First tank, first cycle. 75g

Just wanted to post my experience so far cycling my first aquarium ever. It's an 75g tank and first day I put in water was Jan 1st. Tank has a mix of pea gravel and PFS as substrate and a big piece of driftwood.
I added prime and then added stability the following day and did the 7 day stability dosing. I was testing with tetra strips and was basically getting zeroes on ammonia and nitrites. I added fish food about 3 times the first week to start up some ammonia. I also added some live plants about 6 days later.

After waiting a week and not seeing any changes to my water readings I went and got 2 dwarf gouramis on Jan 8th. Figure I would just help the cycle with some fish. Going off the tetra strips i never read any ammonia til Jan 13th using the scanner on the app but the eye test showed zero to me. Nitrites appeared on the 13th as well and have been at 1.0 since using the strips. Haven't gotten a reading for any nitrates with the strips.
On Jan 15th I went and got me 6 zebra danios and 1 retail shark. 4 danios are very small and the shark as well. Ordered api master test several days later and since Jan 20 nitrites showing between .25 to .5 and nitrates between 10-20. Forgot to mention I did a water change about 20-25% on the 17th and gravel vac half of the tank.

At this point I'm just testing for nitrites and nitrates and I'm going on day 25. How much longer do ya think I will be seeing nitrites? I can't wait til the cycle is complete so I can add several more fish.

 

75 gallons is pretty big of a tank for a first time aquarist. I mean this in a good way . you probably won't see nitrites for very long anymore. My first fish were six zebra danios, just like you (well, not really. they were your second fish). It's always exciting to hear from people starting their first tank

 

Yes I've always wanted a tank since I was in my early teens. My mom has had a 29 gallon for some time now and I knew I wanted something bigger then that. Jumped on the BF deal for the marineland 75g kit since it was an steal of a deal.

Man these danios don't want to school. They are all over the place. Actually intended to get 3 at first then 3 later but the lady at the first pet store had a hard time getting me the 3rd one. Went to Petco and got 2 more. Came home and saw they weren't schooling and then went to PetSmart and got 2 more and the redtail...

 

Hi Rgtx,
welcome to the hobby.
You certainly have some interesting fish already.
Be careful of the fish you buy the shops sell anything you pay money for.

I don’t have a 75 but I know a little of danios and dwarf gourami from personal experience and know of the red tail shark by reputation.

Use these fish to cycle the tank. When that is done you can decide what to keep from what ever survives the next 6 to 8 weeks.
Dwarf gourami can be territorial to the extreme as they mature.
Danios are fin nippers that have been known to kill other species.
The red tail shark I will let you research.

The lesson Is shops sell some unsuitable fish at times.


Anything more than 1 ppm nitrites and or ammonia is a water change.

 

I get your point, but my Zebra Danios don't nip on other fish.

 

At the moment the bigger gourami is tank boss. He ignores the danios and the shark. Goes after the smaller gourami quite often, gets annoying.

Here results from yesterday and pics of some of the fishes. Also I have been adding flourish about once a week. Also added some salt because I wasn't to sure of my red gourami had ich after getting it from the store and temp has been raised to 78 for the past 2 weeks. The spot has gone away.

 

At the moment the bigger gourami is tank boss. He ignores the danios and the shark. Goes after the smaller gourami quite often, gets annoying.

That's not likely to change. As a general rule, most people only keep 1 male dwarf gourami per tank.

They tend to be quite aggressive to each other.

That red tail shark is probably going to be really aggressive when it gets bigger as well.

 

That's not likely to change. As a general rule, most people only keep 1 male dwarf gourami per tank.

They tend to be quite aggressive to each other.

That red tail shark is probably going to be really aggressive when it gets bigger as well.

Yes im aware of the red tail shark aggressive when it matures. There is alot information stating DG being peaceful with each other and doing fine in community tank. At the moment the smaller gourami doesn't shy away or not eat. He even stands his ground sometimes and chases the bigger one. He's out more then the bigger actually around the tank. What I found out doing research on fish keeping is that you can find all types of conflicting info regarding fish temperment and same with cycling tank.
Got .25 nitrites and 10 nitrates today. I believe nitrites has finally started going down the .5 level. Does anyone have an explanation why I never read any ammonia during this cycle? Just found that strange.

