Dana

I have a 10 gallon tank, only about a week old, but I put fish in it already (prior to finding out about the nitrogen cycle). One blue gourami, one flame tetra and one guppy. After testing and discovering dangerous amounts of ammonia (as high as the chart on the test kit goes ? 6 PPM, or is it 0.6?) I did a water change of about 25% yesterday. Planned to test again after work today, but last night my guppy was going nuts, swimming up and down in the tank like his tail was on fire. I remembered reading something about darting around being a symptom of distress, so I checked him out and his gill area was kind of red (ammonia poisoning?). So, it being 9 p.m., I sped to Wal-Mart (yes, I know, but bear with me, I live in the sticks) and looked for anything I could find to neutralize ammonia in my tank. Ended up getting a product called "Cycle," which supposedly helps with high ammonia levels. Poured some in. Guppy was still alive this morning and was not sprinting any more. I'll be doing another water change after work and testing again. Is there anything else I can do while my tank cycles to minimize the effects of the ammonia on my fish? I'm already reducing their feeding to once a day, and I plan to do daily or every-two-day changes. As I say, I live in a sparsely populated area, so I don't have easy access to a fish store and top of the line products such as Prime (which everybody seems to recommend). I really just need some suggestions for getting these three guys through until the cycle is finished. ? Thanks.

M

Dana,

First, let me welcome you! I started out like you adding frogs to a tank that hadn't cycled and I have received the best information from the people on this site.
So about the ammonia/cycling, I would recommend a 50% water change (WC) today and then do water changes once a week (or more dependent on testing.) If your ammonia is off the chart and you do a WC of 25%---you only removed 3G of the toxic water. I would do a 50% today, just to get the majority of the ammonia out. What type of tests are you using? Most people here love the API Master Test kit and with good reason---they are very dependable and test for most of your major concerns: ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, pH. I would also recommend you keep a log of your test results, so you can see where you are and if need be, post them when you have a question.
Last but not least, be patient. Since you are cycling with fish and having to do water changes, cycling will take longer, but it will certainly be worth it once you have cycled and your fish and tank are "healthy".
I 'm sure you will get plenty of helpful responses, but I thought I would get the ball rolling......

Wish you lots of luck!

-M

Dana

Thanks for the help. This is a pretty sweet forum, and I've learned a lot already (unfortunately, not quite soon enough). I'll follow your advice about the 50% change when I get home in a couple hours. The test kits I'm using are the strip type, although I subsequently learned that they are not the most accurate variety. By the way, how big of a water change would require you to remove the fish first?

armadillo

Well I guess my fish would start feeling really freaked out if there was only 10cm of water or something.

COBettaCouple

welcome to fishlore Dana!

We've not had a selection in our little town either and do most of our supplies buying from an online store that i'll be including links from:

For treating your tap water, Prime: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+112994 will help protect your fish from the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.

For testing: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113074 is the most accurate testing.

I'd not use the cycle, it will put your tank into a series of mini-cycles and not allow it to really cycle. Just doing water changes and keeping the levels down while using Prime should minimize the effects cycling has on the fish. We've done 75-80% changes on the water without taking the fish out, but you want to have enough water for them to swim around with some 'head room'.

While you're at the DFS website, browse around - they have SO much stuff! it's like christmas for pets!