Next steps, feeling stuck.

[Sultrysamurai]

Hello, my new tank has been cycling for a month and a half now and I cannot get the water safe for fish or keep the brown algae at bay.

PH over 8

Ammonia .50ppm

Nitrite 5.0 ppm

 

I am about ready to call off the whole project, it’s becoming very stressful. 
 

I haven't added any water. I haven’t changed any water. I stopped adding fertilizer. I stopped everything and it only gets light 8 hours a day. 
 

not to mention a brown algae infestation..

any advice is helpful. 
thank you. 

[AJ.Ashbrook]

Sorry you're struggling! At least you avoided fish in cycle. I promise it would be worse if you lost a fish friend.

 

It sounds like you've potentially reached zero ammonia. If it's API's test kit, I understand it commonly false reads .25. Which could be leftover tap water from cleaning, or just actually has .25ppm. That level isn't 0, so it's no good, but it's not lethal to fish.

 

You've also got Nitrite, so you're going in the right direction. If the number in general is bothering you, you can just do a water change, and you should see the Nitrite drop based on the water change. If you have 5ppm, and do a 75% water change, it should be under 2ppm after. While you're cycling, the number isn't critical, but it does sort of represent the ammonia/fish load when you do add fish, so the higher the number for now, when you reach 0/0/X, all the better for stocking.

 

If 5 days in, you had 0/0/5, you might add 3 small fish, and immediately get an ammonia spike. The way you're going now, you should be able to immediately stock 50% or more of your tank's capacity.  Do you know what your nitrate levels are? If you're starting to see significant Nitrate levels, i'd say just do a major (90%)  water change, and retest the next day and see what you have.

[Katherine]

The brown algae should go away on it's own in time. Very common on new tanks.

[Sultrysamurai]

At what point is it too much. The brown algae has covered every plant and pretty much clogged the sponge filter. I try to grab it out of the tank but it floats away and it’s not easy. 

[Scapexghost]

Brown algae is ugly put its actually a good sign. It shows the tank is alive. I would consider doing a big water change, get the nitrite down to under .5 ppm, and add some hardy fish like zebra danios to help finish the cycle. Feed every third day and do water changes as needed to keep the nitrite down. Ignore the brown algae for now. Once the tank is cycled, add a nerite snail or a bristlenose pleco (depending of the size of the rank) and theyll deal with that brown algae for you.

[Anjum]

The waiting is the hardest part! But you're on the right track. As others have said, algae is just part of the process, it'll go away when the tank balances. 

Do you know your parameters out of the tap? It's also a good idea to test aerated tap water after 24 hrs, this is more indicative of what you'll be working with. 

If you haven't already, you can add a bottled beneficial bacteria product; that'll jump start the cycle. 

Botanicals will naturally, slowly, lower pH over time: wood, catappa leaves, etc. If you don't want tannins, you can boil them out ahead of time & they'll lessen over time with water changes. 

[Scapexghost]

On 9/24/2022 at 12:04 PM, Sultrysamurai said:

At what point is it too much. The brown algae has covered every plant and pretty much clogged the sponge filter. I try to grab it out of the tank but it floats away and it’s not easy. 

Add some dwarf water lettuce. It will absorb excess neutrient and potentially out compete the algae.

[Sultrysamurai]

On 9/24/2022 at 10:08 AM, Anjum said:

The waiting is the hardest part! But you're on the right track. As others have said, algae is just part of the process, it'll go away when the tank balances. 

Do you know your parameters out of the tap? It's also a good idea to test aerated tap water after 24 hrs, this is more indicative of what you'll be working with. 

If you haven't already, you can add a bottled beneficial bacteria product; that'll jump start the cycle. 

Botanicals will naturally, slowly, lower pH over time: wood, catappa leaves, etc. If you don't want tannins, you can boil them out ahead of time & they'll lessen over time with water changes. 

I had Catappa leaves for a while but the algae just covered them completely so I took them out. I will test the tap. Thank you. 

On 9/24/2022 at 9:41 AM, AJ.Ashbrook said:

Sorry you're struggling! At least you avoided fish in cycle. I promise it would be worse if you lost a fish friend.

