Mystic54

So I've had this tank set up for about 3 weeks now. We had the platies in a 10 gallon tank before and decided to upgrade. We added about half of the gravel from the 10 gallon, some of the plastic plants, and the filter/filter media. The filter media was just changed a week before we transfered it to the 20 gallon though. The 10 gallon tank was fully cycled for a few months.
Well now I can't seem to get the ammonia any lower than about .15
I say .15 because its not quite to the .25 mark. The highest it has gotten was .50
Nitrites are 0
Nitrates are 0
pH 7.0
We've been doing water changes once a week because I didn't want to disrupt the cycle but should I start doing them more frequently to get them down to 0?

kimb

I think you should be doing them daily for the sake of the fish. Any level of ammonia is unsafe. If you have no nitrites and no nitrates, you may well be starting your cycle all over. When changing out filter media, it is best to adld new filter while old one is still in place, let it sit for at least 2 weeks then tlhrow out the old. The old ones are good until they are totally falling apart. If they are dirty, simply swish them in tank water when doing water changes. Good luck with everything

Shawnie

+2 you probably lost your major bacteria when you changed the filter and the platies were too much to keep the cycle going with just the gravel and plants...as well as you went up to a bigger size tank so the cycle crashed...

if you can find some tetra safestart, that will help allot and cycle you within 7-10 days but otherwise, as kim said, daily partial water changes with either some prime, amquel + or ammo lock is needed....

aquarist48

Good morning. I agree with Kimb. I seeded my 26g tank with filter media and gravel from my established tank. Added 2 fish. Once I started getting ammonia readings I did 30 to 50% daily water changes and added some Amquel + to detoxify (not remove it) the ammoina for a 24 hour period until it was time for the next water change. Even though I added the Amquel + I still got readings of ammonia. My tank cycled in 15 days.
Best of luck!

Mystic54

ThAnks everyone! I will get some of the tetra safe at petco today and start water changes daily. Some where a while ago I read that your suppose to do water changes once a week when establishing a new tank as to not distrupt the cycle. I'm glad I looked to an actually forum to get my answers because that site was completely wrong!!

Lucy

I don't think they sell Tetra SafeStart at petco. You might have better luck finding it at a fish store.

Mystic54

I just grabbed some Prime instead. So I use that every 24 hours and do daily water changes. How will I know that my tank is cycling if he prime takes away the ammonia??

Lucy

The test will read the ammonia. Prime isn't removing it just detoxing it, making it safer for your fish.
You don't want to completely remove the ammonia otherwise the bacteria will starve.
With the water changes you're trying keep the ammonia low for the sake of your fish.

Mystic54

Oh alright, I got it. Do you know how long it will take to cycle completely?
I didn't even know .25 or even lower than that ammonia reading could be harmful to my fish until I started browsing around on here. Thank godness all my fish still look to be in good health.

Lucy

It can take up to a month to cycle. There's really no set time.
Have patience and good luck.