Aquarium Cycling Stalled - Or Maybe Never Started???

[SABander]

Hey Everyone,

I'm hoping I can get some advice...
About 4 weeks ago I picked up a new tank after having to shut all my stuff down to move into a new house. The plan is to make a discus tank (Bare Bottom) as a display tank in our living room.

I am running about a 50/50 mix of RO and tap water to get the desired 7.2PH I'm aiming for.

After filling the tank, I dechlorinated, and added 2ppm of ammonia and waited...and waited...and waited...
4 weeks later my tank is still at 2ppm ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 0 Nitrate. I'm running 84 degF temperature.

Since everything was new I have slowly added a bottle of Stability since Day 1 to try to kick start something.

Currently, I have VERY cloudy water, a bacterial bloom of some form, but obviously not the nitrifying bacteria I need.

Any suggestions??

[cooper666]

Thats interesting SAB, 4 weeks is normally enough for the ammonia converters to kick in. What sort of filter do you have? Have you checked the nitrites. The presence of nitrites or nitrates is an indicator that something is happening.

EDIT - sorry, I need to learn how to read before responding.

[SABander]

haha, no worries Cooper.

Last night I ran another test and left my Nitrate test sitting out for probably an hour. At the end of that there *might* have been a little orange tinge to it? Still definitely 0 under Nitrites though.

I'm going to go to my LFS and pick up a different brand of Cycle Start and see if that can help. Otherwise, it might be time to drain and reset.

I've also seen the PH go to 8.2 over this period as well...I'm curious what's causing that.

[JamesW]

Make sure the ammonia isn't too high, that can stall a cycle too. Tetra's bacteria in a bottle has worked well for me. As has API's.

[Second Hand Pat]

Also check to ensure your test kit is not too old.
Pat

[SABander]

Hey James,
Thanks for the responses.

Ammonia is sitting at a solid 2ppm, which seems to be right on the money.
The test kit was purchased from my LFS with the tank 5 or 6 weeks ago now. It is the newer packaging for the API master kit, so my gut says it's not that old.

[JamesW]

What's your filter?

[SABander]

I have two in there currently.

An Eheim Classic 600, and a Ziss filter. The ziss is basically there just in case I need to have a temporary hospital or quarantine system.

[Willie]

IME, cloudiness in the water is usually the beginning of the cycle. When it clears, cycling is complete. I'd suggest taking a water sample to the LFS for their analysis before spending more money. Reagents off the shelf are often past their use life, but the ones the LFS use gets refreshed constantly.

Good luck, Willie