 

It sounds like you've potentially reached zero ammonia. If it's API's test kit, I understand it commonly false reads .25. Which could be leftover tap water from cleaning, or just actually has .25ppm. That level isn't 0, so it's no good, but it's not lethal to fish.

 

You've also got Nitrite, so you're going in the right direction. If the number in general is bothering you, you can just do a water change, and you should see the Nitrite drop based on the water change. If you have 5ppm, and do a 75% water change, it should be under 2ppm after. While you're cycling, the number isn't critical, but it does sort of represent the ammonia/fish load when you do add fish, so the higher the number for now, when you reach 0/0/X, all the better for stocking.

 

If 5 days in, you had 0/0/5, you might add 3 small fish, and immediately get an ammonia spike. The way you're going now, you should be able to immediately stock 50% or more of your tank's capacity.  Do you know what your nitrate levels are? If you're starting to see significant Nitrate levels, i'd say just do a major (90%)  water change, and retest the next day and see what you have.

Thank you! Nitrate is 10-40, this test isn’t very clear.

[Scapexghost]

On 9/24/2022 at 12:20 PM, Sultrysamurai said:

I had Catappa leaves for a while but the algae just covered them completely so I took them out. I will test the tap. Thank you. 

Thank you! Nitrate is 10-40, this test isn’t very clear.

I could be wrong but i heard nitrite interferes with the nitrate test.

[Pepere]

“Full Benefit”. I hear it is a phrase Navy Seals use in training when things are unpleasant..  ie attitude is the key of getting the “Full Benefit” to what adversity is trying to teach you.  It can make you resilient and resourceful to find the solution….

 

I had similar time line cycling a tank as this using bacteria in a bottle. And I have fully cycled a tank in 10 days putting 1/4 cup Black Kow composted manure in a mesh bag near the sponge filter.  I know, I cringed over the idea of putting manure in my tank.  But honestly, once you put fish in your tank, they are going to be releasing manure every day… and it is t going to be composted….

[MattyM]

Get some faster growing plants in there to help gobble up the ammonia and nitrite. Some of the best advise I got was to shoot for around 70% of the tank being planted. This will help outcompete algae too (and it looks great).  A water change should be fine at this point, maybe 30% - don't forget the water conditioner, and to turn off the heater (and turn it back on when done). 

Is the brown algae kind of dusty? It might be diatom algae - every new tank gets it. It'll make for some good mulm, which is good for your plants and any bottom feeders. You can also try splitting your lighting - 4 hours on, 2 hours off, 4 hours on (called the "siesta" method) and that might help with algae too, as will floating plants to help block some of the light so your whole tank isn't getting blasted. 

Are your plants growing? That's always a good sign too. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/24/2022 at 10:04 AM, Sultrysamurai said:

At what point is it too much. The brown algae has covered every plant and pretty much clogged the sponge filter. I try to grab it out of the tank but it floats away and it’s not easy. 

Is it easy to siphon out? 

A few things that would help:
A.  Background on the tank to reduce light from the window.
B.  Temperature (it's next to a computer output, might get pretty hot on that side)
C.  Cleaning more often than you feel like you need to right now to allow the filter to remove as much as possible. Higher flow on the filter would also help to remove it and then the cleaning 2x a week would remove it from the water. This is literally just cleaning the filter, not about water changes. 

[Sultrysamurai]

On 9/24/2022 at 1:42 PM, MattyM said:

Get some faster growing plants in there to help gobble up the ammonia and nitrite. Some of the best advise I got was to shoot for around 70% of the tank being planted. This will help outcompete algae too (and it looks great).  A water change should be fine at this point, maybe 30% - don't forget the water conditioner, and to turn off the heater (and turn it back on when done). 

Is the brown algae kind of dusty? It might be diatom algae - every new tank gets it. It'll make for some good mulm, which is good for your plants and any bottom feeders. You can also try splitting your lighting - 4 hours on, 2 hours off, 4 hours on (called the "siesta" method) and that might help with algae too, as will floating plants to help block some of the light so your whole tank isn't getting blasted. 

