Did my tank cycle or is the biofiliter dead?

History:

After 6 weeks of trying to get my tank to finish cycling I was at no
ammonia, but off the charts in nitrates and nitrites for nearly 3
weeks. Algea growth was starting to get sizable so I added a pleco
who quickly went to work.

Unfortunately, I think he brought an ich outbreak with him. Within 7
days 75% of my stock was dead. Devil-be-damned, I took an agreesive
approach to getting the water in order:

1) Ich Rid
2) Aquarium Salt
3) Melafix (nearly everyone was showing signs of fin rot)
4) Amquel

I added the Amquel to bring the nitrates and nitrites down and after
three applications over three days, those numbers finally dropped.

Now I'm a week without death and five days with no sign of ich. The
fish are happier looking and the water is clear to the eye.

___________________________
Situation:
Ammonia is spiking (~4.0 ppm) while feeding is very nominal. Nitrites
are non-existent. Nitrates about 15-20ppm. Temps are ~81; Ph ~7.0.
It seems like the tank is trying to start cycling again...is that
likely the case? If I've killed my bio agents, does this mean my
biowheel is dead and needs to be replaced?

Thanks!

"A. Scott" wrote in message
...
History:
Situation:
Ammonia is spiking (~4.0 ppm) while feeding is very nominal. Nitrites
are non-existent. Nitrates about 15-20ppm. Temps are ~81; Ph ~7.0.
It seems like the tank is trying to start cycling again...is that
likely the case? If I've killed my bio agents, does this mean my
biowheel is dead and needs to be replaced?



Never replace a bio-wheel unless it is physically broken.
It sounds like your tank is in the middle of the cycle to me. Do daily water
changes to keep the poisons down and keep monitoring levels. When ammonia
and nitrite have been zero for more than a day or so, you're cycled.

b

I recently read an article where they talked about cycling a 150gal tank in
3-4 days by adding septic tank bacteria powder to speed up the cycle.
FISHLESS cycle of course. Anybody ever tried this?

Never replace a bio-wheel unless it is physically broken.
It sounds like your tank is in the middle of the cycle to me. Do daily
water
changes to keep the poisons down and keep monitoring levels. When ammonia
and nitrite have been zero for more than a day or so, you're cycled.

"Craig Williams" wrote in message
.. .
I recently read an article where they talked about cycling a 150gal tank
in
3-4 days by adding septic tank bacteria powder to speed up the cycle.
FISHLESS cycle of course. Anybody ever tried this?



Wow...if you can find anything more on this...share!

billy

"TYNK 7" wrote in message
Actually, there has been research on it, and the actual bacteria has been
found.
http://www.marineland.com/science/nspira.html

I would like to add parenthetically that there papers
meet the gold standard of research--they are in a real
peer-reviewed journal published by the American
Society for Microbiology.

-coelacanth

"coelacanth" wrote in message
. com...

"TYNK 7" wrote in message
Actually, there has been research on it, and the actual bacteria has
been
found.
http://www.marineland.com/science/nspira.html

I would like to add parenthetically that there papers
meet the gold standard of research--they are in a real
peer-reviewed journal published by the American
Society for Microbiology.

-coelacanth

The bio-spira worked for me in my 29 gal that was maxed out with nitrites
for 3 weeks,24 hrs. after the bio-spira almost all was gone. Just used 2oz.
in my new 55 gal last weds. and it cycled in less than 24hrs. Good stuff !!

Larry

Subject: Did my tank cycle or is the biofiliter dead?
From: "lonerider"
Date: 2/25/2004 6:37 PM Central Standard Time
Message-id:


"coelacanth" wrote in message
.com...

"TYNK 7" wrote in message
Actually, there has been research on it, and the actual bacteria has
been
found.
http://www.marineland.com/science/nspira.html

I would like to add parenthetically that there papers
meet the gold standard of research--they are in a real
peer-reviewed journal published by the American
Society for Microbiology.

-coelacanth

The bio-spira worked for me in my 29 gal that was maxed out with nitrites
for 3 weeks,24 hrs. after the bio-spira almost all was gone. Just used 2oz.
in my new 55 gal last weds. and it cycled in less than 24hrs. Good stuff !!

Larry


I truly believe it WILL change the hobby.
All the newbies to it won't even know how good they have it because of this
stuff.
The ones that have been in the hobby for years have trouble trusting it, as I
did until I used it 3 times.