A few questions on getting the cycle started

Sorry to have to ask but I figured I figured its better to ask and know instead of guess and be wrong. I think I've pretty much read everything there is to read but like most things, you think you understand everything until you start doing the thing you think you thought you understood and end up not understand a single thing about the whole whatever it was you thought you understood in the first place

As of the last two days I have 0 ammonia and nitrite and 5 nitrate (I'm not really sure about pH, figured I'd just watch it for now - the regular test comes up 7.6 but the high pH says 7.4). All I've done next to turning the tank on was add the AquaSafe day before yesterday (figured our water can't be all that great since we don't even drink the well water anymore) and add a little pinch of food this afternoon (right after I tested though). It may take a few days before things start happening (the ammonia showing up?) but do I continue to add a little bit of food every 12hours or so regardless of what's going on? Its not until after the ammonia and nitrite start showing up and then go back down to 0 that the actual cycling is done and its safe to start adding the fish?

 

During the cycle, you have Ammonia and Nitrite rise, then fall back to 0 again. When the tank is cycled, Ammonia = 0, Nitrite = 0, and Nitrate is showing some number higher than 0. On the API Nitrate test it says that Nitrate of up to 40 ppm is "safe" for fish. But in my opinion, 40 ppm is way too high. I personally never let Nitrate in any of my tanks exceed 20 ppm. I usually have Nitrate ranging from 5 - 10 ppm. But that's me

So anyway, if your Nitrate is very high at the end of the cycle, do a water change to lower it. Then you're ready to start stocking your tank. Remember, stock very gradually because if you add too many fish at once, you may get an Ammonia or Nitrite spike again WHILE you already have fish in your tank!

Good luck

 

Thanks (yet again!). I'm still getting 0 for ammonia and nitrite but nitrate went up to 10ppm. Having the light on with the bubbles is helping me stay patient (the cats will just sit down and watch the bubbles, very cute) but everyone keeps asking me when the fish are moving in

 

LOL, I can imagine how desperately you want the fish by now! I can just imagine you desolately looking at the bubbles, hoping for a time machine!

 

The thing is - I have a few fish in a 10 gallon that are rather impatiently waiting to move into their new tank so they can start making new friends. I have to be patient enough for me AND the fishes now!

 

Yup, patience is everything in this hobby I'd be more than happy to dump my new 4 Harlequin Rasboras in the 75 gallon tank right now with the other 2 Harlequins, so they'd make a beautiful Harlequin school. But, I know that even though the new fish look fine, it's wise to keep them quarantined for about a month. Better to wait and make sure they're healthy, than to be impatient and possibly lose all of your fish (if the new fish are sick, they'll infect all the others).

 

Yeah, its certainly something I have to get use to. Starting to know what's its like for my cats on wet food day (their little weekly treat for not killing anyone - suppose to get it in the morning but its usually the next day heh).

 

I'm not so sure if this is suppose to be happening or not. Ammonia and nitrite have been at 0 since the 8th. Nitrate stayed at 5 but has been at 10 since the 11th. Did I miss something or do I need to just keep waiting for the ammonia to show up? My father suggested adding some water from the 10 gallon which sounds like a good idea but since I don't fully understand what's going on I wasn't sure.

 

If your ammonia and nitrite are both at 0, and nitrate is showing, that looks like your tank is cycled. Well, how long have you been cycling it so far? If it's less than 2 - 3 weeks, it's not likely that it cycled that fast, so I'd keep watching for ammonia and nitrite for a bit longer, just in case.

How are you cycling your tank? Adding any ammonia or fish food to feed the tank?

 

It hasn't even been a week yet. I set everything up late last Friday and used Saturday to get my heater right (so it wouldn't get too warm with the light on or too cold at night with the windows in the other room open) I did a quick test which was 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 5 nitrate. It wasn't until the 9th that I started adding a little bit of food about every 12 hours.

Everything I've read has lead me to believe it would be at least two weeks so I'm a little confused on things. I knew from the start I'd have a hard time waiting but understanding exactly why I'm waiting does help, a LOT.