Are your plants growing? That's always a good sign too. 

One plant is growing but I cannot tell about the others. I will try more plants. Yes the algae is like a dusty and stringy consistency.

thank you!

On 9/24/2022 at 5:14 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Is it easy to siphon out? 

A few things that would help:
A.  Background on the tank to reduce light from the window.
B.  Temperature (it's next to a computer output, might get pretty hot on that side)
C.  Cleaning more often than you feel like you need to right now to allow the filter to remove as much as possible. Higher flow on the filter would also help to remove it and then the cleaning 2x a week would remove it from the water. This is literally just cleaning the filter, not about water changes. 

Great advice, Thank you!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I think it’s a great sign that you have nitrates. Your ammonia has peaked and is almost worked through, and your nitrites are doing the same thing. Having nitrates shows that you have some nitrites being converted, so you’re definitely on the right track!

Give it a little more time and all the patience will pay off! Once your tank is established and thriving and a good chunk of time has passed, you’ll forget about the cycling time and it will become a small dot on the timeline of your tank. 

[Sultrysamurai]

On 9/24/2022 at 10:36 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I think it’s a great sign that you have nitrates. Your ammonia has peaked and is almost worked through, and your nitrites are doing the same thing. Having nitrates shows that you have some nitrites being converted, so you’re definitely on the right track!

Give it a little more time and all the patience will pay off! Once your tank is established and thriving and a good chunk of time has passed, you’ll forget about the cycling time and it will become a small dot on the timeline of your tank. 

This is very true, thank you for the positive outlook!

[dangerflower]

I had a similar thing happen the last time I was cycling a tank and it was so frustrating! If you're getting a 5 for nitrites, it could actually be higher than that since that's the highest reading the test can do. And I believe really high nitrites can stall the cycle. I'd recommend big water changes and the addition of some bottled bacteria to help speed things along! Keep checking the nitrite levels and do water changes to get them at a readable level.

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

I’m just going to reinforce those who are encouraging you. I know it’s not easy, but don’t get frustrated yet. Your experience is typical  the brown algae is normal, and once the tank is cycled it will go away  

I believe I saw you are fishless, and that is great  Takes a lot of worry out of the process  the best tip that I know is to find someone who will sell you (or give you) some cycled filter media, plant, or decoration. The beneficial bacteria in a filter is just a small part of the bacteria your tank will eventually have. The bacteria will be on the glass, the substrate, the plants, the decorations, etc. If you can get some plants that have been grown submersed from someone local that alone will give your cycle a huge boost.

Some have mentioned the bottled bacteria. I’ve never used them, but I have heard many people had success with Fritz 7. If you can’t get filter media, substrate, decoration, or plants from someone you could try it. 
 

you are almost there. We are actually discussing Instant Cycling on our next livestream Tuesday. 

 

Edited September 25, 2022 by Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics

[_Eric_]

Just hang in there and it will happen eventually. I would recommend not testing very often since you don’t have fish in there - just let it do its thing and check back in in a week.  dont worry about the brown stuff.  If you get any algae eaters they will take care of it.  

[Sultrysamurai]

On 9/25/2022 at 10:46 AM, Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics said:

I’m just going to reinforce those who are encouraging you. I know it’s not easy, but don’t get frustrated yet. Your experience is typical  the brown algae is normal, and once the tank is cycled it will go away  

I believe I saw you are fishless, and that is great  Takes a lot of worry out of the process  the best tip that I know is to find someone who will sell you (or give you) some cycled filter media, plant, or decoration. The beneficial bacteria in a filter is just a small part of the bacteria your tank will eventually have. The bacteria will be on the glass, the substrate, the plants, the decorations, etc. If you can get some plants that have Browne submersed from someone local that alone will give your cycle a huge boost.

Some have mentioned the bottled bacteria. I’ve never used them, but I have heard many people had success with Fritz 7. If you can’t get filter media, substrate, decoration, or plants from someone you could try it. 
 

you are almost there. We are actually discussing Instant Cycling on our next livestream Tuesday. 

 

Thank you so much!!