jchico1977

Good day to all,

Ok so here is my problem I have a 30 gallon tank that is about 3 and a half weeks old. 7 GLO Zebras, 1 I think it’s called a black tail shark, 2 tetras, i1 clown loach, 1 gorame I think. Ok a aqua clear 300 filter with a sponge media, ammonia remover media, bio-max media which has been running now for about 1 and a half out of 3. When I first set up the tank I had a 20 gallon bio-wheel filter. Ok about 3 days ago I added DR.TIMS bacteria (this is supposedly the creator of bio-sphira on the day I added DR.TIMS my readings according to my API master kit were pH=7.2, NH4=1.0 N03=0, N02=0 OK yesterday on turkey day I took some more readings and they were as following, ph=7.6, NH4=2.0 N03=0, N02=0. AHHH so I’m so confused my tank has been up for about 3 and a half weeks and I seem to be stuck in the beginning of the cycle. WHAT DO I DO? I use to do a water changes every days 10 percent but I was told by my fish guy that I should not change the water until the cycle starts. Oh yeah I failed to mention that my water has been cloudy now for about 3 weeks. PLEASE HELP WHAT AM I DOING WRONG

Shawnie

the cloudyness is a bacteria bloom and will go away on its own....at this point, I would get some prime and do DAILY water changes of at least 30-50 % until the cycle is complete...dr tims has failed members and the only thing we have seen that works well is tetra safestart (which is what replaced bio spira not dr tims) ...goodluck!

mathas

Since Shawnie has you covered on the water chemistry, I'll point out one thing with your stocking that you need to be aware of... namely, that your clown loach is going to get far, far too large for a 30 gallon tank.

If you don't have a much larger tank coming soon, you may want to think about returning the loach or finding it a new home, as it will get stressed and/or stunted very soon as it starts to grow. Read this guide if you want a better understanding of their needs, including their need for more of their own kind.

I bring this up not just for the loach's sake, but also because large fish in a small tank pollute the water very quickly... you'll just run into more ammonia/nitrite issues down the line once the loach starts growing.

Lucy

Looks like everyone has you covered,
The instructions on Dr Tim's say to add it with every water change.
It sounds a lot like cycle, which we know hasn't worked for our members.
Once your tank is establised there shouldn't be any reason to have to add additional bacteria to keep the cycle going.