New Aquarium With Fish Doing Cycle - Worried!

Prime does not reduce those levels, it only detoxify it for fish for 24 hours. Only water changes or lots of plants can lower them.

We have been doing 25% water changes since our nitrites and nitrates have been high. Would 50 be best? Our fish seem to be getting stressed with all the water changes the past 2 weeks but they are still alive and healthy.

 

Agreed prime doesn't knock them down. But detoxs them per the bottle. Might just be for a little bit but as long as it's helping with the consistent water changes

 

Yes, 50% with those levels. You really want nitrites under 1ppm.

 

Yes, 50% with those levels. You really want nitrites under 1ppm.

Ok thank you!
Vaccuum too? Or will that disturb the BB? I feel like we have been overdoing it when we do water changes. We do not have any plants. Also today our nitrates were lower but not the nitrites. I have no idea what is going on with our cycle.

 

Do partial vacuum each time.. half the tank or so and alternate. Bacteria should be mostly in the filter.

 

Today nitrites still very high. And nitrates 10-20ppm

 

sorry for the late reply. Keep it going with the water changes. I know it tedious but it will get there.

 

That’s ok! We did a 50% water change yesterday so will see tonight if the nitrites went down at all. All fish still alive!

 

I hope they goes down. I'm so glad your fish are still alive. It totally shows how much you love them

 

I hope they goes down. I'm so glad your fish are still alive. It totally shows how much you love them

Aww thank you!! After everything we went through we are trying to give them the best life they deserve! It made me so sad losing our angels right away that I don’t want to kill them either. We found a home for some of our fry so that will take a little stress off too.

Nitrite didn’t go down at all with the 50% water change

 

We'll, it probably went down, then back up after 1 day. I would test immediately after a water change to confirm.. 1ppm of ammonia converts to 3ppm nitrites.that's why it spikes so much in the second phase of the cycle. Big water changes or reduce the bioload to limit ammonia is the only option. What's your temp and pH again?

 

Temp 78 and ph 7.6
Our tests say we have 0 ammonia.
I still don’t understand the cycle process 100% yet

 

The second stage of cycle takes the longest. Tetra Safestart is really good bacteria for second stage. It may be worth dumping a bottle in to see if it kicks you to end of cycle. Temp and pH are good for growth. I would still measure nitrites right after water change. I would also do a 75% WC if your tank layout would let you without stressing fish too much. May get you into a lower range between cycles. Very high nitrite levels have been reported to slow the cycle down. Not sure, but larger WC would help that also.

 

I will tell you that I do not have live bearers but like most of us we deal with aggression specially during feedings. When aggression is towards a fellow tank mate you can do things like rearrange decorations so that no ONE fish has it's originally claimed territory and every body is scrambling to find a new one. When I have problems with an introduced fish I sometimes need to isolate them. Not sure you have the room, but I have an (isolation) holding cube that looks like Tupperware. It has many slits in it for water flow and a small hinged door opening on the top and a small handle. Feeding can be interesting, but the aggressive fish can't get at the less dominant and gets tired while the "picked on" fish gets a rest and gains confidence. In the past I would put ridged plastic dividers in the tanks with each sheet having graduated sized holes in them. As the fish would grow they would chase each other and the smaller ones would got thru the grates and the larger ones could not follow. Basic and old school. Hope your tank cycles soon. To reduce ammonia...start with reduced feeding, use Seachem Prime and Stability at water changes. I know...water changes can trigger a short cycle in a tank that is not well established. The relationship and balance between food and waste is very complex. My last 46g fishless cycle took over 6 weeks, even with seeding media and decor from another tank. Maybe this will help. . Good luck

 

The second stage of cycle takes the longest. Tetra Safestart is really good bacteria for second stage. It may be worth dumping a bottle in to see if it kicks you to end of cycle. Temp and pH are good for growth. I would still measure nitrites right after water change. I would also do a 75% WC if your tank layout would let you without stressing fish too much. May get you into a lower range between cycles. Very high nitrite levels have been reported to slow the cycle down. Not sure, but larger WC would help that also.

Will check it right after our water change. We have been using stability for 7 days now.

 

You can overdose stability, just make it a little cloudy.

 

You can overdose stability, just make it a little cloudy.

