Impatient cycle on 36 gallon…Seachem Stability/Prime & used filter

[spm2600]

First post, been reading these forums for a little while now, just want to get that right out of the way!

Ok, so I’ve got an established 5 gallon (which is overstocked but stable and cycled). Recently I purchased a 36 gallon bowfront and set it up over the weekend. Saturday I decorated and filled up with water, did my first dose of Stability along with prime to get rid of chlorine. I already have an idea of what I wanted to stock the tank with, some cory cats, dwarf gourami, and a couple angelfish. As the subject states…impatient… I swung by the local pet store and picked up a couple angelfish- ok, I know these are delicate fish…I wasn’t thinking, that’s beyond the point because they are in the tank already. I had read somewhere to kickstart a cycle you can also put in a used filter in new tank, so I grabbed the one out of my 5 gallon, it’s been in there for about 3 weeks now so it was nice and mucky.

So here is a breakdown of what has been going on followed by my questions.

Saturday – Filled tank, first dose of stability and a dose of prime for new water.
Sunday – Added two angelfish, normal dose of stability, added used filter media
Monday – Water begins to fog, dosed stability, test strip shows no nitrate/nitrite, ammonia alert shows nothing. Added a little prime just in case I was missing something in the readings.
Tuesday – Water is milky, dosed stability, test strip shows nothing, no ammonia
Today – Water cleared up pretty good, looks like by this evening it will be back to normal.

Side note, fish didn’t eat first few days and I might have over fed, there is some clearly uneaten food on the bottom.

I’ve not done any water changes yet; the plan was tonight to pull roughly 10% and add a little more prime to decholrinate along with the daily dosage of stability.

All that being said…
1. With the used filter and small bioload is this enough to start a cycle?
2. Is stability and prime masking my readings giving me false positives?
3. Is it safe to add some more fish this weekend? Was thinking of 4 cory cats next.

Hope this enough detail to get a good understanding of what’s going on.

 

[Mebbid]

1. Start? Yes. Its nowhere near enough to handle the bioload of angels though.

2. No

3. No

You chose some terrible fish to start a cycle with. you also know you're overfeeding and have uneaten food in the tank.

You need to monitor ammonia closely and keep it at 0.25 ppm any higher than this and you're risking the angels.

A 10% water change is soo miniscule you might as well not even bother. Do a 50% change any time your ammonia or nitrite are above 0.25 ppm. Test the water daily.

 

[Mattyfelts]

1. Start? Yes. Its nowhere near enough to handle the bioload of angels though.

2. No

3. No

You chose some terrible fish to start a cycle with. you also know you're overfeeding and have uneaten food in the tank.

You need to monitor ammonia closely and keep it at 0.25 ppm any higher than this and you're risking the angels.

A 10% water change is soo miniscule you might as well not even bother. Do a 50% change any time your ammonia or nitrite are above 0.25 ppm. Test the water daily.

+1 mebbid

 

[spm2600]

A 10% water change is soo miniscule you might as well not even bother. Do a 50% change any time your ammonia or nitrite are above 0.25 ppm. Test the water daily.

Thank you for quick response. Should I not change water until ammonia alert shows it? ie, leave tank be until cycle starts?

 

[Mebbid]

Thank you for quick response. Should I not change water until ammonia alert shows it? ie, leave tank be until cycle starts?

If you're referring to the ammonia alert badges, Ignore them and use a liquid test kit such as api.

 

[spm2600]

If you're referring to the ammonia alert badges, Ignore them and use a liquid test kit such as api.

Are the test strips accurate for nitrate/nitrite? I picked up a 25 count and have been using those daily.

 

[Mebbid]

Are the test strips accurate for nitrate/nitrite? I picked up a 25 count and have been using those daily.

Kind of, but not really. Plus ammonia is the biggest one to worry about.

 

[ImACoolguy]

Are the test strips accurate for nitrate/nitrite? I picked up a 25 count and have been using those daily.

Test strips are okay. But for about $30ish you can get an API Master Test Kit and you will have much clearer and accurate readings to your water parameters. It also gives suggestions on what to do if a level is too high or low.


Caleb

Might have a slight obsession with my fish

 

[Mebbid]

Test strips are okay. But for about $30ish you can get an API Master Test Kit and you will have much clearer and accurate readings to your water parameters. It also gives suggestions on what to do if a level is too high or low.


Caleb

Might have a slight obsession with my fish

Not to mention that there's 80 - 120 ish tests available in the master kit. It takes me a year to go through that.

 

[spm2600]

So I'm about 3 weeks in and have yet to see any spike in amonia. No nitrates or nitrites are showing on tests as well. Water got cloudy last week (milky white) and has slowly been clearing... still is a little cloudy but not nearly as bad. Should I only do water changes once there is a spike in anything? Tank is well stocked- probably around %115 per aquarium calc.

 

[The boring name]

Always do water changes. As long as you keep a water change schedule and right size tank and over filtrate the tank it will be a success. Do water changes before any spikes or ect. With an overstocked tank always try at least a 30% a week. Preferably 50%. Best regards.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice