First stage of cycle is happening (ammonia)

[hvangus]

Ok what should I do/ I have a Ph 7.4 ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 and nitrate 0. Huge bacteria Bloom and has been like this since switching. I have moved all fish to other tanks. One positive my fish are doing great in the other tanks. I will take any advice at this point

[Filip]

Ok what should I do/ I have a Ph 7.4 ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 and nitrate 0. Huge bacteria Bloom and has been like this since switching. I have moved all fish to other tanks. One positive my fish are doing great in the other tanks. I will take any advice at this point

Change more water to clear your tank bacterial bloom .
Put some fish from the same tank discus are in and feed them and and change water for 2-3 weeks until your bacteria bounce back .
Once the water gets constantly clean put the discus back .
At least this is what I would do Bryan.

[hvangus]

Filip,
Before I took all the fish out I was changing 90 gallons of water every other day. I have been doing this for 6 weeks. my discus became so stressed they were hiding in the corner not eating and slamming into the glass. This is when I decided to take them out and put them in other tanks. I have 6 in a 75 and 3 in a 40 and they are eating like pigs and taking it out of my hand. The only other fish I have is 15 neon's. So, I don't think that is enough fish to help the tank. I have about a 150 gallons of water including my sump. This is keeping me up at night and driving me crazy.

[DJW]

Ok what should I do/ I have a Ph 7.4 ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 and nitrate 0. Huge bacteria Bloom and has been like this since switching. I have moved all fish to other tanks. One positive my fish are doing great in the other tanks. I will take any advice at this point

When you changed to tap water the tap probably has better conditions for bacteria to bloom out. It takes a while for things to find a balance, but 6 weeks is getting to be a long time for a tank to stay cloudy. It will drive you crazy and the next day its gone.

If you can fill in some of the background and describe some details about the tank someone here can help you sort it out.

How long has the tank been fishless now? If you can leave it fishless for a while then no water changes and start feeding ammonia to get the cycle back.

The water is clear in the other tanks and its just this one tank that has been cloudy for 6 weeks?
Do the other tanks get the same water, have the same gravel or sand?
Have you tried carbon?
What is the KH and GH of the tap and tank water?

[Filip]

Bryan , if the 15 neons are already mixed with your discus , I would transfer them as a cycle starter and a scape goats in your 150 G.
They would be enough to start the BB colony in case it was completely wiped off with your current changes.
Keep them and feed them for 20 days in your 150 G and monitor NH3, NO2 and No3 presence to confirm a full cycle .
After this you can put back your discus again , but change water daily and monitor above parameters in the first 2 weeks until your BB colony multiply accordingly to the added discus bioload .

[hvangus]

I have had the fish out for 9 days. My other tank are not clear they are cycling and getting big water changes everyday. Fish are doing great and eating like pigs. In the big tank they were so crazy and always hiding in the corner.
The tanks get the same water and I don't use carbon. I took most of the sub straight out (eco complete gravel ), I left just enough in the tank to cover the bottom and I have some driftwood. My other tanks are BB
My large tank is still running with no fish

[Filip]

If you have taken out a deep eco complete substrate layer that can be the trigger for your mini cycling issues and bacterial blooms you experience.
Just wait it out with some diether fish in it and once it gets stable put back your discus again .

[hvangus]

Filip,

I have been cycling with ammonia and was doing great. I started out adding enough to get to 5-6 in about 4 days the tank was falling back to almost zero. so I would add more ammonia to raise back up. Nitrites were off the charts for about 6 days and nitrates were off the charts, so process working great. I thought tonight ammonia is 1 nitrites 0 and nitrates 0 I haven't even done a water change so what happened?

Bryan

[Filip]

Filip,

I have been cycling with ammonia and was doing great. I started out adding enough to get to 5-6 in about 4 days the tank was falling back to almost zero. so I would add more ammonia to raise back up. Nitrites were off the charts for about 6 days and nitrates were off the charts, so process working great. I thought tonight ammonia is 1 nitrites 0 and nitrates 0 I haven't even done a water change so what happened?

Bryan

Sorry for my late response Bryan , but I think something's wrong with your test results.
If you put 5-5 PPm ammonia it has to go somewhere or be converted in No2 and No3 . It can not disaapear without a WC .
I would check the test kits for a start .

[hvangus]

Ash,

It is real hard to use food to cycle your tank because of consistency. Get your self some ammonia with no dye or surfactants. Adding ammonia will allow you to keep your ammonia level consistent until the cycle is complete. I just finished up a 150 gallon cycle and it went real good. How large are your tanks that you are trying to cycle?

[MendoMan]

Ash,

It is real hard to use food to cycle your tank because of consistency. Get your self some ammonia with no dye or surfactants. Adding ammonia will allow you to keep your ammonia level consistent until the cycle is complete. I just finished up a 150 gallon cycle and it went real good. How large are your tanks that you are trying to cycle?

He can't find ammonia anywhere that's been his biggest problem.

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

Hi Ash, generally a cycle takes about six weeks. What did you start the cycle with a week ago? Pure ammonia? Sounds like you filled the tank a week ago, added nothing to the tank until you added food which cause the ammonia to register on your test. If true the your cycle started when you added food to the tank. Many here use pure ammonia (from the hardware store and without surfactants) to start the cycle. It is a lot cleaner then adding food plus you can control the amount of ammonia added to the tank. This will give you an idea http://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfish...s-cycle.19627/.
Pat

thanks for the link it does give a better understanding on how using ammonia works to cycle a tank..