Chineseghoststory Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 I have had my nano for two months now and, since the ammonia readings are still high and the nitrite readings are still at zero, I was starting to wonder just WTF was going on. I mean, according to the water tests, this tank was nowhere even close to cycling. Unless there was some elf entering my room at night and putting something in there to mess up the water or severely stall the process then something was up. The guy at the store says I have no nitrites built up in the tank. Thanks Einstein. I then asked why not. He asks if I have a piece of 50 cent synthetic sponge set in the filter unit AFTER the filter itself. I said no. I mean why would I do that? I have never even heard of anyone doing that. He says I need to put one of those in there (he had some of the right kind there for 50 cents) and then go home and wait another.....six.........weeks for the nirifying bacteria to show up in it and start doing their thing. It was just about all I could do to keep the little alien that lives in my head from busting out in an explosion of brains and eyeballs and start gouging this guy's face off. Seriously, I actually thought about punching his face right through the back of his head. It was all I could do to not ask him "Is there any other f'ing thing I am going to have to do over in another six weeks that you didn't bother telling me about?". This advice should have been given to me by someone between the two different LFS's and this forum at some point I have been consulting about all this time. I am not evengoing to get into how ####ed I am that I basically have to wait for the ETERNITY that cycling takes...ALL OVER AGAIN, to finally get things to where they should be. I would be distincly interested in anyone's comments about this, but unless that guy is wrong about needing a sponge, I feel this board as well as everyone else out there I consulted with about setup had left me and any other start-up with some seriously missing information. Unless, that is, anyone else out there has any bright idea as to why the nitrites have failed to make any kind of showing by now. I am starting to really wonder if they'll show up at all and maybe I should have just bought some water from an already cycled aquarium to start with. Do nitrates even really exist? Just what demigod do I have to sacrifice a small hooved animal to to get some going in my tank? I had to change the mechanical filter once but the readings were the same before and then four days afterwards. Anyhow, I since I no longer trust the advice of anyone at just about any LFS, I none the less bought and put in the tank a small camel back shrimp who seems to be doing fine and eating well for the last 6 days, thank you, even though the guy at the LFS basically said the cosmic order of all time, space and creation, as usual, would be thrown into chaos if I did so, blah blah blah... The usual dire warnings, as well as something about the shrimp maybe croaking as well. I already waited six weeks with the intention of at last having a shrimp. I'd like to enjoy seeing him in there while I am still young enough to lean forward in my chair to do so. If anyone else out there has any extremely necessary sage wisdom to pass on this would be a REAL good time to let me in on it please. Unspeakably ####ed off after two months already wasted... Jeff Link to comment
Fant Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 If youv added live rock and or live sand. then youv introduced bacteria and your ammonia should begin to fall. Whos doing the tests you or the lfs? what brand test kits? I would check for funked up readings. A little more about your setup would also be helpful. Link to comment
hhasty79 Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 Sponge? You found another LFS idiot. Ignore him. Listen to us. Yessssss....feel the power of the darrrrk side.... Like Fant said, check your tests. Get a different test kit or go to several stores and have tests done. My tank showed .25 ammonia for 2 months, and I still attribute that to faulty kits. I added my cleanup crew and just took it slow and haven't tested in 8 months now ;-). All is well. Fishies and corals happy. Link to comment
LiQuiD Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 Oh, shoot, we forgot to tell you about the magical 50 cent sponge.........What kind of crap is this guy feeding you. The bacteria is introduced with your LR & LS, you do not need some ponge to introduce bacteria into your tank. All those little holes and such on the rock and the rock itself (the large surface area insinde the tank) is where the bacteria will grow and live, no need for a sponge. I'm with hhasty79, you either have a bad kit, or you are not reading it properly (ammonia that is). You have no nitrites because you have been done cycleing for a long time now. The last post I saw from you had to do with your idiot LFS guys. It is NOT POSSIBLE to have a tank full of LR, LS and critters in it for 2 months and has not started a cycle, dude, your done, no nitrites, probably no nitrates I would assume, and what you believe to be an ammonia reading. The 50 cent sponge for bacteria, now I've heard everything, just burn that place to the ground! Link to comment
cjm033 Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 Unless there was some elf entering my room at night and putting something in there to mess up the water or severely stall the process then something was up. youve never seen those elf's put stuff in your tank before? well here what you do you take a little cage you buy for catching racoons and stuff and then you set it in front of your tank with a fake tank in the bak they wont be able to resist and then SNAP!ya dump him out and then flush it down the toilet or put it in a glass tank bix or cage and keep it as a pet i liek to shoot mine with bb guns in its cage. seriuosly tho your tank should be fine just keep an eye on the shrimp and if its fine you can start adding more stuff, and also like they said before you mite wanna buy a dif test kit than the lfs and ttest it with bith yours and their test kits,Chris Link to comment
Hinecken Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 Hmmmm.......I work at my LFS. We use Hagen test kits for our customer's water. During the months that I have been there, I've dealt with many people that use the same kit and can't seem to read the color chart correctly. More often then not, they are looking at the wrong color chart. The saltwater color chart says that for an ammonia reading of 0, the tinge of the water should be a yellow-green. For freshwater, it should be yellow. Customers would come in all the time complaining that their tank hasn't cycled and low and behold all they needed to do is read the directions over on their kit. Try that, then read the directions on the LFS guy's kit, then check expiration dates. These guys are all absolutely right, if you have LR or LS, you've got bacteria in that tank. No need for mystical sponges or other such magical wizardry. Link to comment
technoshaman Posted January 8, 2003 Share Posted January 8, 2003 I can't help you with the magic sponge I can hook you up with the magic filter elves for a price though. They clean your filter and cobble aquabooties in their free time. Link to comment
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