Dual 20 gallon and 55 gallon fishless water cycle and builds

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Wow your tap water has some interesting readings. Just add Prime, that's all you need. It'll help detoxify the toxins in the tap water. Once the tank(s) are fully cycled the beneficial bacteria will convert the ammonia etc in your tap water before it can hurt the fish (I believe, let someone else verify though).

I'd do at least a 50% water change every day for 2-3 days to get those nitrates down under 20.
 
When I did a 40% water change, the other day, I added Prime to the buckets. I just did a test from my tap water to get a baseline and I knew it was whacky.

So like tomorrow or Thursday I should do another 50% water change on the 50 gallon (inside tank with one fish in it)?

The other two 20 gallon tanks are in the process of cycling. Once they one of them is cycled I will move the one fish out of the 50 gallon and start the cycling process with the 50 gallon tank.

Just out of curiosity are 50% water changes safe? Reading about that old tank syndrome it sounds like I should be doing smaller water changes more often.

Also wanted to say Thanks to everyone that has helped me out so far. I was just one of those guys that didn't know anything about raising fish and I really never planned on it until I put some in my pond.
 
Did a water test on the two 20 gallons in the garage.

Tank 1
Ammonia: down to 0.25ppm dosed it back up
nitrIte: over 5.0ppm off the chart
nitrAte: holding steady between 5.0ppm and 10ppm

Tank 2
Ammonia: down to 1.0ppm dosed it back up
nitrIte: 0.25ppm
nitrAte: between 40ppm and 80ppm

So tank 2 has high nitrAte level more than tank 1. Should I do a 50% water change tomorrow after the Ammonia has gone down?
 
As long as things are moving and the pH is holding steady...there's no need to change water unless you want to.

FYI...it might be worth having your tap water tested by the Health Dept. In the US, the maximum contaminant level for nitrIte in drinking water is 1ppm. Google "nitrIte, EPA, MCL". I don't want to set off any alarms...but it's something you should check into.
 
Talked to the City of Bloomington and they are having someone come out tomorrow to do a water test although they have told me this:

"I am not familiar with the sort of testing kit that one uses to test for nitrites in fish tanks, however I can assure you that the instrument we use to test for this is very precise. We can see as low as 0.01mg/L(ppm) of nitrite and our method is certified by the Minnesota Dept. of Health. Each week we go out into the system and test the water for numerous paramters, including nitrite. I can honestly tell you that our system water has never been >0.25ppm."

So maybe my test kit is bad? I guess we will see what the city comes up with tomorrow. I asked that they test for Ammonia, pH and Nitrates as well so i can have a base reading.
 
Tonight I did a 50% water change in the 50 gallon. I will test the water tomorrow night.

As for the two 20 gallons:

Tank 1
Ammonia down to .025ppm again
Nitrite still off the chart (deep purple-violet)
Nitrate still sitting about about 5.0ppm

Tank 2
Ammonia only down to 2.0ppm
Nitrite still at 0.25ppm
Nitrate is about 80ppm

After reading a few posts about cycles and what not I did take another look at my Ammonia source and it does say "Cleans and Deodorizes" so I am wondering if it isn't pure? It only says it contains Ammonia and it smells like ****. Stings the nostrils. It seems my tanks are cycling and nothing seems too out of whack.

Another question is when you clean out the test tubes you don't use soap or anything do you? I just rinse them out with tap water like three times then just lay them out to dry.

Finally how do you know if your test kit is out dated? I know my Nitrites from the tap are outrageous and I have the city to come out and hopefully tell me my tests are wrong. If that is the case how do I know if anything has been accurate?
 
So the city water specialist got back to me on the water test results.

Nitrite as N 0.221mg/L
Nitrate as N 0.397mg/L

And her response:
As you can see, the COB water is well below the Maximum contaminant Level of 1mg/L for Nitrite and 10mg/L for Nitrate

So I don't know how this translates into ppm but it sounds like my water should be fine. Now I am wondering if my API test kit is bad?
 
