Fishless cycle, only the tank isn't cycling. What am I doing wrong?

The fact that it handled the ammonia in 12 hours was good. Usually it takes a number of dosings to get to the 24hr mark with 2ppm. She could still get a few small fish since it handled 1.0. (Assuming it's down to 0 this weekend).

 

We opted to buy bottled water - drinking and spring, after testing for parameters - to do a water change. It needed a water change anyway regardless of ammonia level, because the nitrates were up at 40.

 

I would be careful about bottled water, make sure to test your ph afterwards and KH if you have the test (I can't remember).

 

We ran a full set after changing the water out.

12 gallons of water changed out and dosed with Prime just in case
pH 7.4 (lower than our tap water)
High pH 7.4
KH 6 (barely lower than previous tests)
GH 8 (lower than previous tests)
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5-10ppm (darker than 5, lighter than 10)
Temp 76F (At the moment; I expect this to be somewhere between 76 and 80 as it adjusts to our room temp; typical room temp is 83F and the water has previously hovered around 80F)

We're going to leave it sit overnight and test again in the morning. Little Miss fell asleep at 7:30 so we wouldn't be going fish shopping tonight anyway.

 

This morning:

pH 7.4
Ammonia 0-0.25 (it's not quite as yellow as 0 but not quite as chartreuse as .25)
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5-10ppm
Temp 80F

 

Looks good

 

Nooooo I wanted a fish today...

 

I would be careful about bottled water, make sure to test your ph afterwards and KH if you have the test (I can't remember).

Yes, I found drinking water from Walmart for example to be acidic (pH 6.0)

 

We re-tested this afternoon after we got home from our errand and activities.

pH 7.4
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5-10ppm
Temp 80F

So at 5:00 we went to Petsmart and Little Miss picked out four guppies. We planned on only getting three, but then she saw that the yellow one was all alone in his tank and she didn't want him to be lonely. She's got a Turquoise, a Tequila Sunrise, a Red Gold Tuxedo, and her lonely Yellow. We've got the bag floating in the tank now and are slowly acclimating them to their new home. Will get pictures up soon as they're in.

 

Now I can die in peace. I'm waiting for pics!

 

Fishies!!!!



Maybe tomorrow when they've settled in a bit I will get better photos. I took several tonight but the fish were swimming around so fast I couldn't get much that wasn't blurry!

Now with names! Theblue one is Bubbles. THe all-yellow one is Sunny. The yellow one with the red stripe is Flash. The red-gold tuxedo is Lord Percival Crawford Montgomery the Third, Crawford for short.

 

Fishies!!!!
View attachment 204135

Maybe tomorrow when they've settled in a bit I will get better photos. I took several tonight but the fish were swimming around so fast I couldn't get much that wasn't blurry!

Now with names! Theblue one is Bubbles. THe all-yellow one is Sunny. The yellow one with the red stripe is Flash. The red-gold tuxedo is Lord Percival Crawford Montgomery the Third, Crawford for short.

Good luck with that. My guppies don't stay still for more than a second at a time. It takes longer for the danged camera to focus so I can't get good shots

 

I also have a tank full of guppies. I have about eleven males and I love watching them. Always moving.
Test your parameters once a day this week.

 

I have noticed that they're less zippy when the lights are off. But then it's too dark to get good pictures. At the moment, the tank lights are off. Crawford is playing around in the bubbles from the airstones, Bubbles has decided the air tubes are HIS territory (he's actually chasing the other fish away when they get too close), and Sunny and Flash are hiding - I can see an occasional yellow fin, but otherwise they're content to remain out of sight.

I checked the water just now because insomnia and we were at:
pH 7.4
Ammonia just above 0 but not quite at .25ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5-10ppm
Temp 80F

I added a dose of TSS too, just to help boost the bacteria now that we've added living, breathing, waste-producing creatures to the tank. I'll check the water again tomorrow - hopefully not at 1:30 am.