 

Yes im aware of the red tail shark aggressive when it matures. There is alot information stating DG being peaceful with each other and doing fine in community tank. At the moment the smaller gourami doesn't shy away or not eat. He even stands his ground sometimes and chases the bigger one. He's out more then the bigger actually around the tank. What I found out doing research on fish keeping is that you can find all types of conflicting info regarding fish temperment and same with cycling tank.

That's true. You can find someone saying anything you want out on the internet. It's important to figure out what to trust and not trust in this hobby. Also, fish are individuals and can have varying behaviors. There are lots of other variables in a particular setup that can affect things as well. So there can be exceptions to any general guideline.

That said, I think a lot of places that state dwarf gouramis should be kept together take the fact that most gourami species tend to be social and just lazily apply it to dwarf gouramis. I'm pretty confident that most experienced hobbyists advise against multiple males together. But it could work for you. I just wanted to let you know the aggression you brought up isn't abnormal.

 

Wow, think I'm finally cycled.
Results from today in pics appear to be zero nitrites and 5 nitrates.

Timeline:
Jan 1st filled up tank.
Jan 2nd started Stability dosing per instructions.
Jan 2-12 did not get any nitrite or nitrates reading with tetra test strips.
Jan 13th first nitrite reading with strips .10. Kept same reading all til Jan 19th. Jan 20 started api master test and got reading from 25-.50 upto Jan 25th.
First ammonia test was Jan 10th and never saw any ammonia reading til this day. Did ammonia test with api and read zero Jan 20-21. Stop testing for ammonia after the 21st.
First nitrate reading with strips Jan 19th at 20ppm. Nitrates reading from 10-20ppm from Jan 20th to 25th with api. Jan 26 nitrates at 5ppm.

 

That’s great news Rgtx,
Thanks for the update.
As you have fish in the tank it seems like your tank is cycled?

Are there any nitrates in the tap water?( The replacement water)

I would still test for ammonia just in case.

Now is not the time to clean anything. Wait a while before cleaning any hard surfaces like glass and ornaments. Definitely don’t mess with the filter for a couple of weeks.

Congratulations, I hope the cycle/ bacteria stays steady.

 

Thanks, fly.I did test my tap water early in the 1st week of cycling and I believe there was no nitrates using the strips. Will have to test it with api tomorrow just to see what I get. I have been meaning to replace the poly fill in l filter for weeks now since I hear it should be replaced every couple of weeks. Though water is flowing pretty good with no bypass think I should let it ride a few more weeks or just replace the poly fill?

 

In a new tank just leave the polyfill... until it affects water flow.

In an establish tank, i would try clean it every week in tank water (not replace).... I always got a few months out of it before it needed to be replaced.

In a established tank generally cleaning out the fine filter weekly in tank water means you only need to clean the main filter 2-3 times a year......

Obviously this depends on your bioload and type of filter.... I clean my prefilter weekly and cansiter filter 2-3 times a year.

 

Great, I'll just let it ride til I noticed any bypass. Also I'm using the poly fill batten and is there any way to keep the fibers from flowing out into the water? I had a lil mess the first day or so with fibers coming out into the water..

 

Spudsssy has hit the nail on the head.
Every filter system is different.
I don’t replace any floss / polyfill for months and months. I do rinse it out every few weeks or actually less often than that if I am completely honest.

I run sponge filter that need a rinse every couple of months. I have floss/ polyfill in box filters that may not be as clean as they could be . However an Australian saying is “ a dirty filter is a working filter “ .
I have a huge bag of new floss but choose to get my hands wet cleaning it by rinsing it out. After many months it does become matted like dreadlocks.
The kind of fish keeper who does not like fish poop fingers might replace every time but there really is no need at all. Throw your money away somewhere else.

to answer your question about polyfill becoming lose.
Well first of all the term polyfill and floss can mean many different things. From some products that are like sheets of carpet polyfill to floss that can be lose filing for cushions / pillows.
Check out the two dollar bin in store for sheets of foam sponge that you can cut to size and drop on place of a cartridge.
One of 6 hang on backs I do use.
Old fashion box filters with very black floss and ceramic media instead of gravel weighing them down.

 

So got results just now from my tap water and it read 5 nitrates. I'm still assuming my tank cycled since i read zero nitrites again today. Ammonia tested zero as well and nitrates at 5.