brawlymcknuckles

So after my last fish kicked it, I decided to start my cycle again. I wasn't convinced of the LFS test on my nitrates so I finally purchased my own test kit. My suspicions were confimed my nitrates were at zero.

To start the cycle I spiked my ammonia by adding a bunch of food to the tank inside a nylon pouch. I woke up the next day to ammonia levels around 3ppm and some majorly cloudy water which I assume to be bacteria bloom.

I was wondering a few things because I really really want to get this right this time.

Tank params
- 10G slightly brackish tank
- Temp 85F
- Ammonia 3 PPM
- Nitrites (somewhere between 0.01 and 0.25)

Assuming this is bacteria bloom and my ammonia levels being as high as they are:
- should I avoid water changes until I start seeing significant nitrites/nitrates?
- should I continue to feed the tank daily?
- Can I also assume that high ammonia levels will kill all bad things in my tank (specifically parasites like ICH, as per my early posts I had a major ich outbreak)

Am i heading in the right direction here?

Thanks again to all that have helped in the past, you are all a HUGE help to new aquarists like myself.

Shawnie

going fishless you dont need to do any water changes until the cycle is completed...when you have 0 ammonia and nitrites and high nitrates is when the water change is needed..yes you need to feed the tank daily to keep the ammonia up .....high ammonia per say wont kill the disease but being without a live host for 2 weeks will kill them...goodluck!!

Lucy

I'm really sorry you lost all your fish. That really stinks.

1) As long as there aren't fish in the tank you don't have to change your water until the cycle finishes.
2) You can or you can wait until the ammonia drops to 0 then add more.
3) As you may know, plenty of fish get ill when there's ammonia in the tank. For the ich, the raised temp will take care of any spores in the gravel. I'm pretty sure it needs a host otherwise it will die off.
I'm not sure about the parasites.

Good luck with your cycle.

Shawnie!

brawlymcknuckles

Excellent. Fishless cycle is so much easier. I wish I hadn't listened to my LFS and did this right from the start. Oh well live and learn.

Just out of curiosity, how long does bacteria bloom cloud the tank?

Thanks for the info.

Shawnie

days to weeks..no one can ever guess..but you are well on your way with a nitrite reading already..any nitrates yet?

brawlymcknuckles

Nothing yet. I will test nitrates again this evening. In a way it was sort of a relief to be able to start my cycle over and do it right this time. It was just as much stress on me as it was the fish trying to play catch-up in a tank not completely cycled

Shawnie

crank that heater up to 86 ..higher temps makes it go faster..and other than that, patience which Im sure you know all about now!!!