First timer aquarist here!

I bought a tank a few weeks ago to start the habit. We had one when I was a kid, and I always loved it.

I bought a 55 gallon tank and stand. It came with the TopFin starter kit, but I only used the heater out of it. I bought a Penn Plax Cascade canister filter 150 gallon. I wanted the filter for the bigger tank so I knew it kept my tank filtered good, and I could have more fish than inch-per-gallon rule.

I set the whole tank up. Heater on 78. Filter running with floss, sponge, and charcoal. Lights on. I put food in the tank once every 2 days even though there weren’t fish to start my cycle. I tested my water everyday. I did about a 15% water change. I left it like that for 1 week. Then I added my fish.

I started with 2 danios, 3 tiger barbs, and 1 cory. Everything was going well, then I had 2 tiger barbs pop up dead. All of my other fish were perfectly fine. I tested my waters and ammonia and nitrite are obsolete. However, I barely test any nitrates either. I’m wondering if the lack of nitrates was my issue. I got 5 more barbs today, so I didn’t just have the one by himself. Everything seems fine now.
Any advice on anything to do next, if any. And opinions on what caused my barbs to die.

 

The uncycled tank killed the barbs. A tank usually takes 4-8 weeks to cycle. I wouldn't add anymore fish and keep up on testing water daily and doing Water changes anytime your ammonia or nitrites get close to or above .75-1.0

 

I thought the same thing about the tank not being fully cycled, but only 2 of the barbs died and all other fish are perfect. My ammonia nor nitrites ever get that high. I’ve been pretty on top of things are far as keeping my levels right. Thank you for the response!

 

You should add stability or Safestart to give the bb a boast. Your tank isn’t cycled yet. You don’t need charcoal in the filter. Put in some bio media / ceramic rings instead. Good luck...

 

I actually did add some of the safe start when I first started, and then again after a pretty large water change before I added my fish the first time. Thank you!

 

I bought a tank a few weeks ago to start the habit. We had one when I was a kid, and I always loved it.

I bought a 55 gallon tank and stand. It came with the TopFin starter kit, but I only used the heater out of it. I bought a Penn Plax Cascade canister filter 150 gallon. I wanted the filter for the bigger tank so I knew it kept my tank filtered good, and I could have more fish than inch-per-gallon rule.

I set the whole tank up. Heater on 78. Filter running with floss, sponge, and charcoal. Lights on. I put food in the tank once every 2 days even though there weren’t fish to start my cycle. I tested my water everyday. I did about a 15% water change. I left it like that for 1 week. Then I added my fish.

I started with 2 danios, 3 tiger barbs, and 1 cory. Everything was going well, then I had 2 tiger barbs pop up dead. All of my other fish were perfectly fine. I tested my waters and ammonia and nitrite are obsolete. However, I barely test any nitrates either. I’m wondering if the lack of nitrates was my issue. I got 5 more barbs today, so I didn’t just have the one by himself. Everything seems fine now.
Any advice on anything to do next, if any. And opinions on what caused my barbs to die.

I started my 55 gallon 2 months ago. Like you We had one as a kid and always loved it. But back in the 80’s the information wasn’t out there like it is now. Now Everyone talks about nitrogen cycle and only fishless cycle. But if you do it right, you can be successful cycling with fish.
I bought a Petsmart Top Fin 55 gallon kit. I am using the filter it came with. It’s a silent stream power filter PF75 hang on back. 2 months in I have 29 fish in the tank with no losses. I test my water everyday and do water changes as needed depending on my test results. I can go more in-depth with you if you like.

 

That is the exact kit I bought. I just changed out the filters to be more elaborate to help me in the long run. Do your levels stay accurate? My only level issue is that my nitrates are so low, or even 0 sometimes.

 

That just means your tank isn’t cycled yet. Until your beneficial bacteria establishes. You need to be the beneficial bacteria. That means testing your water parameters every day. And doing water changes as needed depending on the test results. Nitrates won’t show until your beneficial bacteria starts to colonize. So until then you should be doing regular water changes. What test kit are you using?

 

I’ve continued regular water changes and testing. I have the API master test kit. Sometimes I have a hard time differentiating the shades of colors on each test, but I know I’m staying in fairly usual parameters.

 

I’ve continued regular water changes and testing. I have the API master test kit. Sometimes I have a hard time differentiating the shades of colors on each test, but I know I’m staying in fairly usual parameters.

Yes sometimes the colors are difficult. Until your sure your cycled do more than 15 % water changes. Do 25-50% water changes. It’s only better for the fish. Are you vacuuming the substrate as you change water?

 

I vacuum the substrate every time. To get the old funk out, but also because I chose white and everything stands out in it.

 

I’ve continued regular water changes and testing. I have the API master test kit. Sometimes I have a hard time differentiating the shades of colors on each test, but I know I’m staying in fairly usual parameters.

