# 13 Gallon Won't Cycle



## cjcalvinmiller (Apr 30, 2016)

Hi guys,

So I have been running a 13 gallon freshwater tank for nearly 5 weeks with 3 platties and a single guppy (made the common mistake of overstocking before understanding nitrogen cycle). I use Seachem Stability as my bacterial booster. I perform daily or bi-daily water changes to keep ammonia under 1ppm. Parameters are as follows:

Ammonia: about 0.5ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: trace amounts from tap
pH: 8
hardness: about 200ppm
Chlorine: 0ppm
*I use API liquid test kits for each of these

I use a power filter that very clearly has bacteria growing on its filter media. It might be just a tad small for this aquarium, but it should suffice (100gph). No live plants; only plastic. I also use API Stress Zyme when doing water changes (along with API tap water conditioner for dechlorination purposes). I am sure to vacuum the substrate to remove detritus when performing water changes, typically cleaning one half of the surface area each time I perform a water change, and then I alternate sides the next water change.

Essentially, I want to know if this is still "normal variance" or if this is starting to get a bit... fishy... in terms of length of time spent stuck without nitrosomonas. Anyone's feedback is highly regarded and desired. Thanks!


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## brads (Mar 23, 2013)

IMHO, I think you are changing the water too often (every day?) and it's interrupts the cycle which then starts over. I'd do water changes every 4-5 days to start and monitor the ammonia level closely.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

The API Liquid Test Kit routinely gives a false positive reading of ~0.25ppm ammonia, no matter how pristine my water is.

I think your rigorous and aggressive cleaning and water changing deserves a medal (seriously, go you!), but at the same time, I think you are stalling the cycle. Try cutting back your water changes to once every 2-3 days, as stated above. You have very hardy fish in there, they can handle slightly elevated ammonia.

Let us know how it goes!


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