Cycling With Cories

Hello So basically what happened was, I was (fishless) cycling my 29 with Dr. Tim's One and Only and Ammonia when I impulsed a purchase at my LFS. I came home with 6 emerald Cories a couple of days before the cycle was to be "complete". Long story short, the 6 Cories weren't doing well in the 2 gallon bucket I had them in, so I ended up adding them into the 29. I had a new bottle of Tetra SafeStart Plus, so I was adding in 1 tsp per 10 gallons, with Prime. The next day, after noticing the Cories were glass surfing non-stop, I started doing some research. You cannot use the 2 products simultaneously so I spazzed and did a 50+% water change. I then began dosing only Prime. A day and a half later, I started adding Stability into the mix, per directions. I now have been using only Stability and Prime, and only doing one water change (3 gallons exchanged) during this process. At this point, my ammonia is at 2 PPM. Nitrites 0 PPM. Nitrates 20 PPM. And PH 6 PPM. I dosed the tank with baking soda @1 tsp per 5 gallons, going about 1/2 tsp less than recommended dose, bringing the PH to 7.4. The Cories have since simmered down. I also have a bubble wall going. All seems better, except I'm thinking my ammonia spike is due to a Cory missing, and possibly dead. I cannot, for the life of me, find this little sucker anywhere. Any and all suggestions and input graciously accepted I also have 5 baby horned Nerites awaiting the new build patiently, in the same 2 gallon bucket. I want to temp add them into my 12, but I have 2 Assassins in there and am worried because they are small!

 

Poor corys. Just keep doing water changes and hope for the best.

 

Poor corys. Just keep doing water changes and hope for the best.

Well yes but stability says don’t do water changes for 7 days to help the beneficial bacteria set up shop. I’m watching closely.

 

Any and all suggestions and input graciously accepted

I'd do substantial water changes to bring ammonia and nitrite down to 0.25 ppm.

Well yes but says don’t do water changes for 7 days to help the set up shop. I’m watching closely.

There's one exception: when ammonia/nitrite are at a sufficiently high ppm to begin causing mortality issues to fish (generally over 1 ppm).

An issue is that you used three bacteria additivies (Dr Tim's One and Only, Tetra SafeStart and now Seachem Stability) and you transitioned from a(n incomplete?) fishless cycle to now doing a fish-in cycle.

That throws a spanner in the works and makes things a touch more complicated, as you have to maintain ammonia at a level that doesn't kill fish.

I dosed the tank with baking soda @1 tsp per 5 gallons, going about 1/2 tsp less than recommended dose, bringing the PH to 7.4.

Note that your initial pH was much too acidic to progress a cycle: beneficial bacteria generally stop metabolising and become dormant at 6 and below pH.

In addition, when adjusting for KH when fish are present, I'd recommend dosing smaller amounts (1/4-1/2 teaspoons) day-by-day to gradually achieve a target KH/PH. Severe and sudden changes in KH (and consequently PH, but KH is more the issue) disrupts osmotic regulation in fish and their ability to diffuse oxygen across their gills.

 

I'd do substantial water changes to bring ammonia and nitrite down to 0.25 ppm.



There's one exception: when ammonia/nitrite are at a sufficiently high ppm to begin causing mortality issues to fish (generally over 1 ppm).

An issue is that you used three bacteria additivies (Dr Tim's One and Only, Tetra SafeStart and now Seachem Stability) and you transitioned from a(n incomplete?) fishless cycle to now doing a fish-in cycle.

That throws a spanner in the works and makes things a touch more complicated, as you have to maintain ammonia at a level that doesn't kill fish.



Note that your initial pH was much too acidic to progress a cycle: beneficial bacteria generally stop metabolising and become dormant at 6 and below pH.

In addition, when adjusting for KH when fish are present, I'd recommend dosing smaller amounts (1/4-1/2 teaspoons) day-by-day to gradually achieve a target KH/PH. Severe and sudden changes in KH (and consequently PH, but KH is more the issue) disrupts osmotic regulation in fish and their ability to diffuse oxygen across their gills.

Thanks, that was super informative. Yeah, I figured with such a drastic water change between TSS and Stability (the Dr. Tim's I added fish a day after it said it was safe to add them), that I wasn't doing anything too risky. Ok, I'll do another water change and dose a little more stability. I might add, I have some substrate, about a hands full, in a mesh bag in my filter as well. I'm doing all I know to do. I hate that they had to get added in quicker than anticipated, and that I brain farted and added TSS and Prime together. So, I guess I'll attempt another 30% water change and see if that's helpful. Additionally, Nitrites are 0 ppm. Thanks again.

 

Your Cory’s can survive this, but not without cost. They might not live a long life. They’ll Be more prone to disease. They’re hardy creatures compared to some fish. Be sure to keep the water pristine.

 

Your Cory’s can survive this, but not without cost. They might not live a long life. They’ll Be more prone to disease. They’re hardy creatures compared to some fish. Be sure to keep the water pristine.

Thanks for the heads up. Yeah, I feel horrible about it. I shouldn't have made that impulse buy that day. I did. And now here I am. So I just did a pretty substantial water change and got my ammonia down to .50ppm. I'll do some additional changes tomorrow. I also found the culprit. Was a dead Cory, as suspected. Now that that's out of the way, I'll go back to getting my water parameters in order.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Yeah, I feel horrible about it. I shouldn't have made that impulse buy that day. I did. And now here I am. So I just did a pretty substantial water change and got my ammonia down to .50ppm. I'll do some additional changes tomorrow. I also found the culprit. Was a dead Cory, as suspected. Now that that's out of the way, I'll go back to getting my water parameters in order.

Try seachum prime. It detoxifies ammonia. It doesn’t get rid of it. It’s only effective up to 1ppm. So if you keep it below 1 through water changes and use prime every other day it’ll definitely help. Otherwise it’s just gonna take time to cycle. Try not to buy more fish til then

 

Try seachum prime. It detoxifies ammonia. It doesn’t get rid of it. It’s only effective up to 1ppm. So if you keep it below 1 through water changes and use prime every other day it’ll definitely help. Otherwise it’s just gonna take time to cycle. Try not to buy more fish til then

Uno step ahead of ya!!! I've been doing the Prime thang the whole time it's some good ish! Thanks for the tidbit of advice Mucho appreciated.

Ok, so after waking up and seeing ammonia was up to 1ppm, I exchanged another 8 gallons, bringing my ammonia to .50 ppm. Nitrites are 0 ppm. Nitrates are 10 ppm. PH is 7.4 I dosed it with some prime and stability and now watching closely.