It takes an average of 4 weeks to cycle any tank, under the best conditions, (pH 7.5-8.2, T 78-82°F) even with a bacteria starter. You have none, or minimal nitrates, and no ammonia or nitrites because your tank hasn't had time to even start cycling. Fish food and fish poop take about 3 days, at 82° to break down enough to even start producing ammonia. Then it requires quite a bit of that rotting poop and food, diluted by 55 gallons of water, to produce enough ammonia to even register .25 ppm on the API (or any other) test kit. That's why a majority of fish keepers recommend doing a fishless cycle using pure ammonia (4 to 6 weeks) before ever putting fish in the tank. It's cleaner, faster, easier and doesn't put any fish at risk.
But, cycling with fish in the tank is possible if you test daily and do water changes to keep ammonia levels very low. Nitrites, when they show up after 2 to 3 weeks are another problem. They are toxic to fish at any level. I recommend getting a bottle of Seachem Prime aand using that as your dechlorinator for the duration of your cycling process. It dechlorinates, dechloraminates, and changes low levels of ammonia and nitrites to a form that is harmless to fish if dosed every other day while those nitrogen compounds are present in the tank.
We can help you through the process over the next few weeks.

 

I vacuum the substrate every time. To get the old funk out, but also because I chose white and everything stands out in it.

I’m not familiar with your filter since I’m using what mine came with and I’ve been educating myself on hang on back filters. But you do know to clean your filter material with tank water and not tap water? Momgoose56 chimed in so I’m going to back off she knows her stuff. Good luck!

 

I understand my tank hasn’t completely cycled, but are my fish really being harmed since I keep a watch on my levels? I’ve watched my ammonia and nitrite close because of that.

 

I understand my tank hasn’t completely cycled, but are my fish really being harmed since I keep a watch on my levels? I’ve watched my ammonia and nitrite close because of that.

The key to fish in cycle is large water changes using prime as your conditioner while the beneficial bacteria is establishing.

 

I bought a tank a few weeks ago to start the habit. We had one when I was a kid, and I always loved it.

I bought a 55 gallon tank and stand. It came with the TopFin starter kit, but I only used the heater out of it. I bought a Penn Plax Cascade canister filter 150 gallon. I wanted the filter for the bigger tank so I knew it kept my tank filtered good, and I could have more fish than inch-per-gallon rule.

I set the whole tank up. Heater on 78. Filter running with floss, sponge, and charcoal. Lights on. I put food in the tank once every 2 days even though there weren’t fish to start my cycle. I tested my water everyday. I did about a 15% water change. I left it like that for 1 week. Then I added my fish.

I started with 2 danios, 3 tiger barbs, and 1 cory. Everything was going well, then I had 2 tiger barbs pop up dead. All of my other fish were perfectly fine. I tested my waters and ammonia and nitrite are obsolete. However, I barely test any nitrates either. I’m wondering if the lack of nitrates was my issue. I got 5 more barbs today, so I didn’t just have the one by himself. Everything seems fine now.
Any advice on anything to do next, if any. And opinions on what caused my barbs to die.

Filters are rated on their gallons per hour. You want your filter to be able to process four times the volume of your tank every hour. I've recently been told to expect a fairly steep drop off in effectiveness of the filter as it runs, as much as 50-60% so to make sure your filter is strong enough it's been reccomended to me to have a filter that processes eight times the volume of the tank an hour or more. So for a 55 gallon tank that's 440 gallons per hour. If you're planning on having anything that could be sucked into or otherwise harmed by the filter you may want to look into getting a sponge pre-filter for their safety.
The inch-per-gallon rule is old and not all that accurate. From what I've seen so far if you want a gallon to fish ratio it's more like .75 inch of fish per gallon but this website: runs an algorythem to give you a more precise idea of how much capacity of the tank you're using. It isn't perfect though so I'd check with the forum periodically to make sure you're good on that. Wouldn't want to crash your cycle after getting it started.
If you have the testing kits for it I'd check your kH and gH. These values have some effect how much or little your pH is likely to change. For now it isn't likely super important you know them unless they're low in which case you pH could be disrupted fairly easily. There's an article on here somewhere that goes into what gH and kH mean but I don't recall it's name.

 

I understand my tank hasn’t completely cycled, but are my fish really being harmed since I keep a watch on my levels? I’ve watched my ammonia and nitrite close because of that.