After our water change nitrites still pretty high. About 1.0

 

You should be able to do another immediate 50% to drop it to .5 if you wanted. 1ppm is the limit of prime normal dose. What was it before the change?

 

You should be able to do another immediate 50% to drop it to .5 if you wanted. 1ppm is the limit of prime normal dose. What was it before the change?

They are all shook up this time. Not sure why. We added in a half cap full of prime for emergency. It was 2-4ppm. Very dark. Was a little lighter right after the change.

 

Could have been a little stress the double water change. Hopefully they'll settle down. Try to keep the nitrites under 1.

 

What happens if there’s no change tomorrow again?

 

Hey Nicole just seen this and skipped to the end so not sure where you’re at but I just completed a fish in cycle with a Betta. I started with tetra safe start+ and freaked out after she was breathing heavier than normal and hanging around the top more. So I went and bought prime and Stability. And everything got better. I’m sure it’s been said but you can use the prime every 24-48 hours and it will detoxify the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates for that time frame. I would also suggest calling the seachem hotline and speaking with one of them, they calmed me down and were very helpful as is everyone on fishlore. She did not like the idea of lots of water changes while trying to cycle the tank bc that wipes out whatever progress you’re making building you’re beneficial bacteria. My ammonia tested at 4-8 ppm when using the tetrasafestart plus. This may have been a false reading but she suggested at most a 25% waterchange. Then went to 2ppm. 2 days later I did a 10-15% water change and got it down in .5-1 ppm range. Then I chilled on the water changes and just made sure to prime every 24-48 hrs and that should protect you’re fish. Now the difference is I had only a Betta and you have I think 2-3 Millie’s and fry but that’s why I said call the seachem hotline in the morning and explain you’re exact situation and maybe they could give additional information along with what you’ve gotten here. Good Luck

 

Hey Nicole just seen this and skipped to the end so not sure where you’re at but I just completed a fish in cycle with a Betta. I started with tetra safe start+ and freaked out after she was breathing heavier than normal and hanging around the top more. So I went and bought prime and Stability. And everything got better. I’m sure it’s been said but you can use the prime every 24-48 hours and it will detoxify the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates for that time frame. I would also suggest calling the seachem hotline and speaking with one of them, they calmed me down and were very helpful as is everyone on fishlore. She did not like the idea of lots of water changes while trying to cycle the tank bc that wipes out whatever progress you’re making building you’re beneficial bacteria. My ammonia tested at 4-8 ppm when using the tetrasafestart plus. This may have been a false reading but she suggested at most a 25% waterchange. Then went to 2ppm. 2 days later I did a 10-15% water change and got it down in .5-1 ppm range. Then I chilled on the water changes and just made sure to prime every 24-48 hrs and that should protect you’re fish. Now the difference is I had only a Betta and you have I think 2-3 Millie’s and fry but that’s why I said call the seachem hotline in the morning and explain you’re exact situation and maybe they could give additional information along with what you’ve gotten here. Good Luck

Thank you!! Our ammonia is now at 0 but our nitrites and nitrates high! We also use prime and stability and it seems to keep our fish alive for the time being. We now have 3 mollies, 4 snails and 5 fry. We gave away 5 fry today so took a little bit of stress off of us. We have been using prime every day and doing water changes with stability to get the nitrites down but it hasn’t been helping yet. Will have to look into calling their hotline!

 

Yeah I was testing multiple times a Day always getting ammonia readings but nothing else and my fish seemed happy so before last night my last test was 3/27. When I tested last night my ammonia .5, nitrites 0, nitrates 5-10 so I’m hoping I’m almost there. Never got a nitrite reading but like I said I didn’t test for a few days. I received wonderful advice from everyone on here but I’m bad about getting too much advice and mixing and matching what helped others, so I read some of the seachem forums and their was some pretty good feedback and looked for their number and tried calling and everyone there and those here took some stress off my shoulders. Every experience is unique though. I tested my dads tank and his nitrates were like 180, everything else was 0,but all his fish appeared fine, although after researching I found that high nitrates are least toxic but probably affect your fish more long term. I did a 20% water change for him and a neon tetra and Pictus catfish were original fish, now 5 Cory cats, 4 other neons and a guppy, but the original neon didn’t make it, probably from the chemistry change in the water

 

