Cycled yet?

[Holla0]

Evening all. New here and had a cycling question. Had this 10g tank for just over a month, 1 black fin tetra, 1 white fin tetra, 1 Dalmatian Mollie, and 1 pictus (Tank is a too small for the pictus but planning on going a lot bigger soon) anyway. I am having issues with not being able to get rid of ammonia, I'm doing 30-50% water changes just to keep it down. Based on the Nitrates in the picture I would say it's cycled, but the fact ammonia won't stay away I'm not totally sure. I'm thinking maybe I need to change out the filter, any thoughts? Fish don't seem stressed at all.

 

[threnjen]

Nope, cycled is only when Ammonia and NitrIte are both 0, and you have nitrAtes. That is the only definition of a cycled tank. Yours is still cycling.
Definitely do not change out the filter. This is where your beneficial bacteria lives. you should never change your filter media until it is literally falling apart, which can take years. If it needs to be cleaned of gunk, swish/squeeze it in a bucket of used tank water (never tap water)

Please feel free to ask questions as needed, we are here to help.

 

[Holla0]

Thank you for the help. So I should basically just keep up with the water changes to keep the ammonia down until it's complete?

 

[Sk3lly]

Your ammonia levels are FAR TOO HIGH. Ammonia is toxic to fish. If you have fish in the tank then do a 50% water change immediately!! Then wait an hour and retest. If the test tube is still green immediately do another 50% water change. Keep on repeating this until your ammonia test tube is yellow.
Feel free to ignore my advice but be prepared to be fishing out your dead fish.

 

[Holla0]

Thank you! I did two 50% water changes last night. (I already did the first when I posted this) it was down to .5ppm after the first wc. So I'll check it again after I get home from work. My big question is why do I keep getting high ammonia along with Nitrate in the tank?

 

[wayne1]

Have you tested your tap water for nitrate?

 

[Holla0]

Yessir, tested for ammo, nitrite, and nitrate, and 0 on all of them. Two weeks ago when I was testing the tank water it had 0 nitrate, at least I have measurable levels now.

 

[threnjen]

The fish will continue to produce ammonia, which is converted by the bacteria into nitrite and then nitrate. You do show some nitrite in the picture as well. This bacteria will double every 12-24 hours until some day you will no longer show ammonia and nitrite readings and then your tank is cycled. In the meantime, keep ammonia and nitrite under. 5, and perform a water change any time either value reaches this.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Fresh2o]

The high ammonia, obviously, is because the bacteria responsible for converting them are too few in number to make a difference. This takes time (can be sped up with the introduction of established media from a healthy, cycled tank).
You could try reducing the amount of food given to the fish. Also, mollies have a high bioload for their size.

 

[Holla0]

Thank you everyone for the help and advice. It's sounds like I need to keep an eye on the food I feed, as well as a real close eye on all the levels for the next few weeks, change water as needed. And above all be patient..

 

[threnjen]

Yes, patience is key Fish don't need feeding every day, so as Fresh2o suggested you could feed less during cycling, every other day would be fine.

 

[Holla0]

I didn't even think about that, they act like they're starving when I feed them as it is. Drama queens I guess... But I will try that for a couple of days. Thank you again!!!