need advice, kinda messed up

[jaws561]

Hello, I am new here and I bought a 29 Gallon tank about a week and 3 days ago. I filled put the rocks in, some fake plants and then some rocks and stuff. About a day after I set it up while I had the dechlorinater in it, my wife for some reason went out and bought some fish. Luckily she went to a aquarium store and bought some starter fish. She bought 4 Serpae tetras and 2 Swordtails. I wasent happy but I couldent return them so I said ahh well I guess I cant do the fishles cycle because she bought them. the fish have been in the tank about a week and 2 days so far. I have the bio wheel filter, heater (temp at 78) and fluroscent light. The water Is a little cloudy and the amonia is at about 1.5-3 as the test kit reads. No Nitrites in it yet. So I was wondering if anyone has any advice on what I should do to keep this a successful tank? I dident want to have a cycle with fish but I have to now. Should I clean the tank? thanks, btw the pH is at about 7-8.5. Hardness is fine. Thanks.

 

[Psyhampster]

Unless your parameters start changing alot, i'd leave it for a while and let the bacteria grow. We took our water in after only 3-4 days and the LFS tested it and said it was fish-OK, so unless a ton die, I wouldn't worry.

Welocme to AA BTW!

 

[BrianNY]

Psyhampster is correct. You don't want to disturb the gravel in your tank for a while, but I would begin doing daily water changes now. Say 20--25% until both the ammonia and nitrites go to zero.

 

[Springcheeks]

IME and from what i know the cycling process takes atleast 6 weeks. (unless you have filter media from an established tank) The cloudiness is normal for a new tank. This is the bacteria forming. (good thing!) I would not be changing any water until the cycling process is finished unless the fish are looking sick from the ammonia/nitrites.

Doing water changes now will prolong the cycle, never allowing the ammonia and nitrite to spike and the nitrifying bacteria to form. To reduce this risk keep feeding to a minimum and resist any urges to add more fish for now. I would feed the fish every second day. They will be fine.

 

[smallfry]

I have to disagree with Springcheeks, your fish WILL die if you don't do any water changes for 4-6 weeks! 8O

I think BrianNY is right...do daily water changes of 25% (or 10% at the very LEAST)....this won't prolong the cycle because the bacteria will still be growing on the gravel/decorations...and your fish will survive. You don't want them to suffer from ammonia burn (or death).

The important this is to not disturb the gravel too much....

 

[BrianNY]

I'm glad you posted Springcheeks. Your logic is correct. Water changes will slow the cycling process down, but it will occur.

I'd agree with you if there were no fish in the tank, but the primary task at hand his the health of fish, not how long the cycle will now take.

 

[FawnN]

You need to definitely get your own testing kits and don't rely upon your LFS to test your water.

I would keep a close eye on your water parameters and change your water as necessary. Most of your beneficial bacteria will reside and grow in your filter bed and not a significant amount in your gravel to slow your cycling process down, so you can do as many water changes as you need/want, to insure your fish don't die.

Just to give you an example, I switched out 3 tanks last month from gravel to sand and not once did I run into any mini cycles, plus I didn't even disturb my bacteria colony. There truly isn't enough bacteria living in your gravel bed to do any significant damage to your cycling and or established tank.

 

[Menagerie]

[center:93004e9bb7] Welcome to AA, jaws561!! [/center:93004e9bb7]

I'll just restate what has been said! Don't vacuum the gravel (it has nothing to do with bacteria, you need the fish waste for ammonia) and do water changes as needed. Also do not over feed the fish. I would feed every other day (and I do all the time!).

 

[jaws561]

Well the 2 swordtails in there seem to be getting sick. The male is loosing his black on his swordtail and doesnt eat anymore, neither does the female. Should I just do about 10-20 % water change every other day? I dont want them to die, I have a 2 gallon bowl I set up today incase of emergencies with a heater, and I added the dechlorinator stuff. I think I should chage the water. The amonia seems to start going up now, its at about 1.5. The swordtails must have newtank syndrome. help! thanks.

 

[BrianNY]

Larger water changes I'm afraid. 30%

 

[jaws561]

Ok I took a good amount of water out, How long should I let the water sit with the dechlor before i dump it into the tank? Thanks

 

[smallfry]

dumping it in now is good.

 

[BrianNY]

with dechlor you can add it right away

 

[smallfry]

Hey Jaws,
I usually add the dechlor to the water as it's going into the tank (I have a Python hose)....with no ill effects from the fishies.

So I don't think you need to let it sit for a certain amount of time before you can add it to the tank.

(but others may have better advice on that)

HTH and best wishes to your fishes!

 

[smallfry]

that's what I call simultaneous reply!

 

[FawnN]

Pretty much any dechlorinator that you use works on contact with your water. If you want to take extra precautions, you can let it sit for 5-10 minutes before adding it back into your tank.

With the python, you just add it to the stream of water because the aeration from the sink through the hose removes most of the chlorine.

As for the water changes, you are better off doing smaller water changes daily versuses the large amounts. Because your fish is already under stress, you really don't want to add more by the large water changes. That's just my personal opinion. HTH

 

[Menagerie]

Because your fish is already under stress, you really don't want to add more by the large water changes.

That's good advice!

 

[unicorn2tears]

Wow, it's like deja vu. I had a hard time cycling my 29 gallon tank with swordtails and ended up with a few losses. Basically, within 2 weeks they would appear ill. I did daily water changes, eventually up to 50% and checking perameters regularly with all levels at 0 but they were always sick. Finally I found out why, it had nothing to do with me it was the LFS I was getting them from. Apparently, their entire stock of swordtails was sick and the unethical folks kept selling them to me (no refund or anything). I had to treat my tank a few times with meds and eventually everything was fine and I had a normal cycle process. I'm not saying this is your problem! However, since you did say that you didn't even pick out your fish, there could be a chance that they were sick when your wife bought them. I'm also saying this because amonia levels of 1.5 isn't too high for cycling.

 

[jaws561]

They looked healthy when i came home and they wer ein the bag, the female always kept trying to force itself to the bottom of the tank, the female actually seems to be in better health then the male, the males fin is like decaying, its not black anymore, just clear and it seems like its dissappearing. I did the water change and the amonia is about the same, a little less. Also, I do have a test kei and the amomnia is the only thing that seems to be appearing, no Nitrites yet. When should I see nirities? its been about a week and a half almost since Ive had the fish in. Should I continue to do small water changes every day or every other? Thanks

 

[jaws561]

...

Well bad news, the male swordtail has died today. he looks small and his tail was almost gone. The female actually seems to be doing better and swiming around the tank more. Well i guess the male had new tank syndrome. I guess I could get another male after It cycles. Heres a pic of the male before he went to fishie haven. Bye