bumpylemon

Ok lets see. i decided to setup my 15 gallon tank again...so i dug it out...filled it with water....i used the substrate thats been in there for years...(granted the bacteria is most likely dead)...anyway at first i just wanted crays...so i went out and got 3....and of course just threw them in....a week later i wanted fish...so thats what i did. (yea i didnt properly cycle...cuz I NEVER KNEW I HAD TOO) so now its been a couple of weeks....i did brin my water in like 3 days ago and said i was high (i thought i was overfeeding) so i did like a 90% water change. the guy told me thats what i should do...so i did that...

well i wanted to get a bigger tank so i could separate diff species..went out and got a 29 and set it up last night. i took a lot of plants and caves from the 15 and took a bunch of substrate and have it hanging in the tank as well. i also threw in a good amount of pond snails (thinking that would help with the cycling) so i guess my question is what do i now do? the fish all look great and are doing well. ill give you the breakdown...

2 rainbow sharks (an issue)
3 dwarf puffers
3 crayfish
3 Cories
4 Otco cats
2 Apple Snails
6 Ghost Shrimp
2 Dwarf Gouramis


so now that i have educated myself....and learned about cycling.... i realize that my 15 prob didnt cycle and my new 29 isnt cycled....well the wife wants me to split teh tanks up and says "fish are fish and no one i knew EVER cycled and their fish were fine..." so my thing is should i just seperate the fish now cuz whats done is done or what? what can i do to speed up the process..all my levels are good. HELP ME>>>>

lilsoccakid

welcome to fishlore, im glad u found us.

to be completly honest, you really need to bring back every fish possible to the fish store, because you have some serious problems down the road if u dont.

dwarf puffers and crayfish should have a tank to themselves, because they are very aggressive. those would be the fish that DEFFINETLY need to go back

if you cant get rid of any, i would condition the water with a product that neutralizes ammonia like PRIME, and be doing AT LEAST 40% daily water changes.

if you can find bio spira, a product that instantly cycles tanks, i would purchase it and add it to both tanks

good luck! take back wat fish you can (hopefully all), keep up daily water changes, and READ READ READ!

bumpylemon

ya thats why i got 2 tanks...to separate certain species. but the fish getting along with eachother is NOT the issue yet anyway...they are not fighting at all..

bumpylemon

so with all these fish in there how long will it take to cycle if it hasnt already?

Lucy

lilsoccakid gave you some good advice.

The only true way to tell if your tank has cycled would be to test the water. When your readings are 0 for both ammonia and nitrIte and showing some 5-20 nitrates your tank is cycled.

Most here recommend the API master kit, it's very reliable, Please save your money and avoid the strips.

Good luck with your tank.

Edit: Welcome to Fish Lore!

sirdarksol

Welcome to Fishlore. Good advice above. The crayfish will likely get violent (and aside from that, will get huge and pollute the tank). The puffers will get violent, including amongst themselves, and I would give them a good shot at killing the crayfish, given time. (Yes, they're small, but they have one of the most vicious bites among freshwater fish. They've been known to take bites out of giant fish when they're hungry)

As far as when the tank will cycle, it depends. We've had people who have done everything right, it seems, and their tank didn't cycle for two months. Likewise, there have been people who have done nearly everything wrong and their tank has cycled in two weeks. With aquariums, there are so many variables, like how much of the nitrifying bacteria is in your water supply, or spores in the air, or however the stuff gets in the tank, water parameters, etc... that we can't predict anything, just give generalized answers.

Evelyn1919

great advice.

just wanted to add that if you use biospira it is recommeded not to use it with prime. just use some other water conditioner that won't affect the ammonia in your tank.

oh and WELCOME to fishlore!

**good luck**

COBettaCouple

Welcome to Fishlore.

bumpylemon

yes i know what fish get along with each..thats why i got the other tank

i just did an ammonia test and my ammonia is at 0... whats that mean?

lilsoccakid

even with 2 tanks you cant separate all of the species needed.

Lucy

It means at the very least, your fish are not being poisened by ammonia.

If you're wondering where you are in the cycle, it depends on what your nitrite and nitrate readings are.

steveangela1

I completely know where you are coming from I kept fish for years and it wasn't until I got completly obsessed that I found out about the nitrogen cycle after reading books upon books on tanks. I thought all there was to setting up a tank was gravel a filter and fish... at least I did water changes and vaccumed the tank once a week. I had high fish loss the first time I set the tank up and I couldn't figure it out when my 2 year old was into fish and I said I would get him some fish... so I got curious and read.... its turned into a HUGE hobby.....

-Testing a tank that you first set up your ammonia and nitrite will be -0- for a few days then slowly peak, then go back down to -0- again... thats when your nitrates will rise...

I am cycling a 5g right now (betta tank)
However I have filter media from well established tanks in the filter, and hopefully when I do some testing the next few days it will be ok... (speeding up the cycle)

Its easier on your fishes health to do a fish free cycle.

BTW on the dwarf puffers, watch them for fin nipping.. they can be nasty buggers.. also make sure you feed them snails they have to have them.

bumpylemon

thanks for the info. ya i know about the snails. i have a snail tank for breeding. they have been eating them.