So I came home and tested the water out of the same sink the chemist took water out of. And I know the test tube had been cleaned and dried for at least 8 hours. The nitrites test showed about 0.25ppm. So it was correct. I then tested a different sink and got a totally different result. So then I began to think it was because I didn't let the test tube full dry but I had rinsed it out. Did one more test same test tube same result. High nitrites according to my test. So I took a different tube that had been sitting overnight and hadn't been used and I am still getting the same result. So is there any other tips I might need to follow before testing? Like should I let the water run for a minute before I put it in the test tube. Should I let the water sit in the test tube for a couple minutes before I put the solution in? The city tested for less than 0.25ppm and I believe their test before I believe mine. Also the Lot number is 26A1210 and supposedly these kits are good for 3 years. So the kit shouldn't be expired?
 
Well I tested all three tanks tonight but who knows how accurate it is since it seems my nitrite test kit is off.

50 Gallon (not cycling yet)
Anyway I did a 50% water change on the 50 gallon yesterday and tonight's readings are:
Ammonia: still at 0.25ppm
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: went down to 20ppm
pH: is now at 7.6

So after that 50% water change the ph went up and the nitrates went down. Sounds like it is becoming a more safe environment for the one fish. I will probably do one more 50% water change this weekend to hopefully get those nitrates down just a bit more.

Tank 1 (20 gallon in the garage currently cycling)
Ammonia: back down to 0.25ppm
Nitrites: off the chart still
Nitrates: 5.0ppm
pH: Just darker than 7.6

I did a 5 gallon water change on that tank tonight after my water tests. I am waiting for 20 minutes then I will specifically test the ammonia so I can get it back up to 4.0ppm.

Tank 2 (20 gallon in the garage currently cycling)
Ammonia: only down to 2.0ppm
Nitrites: 0.25ppm
Nitrates: 80ppm
pH: darker than 7.6

I also did a 5 gallon (25%) water change on this tank. Will wait to get the ammonia back up then tomorrow nightI will do the full testing.

I am hoping my testing kit isn't that far off. Like i said in a couple posts before this one I was able to get 0.25ppm nitrites out of the tap water but after that I was never able to test that again.
 
I called API today to ask how their tests might differ from how municipalities test no2 and no3. I requested a callback...so I'll let you know if I hear anything. I wouldn't expect much, one time I called and asked if they were open to the suggestion of printing the instructions for shaking the no3 tests on the BOTTLES and not just in the booklet...and the guy acted like I was talking about the color blue or something. He couldn't have cared less.
 
Cool let me know what you find out?

I was thinking after doing some reading and I am thinking I might as well do a "fish-in" cycle on my 50 gallon since there is already a fish in there. I have all the material and it sounds like you don't actually put in Ammonia. Do I have to have the heat set to a certain temp? I am already testing the water on a daily basis. How do you know when the fish in cycle is complete?

As of my log above I have all the toxins pretty much at bay. I will do another water change tomorrow to bring down the nitrates a bit. Any other advice would be much appreciated.
 
graphicpunk said:
Cool let me know what you find out?

I was thinking after doing some reading and I am thinking I might as well do a "fish-in" cycle on my 50 gallon since there is already a fish in there. I have all the material and it sounds like you don't actually put in Ammonia. Do I have to have the heat set to a certain temp? I am already testing the water on a daily basis. How do you know when the fish in cycle is complete?

As of my log above I have all the toxins pretty much at bay. I will do another water change tomorrow to bring down the nitrates a bit. Any other advice would be much appreciated.

A fish-in cycle is basically the same except for the fish is your ammonia source instead of liquid ammonia. None of the little tricks like raised temperature apply...the health of your fish is first and foremost. In that case you don't let any levels spike...you do whatever it takes to keep the toxins as low as possible until the tank is stable. It also has to be stocked very lightly and slowly over time so the bio-filter can establish itself and remain stable.

Here's the article for it-
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html
 
So I could do a 50% water change on Saturday and probably bring in one fish from the pond. I have some large fish in the pond and some medium and some smaller ones. Could I bring in two smaller ones or should I just bring in one for now?
 
graphicpunk said:
So I could do a 50% water change on Saturday and probably bring in one fish from the pond. I have some large fish in the pond and some medium and some smaller ones. Could I bring in two smaller ones or should I just bring in one for now?

This is the tank that has already had a fish in it for a long time? If I'm not mixing anything up (which is always possible) it's most likely already cycled. The important thing to remember is that the beneficial bacteria grows to match the fish in the tank...so if you add too many fish too fast it will mini-cycle because there isn't enough bacteria to handle the waste your fish are producing. Personally I'd add 1 or two of the smaller ones, test every day for a week...if the levels stay stable with no spikes in ammonia or no2 it should be okay to add another one. You just need to do it slowly and cautiously.
 
