Quarantine Tank Cycle "Stuck"

[AnxiousAquarist]

Hello Having trouble cycling my QT Tank.
Before you say it I know, you don't need to cycle QT tanks, Just monitor ammonia levels and keep up with frequent water changes.
Due to my work life schedule I fear that I wont be able to do that correctly.

Anyways I've read a lot of the forums, but I'm the type of person that kind of needs a step by step process because I feel like my situation can be different than all others (Probably Not LOL)

I've read from @brandon429 that any tank that is going through the fishless cycle cannot be stalled and that gives me hope because I'm utterly confused at where I am at in my cycle lol.

So let me break down everything that I have for my qt tank and the steps I took. (I will Include pictures)

Here is my Tank:

- 10 Gal
- Heater
- Seachem tidal 35 gal
- Small power Head
- Seachem Matrix inside of Hob
- Seachem Matrix as substrate
- Thermometer
- Ammonia Alert Badge
- 2 PVC pipes
-Salinity at 1.024


(dont mind the nano leaf light panels in the back it wont be turned on)

Steps That I took:
Using API Test kits ( I know these are extremely unreliable)

(Day 1): 04/08
Added Dr tims one and only & added drops of ammonia

(Day 2): 04/09
Tested my tank and Ammonia is at 0.50

(Day 3): 04/10
Add more drops of dr tims ammonia

(Day 4) 04/11
Tested my tank and Ammonia is at 0.75

(Day 5) 04/12
Tested my tank and ammonia is at 1.0

(Day 6) 04/13
Added more drops of ammonia

(Day 7) 04 /14
Tested my tank Ammonia is at 2.0

(Day 14) 04/21
- waited one week and ammonia is still at 2.0

(Day 15) 04/22
- got scared about the surface area I had and added seachem matrix as substrate

04/26 Ammonia still at 2.0 ppm
Stuck now asking for help from the experts please! LOL
Here are my parameters ( Stuck with the same parameters ever since I hit 2.0 ammonia
ph: 8.0
Nh3: 2.0
No2: 0.5
No3: 10ppm

here are some photos of my tank as of today 04/26

Also Note that tank water isn't crystal clear been cloudy almost the whole time









Please someone point me in the right direction I really need some help here

@brandon429 If you could help me out that would be awesome. I know you've stated multiple things over and over again but idk I just feel like my situation is a bit different idk ? LOL

thanks for anyone who took the time read this all.

Also if solution is found I will post progress photos and updates. I don't want anyone else to go through this.

 

[AnxiousAquarist]

Also Starting this tank with no Display Tank. Wanted to qt my first pair of clowns to get things going off on the right foot.

 

[brandon429]

Great job on qt beginnings well done

Interesting contrast between displays and qt: position of the biomedia/ surface area is the challenge not the bacteria

Qt's don't have a fraction of the surface area nor presentation displays have, so we can't use display cycling rules effectively on them with those particular testing kits (2ppm is too high)

Notice how all reef displays have their rock, the main surface area, dead center display where currents swirl all around them and contact every area except for the very bottom

In the qt system above, there's no central contact it's on the floor. Although that surface area is ideal for quarantine, and enough to handle a couple small fish, it's contact presentation is strictly for water on the flat plane that happens to land down low

You can markedly increase the efficiency of that filter by moving the media into a hang on back or canister filter that pressures water directly through it and takes water from the mid section of the tank, or, just leave it all there anyway on the bottom but add in a hang on back simple wal mart filter with its extra surface area in addition to that above

I trust the alert badge more than the api kit

 

[brandon429]

I just read you already have a hob above, missed that part
Nice setup

There's no need to wait for the system to clear out the test load water, just change it out and any dosed bacteria you added will remain stuck to it then a couple fish's waste won't overcome it all. If the alert badge doesn't go back down to safe mode after a full water change then you'll know it's not accurate and if it does, it is

What kind of bottle bac did you input

 

[PotatoPig]

Tip: Cut a piece of a cloth filter sock to the same size as the HOB filter and put it in the HOB where the filter goes. Once colonized these can host enough bacteria (specifically ammonia reducing bacteria) that you can remove the rock from the QT tank unless it’s in there for other reasons (shelter, etc). It’ll take a little while, so maybe something to put in now and it’ll be up and running for your next QT.

Makes maintenance and cleaning out the tank much easier.

 

[AnxiousAquarist]

I just read you already have a hob above, missed that part
Nice setup

There's no need to wait for the system to clear out the test load water, just change it out and any dosed bacteria you added will remain stuck to it then a couple fish's waste won't overcome it all. If the alert badge doesn't go back down to safe mode after a full water change then you'll know it's not accurate and if it does, it is

What kind of bottle bac did you input

I Put in Dr. tims for like a 30 gal lol

So the next steps I take is:

1. Do 100% water change
2. See if badge is accurate
3. Get Fish, Acclimate & Place in tank?
I really wanna get this right idk whats next

Lol I really appreciate your fast reply. You are a Gem to this community!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Using API Test kits ( I know these are extremely unreliable)

This is false! API is fine, especially for cycling a tank where exact numbers aren't important.

Good luck!

 

[taricha]

Here are my parameters ( Stuck with the same parameters ever since I hit 2.0 ammonia
ph: 8.0
Nh3: 2.0
No2: 0.5
No3: 10ppm

That NO2 is not 0.5. That's zero color on NO2.

Ammonia present for a whole week with nothing on NO2 - I'd do a different bottled bac. (Biospira or Fritz). One and Only can be a little slow, but that's.... too slow - maybe bottle got frozen or something.

