What am i doing wrong ?

[Zander_The_RBP]

Evening all

as some of you may know ive been cycling my 150 gallon piranha tank for a while now with some convicts i had in my 29 gallon tank and in the nearly month and a half ive been cycling it the ammonia HAS NOT DISSAPEARED from what ive read it normally takes only a few weeks for this to happen it has remained relatively stable at 1 PPM for most of it with occasional fluctuations (like today its at 2 ppm) my nitrite was at 0.5 ppm early in the cycle but now is at 0. i have been feeding the fish daily


parameters are as follows

pH 6 or lower

ammonia 2 PPM

NITRITE 0 ppm

NITRATE 0 ppm

currently 4 convicts in there who are happy and healthy dispite the ammonia level (which makes sense as it isnt toxic anyway becuase the pH is acidic)

i am using the API master test kit

i am using a wet/dry filter with pot scrubbers

my 2 geusses are 1 for what ever reason the pot scrubbers i have, have chemicals in them that stops the bacteria from growing or that my pH is so low the bacteria cant establish themselves

what do you guys think it is keeping my tank from cycling ?

 

[Zander_The_RBP]

BUMP
any one have any ideas whats keeping my ammonia from going down ?

 

[nubz]

your bioload is proly adjusting?

 

[Zander_The_RBP]

sorry forgot to mention the piranhas ARNT in it yet its still cycling (the convicts are the bioload) but for whatever reason the ammonia is not going down

 

[Toby_H]

Bacteria will grow on any/all surfaces in the tank, not just the stuff we choose to refer to as "bio media"... so unless your scrubbies have a chemical in them that is leaching and affecting the entire system, that's not the case...

Although something in the water preventing bacteria from accumulating should be considered...

Did you 'seed' the 150 gal with anything from the 29 gal? If so give details... if not why not?

My Ph rides right around 6.0 and I haven't had trouble keeping my ammonia down, or cycling new tanks with seeded material from an old tank. But I have had ample seeded material to start every new tank I've started for many years.

 

[Zander_The_RBP]

i attempted to seed the filter with bactera by taking some gravel form the 29 gallon and sprinkle it in the first chamber of my sump (where the heaters and pre filter are instead of the wet/dry chamber as i didnt want the gravel to block the holes in the drip tray) i couldnt use any media from my 29 gallon becuase i use a hang on the back filter with a bio wheel (bought it years ago before i knew about canister filters and the like, actualy my parents bought it with the tank and if i remeber right i was 6)


i currently have just a pleco in the 29 im going to be moving him to the bigger tank soon but i wanted to wait for the ammonia to go down first but do you think it would be safe to move him and the filter on to the 150 gallon tank ? it may help seed the tank with bacteria. the ammonia hasent affected the convicts becuase of the acidity of the water (no visible ammonia burns, not lethargic ) so im not too worried about him being affected by it either. what do you think ?


OH forgot to mention i have some sort of buildup on the sides (glass silicon etc) of the sump its hard to discribe its not quite brown coloured it looks alot like plaque on your teeth (closest thing i can thing of) is this bacterial growth ?

 

[robkob]

Are you overdoing it with water changes? You don't mention how often, but if you are doing massive changes every week you'll slow the process down. Try adding some some filter goo from an established tank.

 

[Zander_The_RBP]

i havent done any water changes i always was told dont do water changes while cycling it slows it down



gee im not a n00b lol

 

[Toby_H]

Are you overdoing it with water changes? You don't mention how often, but if you are doing massive changes every week you'll slow the process down. Try adding some some filter goo from an established tank.

I hear this all the time... and I disagree with it...

Fish are constantly producing ammonia... so if there is any trace of ammonia detectable in the water, that means the fish produce it faster than your current bacterial colony can consume it...

Therefore if you do a water change and knock it back down to zero... An hour later the fish will have produced more than the bacteria can consume in that hour...


I understand that ammonia turns into ammonium in acidic conditions. I also understand ammonium us less toxic than ammonia... but less toxic should not necessarily be read as "safe"...

Also, if you have something in the water preventing the bacteria from properly producing, water changes will dilute/remove it...

I suggest doing water changes when cycling a tank with fish…

 

[Zander_The_RBP]

according to a chart shown to me in another thread by lupin ammonium is non toxic but even in acid conditions it isnt all ammonium some is still present as NH3 but according to that chart (ill find in in a moment) with 2 ppm total ammonia(NH3/NH4) at 80 degrees and 6.5 ph there is only 0.004 PPM ammonia (nowhere near toxic)

this being said do you guys think it would be safe to move the pleco from my 29 gallon tank to my 150 so i can move my filter onto the bigger tank as well? i really dont want to leave him without a filter and i dont want to get rid of him either (my dads even named him jerry and he hates fish )

EDIT: here we go http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/AmmoniaTox.html