cycling a 34g tank

[SamanthaJayne]

So I have been trying to do a fish in cycle for around 3 moths now and my nitires and nitrates never get above 0.
I have decided to "start over" and did a 75% water change.
I would love some help/suggestions on how to get my tank to cycle.
Thanks

 

[trennamw]

I'm sure you'll get lots of suggestions, if you could tell us more. What approach did you use for cycling? What was your ammonia source?


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[Bloodroot]

So I have been trying to do a fish in cycle for around 3 moths now and my nitires and nitrates never get above 0.
I have decided to "start over" and did a 75% water change.
I would love some help/suggestions on how to get my tank to cycle.
Thanks

What fish? How many fish? What is your ammonia level?

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[SamanthaJayne]

I have 11 fish, 3 angels, 2 electric yellows, 2 red jewels, 1 platy, 1 bristle nose catfish, 2 dwarf gouramis. The highest my ammonia gets is 2.0 ppm.

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[Mebbid]

2.0 is way way too high. Especially for a cichlid tank with a high ph. I would suggest that you try to keep it a bit lower.

 

[BBradbury]

Fish In Tank Cycling

So I have been trying to do a fish in cycle for around 3 moths now and my nitires and nitrates never get above 0.
I have decided to "start over" and did a 75% water change.
I would love some help/suggestions on how to get my tank to cycle.
Thanks

Hello Sam...

You need 3 to 4 fish for every 10 gallons of water. I used female Guppies, but you can use Platys or Danios. Both are very hardy and will easily survive the less than perfect water conditions that come with the nitrogen cycle. Add a floating plant like Hornwort to help steady the water chemistry.

Once the fish are in, test the water daily for traces of ammonia or nitrite. If you have a positive test, then remove and replace 25 percent of the tank water and replace it with treated tap water. Feed sparingly. Just test and replace the water when needed. In a month, you'll notice several tests with no traces of the above toxins. The tank is cycled. I had fry in the tank by the time the tank cycled.

Pretty easy if you monitor the tank water daily.

B

 

[Mebbid]

Hello Sam...

You need 3 to 4 fish for every 10 gallons of water. I used female Guppies, but you can use Platys or Danios. Both are very hardy and will easily survive the less than perfect water conditions that come with the nitrogen cycle. Add a floating plant like Hornwort to help steady the water chemistry.

Once the fish are in, test the water daily for traces of ammonia or nitrite. If you have a positive test, then remove and replace 25 percent of the tank water and replace it with treated tap water. Feed sparingly. Just test and replace the water when needed. In a month, you'll notice several tests with no traces of the above toxins. The tank is cycled. I had fry in the tank by the time the tank cycled.

Pretty easy if you monitor the tank water daily.

B

So around a month there will be traces of nitrates? So what should be done after 3 months of no nitrates?

 

[BBradbury]

Fish In Tank Cycling

Hello Meb...

Never heard of this happening during the fish in tank cycling process as long you use hardy fish and use 3 or 4 medium sized, adult fish for every 10 gallons of tank water, and change up to 20-25 percent of the tank water when the fish show signs of stress.

You can't change out too much water, or you'll delay the cycle. It certainly makes sense that if you do large, daily water changes during the cycling process, you remove most or all of the dissolved nitrogen from the fish waste. There's nothing for the growing bacteria to live on. No ammonia, no nitrite, so no nitrates.

Pretty simple.

B

 

[SamanthaJayne]

Thanks Brad for the advice.
I will try less frequent water changes this time round.

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[Mebbid]

Hello Meb...

Never heard of this happening during the fish in tank cycling process as long you use hardy fish and use 3 or 4 medium sized, adult fish for every 10 gallons of tank water, and change up to 20-25 percent of the tank water when the fish show signs of stress.

You can't change out too much water, or you'll delay the cycle. It certainly makes sense that if you do large, daily water changes during the cycling process, you remove most or all of the dissolved nitrogen from the fish waste. There's nothing for the growing bacteria to live on. No ammonia, no nitrite, so no nitrates.

Pretty simple.

B

That is absolutely absurd. Youre telling a person with ammonia problems to stop changing their water as much? Sorry, but no. Absolutely not. A 2.0 ammonia is already a dangerous amount. Theres no point in killing your fish in a futile attempt to cycle a tank faster. Maybe you should actually read a post before copying and pasting your canned answers.

Thanks Brad for the advice.
I will try less frequent water changes this time round.

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As long as there is ANY ammonia in your water then there is more than enough for bacteria to grow from. Do your water changes to keep your fish safe and then look at other options from there.

 

[Mebbid]

Do you change your filter media?
What is your ph level?
How do you handle your water changes?

 

[Brookster123]

Well moths certainly won't cycle an aquarium, i think shrimp is what you're after what are you testing the water with?? How do the fish look? Can you provide us with a highly detailed account of your aquarium? Type til your fingers hurt..

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