nitrogen cycle

[thomas]

I have a 55 gal tank that has been going for about 8 wks now. It seems like it is taking forever for this tank to cycle. Maybe because it only has three small mbuna in it. My nitrates have started rising but my nitrites are extremely high. I mean through the roof and it's been like this for about a week. Should I be worried about the fish? I am starting to become impatient with this process. I really want some more fish. I talked to a guy at the lfs today and he tested my water also. He said the nitrite levels were deadly, but my fish seem ok. He suggested that I do a 10-20% water change and said this wouldn't slow the cycle down because my nitrates are already going up. Any thoughts or suggestions?

[SGypsyMermaid]

hmmmm-i'm not the best person to answer this question, but i'll take a shot. did you try seeding the tank with gravel and/or filter media from an established tank? that's what i always do when cycling a new one. can you maybe get some from your lfs or a fish-keeping friend?

[thomas]

No, I did not. This is he only tank I have right now. It stared ou being underfilered o begin wih (only a whisper 2 filter an an underground filter). And then on the advice of someone a the lfs I removed he ugf. So very little biological filtration to begin with. Now I have an AC500 and the whisper. But the AC500's only been on there for about 1 1/2 weeks. I don't really know anyone with a tank up and running right now, but I'll check at the lfs. Thanks for the suggestion.

[chennes]

If you just added the filter a week and a half ago, it may simply be that the bacteria haven't been built up in it yet. If your levels are really high, it will likely develop fairly quickly now. You're stressing the fish a lot, but most mbunas are pretty hardy. An remember, impatience is the number two killer of aquarium fish :) .

Chris

[thomas]

In my head I know you are right on this chennes. I am a patient man, but it just seems like forever sometimes.

[Boilermaker]

Hi Thomas, I guess i'm from the old school I know no one uses Undergravel filters anymore but me :) , I only have one tank without. I don't know why the lfs said that unless your using sand?
I use backfilters with them for the mechanical filtration.
Wonder why I can go so long in between waterchanges just think of the size of bacteria bed I have.

Thomas it took 6 months for the 125 to fully cycle

[chennes]

Boilermaker - how do you keep the fish from digging down to your UGF and destroying its effectiveness? I got rid of mine after a few months because it was rendered ineffective by my crazy fish! :)

Chris

[thomas]

Alas, it is finally complete. I checked my water the other day and the nitrites had dropped to zero and nitrates were up just a little. I checked it again tonight. Everything's about the same. I traded my unidentified mbuna into the lfs and got three juvenile yellow labs and a med. pleco.

[SGypsyMermaid]

congratulations--have fun stocking it!

[thomas]

Thank you, SGypsy. It will probably be a slow process. But I look forward to learning as much as I can in th meantime.

[Boilermaker]

Chennes, I don't keep to many Mbuna, and some times a little portion gets uncovered but with an established bacteria bed It doesn't do any harm. I would like to do a tank with sand though.

[SGypsyMermaid]

boilermaker--one of the armke's wrote an article about sand substrate undergravel filters. look under articles on that site.