d0ggiem0mma

I have a 50 gallon tank that is 2 weeks into the cycle. My ammonia is spiking like crazy, the nitrites are just starting to go up. The ammonia in the tank is up to 2ppm, nitrites are only at 0.25.-0.5 and there are 4 bleeding heart tetras and a snail in the tank Here's my question: Should I do a water change for the fish or just let it go? The ammonia has been at 1ppm or higher for 3 days!

susitna-flower

Hi, did you use bio-spira?

If the answer to that is no....then you should start DAILY water changes. Start with 2 X 25% changes.. as long as it stays over 0 you will need to do 25-50 % each day. The ammonia and nitrite that will follow are both toxic to fish, but you have to go through them to feed the bacteria that complete the nitrogen cycle.

When ammonia and nitrite are both back down to 0 and nitrates come up...then just do weekly water changes, or enough to keep nitrates under 20...Good Luck

capekate

Unfortunately when cycling with fish, you have to deal with the ammonia, and nitrate, nitrite spikes. It is so much easier to cycle a tank without fish, where you dont have to worry about the water perimeters. But with that said..
Since you do have fish in the tank, you really should be doing a water change daily.. and one asap for the health of your fish.
Since showing the spike in ammonia, and showing nitrItes now as well, you are on your way to having a cycled tank. Dont worry about loosing any of the beneficial bacteria, as most of it grows in the filter and on your substrate and decorations, plants etc. So its ok to do that water change now. In your 55 gal tank you should do at least a 25-30% water change now, and daily water changes of around 20% til your tank cycles. Suggested amount of water changes varies from member to member, but the most important thing is to do that water change and we can all agree on that at this point.
Good luck with your tank... and keep us posted on the cycle process!

~ kate

capekate

LOL susitna flower...
our posts crossed... but the message is the same!

susitna-flower

Agreed!

d0ggiem0mma

I did use Bio-Spira does that change something?

d0ggiem0mma

Yesterday I did a 50% water change and dosed with Ammo-Lock. The fishes seemed to appreciate it.

Well, today the ammonia dropped down to 1ppm and the nitrites spiked up to 1ppm. The nitrates are rising as well, up to 10ppm. Looks like we're on our way! I dosed with the Ammo-Lock again today so that will help the fish with the ammonia, they'll have to weather the nitrites on their own.

wkinne02

You might consider dosing with 2-3 tsp aquarium salt (1 tsp per 20 gallons) to help the fish deal with the nitrites. When you do water changes, replace only the salt you took out. For example, if you do 30% water change, then you only need to use 30% of the full dose.

Halibut

Ammolock and biospira dont necessarily play well together being as the biospira needs the ammonia to work. My ammonia never went above 1 with the biospira in my 55G and has been at zero for days. Unfortunately now I'm dealing with heavy nitrite as I used other conditioners before using biospira and I added to many fish so now I'm doing water changes to get my nitrite back down below 1. On the plus side with NH3 at 0 my cycle should be done soon.

Ive read a number of times that salt can be harmful to some of the frshwater species I wouldnt use salt in a freshwater tank imo.