zowie717

i understand the cycle now, not when i got the tank and fish. I did what petsmart told me to do which was let the tank run for 24 hours then come back and get fish. after realzing things were wrong and doing my own research i learned about the cycling. and of course i complained to petsmart for the lack of info as i asked and asked question, but i guess i didnt ask enought or the right questions. so for the past 3 weeks i have been trying to get things correct or better as all but 2 fish have died. when i went to the aquarium store i spend alot of time with them and explained everything. she said to use the safe start in all my tanks now and not to medicate anymore. she said to wait about 2 weeks then i could get new fish and quarintine them. she told me to continue with my water changes and observations of fish.
though the one thing i noticed was that after adding the safe start (by tetra) that my 10 gallon is no ammonia, my 3 gallon is no ammonia, but my 26 gallon still has the higher level. it looks like a 1.0 , maybe a .5 . i would of thought by now that this would have started to come down since it has been a month since i have had the tank.

zowie717

i asked about prime, no one around here knows about the product. i tried to use ammonia clear from top fin, but that did not reduce it at all. i dont want to hurt my last 2 fish... but dont want to keep putting more and more in the tank....

Nick G

Don't be too hard on yourself, everyone makes mistakes when first starting out and your doing your best to get it right!

zowie717

Thank you for that, I am trying ; )

Drew 43920

I did not say he made a mistake.
But, if no one mentioned it how would he know he made a mistake ?

zowie717

okay, i found the prime today..yeah! i am doing my water changes daily... ammonia levels still high, but i put the prime in just a little bit ago with the water change. also my betta seem happy with his new tank and decorations that give him plenty of hiding spots... so my question with the betta tank..the store said i could put in 2 little fish (some type of catfish she told me, but they dont look like catfish) with him. when should i do this? and i am doing my gravel vacuums daily with the water changes in my main tank (26gal) and it is never ending stuff i am sucking up. I have not feed them for a couple days like the store said becasue she thought i might of orginaly overfed them in the begining. she also told me that my algea eater should only be getting a wafter every other day or every 2 days, becasue he is eating on the tank.. which he is constantly somewhere eating.... : ) .
thanks again to everyone to educate me and help me with this.......wonderful! i am going to get pictures up today!

zowie717

the prime i put in did not do anythign with the ammonia levels..... what should I do?

Dozey

Ammonia levels will be present using Prime. Prime simply detoxifies ammonia so it’s safe for your fish but the detoxified ammonia is still viable food to the bacteria in your media.

You will see ammonia readings using Prime. But if you add it daily the ammonia will be non-toxic to your fish.

Mike19

Dozey was spot on with his post, keep doing daily water changes until ammonia is no longer present in your tank.

what was your test reading for ammonia and also how much water do you remove after each water change (i.e 10%, 25% ect).

Drew 43920

There is a great Aquarium Club in Pittsburgh Go Steelers !

http://www.gpasi.org/

zowie717

I usually do about a 20 percent change. 26 gallon tank, use a 5 gallon bucket to change out. thanks about the prime, i didnt know it will still show readings. i thought my tank would of started to cycle by now.

and thanks for the club! Pittsburgh rocks!

zowie717

my tank still has not leveled off .......... isnt this odd for how long i have had the tank?

Mike19

which tank are you talking about the 3 weeks old or 7 months tank, also what hasn't leveled off can you post water parameters.

Shawnie

once you added the safestart, you arent suppose to do water changes for 7 days to let the bacteria do its job...patience is something the fish store wont sell you ...give it time as cycling with fish takes weeks..you are on the right track ...and if its past the 7 days since adding the safestart, do the water changes with prime if you still have ammonia or nitrites ...goodluck!

Red1313

Shawnie I was about to ask that
When did you add the safe-start? Once you add it walk away from your tank, no testing no water changes, just feed and watch your fish. 7 days after adding it do a test and depending on you're readings a water change as well. What type of filter do you have on your tank? Is is a cartridge type?

zowie717

oh boy, well i added the safe start about 2 weeks ago, i am talking about my new tank that i got in decemeber. today was the first sign that ammonia levels were showing safe, because i have been in alert mode forever. my nitrates,nitrites are still low.. like .05 and maybe 20ppm. i didnt know that i was not to do water changes. So, my question is.. should i get more safe start and do it again? and also when i do water changes, am i suppose to add in the prime along with the water conditioner? I use tetra safe water conditioner and i have been using that for the water changes and then when the ammonia high i put in prime directly into the tank. I havent put anything in the tank for about 4 days and today was the first water change i did in couple days.

zowie717

i also have a filter that hangs on the back, waterfall type one. the cartridge is one that slides out and then you pull out the filter. I dont know how often to replace these, as i heard that has bacteria in it that is suppose to be good for the tank. I was concerned initially because i had sick fish, that of course died and only 2 made it through, so i thought abuot putting in a new filter. I did remove the filter when treating the tank.

agabr123

generally you shouldn't replace your filter cartridge unless it's absolutely falling apart. when that happens, keep the old filter media and run the old media and the new media together for about a month to make sure that enough bacteria has built up on the new media to not send you into a new cycle or mini-cycle.

NUMB3RS

Sorry about the death of your fish

zowie717

okay well after all of this, and my tank was showing cycled, up out of nowhere, my pink gourami died, found him stuck to the filter. So now what? my tank has been good for 3 weeks now and everyone was fine. why did this happen? what do i need to do. I only have the pleco left, but i have had 2 dwarf gourmais in QT for 2 weeks now and I was going to move them in to main tank, but now afraid too.