newfishlover

so my tank has been set up now with all my fish for 8 days now. i didn't know about the cycle before hand. all my fish are happy and healthy. i did add plants(fake) from my ten gallon tank that i had two of my fish in before, did this possibly help my tank? I also bought real plants(4) i have heard that they help.do i need to be over worried if my fish are all doing good, since i have test strips that i hear are bad? i also used jungle start right with allantoin complete water conditioner when i filled the tank.I know i didn't do everything by the book but my fish are doing good.

sirdarksol

The plants will have helped move the cycle along, but it will still take awhile. In the article on the nitrogen cycle, there was information about doing daily water changes to help your fish get through it. This is the single best way to help fish survive the nitrogen cycle.
I lost a fish to ammonia poisoning two to three weeks after I started my first tank (I didn't know about the cycle at the tiem), so it's best not to assume that everything is fine because nothing bad has happened yet.

Toxic

Get you a test kit, API is the best that I have seen, test your ammonia daily, do 50% water changes with prime declorinator, this detoxifies the ammonia for 24 hours. when you see your amonia go to 0 PPM and your nitrites 0 ppm, with 10 to 20 nitrates, its cycled. just remember that ammonia is highly toxic to your fish.

newfishlover

thank u, im gonna do a water change thanks again.

docjr03

You said you brought plants over from another tank- would it be possible to bring the filter media over? That would help the most (assuming that tank was cycled).

newfishlover

that tank was never cycled, but my albino frog doesn't mind. i did just go to the store and bought api stress zyme+ biological filtration booster -says it helps to eliminate ammonia and nitrite and contains live bacteria.

Angela_96

That chemical is one of those that if you use it you will have to continue for a long time.
I would just go w the water testing, and daily waterchanges until its cycled.

NUMB3RS

I would just wait and hope your fish are doing fine good luck!