I Need Help With Cycling My Tank

I don't know what to do. I'm lost with the whole nitrogen cycle. I got my fish (3 mollies) two females and a male, a week ago. One of the females had 13 babies that have stayed alive as of now.

It's a 20 gallon tank. I haven't had any issues with ammonia or high levels yet. I'm really stressing out because I keep looking more into the nitrogen cycle and how dangerous it is for your fish. Everyone from what I keep hearing are saying my fish are without a doubt going to all die.

I got my tank the same day as my fish. I did research for a year on everything. To find all the right equipment. But the only thing I didn't want to risk coming in the mail was my fish and the tank in case of deaths or the tank being broken. So I decided to go to the closest fish store, since walmart doesn't sell fish anymore the closest store is 2 hours away.

I couldn't waste more gas money on who took me, so I had to get the tank and the fish the same day.

I have two 5 gallon tanks apart from the 20 gallon. That I am contemplating putting the fish in for a week until I can boost the bacteria and get through the cycle.

I just don't know if it is safe for the fish. But I'm more scared they are going to die soon. They eat less everyday. And there's a film on all the decor.

Right now I am half way through a water change. But I don't know if I am doing anything right.

So far I have:

-Took out the fake plants and coconut house and let them sit in warm untreated water in the sink-

And from what I have read I'm supposed to use Dechlorinated cold water to rinse the filter cartridges in the filter.

But I'm scared that's wrong.

Please help give me advice on what to do. I want to keep my fish happy and healthy. Thank you!

 

Do NOT rinse your filter cartridges for a couple of months. Don't overfeed your fish. Take out a gallon or two of water a day and put fresh treated water that is the same temperature back in. Just keep doing that. Hopefully there are no complications and in a couple of weeks you'll be going good then. It takes time but once the ball starts rolling it takes care of itself. Just change out 2 gallons a day.

 

Do NOT rinse your filter cartridges for a couple of months. Don't overfeed your fish. Take out a gallon or two of water a day and put fresh treated water that is the same temperature back in. Just keep doing that. Hopefully there are no complications and in a couple of weeks you'll be going good then. It takes time but once the ball starts rolling it takes care of itself. Just change out 2 gallons a day.

Do I put the decor back in being washed with untreated water? Or do I rinse it with treated water? Or do I not put them back in? I'm not sure if it effects the cycle or not.

 

As for the cloudiness, you could be having some bacteria or diatoms or algae blooming, kind of depends on food and light that they're getting but they're harmless for the most part. Mostly with them you just want good surface agitation from your filter so that the water is staying oxygenated. The water will clear up on its own with a little time. Give it a week.

You can mix up some dechlor water to rinse the decor in before you put it back in. Or use the water that you take out during a water change, either way. The little bit of chlorine that might be on the decor probably won't hurt your fish but better to be safe.

 

You can mix up some dechlor water to rinse the decor in before you put it back in. Or use the water that you take out during a water change, either way. The little bit of chlorine that might be on the decor probably won't hurt your fish but better to be safe.

Thanks so much! Do you think the fry will do alright through the cycle? Is there anything I should do to speed up the process? Or just let it continue where it's going now?

 

Thanks so much! Do you think the fry will do alright through the cycle? Is there anything I should do to speed up the process? Or just let it continue where it's going now?

I really don't know about the fry. My gut says they might be more likely to have problems but I honestly do not know that. There's really nothing you can do to speed up the process, the bacteria that are good for the tank are just slow to reproduce. To quote the late Tom Petty - "The waiting is the hardest part".

 

First, I am sorry that you have been told that your fish are without a doubt going to all die. That is just not true as long as you keep up with the water changes to keep the ammonia level down low enough.

I noticed that you have 2 5 gallon tanks. Are both of them up and running with fish in them? If yes, how long have they been running? Do they have filters on them?

 

HI don’t worry you will get through this! The first thing you need to get is a dechlorinator. There are 2 types of chlorine that is used in water treatment 1- regular chlorine and 2- chloramines, but if you get water from a well you should be ok without any dechlorinator. If you know what kind of chlorine is used in your area you can go about treating the chlorine in 2 different ways. You can find out by calling your local board of water supply and ask them what is used to treat your water.
For now don’t worry about that. You should get a small bottle of Seachem Prime(this is a water dechlorinator) and either Tetra Safe Start or Seachem Stability(Tetra Safe Star and Seachem Stability are bottled beneficial bacteria). Both are what we call bottled benefited bacteria, you can find both on Amazon. This part is very important after you use Prime do not dose any bottled beneficial bacteria for at least 48 hrs. Now since your tank is a 20 Gallon and you only have 3 Mollies and 13 babies(Molly parents can cannibalize their babies). Your Bioload is going to be small. Just don’t over feed the fish. I didn’t see what kind of filter you have on your tank. Also you don’t need to change 50% of the water. It is only making it harder for you to cycle your tank if you are not using a dechlorinator. If you have to order any of this stuff, your fishes will be ok in your main tank. If you place them in the smaller bucket that would be worse for them. Think about it like this....you bioload is what you fish poop and pee and how much you feed your fish. Now if you were to pee in a swimming pool the pee would get really diluted because the volume of water in the swimming pool, now try and think about it like this what if you pee’ed in a bathtub? The pee would be a lot more concentrated because the volume of water is much smaller. That goes for your fish. They are better off in the 20 Gallon than the 5 Gallon. Also you don’t want to use any bottled bacteria at least 48 hours after you use prime because and this is according to Seachem themselves. The bottled bacteria once you put it In the water will need a food source and when you are cycling a tank the first thing that is present is ammonia. But what prime does is it locks up the Ammonia and the bacteria doesn’t have anything to eat and they will die off. Don’t worry, I know it sounds confusing and hard to do but you will get through it. People on this forum are really helpful. Also if you are going to measure the ammonia and how your tank is cycling you should get the API Master Freshwater test kit. And if you just plan on keeping only those Mollies a regular sponge filter would do just great for your 20 Gallon.

Good Luck!