AquaSafe wouldn't really make any differant when it comes to the actual cycle, would it - its more just for making tap water a little safer and help with slime coat?

 

I would test a sample of your tap water to see if it already has nitrate in it.

 

Never thought to test the water, came out as 5ppm - thank you very much!

I picked up I think they're called crisps? They're all the same size for a bit more consistency for feeding. They're also suppose to have less waste than the flakes and help in the development of natural colors. And some tablets designs for bottom dwellers. Figured it wouldn't hurt to try them since I really don't like the flakes and the girl I've been talking to at petsmart has been very helpful in the past recommends them. I went ahead and used the crisps and a tablet (again, being impatient it was fun watching the tablet break up ^^; heh)

Ammonia is right inbetween .25 and .50 now! Nitrite still at 0 and nitrate at 10.

Oh. My ph has been coming out at 7.6 and 7.8 but my father's tank has always been at 6. Is there any way to lower my ph a bit so its not as low at 6 but still low enough that its not going to be too much of a shock when it comes time to move my tetra, zebra and cory over? (I'm assuming the best way to move them is how I would acclimate a new fish.)

 

I would not suggest trying to change your pH. It is much less problematic to leave it at whatever it naturally is and let the fish get used to it than it is to change it and then try to maintain that change without yo-yoing up and down. If you acclimate the fish slowly, as you would from the fish store (float for temp, then add 1/2 cup from tank every 10 minutes for 1 hour) you should not have any problems.

 

Eep, I wasn't aware it would be more trouble than its worth. Thank you! Off to go test and read up on betta (I broke - figured since I finally realized its not reasonable for me to look for another 20g+ I would reward myself with a 5 gallon heh).

 

HI Raine,I've been feeding my 55 gallon since the 26th of August and didn't get any ammonia at all.So on Friday I got a raw jumbo shrimp and put it in my tank and just tested my water.I got 4.0 ammonia,.10 nitrite and 5.0 nitrate FINALLY....lol.Maybe you wanna give it a try,it doesn't look as messy as the flakes and algee wafers I put in,but that might change I don't know.

Susanne

 

Trust me, I'm never using flakes again. Once I'm done rearranging the stuff in my 5 gallon I'll try the shimp (just hopefully it doesn't smell too much, tank is just a few feet from my bed heh).

I couldn't stand how my tank was looking so I went ahead and cleaned it up. Took out about 10 gallon to add some new water and the water my father took out of the 10 gallon for his water change (50% so he'd have an easier time cleaning). Ammonia is back to 0 after getting up to 1, don't think I ever saw nitrites and nitrates are at 15 (I don't have my log with me at the moment). Really want to move them over but I'm going to wait til my readings stay the same for another week.

Now, after I move the three from the 10 gallon to my 22g - its safe to add new fish to the 10g, right? I mean, the water is pretty much perfect and thereisn't anything wrong with the fish in there now. Just thinking that pair of dwarf gouramis I wanted would look nice in there.

 

I'm sitting next to my tank and the shrimp doesn't make it smell....lol. As of now my Ammonia is going back down(it was at 8ppm) and is 3ppm and my Nitrites are at 5ppm and Nitrates at 10ppm.I think the shrimp is working for me and I wish I didn't use the fish food cause it doesn't look pretty.And I bet it's gonna be a pain to clean it all up....should have done it before I put the shrimp in...lol.

Susanne

 

But what sort of shrimp do you put in the tank? (I presume dead shrimp that's sold as food in the supermarket?). Doesn't that leave white stuff all over the tank after a week? I'd love to find something that doesn't and if shrink is that, great stuff!

 

It is a raw jumbo shrimp that I got at walmart(dead).And no it doesn't leave anything in the tank at all or smells bad.Now the food on the other hand left all kinds of white fuzzy stuff in the tank and doesn't work as fast as the shrimp does(atleast for me).It took a week for the Ammonia and Nitrites to peek and now go back down which is a little slower then the going up.But so far it's working.


Susanne