Cycle stalled what to do next?

[Leeoc91]

Hi all, I'm new to fish keeping and I bought a 28 Gallon (105L) saltwater tank.

I'm really finding it hard to complete a fishless cycle. I started off by 'ghost' feeding the tank every day with food but I think I put way too much in as it wasn't decomposing so I decided to stop that and did a full water change & tank clean.

Then I purchased household ammonia which I miscalculated and put in too much so I did an 80% water change which got the levels up to 5ppm which is what most people seemed to recommend online. It's been 2 months now and the ammonia level is the same with nitrate at 0.5ppm and nitrate 0ppm.

I bought API Quick Start and added that to the tank according to the instructions but that didn't have any effect on any of the levels.

I'm not sure what I should do next, any advice by more experienced members would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[shwareefer]

I assume you meant nitrite at .5ppm which means something is happening. Bacteria needs somewhere to populate, do you have some sort of filter running?

 

[brandon429]

dont worry you didnt stall, cycles cannot be stalled. what brand of bottle bac did you use

I know online it says they can stall but thats just so that we'll reinvest in more bac $$


the extra loading in the water may take longer to clear, but its not stalled. this is how to fix your issue: bring ammonia down to some reasonable levels on the tester via water changes. then watch it over a couple days to see if ammonia drops any more, on its own, then change out the wastewater and begin it will be cycled. we do not have to wait X number of days for the wastewater to clear on its own; todays bottle bac will be seated in place within about 4 days underwater even with an ammonia OD in place. we just remove that wastewater, and whats stuck to rocks will work

 

[Arabyps]

You may well have viewed cycling videos on YouTube. If you simply follow a proven process documented by these well respected reefers you are home free. Cycling has never been easier with bacteria in a bottle. Here is one such video in case you haven't seen it:

 

[SMSREEF]

Hi all, I'm new to fish keeping and I bought a 28 Gallon (105L) saltwater tank.

I'm really finding it hard to complete a fishless cycle. I started off by 'ghost' feeding the tank every day with food but I think I put way too much in as it wasn't decomposing so I decided to stop that and did a full water change & tank clean.

Then I purchased household ammonia which I miscalculated and put in too much so I did an 80% water change which got the levels up to 5ppm which is what most people seemed to recommend online. It's been 2 months now and the ammonia level is the same with nitrate at 0.5ppm and nitrate 0ppm.

I bought API Quick Start and added that to the tank according to the instructions but that didn't have any effect on any of the levels.

I'm not sure what I should do next, any advice by more experienced members would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Most people recommend 2 ppm. If you are actually at 5 after 2 months unchanged, I would first take a sample to LFS for them to double check. Maybe your test is not correct.
If they have you at 5, I would do a 50% water change which should get you to 2.5.
Here you have 2 options... see if it goes down naturally or you can get a bottle of bacteria.
Personally I think the best is Fritz turbostart 900. Second IMO is best Bio Spira

 

[LeftyReefer]

Was anything else in the ammonia? Was it straight ammonia? or did it possibly have surfactants (soap) added?

 

[andrewey]

I agree with @Arabyps that there are some great explanations online from trustowrthy sources that you should probably lean on more than anything

The plan of action @SMSREEF suggested is perfect and will help you get down to what's happening.

Unfortunately terms like "stall" are thrown around a lot and mean a lot of things to different members, which is why you can get different answers where people are just approaching the issue from different perspectives or answering different questions

 

[Leeoc91]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies!

Yes nitrite is at 0.5ppm (that was just a typo in the OP!). I used the bacteria API Quick Start and also before that SeaChem Stability but neither of them seemed to do anything. The Ammonia I used is definitely pure, no fragrances or soap etc in it.

I should mention I don't have any rock in the tank, just sand as a substrate and a few plastic ornaments. I do have a filter running and also an air stone.

I will follow the advice from @SMSREEF and do a 50% water change to bring Ammonia down to 2-2.5ppm and add some more bacteria from a different brand