evening all im doing a cycle with a few fish 4 leopard danios been in my tank now for five weeks. doing reguler water changes ammonia never gets more than 0.5 when am i likely to see nitrites and nitrates thanks in advance.
cycling with fish
- Thread starter hanssg
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librarygirl
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Should be happening any time now; in fact it should have happened already but every tank is different. What size tank do you have?
thanks for the reply librarygirl i posted this on the practicalfishkeeping forum and all i got was abuse sorry i forgot my tank is 63 litres with a few vals there doing ok in fact had to trim some asthey getting to big
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
For doing a Fish in cycle with water changes? NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT!
Welcome!!
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html
This is what we recommend.
Welcome!!
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html
This is what we recommend.
Last edited:
librarygirl
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HOw often are you doing water changes? How often does it take for ammonia to build up between water changes and how high does it get? Just .5 or does it get higher? Have you noticed any difference in how fast the ammonia is rising?
What's your PH? A low PH can stall the cycle so that could be a factor. Test it if you can and post it here.
ALso what test kit are you using?
Are you using dechlorinator with the water changes?
Sorry for the questions, just need more info to help.
What's your PH? A low PH can stall the cycle so that could be a factor. Test it if you can and post it here.
ALso what test kit are you using?
Are you using dechlorinator with the water changes?
Sorry for the questions, just need more info to help.
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
hanssg said:
Haha! Stupid iPhone.
librarygirl
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Hm, are you using the interpret gold tapsafe? If so I've read it doesn't remove chloramines and some people's cycles have stalled using it. Here's a thread: Fishkeeping - Interpet Tap Safe - A word of warning [Forums - Coldwater - Help and Advice]
Your cycle should be done by now, or at least in the nitrite phase. Something is off if you're still seeing ammo after this long. Has your PH been steady?
Your cycle should be done by now, or at least in the nitrite phase. Something is off if you're still seeing ammo after this long. Has your PH been steady?
librarygirl
Look It Up
I think so, it says it removes chlorine and chloramines and heavy metals. I'm not sure what's going on though, you should be further along in cycling by now. Have you tested PH regularly; it's it holding at 6.8?
Can you test your tap water for pH too? Test it out of the tap and then let it sit for 24 hours and see what it says.
What temperature is the tank? Does it have sufficient oxygen exchange (either from an air stone or the water dropping into the tank from the filter)?
What size tank is it?
librarygirl
Look It Up
Hm, so that looks pretty good, if the tank's ph is 6.8 that should be OK. If it's much lower than that the PH could be the issue but I think 6.8 should be all right. I've read thoutgh that a PH below 7 can inhibit the bacteria so I'm wondering if that's playing a part as well.
If you can get some cuttlebone (sold for birds at most pet stores) or crushed coral (sold in large bags at most fish stores in the saltwater section) and put a small piece of cuttle bone or a few pinches of coral into a mesh media bag or clean nylon stocking and put it in your filter it should helop buffer the water some and help raise PH a bit (not too high, so don't add too much, if you can get it to 7-7.2 that would be good).
Other thanthat I'm at a loss really, the cycle should be further along by now. Can you get any seeded filter media from an established tank? If not, angels plus sells active seeded sponge filters from their angelfish tanks. I've used them to help cycle my tanks and so have others. Perhaps you should try to get one and see if it helps; get one that says "active" next to it though or else you're just buying a plain filter.
Just in case, maybe try switching dechlorinators too, try getting Prime if you can.
If you can get some cuttlebone (sold for birds at most pet stores) or crushed coral (sold in large bags at most fish stores in the saltwater section) and put a small piece of cuttle bone or a few pinches of coral into a mesh media bag or clean nylon stocking and put it in your filter it should helop buffer the water some and help raise PH a bit (not too high, so don't add too much, if you can get it to 7-7.2 that would be good).
Other thanthat I'm at a loss really, the cycle should be further along by now. Can you get any seeded filter media from an established tank? If not, angels plus sells active seeded sponge filters from their angelfish tanks. I've used them to help cycle my tanks and so have others. Perhaps you should try to get one and see if it helps; get one that says "active" next to it though or else you're just buying a plain filter.
Just in case, maybe try switching dechlorinators too, try getting Prime if you can.
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
Have you changed any any filter media?
fish in cycle
no not changed any filter media did a test on 3 feb tap water showing a trace of ammonia ph 6.4 out of tap goes up to about 6.8 in tank. just tested again 5 feb 0 to 0.25 ammonia but still no nitrites or nitrates god this is drawn out.
no not changed any filter media did a test on 3 feb tap water showing a trace of ammonia ph 6.4 out of tap goes up to about 6.8 in tank. just tested again 5 feb 0 to 0.25 ammonia but still no nitrites or nitrates god this is drawn out.
librarygirl
Look It Up
My only thought is that the PH is very low and could be hindering the process. As I mentioned above if you can get some crushed coral to add to your filter to help buffer the water a little and try to raise PH to 7-7.2 that should help. And seeded media should help speed things along too.
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