338111; said:
No, you don't need any chemicals to starve or interfere with your cycle. That would be very counterproductive at this point.

Don't worry too much about the nitrIte, really. If you keep the ammonia in check with water changes, the rest of the parameters tend to balance out fairly well. Once your stability arrives and you add it, your cycle should be complete rather quickly. A little high nitrIte for a day or two isn't really much compared to ammonia. Unless the nitrIte goes into the dark purple range, let it ride and stay focused on the ammonia.
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hi knifegill, its not stability but its similar but its superbac, it has nitrosonomas thingy and nitrobacter they eat nitrite and turn it into nitrate also ammonia to nitrite yes it's coming in a few days..

Also I still have to keep the ammonia at 1 ppm right? but IF i do water changes will the nitrite be all gone and it can't convert to nitrate?

You said no chemicals to slow it starve it, but superbac is the same kind of bacteria that does that kinda thing in the canister so it'll just join in and make it faster?


right now ammonia is around 1 ppm and nitrite is .5-1.0 nitrate is coming i see a bit of orange

Edit:

How often should I feed the fish now? I don't want to starve my clown loach, he looks awfully thin, because tiger barbs were getting all the food before him even the sinking kind.. :( he's such an underdog
 
As Knifegill said concentrate on keeping the ammonia levels down with regular, possibly daily, water changes.
Your situation illustrates quite effectively the difficulties of balancing the needs of your fish with the tanks ability to cycle.
You have a little ways to go before this is done.
Be patient and keep up the water changes.
 
dawnmarie;4338388; said:
As Knifegill said concentrate on keeping the ammonia levels down with regular, possibly daily, water changes.
Your situation illustrates quite effectively the difficulties of balancing the needs of your fish with the tanks ability to cycle.
You have a little ways to go before this is done.
Be patient and keep up the water changes.
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but right now the ammonia level is dropping by itself, do I still have to do water changes?
My nitrite is 1.0 but nitrite is converting to nitrate now
 
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