Yes it is the tank that has had the fish in it since early summer. The problem is at one point I had several other fish in there without a filter and ICH broke out. I had to heat the tank to 86 degrees for about 2 1/2 weeks. The fish that is in there now is the sole survivor of all that mess. I haven't had a filter on that tank all summer but it has been fully cleaned out before the outbreak of ICH. So I am not sure if the tank is properly cycled but I guess I can always keep track of the levels in the water. My goal is to eventually just have the bigger goldfish in this tank and make it a permanent home for them but for now I can bring in 1 or 2 smaller ones just to help develop that bacteria.
 
Ran some water tests tonight nothing out of the ordinary from last night. Pretty much the same readings. Tomorrow I am going to do a 50% water change on the 50 gallon and possibly a 50% water change on both 20 gallons. Then I am hoping to move a couple small goldies from the pond into the 50 gallon. The water readings seem stable for now.

I haven't taken any pics of my 50 gallon because it needed to be cleaned up a bit and so I have finally cleaned it and got a new bubbler. So here is the 50 gallon I have in my office:
6245673192_05f46555ac_b.jpg


I don't know if it is a 50 gallon or a 55. It could be either or? Anyway it has cleared up nicely. There are some particles floating around because I just put in the new bubbler. That stirred it up a bit.

Here is the one fish that occupies it for now. My wife named him "Big Retard". There was a little retard but he fell due to a outbreak of ICH. I tried to get some "cool" shots but it is hard since you can't make them "stay"

6245151271_129599594d_b.jpg


You can see I still have some cleaning to do from this shot:
6245151247_5b40297847_b.jpg


Finally tried to up the exposure so I could get the bubbles but it turned out a bit crappy as for quality:
6245151199_746af0fabf_b.jpg
 
So I did a 50% water change and added 2 goldfish from the pond. I waited about 45 minutes and did a water test to see if anything changed. I don't know what the readings are from the pond but I hope there wasn't too much of a pH or temp difference to throw off the fish. I threw in some food and they ate it so that can't be a bad sign.

Anyway here are the water readings:
Ammonia still at 0.25ppm
Nitrites are up to 0.25ppm from 0. Probably because of the new fish. I will have to pay close attention to that.
Nitrates still at 20ppm
pH is holding steady at 7.6

I will probably do another test later tonight to make sure everything is still stable and there are no major changes.

One of my concerns is fish behavior. I can't tell if they are showing aggression or not. Here is one of the goldies and he has had his back fin up:

6248108218_2067a2eda3_b.jpg


Not sure if that is a bad sign or not. I know fancy goldfish and regular goldfish aren't the best of tank mates but I hope it doesn't stress out the tank.

Here is one more picture of both goldies:
6248108266_28f1e69faf_b.jpg


They have gotten so big and I believe there are some of the "smaller" ones I have out in the pond haha.
 
Ok so did another water test and everything remains the same except the pH level. It dropped from 7.6 to 7.2 which I imagine is normal when adding fish. I will monitor the pH level especially over the next couple days and if it starts to crash I will do some more water changes.

On another note the Goldies seem to be used to the tank now. They are swimming around like normal fish now. I have also put a little more food in to see if they will eat it and they have no problem with that.

Its crazy how big these goldfish get from 6 months in that filthy pond! I can't wait to see how big my "big" goldie is!
 
Tested the 50 gallon tonight.

Ammonia: 0.25ppm
Nitrites: back down to 0
Nitrates: looks to be between 10ppm and 20ppm
pH: 7.6

Everything seems to be stable in the big tank so far.

I will test the ammonia in the 20 gallons in a few minutes.
 
So I have tested the water the last couple days and no change in the water. My question is I really need to get the other fish out of the pond as it is getting colder and colder. High today was like 48 degrees. So I was thinking if I syphoned out like 30 gallons of my established water into a big plastic tub could I transfer the fish to that for now. I wouldn't feed them and I could test that water on a daily basis as well. My 20 gallon tanks out in the garage are getting close to done I believe and once they are done I will split up all the fish. Plus I can move a couple more to the big tank this weekend as I am slowly populating that tank.
 
Back
Top Bottom