If you keep the total of ammonia + nitrites at less than 1 ppm and treat your tank with Prime every 48 hours, your fish should do fine. Your pH determines how toxic ammonia is to your fish. The lower your pH is, the more of your ammonia (NH3) is converted to it's non toxic form, ammonium (NH4). Nitrites are toxic at any pH and if they're present at all in your tank, at minimum they are stressing the fish. Prime will neutralize this effect and makes nitrites safe for the fish. I don't know how it works on nitrites (the people who make it don't even know) but in any case, Prime is a pretty inexpensive way to protect your fish. It's super concentrated so it doesn't take much to treat a 55 gallon tank-1 ml treats 10 gallons so one teaspoon would treat your 55 gallon tank considering that the tank probably only contains 50 actual gallons of water because of substrate, decorations etc.
That Penn plax canister filter is about perfect for a 55 gallon tank.

 

I have cycled tanks with fish in them for years and never had an issue. I run the tank for a bit, 2 weeks usually, then I add fish slowly. I always have lots of surface area in there rocks, logs and I usually double the filter capacity. I add one or two fish per week and feed sparingly. I’ve never even used a bacteria starter culture in my life. I’ve been keeping fish for 23 years. I’ve never even owned a freshwater test kit or tested fresh water once in my life. I keep up on sucking out poop, detritus and water changes. Does this work for everyone no. I did test my saltwater tank for calcium, alk, SG, and magnesium.

Did something go wrong likely yes. Are the people above giving you sound advice about your tank not being cycled properly yes. Slow down and wait a few more weeks before adding anymore fish. After a while you just get a feel for things.

I have a 20 gallon now and I do 3 gallon water changes daily. It’s just easier for me. Takes me 5 minutes or less. I suck out all the visible detritus I can see but I know there is some hanging in the nooks and crannies of my rock work. That stuff stays there as bacteria food. My fish are all growing, active, healthy, and best of all great color. I will be upgrading to a 75 gallon tank soon. I can’t wait.

 

I have cycled tanks with fish in them for years and never had an issue. I run the tank for a bit, 2 weeks usually, then I add fish slowly. I always have lots of surface area in there rocks, logs and I usually double the filter capacity. I add one or two fish per week and feed sparingly. I’ve never even used a bacteria starter culture in my life. I’ve been keeping fish for 23 years. I’ve never even owned a freshwater test kit or tested fresh water once in my life. I keep up on sucking out poop, detritus and water changes. Does this work for everyone no. I did test my saltwater tank for calcium, alk, SG, and magnesium.

Did something go wrong likely yes. Are the people above giving you sound advice about your tank not being cycled properly yes. Slow down and wait a few more weeks before adding anymore fish. After a while you just get a feel for things.

I have a 20 gallon now and I do 3 gallon water changes daily. It’s just easier for me. Takes me 5 minutes or less. I suck out all the visible detritus I can see but I know there is some hanging in the nooks and crannies of my rock work. That stuff stays there as bacteria food. My fish are all growing, active, healthy, and best of all great color. I will be upgrading to a 75 gallon tank soon. I can’t wait.

Thank you so much. I set mine up and ran it solid for a week and then added some fish. I have plenty of rocks and plants. I’ve been religiously watching all levels and cleaning and water changing. I think it is going to wind up fine. However, I now know better for the next time.

 

To do a fish in cycle successfully you need to start out with a small number of rock hard hardy fish. What is your pH and do you know if your water is hard or soft? That will determine what fish you should get. The fish you listed in your first post are soft water fish that prefer a pH of 6-7.4. What test kits are you using? Also, danios prefer a cooler temperature than barbs and corys, these fish really shouldn't be in the same tank. Danios should also be at a higher pH in harder water than the other two. Over time, once you get readings of 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 5 or over nitrate during a four day period, then you can add more fish, still a small number and continue this until you are fully stocked. The key is, stock slowly to allow the bacteria to catch up to the increased bioload. But once you're over that first hurdle, you can start getting more sensitive fish and you can cut back on the water changes but here again, your test results will dictate how often.

A fish in cycle takes longer than a fishless cycle. The reason is you are removing the ammonia and nitrites that the bacteria need to feed on with every water change so it takes longer for those bacteria to proliferate to numbers that can handle the bioload. In a fishless cycle you never change the water until you are done and ready for fish. And with fish in the tank you need to do the water changes so the ammonia and nitrite don't climb to levels that will hurt the fish. That's why you start out with a small number of fish that can typically tolerate higher levels of ammonia. Barbs are not good for this because they are more sensitive to ammonia and nitrite poisoning. Whenever I did it, I did it with goldfish or a betta. I did it once with buenos ares tetras and it worked really well. I'm not saying that the fish you have won't make it through a fish in cycle but it will be more challenging.

Another piece of advise is going forward, if you post on this thread or start a new one, post your test results in numbers. Don't just say things like, "they look good" or "they are a little off." This doesn't tell anyone what is going on in the tank. What parameters do you mean by "they"? And good to you may not be actually good. Hope this helps!

Also what kind of plants? If they are stem plants or floating plants that's even better cause they will take up ammonia directly and help your fish to survive. but any live plants will do, stem and floating grow faster and so, take up more nutrients.