Holy ammonia levels batman!!!!! (pic)

[jcardona1]

So I've been cycling my 100g tank for a while now and the ammonia wont drop. I set the tank up on 2/1/08, but I didnt get my FX5 until about 2 weeks later. My ammonia has been like this for a while now and wont change.

I know it takes patience, but shouldnt my ammonia levels dropped by now? I mean the tank has been running with the FX5 for 4 weeks now! BTW, I'm doing a cycle with fish, not fishless.

 

[frankthetank]

I'm kinda new to all this too...working on cycling my 2nd tank now which is a 75 gallon. I went the fishless cycling route. Anyways how long has the ammonia level been in that range? Do you have any nitrites measuring on your test?

 

[LiuHsi]

do u have a LFS that u can go to and get a used sponge filter from them? or some used bio media?

 

[jcardona1]

I'm kinda new to all this too...working on cycling my 2nd tank now which is a 75 gallon. I went the fishless cycling route. Anyways how long has the ammonia level been in that range? Do you have any nitrites measuring on your test?

I dont know exactly how long, but I would guess about almost 3 weeks. I checked my nitrites last night and they were reading somewhere in the 0.50ppm range...

 

[jcardona1]

do u have a LFS that u can go to and get a used sponge filter from them? or some used bio media?

I could borrow some bio balls from a friend, but there's no room in my FX5 for anymore stuff. Should I empty out a basket and fill it with bio balls from his filter?

 

[BushFishRox]

if you are doing a w/fish cycle you should really do a 50% W/C atleast every other day. That is what I did and my tank was cycled just short of 4 weeks...

 

[cassharper]

Go to the LFS and get your water tested, just to make sure your test kit isn't screwy. While you're there, pick up some prime. Won't solve the problem, but will lock up the problem until you can fix it.

You need to immediately do some large water changes (back to back if necessary) to get your ammonia to AT LEAST under 1 ppm. Do regular water changes, after that, to keep it under .5 ppm. Stop feeding until the cycle is finished, you'd be surprised how long fish can go without food.

Also, adding some salt to the mix can help prevent brown blood disease. Good luck.

just my .02

 

[cassharper]

wow, a ton of responses in the time that it took me to type mine

 

[BushFishRox]

oh and get a water conditioner like ammo lock or prime to detoxify the ammonia...

 

[LiuHsi]

I could borrow some bio balls from a friend, but there's no room in my FX5 for anymore stuff. Should I empty out a basket and fill it with bio balls from his filter?

Just leave the bioballs in the tank, bag them if u want

or get some used ceramic rings and dump them in the tank