How to finish a cycle

[Race2d]

So I have a 46 gallon bow front tank that has been up and running for 4 weeks now a guy at the lfs said to cycle my tank with four feeder goldfish so I started out with them all in and a week later he suggested I add two plecos to the tank which I did. Well since then I have taken the four goldfish out and my ammonia is like 4 ppm and nitrite is 0 and so is nitrate I have been doing water change after water change everyday to try and lower the ammonia but it won't come down. So my question is now do I take the plecos out and go buy pure ammonia and finish they cycle that way or do I keep up with the water changes and hope it cycles? Any feed back would greatly be appreciated

 

[OasisKeeper]

You can cycle with the plecos if you want.

First get the ammonia down with a couple large water changes. Also add some prime or ammonia lock product to help keep the stress on the fish down.

Then read:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/124/2/-I-just-learned-about-cycling-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html

That's a start. Come back with more questions as they come up

Edited to add: Test your tap water for ammonia .. lets see whats going in

 

[librarygirl]

Do you know what kind of Pleco it is?

It's up to you whether you want to finish the cycle with fish or not. If you decide to cycle with the Pleco you would need to do very large water changes inititally to get ammonia much lower than 4 . Also if you haven't had nitrites yet that's another phase that is going to require frequent water changes for at least a couple of weeks if not longer. I would think by now your ammonia would be converted to 0 though and nitrites would start rising, though, although every tank is different.

There's two links in my signature: new empty tank (fishless cycling) and new tank with fish (fish-in cycling; also the same link above that OasisKeeper posted). Read both and decide which you'd prefer (first though, you will need to do a few 70% water changes to get that ammonia down if it's still at 4 if you want to save that Pleco). Good luck. Let us know if you can help more.

 

[Race2d]

All I know is one is just a black normal one and one is albino

 

[Race2d]

If I amusing well water do I need to add any chemicals

 

[Talvari]

If its a common pleco, you are probably going to want to take him back. They get to be 24"+ and need a really large tank, IMO, at least a 75 gallon. Even a hi-fin probably isn't a good idea, unless you have another tank to move it to.

I would prefer to take the fish out and finish it with the ammonia.. Its a lot easier on the fish in the long run.

 

[swimwithme]

Have you checked your water source for ammonia? Not to say that is the cause, but my tap water actually has ammonia in it.

 

[Race2d]

Mine has none and no chlorine so do I need water conditioners

 

[OasisKeeper]

Mine has none and no chlorine so do I need water conditioners

In the tank, yes. Prime and others convert free ammonia to ammonium, which is less toxic. If you are going to continue to fish in cycle, this will help prevent damage to their gills when the ammonia climbs.

 

[Race2d]

I took the fish out should I try and vacuuming up the excess waste they produced

 

[Race2d]

Ok I took the fish out going to finish with fishless cycle Also have three live plants leave them or trash them

 

[OasisKeeper]

Ok I took the fish out going to finish with fishless cycle Also have three live plants leave them or trash them

Plants are fine, they like the nitrogen

 

[Race2d]

Even the ammonia when I start putting that in

 

[swimwithme]

Yes, your plants should be fine.