shellbell4ever

I'm not sure if I'm susposto be vacuuming when I do my water changes,my tanks just 3 weeks old...am i removing my new good bacteria? My amonia is spiking is this normal?

sgould

My preference is to not vacume until the cycle is complete. An ammonia spike is definately normal, and will be followed by a nitrite spike. When both have finished their spike and returned to 0, the cycle is complete, which is when vacuming can start. Vac about 1/2 the tank per water change. Are you cycling with or without fish? If without, do not do any water changes at all until the cycle is done. If with...keep up the water changes to keep the fish safe.

shellbell4ever

With Fish... they were free,I have 5 guppy's 1 medium size and 4 small not fry but small,I have been doing weekly water changes with some vacuuming I didn't know I wasn't susposto,there all doing well I think...I noticed my nitrites are coming up as well now ...so am I right in it's doing what it's susposto be doing?
Thanks for the quick reply..I am still learning

sgould

Yep, sounds like your cycle is proceeding normally. With fish in the tank, keep a close eye on those ammonia and nitrite readings...you may need to be doing water changes more frequently...possibly every day to 2 days. How high are the readings spiking?

shellbell4ever

Thanks
ammonia .5-1
nitrite .25
pH 7.5
My levels are just under the mark if you know what I mean...like on the color chart... it's not quite at those readings but almost.
Thanks again... I will watch my numbers and do more frequent water changes with just a little vacuuming
During the cycle process how high is normal for my ammonia?and do I need a nitrate test kit as well?Theres not one in my test kit only nitrite?

Halibut

The master kit comes with all 4 tests ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/ph and 4 test tubes. That is what I have and what the more experienced people here suggest.

sirdarksol

Nitrate, in my opinion, would be the least important to watch for. If you go through an ammonia spike and a nitrite spike, then both go away and you still have fish in the tank, you likely have a completed cycle. Better to be sure, but if you can't afford the last test, nitrate isn't a huge deal.

My take on vacuuming is this: If there are fish in the tank, my #1 concern is not about speeding the cycle up, it's about keeping the fish alive and happy. I do my best to keep ammonia levels at near zero, even if this means I've got to go longer through the cycle. Vacuuming removes excess waste/food, and therefore helps keep ammonia levels lower in the aquarium. This can slow the cycle down a bit, because it's constantly removing bacteria food. However, contrary to popular belief, it's not removing all that much bacteria, as the nitrifying bacteria are not free-floating. They attach themselves to stuff like the gravel. So the waste, which isn't attached, gets pulled out, but most of the bacteria that you want are stuck on the rocks, and will end up staying put.

shellbell4ever

Thanks for all the great advise ..I want what's best for my Guppy gals
I will keep an eye on things and say a little prayer that they'll be ok

shellbell4ever

A quick question...when filling your test tubes with water where should you get the water from... top?bottom?middle? does it matter?And My ammonia is going down YEAH!!!

susitna-flower

I just hold the tube under the flow of water coming out of the syphon tube, test it and go about the water change.

I do not agree by the way with two statements above.

#1....I don't feel vacuuming the gravel is a problem during the cycle. Most bacteria won't be dislodged by simple vacuuming. It IS a problem to scrub decorations, or change filter media however.

#2....The API Master test kit is what is most recommended here. The NITRATE test is just as important as ammonia and nitrite, because you won't truly know if the cycle is complete until the nitrate goes up......then after the cycle is complete, nitrate should be tested every week, to determine how much water to change every week!

sirdarksol

I was only talking about vacuuming. I agree that you shouldn't scrub anything, and would never suggest changing the filter media (especially since I almost never change my media. I only have biological filtration running in my filters, so I just swish it out periodically)

susitna-flower

I was not referring to you in my statement about vacuuming. If you will notice sgould mentioned not vacuuming.

sirdarksol

Sorry. I was thinking you were posting number one as the statement you disagreed with.