fish cycling inqury

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almcloud

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Sep 19, 2011
Messages
246
Location
LOS ANGELES, CA
Started fishless for 7 days. Took water samlpe to lfs and was told im good to go. Was sold 6 fish for my 10 gal. A week later one fish dies, I take water for testing to other lfs and found out amonia was @ 4.0 :-(
Apparently was sold too many fish, to early ... was able to take 3 back, left with 2 (lfs didn't wanna take them back, said they might be sick).
Now I'm day 19 with fish cycle (day 9 with only 2 fish cycling).
Was advised to do pwc, did about 3 so far, last one was on 21th of Sept.
Was advised by 2nd lfs to use active live bacteria (the one u keep in the fridge) and feed fish every 3rd or 4th day. Problem is that after the Ammonia level dropped to 1.0 ppm about 8 days ago it stoped there. I got my own API test kit and use it every other day. The Nitrite went up from 0 to 2.0 and Nitrate from 0 to 50 ppm. What should I do next? because the ammonia seems to not drop even if there is Nitrite and Nitrate activity now. Water was very cloudy at first but now is very clear. I am using Amo-lock as advised in API test kit to make Ammonia harmless to my 2 poor fish. They don't show signs of unusual behavior. Pls help me take it to the next level because I feel I got stuck with ammonia level. Does it take that much time to lower?
 
Sounds like the ammo lock stopped the cycle?

You need to do water changes, many and now. Test every day, do a water change if you're ammonia is over .25. This means test in the morning, if it's .5 + ammonia you need to do a 50% PWC, or even higher if the ammonia is higher. You may need to do a 75%, wait a half hour and do another 75%. You have to get the ammonia down. All you should need for cycling with fish is a good water dechlor like Prime and temperature matched water. As long as you stay on top of your water changes, your fish can be ok. The bacteria is growing on the filter and sand/ornaments in the tank. So you can PWC all day long :)
 
Hi. The first thing you need to do is stop using any bacteria adding products. They don't work. Next stop using the ammonia lock. Water changes do the same thing and are better for your fish. Next test your water everyday and every time the ammonia or nitrite gets over 0.25ppm do a water change. Any higher than this will have serious affects on your fishes health. So if your ammonia is at 1.00ppm do a 50% water change using a good dechlorinator like prime to bring it down to 0.50ppm then do another one to bring it down to 0.25ppm. It can take as long as 8 weeks to cycle a tank.
 
steez said:
Sounds like the ammo lock stopped the cycle?

You need to do water changes, many and now. Test every day, do a water change if you're ammonia is over .25. This means test in the morning, if it's .5 + ammonia you need to do a 50% PWC, or even higher if the ammonia is higher. You may need to do a 75%, wait a half hour and do another 75%. You have to get the ammonia down. All you should need for cycling with fish is a good water dechlor like Prime and temperature matched water. As long as you stay on top of your water changes, your fish can be ok. The bacteria is growing on the filter and sand/ornaments in the tank. So you can PWC all day long :)

Just beat me! :)
 
Thanks a lot folks :) its good to see same advice from 2 different people in a very short amount of time :) already did a 50% PWC will test tom morning and change again.
Will also stop using AmoLock (thought the advice w/API booklet was good, since everybody was recommending that Kit) . Don't have Prime (don't know what it is, will google it) what I used (per API advice again :-( ...) was API StressCoat. How important is to get Prime?
Another question pls, was told by lfs not to feed fish for a good 3-4 days, is that truth?
 
almcloud said:
Thanks a lot folks :) its good to see same advice from 2 different people in a very short amount of time :) already did a 50% PWC will test tom morning and change again.
Will also stop using AmoLock (thought the advice w/API booklet was good, since everybody was recommending that Kit) . Don't have Prime (don't know what it is, will google it) what I used (per API advice again :-( ...) was API StressCoat. How important is to get Prime?
Another question pls, was told by lfs not to feed fish for a good 3-4 days, is that truth?

As good as the product/company is they are still trying to sell you extra products unfortunately. The amolock locks the ammonia away so it can't harm your fish but at the same time also locks it away from you BB and they starve. I've never used API stress coat before but the reason they suggest it is because its one of their products. Seachem prime is a dechlorinator that turns ammonia into its less harmful/non harmful form (for 24hours) but it can still be consumed by your BB. It also makes nitrite safer for your fish in that time. That is why everyone uses it :) Of course it doesn't replace PWC. And as for your LFS telling you to only feed your fish every few days is because the less you feed them the less ammonia they make. If you stay ontop of your water changes and make sure all the food is eaten by your fish within a couple of minutes there is no problem feeding them a small amount once or twice a day.
 
you should have your own master test kit, plus most lfs are clueless. i wouldnt trust them with anything. do your own research and know what you want and what youre doing before going in.
 
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