 

If you have added tss, testing the water may be counter productive, I belive leaving the water alone for a couple of weeks is in the instructions, however as you have fishless cycled, I would do your first water change of about 30-40% in a weeks time and then check the levels. Others may have better ideas, but glad to see fish in the tank

 

Bottle says add two teaspoons/10mL for every 10 gallons when adding fish, after water changes, or after replacing filter media.

This morning I see three fish swimming around and one has not come out, not even to eat. It's like he just vanished.

 

Crawford is nowhere to be found. I even thoroughly checked the filter to make sure he hadn't gotten sucked up the intake tube. No fish in the filter. (I didn't really think he had been sucked up into the filter; the holes are too small for a fulll-grown guppy and I have two intake tubes connected, so he would have gotten stuck in the bottom tube if that was the case.) I still only see three fish.

The tank lid is secure. There's no other animal in this house who could have opened the lid and removed one fish, He's either exceptionally good at hide-and-seek, or he died and my mother removed him this morning before she left for church and didn't tell me.

 

View attachment 203232

I've done a slight bit of rearranging to hide the airstone tubes but this is pretty much what it looks like.

Oops. Double posted. Sorry!

You have quite a few ornaments with hollow cores it may well be hiding inside one, if you haven't seen it by tomorrow I would start checking under them incase it hasn't made it, a death could ruin the cycle, good luck

 

My half-brother (I didn't know he kept fish till today!) informs me that it isn't uncommon for guppies to turn cannibal; if Crawford died overnight the other three may have eaten him, and he says it is possible they could have completely disposed of the body in seven hours between them.

If I don't find the fish by the end of the day I'll move plants and decorations around and see if I can't find him. Because what other explanation is there for a vanished fish, a dimensional portal in the tank?

 

We found Crawford. He didn't make it He must have died while he was swimming around in the plants and that's why he wasn't floating. He was stuck in the one plant he blends into, so I didn't see him until I upended the plant and he fell out.


Little Miss is upset, and I've called Petsmart and they'll replace him for free. I hadn't planned to replace him until we got the next batch in a couple weeks, but she wants a new one to replace the dead one so we'll be heading over this afternoon.

 

That's too bad he didn't make it. Make sure to acclimate him by not only floating the bag but adding some of your tank water to the bag every 5 minutes for at least 20-25 minutes. I'd test their water. My petsmart must use softened water because their GH is 0!!! So I usually acclimate for a good half an hour.

I've never had my fish cannabilize other fish, though the MTS in my tank will and is usually how I locate a dead fish, ick. Cherry shrimp are another story and will eat the dead.

 

I tested the water parameters right before we left.
pH 7.4
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitite 0ppm
Nitrate 5-10ppm
Temp 80F

We took poor Crawford back to the store and they replaced him for free. They offered her any other compatible fish but she wanted another red-gold tuxedo. She christened this one Edward James Maximillian Wentworth, Eddie for short.



We acclimated the others last night by floating the bag for 20 minutes, then adding a cup of tank water to the bag and letting that sit for 15 minutes, repeat that twice more, then net the fish (not dump, to reduce risk of disease from the pet store's tank) into the tank. We'll do the same with Eddie. Well, maybe we'll only put two cups of tank water in the bag, not three; he came home in a smaller bag than the others did.

 

All fish present and accounted for this morning, despite an early-morning scare when Eddie was too busy hiding in the lily plant to come out for breakfast.

Today's water parameters are identical to yesterday's, so the tank seems to be happy too.

Little Miss was almost late for school this morning because she was so busy watching her fish. She sat in front of the tank for a good 20 minutes. We used to call Sister's fish tanks Cat TV because the cat would go and stare at the tanks; now we don't have a cat, so it's Kid TV!

 

In my 48 days struggle to get my new tank water right (NO3 still high) the first fish that did not make it were guppies. They seem to be either very sensitive or just local store has all them weak or sick.