Yeah I was testing multiple times a Day always getting ammonia readings but nothing else and my fish seemed happy so before last night my last test was 3/27. When I tested last night my ammonia .5, nitrites 0, nitrates 5-10 so I’m hoping I’m almost there. Never got a nitrite reading but like I said I didn’t test for a few days. I received wonderful advice from everyone on here but I’m bad about getting too much advice and mixing and matching what helped others, so I read some of the seachem forums and their was some pretty good feedback and looked for their number and tried calling and everyone there and those here took some stress off my shoulders. Every experience is unique though. I tested my dads tank and his nitrates were like 180, everything else was 0,but all his fish appeared fine, although after researching I found that high nitrates are least toxic but probably affect your fish more long term. I did a 20% water change for him and a neon tetra and Pictus catfish were original fish, now 5 Cory cats, 4 other neons and a guppy, but the original neon didn’t make it, probably from the chemistry change in the water

You seem to be close like we are.
Our ammonia went down fast using prime.
It isn’t bringing our nitrites down though. We started seeing nitrites and nitrates at about 1ppm of ammonia. We have been told water changes was the only way to get down the ammonia and now the nitrite. I just want to be cycled already!’

Nitrites still 2-4ppm

 

Nitrites still 2-4ppm

How is it going? Are you fish still swimming?

 

How is it going? Are you fish still swimming?

Yes! All Alive still.

Still not cycled yet though

 

I am glad to hear that they are still alive. its a hard one when it is cycling.

 

Was wondering how they were doing. Glad to hear keep us posted

 

Cycling with Prime and Stability is a little different then other cycling methods - I've done that same regimen on about 6 tanks. First off - Prime should only be used every 48 hours, and when testing, only test after 24 hours otherwise your readings will be off (Prime binds ammonia converting it to ammonium, but most test kits don't know the difference).

Secondly, Stability with a fish in cycle can take a long time - but you don't keep dumping in stability after a week or so - just dose for a week, and then add more for with your water changes for a month. You don't want big water changes with Stability - just normal ones after 2 weeks. Stability takes a little while for the bacteria to find its place and start colonizing, so it may be in the water column a little longer then you'd expect. So doing a water changes may make it take longer for cycle to occur.

Seachem has a great forum where their staff moderate and respond to any questions - I've found them very helpful when I was just starting out in debunking fact from internet fiction. I'm down to just my 75 gallon now - but I've had success following their EXACT guidelines. I've had varied results following some of the stuff I've found elsewhere.

 

Cycling with Prime and Stability is a little different then other cycling methods - I've done that same regimen on about 6 tanks. First off - Prime should only be used every 48 hours, and when testing, only test after 24 hours otherwise your readings will be off (Prime binds ammonia converting it to ammonium, but most test kits don't know the difference).

Secondly, Stability with a fish in cycle can take a long time - but you don't keep dumping in stability after a week or so - just dose for a week, and then add more for with your water changes for a month. You don't want big water changes with Stability - just normal ones after 2 weeks. Stability takes a little while for the bacteria to find its place and start colonizing, so it may be in the water column a little longer then you'd expect. So doing a water changes may make it take longer for cycle to occur.

Seachem has a great forum where their staff moderate and respond to any questions - I've found them very helpful when I was just starting out in debunking fact from internet fiction. I'm down to just my 75 gallon now - but I've had success following their EXACT guidelines. I've had varied results following some of the stuff I've found elsewhere.

We stopped using stability. Only going to use it every week with a water change. This is our levels after 24 hours of dosing prime.

Was wondering how they were doing. Glad to hear keep us posted

All good!! The fry are growing and the adults show no signs of death or being sick. All snails alive too. I’m not sure how they made it through all this but thankful!

 

All good!! The fry are growing and the adults show no signs of death or being sick. All snails alive too. I’m not sure how they made it through all this but thankful!

Snails can be quite hardy and a lot of them leave the water for periods of time when quality is bad - or just close their trapdoors while they adjust to parameters.

 

Snails can be quite hardy and a lot of them leave the water for periods of time when quality is bad - or just close their trapdoors while they adjust to parameters.

Lately they have been roaming around the tank so that is a good sign. They used to all sit on the top. Or they’d all go into one of the ornaments and stay there for awhile. Now they are pretty active.