0.25 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite and 0 Nitrate after 60 days

[enorton]

Hi,

*** Sorry, my subject is not accurate--I have had the tank for about 45-50 days.

I have 30 gallon freshwater tank with:

6 bloodfin tetras
1 diamond tetra
1 neon tetra

I have had the tank since mid October.

The ammonia consistently registers 0.25 ppm for the past 2 weeks. Nitrites and Nitrates are at 0. pH is 7.4.

I do a 25-30% water change weekly.

I'm using a liquid test kit from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. The kit is brand new.

I recently purchased a dwarf gourami and it died within 2 days. The rest of the fish seem happy. Maybe something was wrong with the fish to begin with, and I've heard they're sensitive to poor water quality, but I'm not sure why it died.

My question is: Is this normal that my Ammonia isn't moving? Also the nitrites and nitrates aren't moving.

 

[neilanh]

Welcome to AA!

Was the tank fully cycled (i.e. 0 ammonia and nitrIte) prior to 2 weeks ago before this started happening?

What type of dechlorinator do you use when doing your water changes? Is there a chance you forgot to use it prior to this ammonia spike?

 

[enorton]

The tank was not fully cycled as of two weeks ago. I had the neon tetra and the diamond tetra in the tank for about 1 week prior to adding the bloodfins.

I use AquaSafe to dechlorinate the water.

I've recently started keeping a log of test results, but my memory is telling me that ammonia has never gone above .5 ppm ever since I had the new tank, which surprised me.

 

[enorton]

I was just thinking: I feed my fish once every other day. Is it possible I'm underfeeding my fish and they're not expelling enough waste to get the nitrogen cycle going?

 

[HN1]

Until Ammonia and nitrite hold at zero, it's not fully matured. Excuse the title.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now-116287.html

 

[Jason7894561230]

You are not under feeding your fish some people even feed their fish every two days, and since you havent done the cycle then the fish will die of ammonia poisoning.

 

[ejaramillo01]

I also have been recycling my tank, After the 3 weeks, the water, ornaments, stones, etc look really clean, but the plastic tubes from the air pump to the bubbles stones developed a green crust, like flakes that look like mold, hopefully this is good??????
If we move the plastic tubes, these crust separate easily from the pipe, and start to float around the tank, later on the filter takes care of them.
What I'm trying to ask is if these "green, moldy, crusts" are normal? Good? Or bad?

Finally I started to see a drop in the Ammonia, my readings are:
Ammonia 2.00 ppm
Nitrite

 

[ejaramillo01]

Welcome to AA!

Was the tank fully cycled (i.e. 0 ammonia and nitrIte) prior to 2 weeks ago before this started happening?

What type of dechlorinator do you use when doing your water changes? Is there a chance you forgot to use it prior to this ammonia spike?

After the 3 weeks, the water, ornaments, stones, etc look really clean, but the plastic tubes from the air pump to the bubbles stones developed a green crust, like flakes that look like mold, hopefully this is good??????
If we move the plastic tubes, these crust separate easily from the pipe, and start to float around the tank, later on the filter takes care of them.
What I'm trying to ask is if these "green, moldy, crusts" are normal? Good? Or bad?

Sorry my readings are Ammonia 2 ppm, Nitrite 2 ppm Nitrate 2 ppm

 

[BigJim]

The green stuff is algae. It's the least of your worries now.

Do a 50%-75% PWC ASAP. Try to keep your ammonia and nitrite levels below 0.25ppm. You may need to do daily PWCs to accomplish this.

 

[HN1]

Until Ammonia and nitrite hold at zero, it's not fully matured. Excuse the title.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now-116287.html

^ Click

 

[Marconis]

I think before entering the forum, there should be a big flash page on the benefits of doing a fishless cycle.

Do as BigJim said and click HN1's link

 

[enorton]

In previous tanks, 10g and 12g, I've seen the process play out when I've done my water testing. Ammonia appears, lowers; Nitrite appears, lowers; Nitrates tend to stick around at a low level as long as I did regular water changes.

I guess my question is, am I being impatient? Does it take longer with a larger 30g tank or is tank size irrelevant?

 

[enorton]

Also, I started the tank with plants, some gravel and old filter media, but I figured if anything that would speed up the process.

 

[ejaramillo01]

Thanks BigJim

Thanks,
I read today, ammonia drop to 0, nitrite drop to 0 also!!!!, nitrate jumped to 20 , all in ppm
I added more ammonia today to go back to 4 to 5 ppm, I forgot to mention that I'm cycling the tank with no fish.
Thanks, looks like I'm going in the right direction