So Confused - Fish Tank Cycling Issues

So I have a question about cycling, currently, I have a 10g. Before buying anything, except substrate, filter, plants, heater, etc, I got my water ammonia level to about 0.5ppm. Then, I went to my local LFS, and they told me to buy this thing that apparently worked for all of them, called FritzZyme TurboStart 700. Seems legitimate, I did my fair share of reading and the FritzZyme contains live bacteria to start up the tank. They told me to dump half the bottle in, add fish, then pour half the bottle. Its been 24 hours w/ fish in (goldfish+cories), and it turns out the ammonia went down to about 0.25-0ppm, 0 nitrites, and 5ppm-10ppm nitrates. Now...however, my tap water also seems to have 5ppm-10ppm nitrates. So did I miss a nitrite spike, as the cycle should be finished after 24 hours? Should I test my tap water nitrates again? I am confused, or maybe I have a faulty kit?? Sorry about all the questions.

One more - I haven't changed my tank water for about 5 days cause I don't wanna disturb tank cycling, so should I change my water?

Edit: It turns out I DO HAVE NITRITES!! 0.25ppm....so this means my cycle is working, correct? I didn't wait the correct 5 mins only waited 3 so I guess the color does darken after 5 minutes...

 

Seems you're doing a fish in cycle. Definitely do water changes. Like 20% a day. The bacteria is just meant to seed the filter so leave the filter alone but change the water out.

Fish in cycles are much simpler than fishless cycles, and goldfish can live in sewer water. But people are going to tell you that the cories need a school of like 10 fish and a minimum tank size of 20g.

 

So my cycle is working, correct?

Plz help...

 

Well I'll start by answering the question you asked...

It would appear that your cycle is progressing. But you really need to follow FritzZyme's instructions as far as water changes. I've never used FritzZyme, so I do not know the specifics as to when you can start performing water changes.

Now onto the question you should have asked...Is my tank overstocked?

The answer to that question is yes. If you have a fancy goldfish (such as a fan tail) the minimum recommended tank size is 20 gallon for the first and 10 gallon for each additional. But if it is a common goldfish, well they get well over a foot long and really need a pond. Also because goldfish are huge waste producers, you may have trouble keeping the tank cycled, since your filter may not be able to physically house enough bacteria to process all of the ammonia being produced.

But even if it can process all of that ammonia, ammonia ends up become nitrate and your tank will be producing a lot of nitrates. And since you have nitrates in your tap water...well you can see where you may end up with nitrate problems.

Now onto your cories, they are a schooling fish and should be in groups of at least 5. But your tank really isn't large enough for 1 cory, let alone 5. The minimum recommended tank size for cory cats is a 20 gallon (standard or long, but not a 20 gallon high). Also, depending on the species of cory, they might not be temperature compatible with the goldfish.

So sorry for all the bad news. I'm not trying to discourage you, but having a tank with all kinds of problems can be very discouraging.

Best of luck!

 

Ok - thank you for the information. Yeah I do agree with you I am returning the goldfish to petco, and about the cories, could panda cories work better in my tank?

 

The only cories suitable for a 10 gallon tank are pygmy cories, but I think they are pretty hard to come by.

But I do want to mention that Panda Cories are one of the more sensitive species and are best in an established tank.

 

Thanks!

Its been a week+ of cycling my 10g, and I bought some live bacteria FritzZyme 700 and dosed that...today my readings are 0.25ppm-0.5ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites, and 5ppm nitrates (my tap has 5ppm nitrates). However, yesterday I had 0.25ppm nitrites...so what happened? I'm also using prime + fish-in-cycle

Edit: I was using Seachem Stability for the first 5 days, didn't work, now been using Fritz for 3 days...said to dump half bottle on first day.

 

What has happened is the nitrite has been oxidised into nitrate (most likely).

 

HI so Ive posted a bunch about nitrogen cycle and my fish tank already...and today...it seems that my nitrite level is really high!! This is a new tank btw for about 2 weeks, with added bottled bacteria (Stability and FritzZyme 700 are the products). I have 0 ammonia and some nitrate...(w/ some from my tap water cause my tap has like 5ppm nitrates) and idk what to do, as these were the results AFTER a ~35% water change. I recently returned my goldfish as its too big for 10 gallon so I just have pygmies now...what can I do now? Am I towards the end of my cycle? Can I get other fish soon?

 

You can’t get more fish until your ammonia and nitrite are zero. You’re definitely in the home stretch. I’d suggest doing a 50-70% water change asap. If you don’t already have it, I’d highly suggest getting Seachem Prime. Using this and keeping nitrite at 1 ppm or below will ensure your fish are safe.

 

Yeah I do have prime, I dose daily...so is my cycle progressing? This should be the nitrite spike right.?

 

It sure is. You already have the first group of bacteria oxidizing ammonia into nitrite.

 

Several threads have been merged to keep all the information in one place & members following can see what’s already been advised.