4th week ammonia still high

Qasim · May 11, 2017

Hello,

As the title says Im in my fourth week of cycling and ammonia still reads high 1ppm and above. I have dead and dry pukani in the tank around 58lbs and my guess is the rock is the source of ammonia as there is alot of dead organics inside the rock. I have recently received my lighting.

Should I keep my lighting running or it doesnt make changes to this. I have been adding Prodibio Biodigest after the first week of cycling. I have added the second vial recently, I will be adding the third vial on 20 may 2017.

My skimmer is running, filter socks cleaned and water is circulating. However ammonia has not gone down after one day I added the rock.

Is there any suggestions other than waiting? Im afraid to get a live rock from my aquarium store here. Shall I do so?

Your help is highly appreciated.

Thanks again,
Qasim

Qasim · May 11, 2017

My reading from last night

Katrina71 · May 11, 2017

A ball of chaeto in there will speed up ammonia reduction. I'm new, but that's what we were told, and it seemed to be correct.

Piranhapat · May 11, 2017

Be patient your almost there. It took my tank about 7 weeks which was bottomless. . You can add other bacteria in between if you want to speed it up. . Do you have sand bed. Bottomless would take a little longer. The more places where bacteria can grow will help. I like media blocks that can help bacteria to grow in sumps. Just check every other day. I say another 7-14 days your be there. Patient. ...

Jason mack · May 11, 2017

Your tank is cycling .. just let iT run its course .. patients is everything .. !!

Qasim · May 11, 2017

Katrina71 said:
A ball of chaeto in there will speed up ammonia reduction. I'm new, but that's what we were told, and it seemed to be correct.

I dont know about this and I dont think I will find it here in Northern Iraq Kurdistan.

Piranhapat said:
Be patient your almost there. It took my tank about 7 weeks which was bottomless. . You can add other bacteria in between if you want to speed it up. . Do you have sand bed. Bottomless would take a little longer. The more places where bacteria can grow will help. I like media blocks that can help bacteria to grow in sumps. Just check every other day. I say another 7-14 days your be there. Patient. ...

I think its what I have to do. Waiting is my only way out of it.

In the meantime shall I do any water changes?

dylana407 · May 11, 2017

IMO, no need to do WC until ammonia and nitrite go back to zero. Turn off the light. It's not needed while you're cycling the tank.

Jason mack · May 11, 2017

No water changes till ammonia and nitrite are 0 and your nitrates are high , basically at the end of your cycle !!

Coronus · May 11, 2017

Let it ride.....let the nitrogen cycle do its thing. This is important. Be patient, that's what this hobby is known for. Nothing good happens quickly, but bad happens very quickly.

Elegance Coral · May 11, 2017

You can crank up the temperature to 86 or higher. Just remember to bring it back down before adding livestock. I wouldn't run filter socks. You can run the skimmer, but I wouldn't try to catch anything in the cup. Just use it for oxygenation. No other filtration like GAC or GFO. Like others have said, turn off the lights.
HTH
Peace
EC

Qasim · May 11, 2017

Thank you all for your opinions and information I will keep my patience as I have done. Im not in a hurry because my supplier has no fish yet and will be getting fish in a month time which helps in the cycle as well.
I have now turned off the light. I clean the filter socks every few days.
Regarding my water temperature we live in a warm region on the world Middle East for example today temp. was 39C my water is at 27-28C with no heaters on I will need chillers for the water have to find a way to bring down the temperature in the future because in august it reaches to 50C here.

I will keep waiting until i read everything zero but Nitrate. Then Will ask for the next step on what to do.

Thanks again for all the information and help

Qasim · May 12, 2017

Hello again, I have just noticed the following on my wavemaker is it part of the cycle???

Brew12 · May 12, 2017

Qasim said:
Hello again, I have just noticed the following on my wavemaker is it part of the cycle???

It's not part of the nitrogen cycle, but precipitation isn't unusual in new tanks or old ones.

To get a better idea of what is going on, can you post your Nitrate readings?

Qasim · May 12, 2017

Brew12 said:
It's not part of the nitrogen cycle, but precipitation isn't unusual in new tanks or old ones.

To get a better idea of what is going on, can you post your Nitrate readings?

These are my readings from today my nitrate seems to be around 5-10ppm and my ammonia went down from 1 to 0.5ppm

Brew12 · May 12, 2017

Qasim said:
These are my readings from today my nitrate seems to be around 5-10ppm and my ammonia went down from 1 to 0.5ppm

Your rocks aren't releasing a significant amount of ammonia into your system. If they were you would be seeing much higher nitrate levels. With those numbers there is no reason to do a water change. Looks like you are just early in your cycle and that your tank is responding a little more slowly than is typical.

Qasim · May 12, 2017

Brew12 said:
Your rocks aren't releasing a significant amount of ammonia into your system. If they were you would be seeing much higher nitrate levels. With those numbers there is no reason to do a water change. Looks like you are just early in your cycle and that your tank is responding a little more slowly than is typical.

I think I had my wavemaker in a wrong place today I changed the place of it and it blowed alot of stuff from the rocks. The low amount of ammonia is the result of adding prodibio biodigest to the tank for the second time last weekend. So I will be adding one more vial on 20th which will be more nitrifying bacteria in the tank.

But the green stuff is new I just realised that My guess is it is all over the wire of the wavemaker.

Brew12 · May 12, 2017

Qasim said:
I think I had my wavemaker in a wrong place today I changed the place of it and it blowed alot of stuff from the rocks. The low amount of ammonia is the result of adding prodibio biodigest to the tank for the second time last weekend. So I will be adding one more vial on 20th which will be more nitrifying bacteria in the tank.

But the green stuff is new I just realised that My guess is it is all over the wire of the wavemaker.

I've found that the pridibio biodigest is one of the slower working bacteria products but it gets the job done.

I didn't notice the green on there, I thought you were talking about the white spots. Yup, the green is a normal part of starting up a new tank. When you get your ammonia down to 0ppm and gets more of the green it is time to add a small CuC.

Qasim · May 12, 2017

Ohh my... I have to find a way of getting some cleanup crew here it is a bit hard. How long do you think these guys will survive in a bag. For me it is 36 hours of bus driving from Turkey to my city which is a long ride and I dont know if they are going to survive. If not I have to find a way of getting little friends via airplane. If it is possible here

Mal11224 · May 12, 2017

Be patient. The hardest part in setting up a tank is waiting for it cycle. You will eventually get to zero for ammonia and nitrites. It takes time even with assistance.

Brew12 · May 12, 2017

Qasim said:
Ohh my... I have to find a way of getting some cleanup crew here it is a bit hard. How long do you think these guys will survive in a bag. For me it is 36 hours of bus driving from Turkey to my city which is a long ride and I dont know if they are going to survive. If not I have to find a way of getting little friends via airplane. If it is possible here

Snails will do just fine transported that way. Fish will be more of a challenge when the time comes!