 

[AnxiousAquarist]

@brandon429
If you don't mind & If your not busy.

What are the next steps that I should take so that I can start Qt for a pair of clowns?

Again I really Appreciate the help you do!

 

[brandon429]

the truth is you've been given opposing information you have to choose from in the thread, that's the nature of evolution in cycling science or any procedural change in reefing. since you have a HOB with directed water flow plus the extra media in the display, and the goal is two small clowns, and I'm on page 40 of never needing a different bottle of bacteria I can truly say IF you acclimate your fish correctly to this tank and if you change out the suspected bad water for new, by sheer % pattern alone the tank will be fine.

you're dealing in what non digital test kits say, and I have threads where those kits you have reported 8 ppm in 2 year old tanks that were no doubt cycled, so they'll never determine my recommendation in a stall analysis. you're nearing 30 days wait time, that bottle bac tested out at ten days or less in Dr Reefs thread... my take is you can proceed

BUT

if cycles stall at day ~30, then the specific alternate take would be add another brand of bac, and re-wait until those non digital kits show about .25 ppm max. not a bit higher

 

[brandon429]

These two trains of thought aren't mutually exclusive at the core

One mode wants you to wait without replacing the water column to prove all wastewater is handled, and by that inference bacteria are present on the matrix material

My way is ignoring your tests totally but supplanting in a calculated number of days wait for the seating time considering your feed and inoculation source, then artfully (subjectively) comparing your degree of surface area to other tanks that do the work you intend for the specialty tank

I have never seen any bottle bac cycle ever attempted fail (can't keep fish alive) at day ten wait, so that's why I keep trusting the blinder mode

The day we get a seneye fail I'll never speak of it again, I want scientists to test updated cycling guesstimates using digital gear and write on that

I don't require a qt system to process 2ppm over 24 hours even though I bet yours would in a seneye test

I would consider that tank stalled if it couldn't process -any- ammonia in 24 hours on a seneye, but that's never been shown at this many days lead up time

Perhaps if you were on day 7 wait I would be worried, but what keeps me confident is nobody has rewritten the common cycling chart that shows ammonia control inherent by day ten in any normal arrangement, which you've assembled here as a very well done qt arrangement with surface area above the norm in my opinion.

If you want to have fun with your kits: do a full water change.

Re take and post the two test kit readings to benchmark them on known safe water. If they misread I'm going to hammer those kits eternally lol but if they show .25-0 ammonia, in spec, you might can have some fun with them

Re dose your ammonia to .5 ppm, just cut your calculated dose for 2ppm by 75% input that

Then post two ammonia readings to see how they read a fairly accurate .5, to check for their accuracy

Then let's see if in 48 hours, an extra day given for color guess kit lag time, no ammonia moves back to calibrated safe. You'd have my stall interest at that point, hesitantly he he Id be 75% intrigued on the possibility of a stall

Only this test done on a seneye could get me to 100% first stall past day ten I've ever seen. Heck I might even owe a small paypal bounty on that occurrence depending on which promise thread was referenced

 

[AnxiousAquarist]

@brandon429 Thank you for the information I truly Appreciate it!

But in the case I don't wanna have fun with my test kits lol

I should Just do a 100% Water change, Purchase some Fish, Acclimate them correctly and they should be fine since the tank is already cycled through the bacteria stuck on the media.

Sorry if Im missing something here. Im Slow lol

 

[brandon429]

acclimate = not bag dripping for two hours, its discerning using your actual salinity meter (not taking their word) what salinity the fish at the store are held at (take your meter to where you buy fish, discern their salinity, don't take their word, it's lower than what they're stating I'll bet) then setting your qt to that salinity before fish go in, moving them over via net into the new qt matching temp and salinity of the holding water.

you then slowly raise the salinity in the qt to match your needs in the display, while observing the fish for issues for a month or so, or treating them preemptively based on your calculations from the disease forum reads

 

[AnxiousAquarist]

acclimate = not bag dripping for two hours, its discerning using your actual salinity meter (not taking their word) what salinity the fish at the store are held at (take your meter to where you buy fish, discern their salinity, don't take their word, it's lower than what they're stating I'll bet) then setting your qt to that salinity before fish go in, moving them over via net into the new qt matching temp and salinity of the holding water.

you then slowly raise the salinity in the qt to match your needs in the display, while observing the fish for issues for a month or so, or treating them preemptively based on your calculations from the disease forum reads

Done deal! I will Update once I've moved forward in this process. Thank You so much again!

 

[AnxiousAquarist]

@brandon429 acclimated and added the two clowns yesterday around 7pm everything is looking good, they are swimming around eating only a little for now. Watch till the end I’m not sure why the big one made the little one twitch like that lol

 

[brandon429]

excellent, that's just why he's in qt/gives you time to spot patterns well before intro into the dt

 

[AnxiousAquarist]

@brandon429 hey! Day 2 of having Fish and they are doing well they are eating like pigs! LOL Ammonia alert badge still in the safe zone but the water doesn’t look as clear as it once was starting to look slightly cloudy I’m not sure if this is a sign of anything?

 

[AnxiousAquarist]

Now that im thinking i might've over fed my tank yesterday cause i was trying to get them to eat what do I dooooo?

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Wanted to qt my first pair of clowns to get things going off on the right foot.

Awesome move!

 

[twentyleagues]

Now that im thinking i might've over fed my tank yesterday cause i was trying to get them to eat what do I dooooo?

water change