Trouble cycling my QT tank

[gerrard00]

On October 8th, I setup a 20 gallon high to use as a QT tank. I filled the tank with tap water and dosed the water with 1/8 teaspoon of Safe. I placed a brand new Hydro #2 sponge in the tank and a heater set to 84. I added three drops of pure ammonia to bring the ammonia level up to .5ppm. I have been careful not to mix anything from my other tanks with the new QT tank.

About a month later, on November 6th, I still had no signs of nitrites. Eager to speed up the process, I looked for some Tetra SafeStart at local stores. I've used that product in the past and it resulted in my 10 gallon shrimp tank cycling in about two or three weeks. No one had it in stock, so I bought some Microbe Special Blend from the LFS (on their recommendation). I did a 50% water change and dosed the special blend on November 6th.

On November 8th, the ammonia level had dropped slightly below .5ppm, so I added another drop of ammonia. I didn't detect nitrites or nitrates, so I may have just screwed up the test and perhaps the ammonia level hadn't dropped.

It's now November 16th and my ammonia level is still right at .5ppm. That's 5.6 weeks and the first step of the cycle hasn't even begun. This is only the fourth tank I've ever tried to cycle, so I'm definitely somewhat of a noob.

Can anyone suggest something that I might be doing wrong? Or do I just need to stay patient?

[jimg]

I put some sand or gravel or eheim substrat on the bottom and add 1 ppm ammonia and tetra safe start. and usually cycles in 1 week. problem with tetra safe start,bio spira, dr.Timms they all work sometimes but I get I would say 70% of the time max. they work.
I hate dealing with tetra, their customer service that answer the phones are nasty a holes. I have cycled many many tanks this way but the few times it didn't work I called them for replacement and to discuss how I do it and they say it will not work using ammonia you have to put fish in the tank and more bs. and they do not stand behind they products. by the way dr timms, bio spira and safestart are all the same thing

[afriend]

I put some sand or gravel or eheim substrat on the bottom and add 1 ppm ammonia and tetra safe start. and usually cycles in 1 week. problem with tetra safe start,bio spira, dr.Timms they all work sometimes but I get I would say 70% of the time max. they work.
I hate dealing with tetra, their customer service that answer the phones are nasty a holes. I have cycled many many tanks this way but the few times it didn't work I called them for replacement and to discuss how I do it and they say it will not work using ammonia you have to put fish in the tank and more bs. and they do not stand behind they products. by the way dr timms, bio spira and safestart are all the same thing

Jim,

I had the same experience you had with tetra, only years ago. The stuff I got from them didn't work and wouldn't do anything about. Futhermore they gave me a lot of nonsense about why it didn't work and what I was doing wrong. I obtained a different product from someone else and it cycled my filter in about 3 weeks.

[gerrard00]

I gave in and purchased Tetra SafeStart. I did a water change before adding the SafeStart and then got the ammonia up to 2ppm. Still no luck. I really wonder what I could possibly be doing wrong? At this point, I'm going to give it until Saturday and then tear the tank down.

[afriend]

I would suggest finding someone who can give you a small amount of biofilter material that has already cycled. One place that I would not get it is from a LFS because they have lots of fish come and go and one can't be sure that it is safe. Also, I know that that it's available on the internet. Use a trusted source for this. Small amounts of materal that has already cycled will grow to a healthy biofilter in a relatively short time.

[gerrard00]

I actually have two other tanks, including my display tank, so I guess I could just use material from there. I was under the impression that it was best for a QT tank to not be exposed to any possible pathogens from other tanks. Is that not the case?

At any rate, I really don't understand why I'm having so much trouble starting this tank up from scratch. I guess my shrimp tank may have gotten beneficial bacteria from the plants I bought from the LFS? Or, maybe it's the fact that this tank doesn't have substrate? It's the first time I've ever tried to cycle a BB tank.

[afriend]

Well, my understanding is that it's important not to expose your existing tanks to anything bad that the new fish might bring with them. After the quarantine period has passed, and there are no apparent problems with the newcomers, the new fish are then placed in with your other fish. One then assumes that nothing bad is in the the QT tank or filter. Anyhow, that's my theory.

Paul

[gerrard00]

I also wanted to protect my new arrivals from anything in my existing tank that they might not be immune to until they have recovered from shipping. This is my first time trying to do a QT of new discus, so I basically went by the explanation in the SD Beginner's Guide. If nothing happens by this weekend, I guess I'll go ahead and transfer some filter material or substrate.