HELP! New 20g aquarium and I am SOOOO Confused!

[Cherry Barb]

Hello all! I will try to keep this as short as possible but I have so much conflicting Information I need a little help sorting it all out. 8O

I have a new 20g freshwater tank set up w/bio-wheel filter and heater set at 78 degrees. I am building my own background slowly with cave sets, eventually I will add live plants and I am trying to "naturally" cycle my tank.

After lots of reading and 2 months of research, I enlisted the help of 4 zebra danios to try and accomplish this. (I even named them! )

My tank has been running for 5 days and on the 3rd day I lost Danny and the water turned slightly cloudy. After my fish death I went looking for local "experts" and found a fish specialty shop that tells me I should purchase bio-spira, put it in my tank and I should fully stock it 30 seconds after I do this.

I want to know if I'm on the right track with a natural cycling or should I do this bio-spire? And how often should I be adding fish? And is there anything else I should do to prevent more fish deaths?

Sorry for such a long question, but I'm afraid I will get in over my head before I learn the basics of aquarium keeping and I want to enjoy my fish, not mourn their deaths.

Thanks in advance!

 

[tkos]

Yes, buy bio-spira and use it soon. If you can't get it soon then do water changes and test for ammonia. If any is present then more water changes. That is probably what killed the danio.The bio-spira is a bottle of good bacteria that will eat the ammonia and produce nitrite which another bacteria will eat to produce nitrates. The bio-spira will allow you to add a full load of fish at one time so make sure you know what fish you want to add. First I would do water chages (with a dechlorinator) then I would figure out what fish you want and maybe ask on the list if they are good choices for your tank.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Really? I thought that most preferred a fishless cycle using either some shrimp or by adding ammonia manually.

 

[Madame_X]

Really? I thought that most preferred a fishless cycle using either some shrimp or by adding ammonia manually.

Fishless is the way to go, but she can't do that now. She has fish! Can't add ammonia to the tank now...

The Bio Spira may help save the fish she already has put in the tank.

 

[Allivymar]

You certainly can go either route (cycling with just fish or with the Bio_Spira).

If you chose to use Bio-Spira, I would do a water change, add it and wait a day before adding fish. Its made to accomodate the rising levels of ammonia and nitrites from what I've read, not necessarily to reduce already high levels. So you want to give it time to get to work and multiply. I forget the exact times, but I believe it can take upwards of 15-20 hours for the nitrifyers to double, so give em a chance to catch up.

If you decide to go with just fish, you should be doing lots n lots of water changes. You need to dilute the levels of poisons in the water (ammonia and nitrites) because they are killing your fish. Of course, the bacteria feed on those poisons, and consequently lowering them will cause the cycle to take longer (less food for the bacteria) but to me, live fish are more important.

In both cases you MUST test your water regularly for ammonia/nitrites/nitrates. It will tell you when you need to water change, and will let you know when your cycle is done (no more ammonia/nitrites, lower levels of nitrates).

 

[Cherry Barb]

Okay, so I need to test. Is there a certain kit or several that I need? How long is average cycle time if I decide to use just fish and how often and how many fish can or should I add at one time? Keep in mind right now I have just the three danios. Thanks again!

 

[Madame_X]

If you're going to continue cycling with fish, you shouldn't add any more until its completely cycled. I believe 2-3 is the recommended number of cycling fish for that size of tank.

It can take several weeks to completely cycle using fish.

 

[tkos]

Your best bet is to figure out what type of fish you want to keep. You will probably want some sort of bottom feeder which could either be 1 or 2 big fish like flying fox or a dwarf pleco or pictus catfish, or else a nice larger school of cories (6 or 7). Then you might want to add more danios and top it off with a nice centerpiece fish like a dwarf gourami or something. Just some ideas. But if you go with a fishy cycle then you will need to plan your fish purchsing carefully so that you can add the least hardy last, but also not let aggressive fish get too strong of a hold on the tank.

 

[Allivymar]

The tests you really should have include: Ammonia, NitrItes and NitrAtes. You may want to consider a Ph test as well, but the first three are critical to understanding and following the cycle. I find the test tube kind a little more accurate then the dipstick kind, but thats my experience. Its also more of a pain to use LOL

The key here is NOT to expose the fishies to ammonia and nitrItes, as both are deadly. Ammonia burns the gills and the fish can't breathe. NitrItes compete with O2 in the gills and the fish suffocate. Tis why getting those tests and checking regularly is so important.

It will take a little longer, maybe several weeks like Madame_X said, to cycle since its a larger tank with a few small fish in it. Then again, it may surprise you. Another reason to test daily; if the ammonia levels are gone, the nitrItes are no longer reading and you are seeing nitrAtes showing up, your tank is cycled. No hard n fast rules as there are so many factors involved.