Newbie Overstocked an Uncycled Aquarium – Any Hope? (long)

[98z28]

Hello all. I just found this forum this morning and have come across some disturbing information. I have had a ten gallon tank with seven neon tetras in it for about six months now. I inherited a 20 gallon tank from my Grandfather last weekend and decided to upgrade. I set the tank up Saturday with the filter from my old ten gallon (Tetra Whisper rated for 20 gallon tanks) and the rocks and plastic plants from my old aquarium. I added a 100-watt heater and an eight-inch air stone with pump. I set the tank up and let it run for 10 hours to let everything settle. The temp was holding steady at 79F and the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings were all 0. Ph was 6.5.

I assumed all was ready to go for my old fish. I had just put them in a large bowl while I set the new tank up. I put them in the new tank and they seemed fine. Yesterday (Sunday) I hit the local fish shop and picked up seven guppies (two males and five females), three "spotted" corys, and two African dwarf frogs. I used the rocks and filter from my old tank because I had heard that the bacteria “cycle” was important for the fish. Unfortunately for the fish, I did not have a clear understanding of this “cycle.” Somehow, in all of my research to make sure I purchased compatible fish, I missed the nitrogen cycle. I have obviously added way too many fish way too fast. I tested the water before I put the new fish in (my old fish had been in for about eight hours) and I still had no ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate. Well, I am expecting that the ammonia will be off the charts when I get home from work today (Monday) and I will have some serious problems on the way from NO2 and NO3.

My question is this: Do I have snowball’s chance in saving my fish if I keep up with daily water changes? Has anyone made such a newbie mistake before and pulled it off? The fish are all inexpensive, so I am not worried about cost, I just hate to see all the little guys suffer and die because I was dumb.

 

[webmoose]

At least you are Newbie armed with test kits! The whole idea behind test kits is to test and detect water quality issues BEFORE they are an issue. Because of your heavy fish load I would do daily tests.

If the guppys are all full grown you might want to consider returning some. Maybe all the females.. haha. Any plans for what happens when the guppys reproduce? The guppys themselves might consume the fry but you also have a good chance of some living then you could end up with many many guppys!

When you say you moved over the Whisper does that mean: You took it off the back of the 10 and placed it on the 20. No cleaning / rinsing / or leaving it empty to dry out or anything like that? same with the gravel.. IF you moved over everything just as is you might be in a better position than you think.. You still have a good chance of cycling.. The bioload before was only the neons.

My biggest concern is the neons and the corys. They are both sensitive and if you do end up cycling they won't enjoy it... make sure you start doing lots of small water changes and try to avoid big ones to stress the neons and corys....

Goodluck!

 

[98z28]

Yep, just transferred everything over. No rinsing or cleaning. I knew the bacteria was helpful, I just had no idea what a mess I was creating! 8O 8O

 

[98z28]

I thought the guppies would eat the youngens’ unless I separated them? Maybe I better set up that ten gallon tank after all...

 

[webmoose]

I have my males and females seperate.. I did the guppy experiment when I first got started. After a while people and fish stores got tired of me asking if they wanted guppys. They cory's on the otherhand.. Everyone wants my cories when they bred... Haha.

 

[98z28]

I thought it was best to keep guppies with more females than males? Are males OK without the females?

 

[webmoose]

2 males live bearers should be fine in your tank. Some poeple say that males can be agressive with each other.. My experience with 2 males has been no real aggression..

The male to female ratio is in consideration mostly for the females because the pesky males are always persuing the females. The males are VERY persistent with females and the females can be easily stressed out.

The only other thing you would want to remember is that any live bearer added to your tank with the 2 males would potentially be targets..

 

[98z28]

Thanks for the quick replies and great advice!! I'll take the females back and start changing the water tonight and see what happens.

 

[Menagerie]

Don't change more than 25% of the water at a time, UNLESS the ammonia or nitrites climb up. You may be okay

 

[98z28]

Hhhhhmmmm.

I just got home and checked out the tank. Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrite still zero. pH may have risen to 6.6 (from 6.5). My tap water comes out at 6.8, but I have not yet done a water change. All of these fish have been in there about 27 hours. How long does it take for the ammonia to spike if it is going to? I guess I will wait to do that water change until there is at least some ammonia in the tank.

BTW, the fish look happy!

 

[Menagerie]

pH may have risen to 6.6 (from 6.5)

I would not worry, it may change during the day.
I'm not sure how long it will take for ammonia to spike if it is going to. I would take readings twice a day.

 

[98z28]

OK, when I checked it last night there was a trace of ammonia. Maybe 0.25. Everything else was still fine. I did about a 10% water change and it went back to 0. I checked it again this afternoon and there is still no ammonia in the tank (24 hours later). Maybe I did not do as bad as I thought?

 

[Menagerie]

I think you did just fine

 

[flipz]

hey 98z28 ... i think one thing you aren't realizing is all those bacteries and stuff you saved... that is the nitrogen cycle. the process of all the right bacteries growing to break down everything. considering you transferred everything over without letting it dry out, and you re-used your water, you did what is sometimes referred to as an instant cycle. your tank would not be going through the nitrogen cycle (assuming you did switch everything over fast and the bacteria didn't die in the air) because it was already cycled. you just moved to a bigger tank. you did the right thing! starting all over, or trying to clean everything and you'd be in bad shape. i think you did good. hope that helps!

-brent

 

[Atlarge]

Congrat's, Neo, looks like you just doged a bullet!

 

[98z28]

So, dumb luck strikes again???

Thanks all for the advise/encouragement. I'll keep a close eye on things and see what happens.